April 21, 2018
Do you like to attend author events? Or is an author event something you’ve always wanted to do?
This weekend I was thrilled to attend a Historical Fiction Author Brunch sponsored by a local library where (l to r) Michelle Gable (A Paris Apartment & The Summer I Met Jack), Susan Meissner (As Bright As Heaven), and Laura Kamoie (America’s First Daughter & My Dear Hamilton) were panelists.
It was a delightful morning surrounded by bookish peeps, delightful bookish conversation, and delicious food. I eagerly looked forward to this event because I had read two of the three authors’ works.
Highlights
Research
Interesting discussion among the panelists included how much all three enjoy the research part of writing historical fiction (sometimes more than the writing!), and they also mentioned the perils and the pleasures. Perils included going down rabbit trails and accumulating too much information or not enough. For example, as they approach reading a book as part of their research, they realize it’s common to take away only one small fact or detail from the entire book that they’ve read. All three of them emphasized that the research process is extremely pleasurable for them. I’ve always appreciated the quantity of research that goes into writing histfic. Now I won’t feel sorry for them!
Authors & Their Work
It’s wonderful to hear authors speak of their work, and here are a few highlights. In addition, I’ll indicate which of their works I’ve read along with my review or Amazon summary and star rating.
Author: Laura Kamoie
A unique fact about Laura Kamoie’s most recent books is that she wrote them in partnership with Stephanie Dray. Co-authorship is a strategy their editor advised against; however, it has worked well for them. In fact, their editor reports that he can’t tell which one has written which section. Laura is a historian (previously taught history at the Naval Academy) and spoke extensively about the amount of research she conducts for her writing. She indicates that she and Stephanie had so much information for My Dear Hamilton that their editor made them cut thousands of words (and it’s still 652 pages!). Laura spoke earnestly about her passion for writing stories about women in history whose contributions have been overlooked. She is not surprised that when she researches men that there are thousands of primary source documents available; whereas for women there might be only 200 available. I appreciate hearing stories about independent and strong women and will continue to be interested in her work.
American’s First Daughter (Full Review Here)
My Rating: 5 Stars 
My Dear Hamilton (I’m in the process of reading this…review coming soon)
Amazon Rating: 4.8 Stars
Author: Susan Meissner
As Bright As Heaven is the only Meissner book I have read. I’d like to read her back list some day. Whereas Laura Kamoie focuses on writing biographical historical fiction, Susan likes to create fictional characters and families and keep the historical focus on the location, time period, and events. She greatly enjoys creating imaginary people and families. One interesting fact about As Bright As Heaven is that she structured it in a similar way as The Poisonwood Bible (one of her favorite books) in that the story is told from a mother’s and her girls’ perspectives. She reports that she read Poisonwood Bible several times in preparation for writing a book like As Bright as Heaven (the only way they are similar is in the structure).
As Bright As Heaven (Full Review Here)
My Rating: 4 Stars
(I always debate between 4 & 5 stars….this could easily be a 5 star read for me because I keep thinking about this story and recommending it!)
Author: Michelle Gable
I haven’t read any of Michelle’s work. A Paris Apartment received mixed reviews and I’m still on the fence about it. I’ll probably read it now that I’ve met the author. Look at the reviews to see what you think! One interesting fact that Michelle shared with us is that she wrote it (every word!) entirely with pencil using a pad of paper sitting behind the screen at her children’s softball games. Multitasking at its finest! She wrote The Summer I Met Jack the same way and its release date is 5/29/2018.
A Paris Apartment (not yet read or reviewed)
Amazon Rating: 4.0 Stars
The Summer I Met Jack (release date: 5/29/2018)
Happy Reading Bookworms!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection!
Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text
Looking Ahead:
Come back Friday when I’ll be highlighting my favorite, most compelling character from my April reading and offering a Link Up opportunity.
Sharing is Caring
I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along, promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.
Let’s Discuss!
I’d love to hear about authors you’ve met or would like to meet!
I was excited to hear that Fredrik Backman is doing an author event at the Barnes & Noble (in Huntington Beach for SoCal peeps), but was discouraged that attendees have to get there by 9:00 a.m. to get a wrist band which will give them a place in line for the evening event. No thanks! I’d much rather buy a ticket on line than to spend all day trying to get one. But if you’re in SoCal and want to see him, the information is on the Huntington Beach Barnes and Noble website. He’s also at different locations in the U.S. as part of a book tour. I imagine they’ll be quite popular events!
Lisa was born in New Jersey two miles from where Thomas Alva Edison first recorded sound. She went to college and studied biology and theater arts. She went to graduate school and studied environmental anthropology. After years of writing copy for non-profits, selling surplus cosmetics in Russia, and living off rich married men, she accepted an editorial position at that little-known Open Office competitor, Microsoft. There she created MATTER, the company’s first online magazine read by the 34 people who were patient enough to wait the twelve minutes it took the GIFs to download through their 56K modems.
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Her books have been published in eighteen languages, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Utah.
Always hunting for writerly detail, I’ve been known to stare or eavesdrop on the table next to me. Call it research or maybe an over-developed sense of empathy; I’m fascinated by human nature. At heart, I’m really still that only child who played for hours with imaginary friends. Now my imaginary friends are characters on the page, flawed but honest, people worth spending time with. My stories may echo timeless struggles, but they are spun with my own peculiar slant.
Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins is a beautifully and creatively written middle grade story exploring the lives of 3 girls who are curious, love questions and the world around them, and are persistent in pursuing their love of science and scientific inquiries. Each woman makes important scientific contributions, and I loved reading about them and the context of their lives. I’m not sure middle grade students will read slowly enough to appreciate the beautiful prose and nuance/subtlety of language, so it might be a good “read together” book.
When Georgia Hunter was fifteen years old, she learned that she came from a family of Holocaust survivors. We Were the Lucky Ones was born of her quest to uncover her family’s staggering history. Hunter’s site, 
As an army child, I went to eight different schools, including the Royal School Bath, where I learnt Latin, how to make rock buns and how to take my bra off without getting undressed. I went on to study Classics at Bristol University, followed by a bi-lingual secretarial course – a surprisingly useful combination.
