Archives - Weekly Update

This week we finally got to see Top Gun: Maverick, which is terrific. Before the film came on, there was a short clip where Tom Cruise shared a message thanking people for waiting to see the film in theaters --- and telling them “to enjoy the ride." The movie had been finished in 2019, they added some extra footage in 2020, and then it was held until they thought there could be a big enough crowd in theaters. Holding back like that was not easy in our streaming world.

My last few weeks have been anything but quiet and calm. So when I was looking for a book to read this week, I wanted more of an escape than something heavy. MEANT TO BE by Emily Giffin is a book that I have talked about during our “Bookaccino Live” events and library previews over the last few months. And it was just the escape that I needed this week. I loved it! You can read on for more about why it worked for me later in this newsletter as it is a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.

Many of you have gotten to know Austin Ruh at our various live events. Over the past couple of years, we have filmed over 100 interviews and events together, including five Book Group Speed Dating programs. A little over a week ago, he called to tell me that he is leaving to take a job at a film production studio.

For humor, when I hired him, it was to replace Nicole as our Ad/Promo Manager, and I had zero idea about his film background. He joined us on the recommendation of a good friend. One day shortly after he started, I mentioned that Amanda, who had been doing the filming and editing for us, had left to go back to school, and I needed to find someone to work on our video/podcast series. He said he had been a film major in college and thought he could help out. Seriously, it was what Jesse Kornbluth and I call “a hand of God moment.” So he sat behind the camera when we were in the city taping interviews, and when we did the pivot to the home office, he helped coordinated our plans for Zoom. We shot many interviews and programs first beamed from my dining room studio and then from my home office studio.

Last night, our Editorial Director Tom and I went to a couple of book parties for the first time in more than two years. They were held in conjunction with ThrillerFest, the International Thriller Writers conference. Yes, we have spent a lot of time Zooming, phoning and emailing with authors, agents and publishers, but it was really nice to spend time in person with many of the people we love --- and to meet new ones. We saw Julie Clark, Ashley Elston, Gregg Hurwitz, Clare Mackintosh, Megan Miranda, D.J. Palmer, and so many others. Seeing smiles and toasting one another was a lot of fun! Still, Tom and I didn't realize how exhausted we would feel today. It's been so long since we've been out on the town!