There is a lot to be said for being a bookseller, even in these uncertain days of massive changes in the publishing industry and an unstable economy. Books are always there for you. Whatever genre or format you choose, their comfort and enrichment continue on. We wouldn't have books without authors, of course, and some of us are very lucky to work at a bricks-and-mortar independent bookstore that hosts many, many on-site author events. And some lucky bloggers, a group I'm happily a part of, get some quiet time with authors to talk about books, writing, publishing and whatever else comes up.
Most recently I was able to sit down for a relaxed lunch with author Diana Abu-Jaber, along with her publisher's rep from W. W. Norton Meg Sherman and Tattered Cover's Social Media Maven Patty Miller, to chat before her evening event at our Colfax Avenue store. She is a natural storyteller with a wicked sense of humor, telling us tales of her daughter and some pretty strange neighbors' tropical birds that became the inspiration for part of Birds of Paradise.
Denver was the last stop on her book tour for the paperback edition of Birds of Paradise. She's been on the road quite a bit, but admitted that she really loves traveling and meeting all kinds of people. She says that writing is a solitary thing, but she's not a solitary sort of person, "I need to get out at least once a day or I just go crazy." She is on sabbatical this year from Portland State University where she is a professor in the English Department, headquartering at her Miami home while she works on her next book.
She's currently working on what she like to call "an non-erotic un-thriller" that is proving very different, but very fun, to write. Between writing and doing "field work" for the book, she says she "loves to give dinner parties." She is very much a foody, and even writes about it to some extent, but says that the more she writes about it, the less she actually cooks. We had to ask..."No, writing an erotic novel does NOT have the same effect" on her life (said with a slight blush and a impish grin).
She credits a great deal of her success to having found and maintained a wonderful editor, Alane Mason, whom she describes as "naturally an evil mastermind/genius" with which she has a "nice, fear-based relationship." Mason believed in her from the get-go, and their pairing as provided us all with some very amazing books. Learn about them all by clicking on the book covers below.
--Jackie
Denver was the last stop on her book tour for the paperback edition of Birds of Paradise. She's been on the road quite a bit, but admitted that she really loves traveling and meeting all kinds of people. She says that writing is a solitary thing, but she's not a solitary sort of person, "I need to get out at least once a day or I just go crazy." She is on sabbatical this year from Portland State University where she is a professor in the English Department, headquartering at her Miami home while she works on her next book.
She's currently working on what she like to call "an non-erotic un-thriller" that is proving very different, but very fun, to write. Between writing and doing "field work" for the book, she says she "loves to give dinner parties." She is very much a foody, and even writes about it to some extent, but says that the more she writes about it, the less she actually cooks. We had to ask..."No, writing an erotic novel does NOT have the same effect" on her life (said with a slight blush and a impish grin).
She credits a great deal of her success to having found and maintained a wonderful editor, Alane Mason, whom she describes as "naturally an evil mastermind/genius" with which she has a "nice, fear-based relationship." Mason believed in her from the get-go, and their pairing as provided us all with some very amazing books. Learn about them all by clicking on the book covers below.
--Jackie
2 comments:
BIRDS OF PARADISE is about the gentrification of Miami, and a searing look at teenage runaways and the decisions that families make in these modern times that end up fracturing the family unit and releasing into the community dissatisfied and searching young humans. Their role models are self-satisifed and myopic narcissists, mothers and fathers who use their kids like an ace in a deck of cards. They are there for show, but God forbid they get in the way of the parents' making money or finding fame. And yet, even though her push into the world is not exactly part of a labor of love, Felice, our teen protagonist, is liberated and enriched by the freedom she finds beyond the confines of her parents' treadmill existence. And so is the reader.
Great review Sverige. Thanks for sharing it.
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