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In less than a week, we’ll be unveiling some very, very big changes here at Author, Author! — so big that the site won’t be called Author, Author! anymore! 

You might want to set a new bookmark for www.thebookstudio.com, currently a “Coming Soon!” placeholder screen. 

This blog will be a big part of the new site, but we’ll also have brand-new author videos produced on a new set. I’m really excited about them; they look terrific. It’s also completely searchable by genre, author name, title…I hope it will make your reading life a little richer. 

The anticipation is killing me. I wish I could show off the new site now, now, now. But the people doing the heavy lifting still have some modules to push into place, and they’re working very hard on getting everything just right. 

Please be patient, and please: Watch This Space. Good things ahead!

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The real fun of any book festival comes not in its panels, but in its social events. From catching up with an old friend over coffee to attending a big party, book business fades and book gossip increases — and when I say “gossip,” I don’t necessarily mean the negative, toxic kind. I mean connecting, chattering, and sharing. 

For example, I said in my last post that Alan Cheuse was irascible during our Book Review Superstars panel. After we finished, Bella Stander asked if I could give Cheuse a ride back to the Omni, as he was driving back to his Maryland home that evening. Since I was already chauffeuring Lou Bayard, I said sure, and we all hopped into my Mini for the very short ride across town.

Unfortunately, since everyone else chose that moment to leave the UVA Bookstore parking garage, too, we three were trapped together in my little car for much longer than we’d expected. We were in close quarters. We were still wearing the faux-bling necklaces that Bella Stander had draped over our necks at the panel’s start. We had no choice. We had to…talk.

Now, Lou Bayard and I can talk each other’s ears off, and have even been known to break into song from time to time (just don’t ask about the late-night rendition of “All the Single Ladies”). But neither one of us has met Cheuse socially before, and we felt a little shy — especially after hearing him on the panel. 

But you know me. I can’t just sit there and waste an opportunity to get to know an author, and Cheuse had been gracious enough to take one of his books and inscribe it to me. Before we could get to the lowest parking level, I’d discovered not only that one of his daughters went to Smith a few years after I did, and that said daughter is a fantastic publicist with whom I’ve worked several times. 

A few minutes more and all three of us were having a wonderful conversation about politics, DC, children, books, reading, and more. There was no irascibility and there was no line-drawing; it was a fun, collegial chat. I’m looking forward to interviewing and working with Cheuse more in the future (although he may not agree to vogue with me a la Sasha Fierce). 

Tomorrow: Dinner with agents and authors, and why knitting matters

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Many, many years ago, when I was in high school, I went on an interview to be an exchange student and the committee members couldn’t stop exclaiming about how I looked like “a young Sally Field.” 

I no longer look like a young or old Sally Field (that woman’s got good bones), or even a young Bethanne — but I still have a lot in common with Ms. Fields. Remember when she exclaimed during her 1985K Oscar acceptance “You like me! You really like me!”? Everyone razzed her for that overeager and vulnerable outburst.

Not I. I understand! Sometimes you are so unsure of whether or not anyone’s paying attention that you can’t help breaking open and letting your tattered self-esteem slip show. You’re never supposed to let anyone see you sweat, right? Well, that may work for business meetings, but when you’re in a creative line of work, it’s not the same.

So yesterday when I received a book and a handwritten note from a publicist saying “I thought your Amy Dickinson video interview was FABULOUS, and wondered if you’d like to do the same kind of thing for Author X,” I was thrilled. I don’t get many comments on the author interviews that I post (and really, why would you leave lots of them? The interviews speak for themselves most of the time). To know that someone had watched, had liked it (really liked it!), and wanted a repeat performance for another author? That’s my measure of success, Web metrics be damned. 

So thank you, really thank you, to everyone out there who is watching. I’ll be doing more Flip video interviews with authors once my fractured leg has healed, and if any publicists out there have candidates for those, please let us know. You can always email me: thebookmaven at gmail dot com. 

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I apologize for taking so long to post more from VA Book, but a) during the Festival, things are so hectic and so many conversations are taking place that it’s hard to Twitter, let alone blog; and b) on Monday morning, while driving the Brigadier of previous post to his country’s embassy, I was involved in a car wreck. My beloved Mini Cooper with its “Book Maven” plates is no more (as my Tweeple already know).The Brigadier suffered a badly bruised hand, the driver who slammed into me hasn’t a scratch, and I am really OK except for a minor leg fracture. I’m so grateful we’re all alive. (That photo is not really my car or our accident site, but I did have a silver Mini…)

I’m also grateful that this accident didn’t happen last week, before I drove down to Charlottesville. I had an absolutely great time at the Festival, and while I may not be covering everything in minute detail, I’d like to be sure I wrap up this year’s blogging by giving a brief postmortem of the two panels in which I participated, as well as a snapshot of Saturday night’s Author Reception in the Special Collections building.

My first event was the “Book Reviewing Superstars” panel, consisting of “Mod Ron Hogan” (as @bellastander dubbed him on Twitter) as moderator, and Michael Dirda, Alan Cheuse, Louis Bayard, and me as panelists. I said in a tweet that Dirda was sanguine, Cheuse was angry, Bayard was bemused, and I was a cockeyed optimist. Seriously, I felt like an antique Pollyanna as I continued to tell stories of how things are changing in a productive way for book reviewing and publishing, especially when Cheuse began to fulminate on how democracy will tumble into the sea without major newspapers supporting their book reviews in print.

If you ask me, The Washington Post could do a great deal by simply supporting Book World online. Right now the site is in need of some serious glamor-shot work, and its editors know that. Marcus Brauchli, hello? They can’t work magic without wands…

Tomorrow: More about Book Review panel, Agents Roundtable, and Authors Reception

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Our dear old friend the British Brigadier has come to stay for just one night before he’s off to some conference of spies somewhere. The Brigadier does funny stuff, so for many years whenever I spoke to his lovely wife and asked after his whereabouts, I knew if she replied “He’s upstairs” that that meant I simply didn’t want to know.

I’ll be whisking our friend off to his embassy shortly, but as we sat around the breakfast table with our coffee and toast, he mentioned he’d like to send the younger Mini Maven a copy of Conn Iggulden’s The Dangerous Book for Boys as a gift. I told him that she does already have The Daring Book for Girls, in case he would like to save his Euros. 

“Oh, nooooo,” he said (it was more like “Och nauw,” since he’s Scottish, but I’ve promised not to make too much sport of his foreign tongue). “The book for boys is much, much better. Did you know that they’ve got a guide to recognizing freshwater fish and also a list of the kings and queens of England?”

Uh, no, we didn’t. And, um, how exciting?

“Ahhhhh,” said the Brigadier. “But hidden between those pages is a spread of information about how to build a detonator. In a book for children! When I am explaining about the basics (Ed. note: “The basics” !!!!), as I’m handing round different explosives, I bring out a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys and open it up to show them the directions. Iggulden gives such clear instructions on booby traps that it’s better than any military manual.”

HarperCollins, what hath thou wrought? 

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If you don’t watch all of this video, watch it just to the point where Dickinson shouts “She still takes my calls!” about her daughter Emily. As Amy’s sister Rachel (an old pal and colleague) says, “Amy gives good interview.” Rachel is one of Freeville’s “Mighty Queens,” so you know she’s right. I hope you enjoy!

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I’m so excited about heading down to Charlottesville, one of my several hometowns, that I’ve decided to throw out a special end-of-week, Virginia Festival of the Book, giveaway. Unfortunately, Amy Dickinson will not be one of the authors at the Festival — but as you’ll see in a short while, I had the opportunity to interview her here in DC. 

The Mighty Queens of Freeville is Dickinson’s remarkably honest and elegaic memoir of the years after her divorce, when she and her now-college-aged daughter Emily made their way through several cities, always supported by their fiercely loving female relatives in the upstate New York town of Freeville. Those “mighty queens,” as Emily deemed them, included Amy’s mother, sisters, and aunts, all of whom disagree frequently while remaining committed to each other’s welfare. 

During our interview at DC’s Politics & Prose bookstore (Dickinson still considers it her hometown, and we had frequent interruptions from old friends who wanted to say hello), the new author told me a bit about the genesis of her book. She is, of course, the writer who was chosen to “replace” Ann Landers, and her advice column “Ask Amy” is syndicated to hundreds of papers and sites around the country. When Hyperion approached Dickinson to write a book (it could not have hurt that they approached her with an advance that would take your breath away), they wanted her to write something advice-y.

But that wasn’t the book Dickinson wanted to write, and she told then-publisher Bob Miller (now the head of Harper Studio) that she had something else in mind. Although she’d never written a book proposal or a full-length book before, the girl from Freeville sat down and produced a proposal so strong that her editor accepted it immediately.

I’m posting this entry to the VA Book homepage, too, so that my fellow Festival-goers will have the chance to enter this random giveaway, too. We have 10 copies of The Mighty Queens of Freeville to give to 10 people from the first 50 (I’ll up the entry ante just in case scores of VA Book fans swarm the site) who leave a comment telling me the best advice you were ever given (whether it came from an advice columnist, your mother, or even a complete stranger!). 

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Solveig Eggerz is not just one of the most interesting authors I’ve had on this show; she’s also one of those whose connection to her novel is most interesting. A native Icelander, Eggerz talks about how a movie titled “Maria” influenced her decision to learn more about the lives of German women who came to Iceland after World War II.

Eggerz also speaks about the hyperliteracy in her homeland and its ancient literary tradition. She’s lovely to listen to, and I hope you will watch this interview — but I do encourage you, again, to read Seal Woman. Its poetic language, historical authenticity, and complicated protagonist make it a novel to watch.

One last note: This interview is our last in this format. The next video author interview you see here will be on a new site with a new name and an entirely new set. It’s tremendously exciting and it’s taken a tremendous amount of work from many different people. As soon as I’m given the green light to tell you more, I will! Thank you all for sticking with us through the past 18 months. The next 18 will be full of great things for book coverage on WETA.org, and I look forward to showing some of them to you.

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Here I come, VA Book authors…It’s March again, and time for me to leave the wilds of Arlington and head down to Charlottesville for a few days of professional author stalking. There’s not much I love better than cornering writer-creatures in their natural habitats, like bookstore events, book-tour media appearances, and book festivals. In the best of all possible worlds, I’d get to seem them in situ at their desks or in their armchairs, but watching them talk about their works is pretty good, too.

Often visits to book festivals mean waiting patiently in line behind dozens (if not scores) of fellow readers, each of whom has arrived at that very place and moment in order to do the same thing as the others: pay homage to an author whose work has changed our lives in some way. We readers are jungle folk indeed in these moments, fiercely guarding our places in line; you can nearly see the words being rehearsed mentally: “Your Novel X saved me from despair…my mother has each of your books in all its editions…I’m writing my first book, and it’s quite similar to yours…” The authors I’ve met, spoken to, interviewed, and (occasionally, to my great benefit) befriended all acknowledge how important readers are to them — but also acknowledge that meeting all of those readers can get pretty exhausting.

That’s why I’ve decided to do this year’s crop of VA Book authors a great service and let them know who among them I’ll prey on from Friday through Sunday (would that I could arrive early and stay late, but this Maven has to juggle the other demands of freelance life with festing). That way, the authors not on my list can relax completely, knowing that I’ll be creeping softly on little cat’s feet away from them and towards their rivals.

But this year, I thought I’d really surprise the authors, and let them know Reasons Beyond Their Books for us to get to know each other better:

Rodes Fishburne, I’ve heard Going to See the Elephant is pretty good — but I’m also interested in hearing about your alma mater, Emory & Henry. I’m trying to convince my daughter to take a look.

Elaine Fox, you live in Arlington! We need to have coffee. You want to. Right?

Etgar Keret, you’re just so cool, and you’ve brought the sexy back to short stories. I want to know your secret. Is it being from another country? Because American short-story writers need help.

Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow Changed My Life. Kidding! However, it did change my views on science fiction and fantasy forever. I want to talk with you about Uwem Akpan and other Jesuit authors. 

Adriana Trigiani, I’ve interviewed you and I’ve moderated your BN.com Center Stage week, but I’ve never really had the chance to sit down and talk clothes, recipes, and lipstick. Run while you can!

See? Only five authors need fear my stalking. In fiction! Tomorrow? The nonfiction stalkees…

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This is going to be a quick post that I’ll add to later, as I’m late for a meeting (cue me going “AAAACK!” like Andy Samberg imitating the Cathy comic on Saturday Night Live).

Our Book of the Week is truly wonderful. Seal Woman by Solveig Eggerz from Ghost Road Press is the story of a young German woman whose World War II circumstances force her to start a new life. She answers an ad in the newspaper from Iceland, and winds up as the second wife of a man whose hard, lonely existence as a farmer is softened only by the presence of “the old woman,” who may or may not be his mother.

Eggerz, an Icelander whose knowledge of Germany comes from several years in which she lived in that country, has crafted a dreamy yet stark portrait of a human’s transition from one world to another. I truly engaged with this book and with Charlotte, and I believe many readers of this site will, too. 

We’ve got ten copies of Seal Woman to give away to ten random winners from the first 30 who post and tell us about the toughest transition you’ve ever made. Was it from single person to spouse? From student to master? Unpublished writer to published author? Perhaps from woman to mother? Whatever your own transformation was, tell us below — and perhaps you’ll receive your own copy of Eggerz’s novel. Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting!

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