Where: Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona
When: 4pm on January 14, 2012 (but I was there at 2:45pm so I got a really great seat!)
When I first saw this event was coming to one of my favorite bookstores near my house--I really wanted to go. I have not read their books (yet!) but they are all on my TBR pile or wish list. Now after listening to them, I want to read their books even more.
Here are some highlights that I collected that have prompted me to move their books up my TBR pile:
1) Ellen Schreiber's interest in werewolves started with her love of American Werewolf in London
from high school. Her favorite part of the werewolf story is the transformation--and that interest became a big part of her focus in her new series:
2) While Tahereh Mafi did not do a lot of research on mental health and mental illness as she was writing Juliet's story. She was inspired by her striking understanding of how loneliness affects people, particularly during the years covered in YA literature. She feels that it is a feeling that many people experience at different time in their lives. Those feelings are what she drew on in her very realistic (according to the audience member who asked the question) depiction in her book:
3) Veronica Rossi started out as an oil painter and working artist. Her creative focus changed after she had a child. She could not spend 8-10 hours closed off in her studio working on a canvas--and she did not like to leave her painting and return to finish it later. Then she discovered writing as a creative outlet:
I am so glad that I went to this event--and encourage each of you to look for these opportunities around your house. Later this month, I am hoping to attend YALLAPALOOZA!
I also had a brainstorm just before the start of the event--I started an author notebook. It is a place where I can write down notes of what the author's say at these events when I attend. Then I will have notes that I can refer back to about the characters and stories after I read the books for myself. And I closed the entry from this event with the signatures of the three authors!
As soon as I left the event, I called my friend to tell her about it. This friend has been trying to convince me of positive attributes of the blank notebooks, so she was thrilled to hear that I now have my own notebook that I am so excited about. She made me promise I would tell you all about this new (to me) use for the blank notebook:
