SUPER BEHIND

Life's been busy, what can I say. Sorry, kids! But I'm about to go on a rampage because I'm uncomfortable with how many reviews I want to do! I might skip some that I really didn't like that I don't want to waste your time on - or maybe I'll gather those together and give them shorter reviews :)

The Virginia Festival of the Book starts tomorrow, too, and I'm sadly not heading to anything this year because life is crazy and I'm visiting my Mama for her birthday on Saturday. But YOU! You should be going to some of these events! There are lots of awesome things going on, including events with Lee Smith and Julia Spencer-Fleming, two of my favorite authors! And there are a bunch of other people coming as well, many of whom I've admittedly not heard of, but some I've heard good things about: Dave Cullen, Sheila Curran, Nikki Giovanni, Hermine Pinson (my former professor at W&M!), Elizabeth Strout (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge)... So make some plans to go to some of the events if you can!

Belated Report from the Virginia Festival of the Book (Part 2)

So yesterday, I offered a rather long and detailed recap of one session that I attended during the Virginia Festival of the Book. I was going to talk about the other one then too, but I found too much to say and decided to hold this part for another day.

Crime Wave: Historical Mysteries

Authors: Tasha Alexander (A Poisoned Season), Louis Bayard (The Black Tower), Cordelia Frances Biddle (Deception's Daughter), Katherine Neville (The Eight)

Here you find out my other major genre obssession, which is mystery/crime fiction. And in this case, I have just in the last two years discovered Louis Bayard's books and I think they're brilliant. So I was really excited to find out he was going to be in town to speak, and I grabbed a friend of mine who also loves him and we took off to see him. Unfortunately, when we got to the Omni Hotel, where the session was being held, there was no parking left! So we had to find street parking and walk, and we ended up being a little late...and Louis was the first speaker, so we didn't get to hear his whole talk. What we did hear was really interesting though - he was talking primarily about The Black Tower, which is all about the real (and rather mysterious) French detective Vidocq in post-Napoleonic France, trying to find the rumored Dauphin (or rightful heir to the throne of France, thought to be dead and then thought to possibly be alive).

So Louis talked about his research on the real Vidocq, which was utterly fascinating. He apparently pioneered many of our modern detective and forensic procedures. He was a former convict himself, but they couldn't keep him in prison (he escaped every one they put him in). And a lot of the people he recruited to be on his detective force were other former convicts because he said that only a criminal can possibly know how to catch a criminal. He was the first to insist on things like plastering footprints as evidence at a crime scene, and he envisioned fingerprinting hundreds of years before the technology existed to actually do it. So Louis was rightfully fascinated by this historical figure, and he decided to throw him into a mystery. And what mystery could be more fitting than Vidocq tracking down France's greatest monarchy mystery, on a level of the Anastasia mystery in Russia a couple hundred years later. Let me state now, I adored The Black Tower and I think you should all go read it now!

Then there were the other authors. Tasha Alexander writes a series of books about a Victorian woman detective, and she was a delightful speaker. She was perky and funny and honest. My favorite part of her talk was her story of how she realized she could read - that her mother was sitting next to her, reading to her, and all of a sudden, she realized she was further ahead on the page than her mom. I haven't read any of her books, but she was cute and I think anyone interested in a female Victorian detective story should check her out!

Then there was Cordelia Biddle, who I honestly wanted to take home with me. She was just outright hilarious. Her books are also set in the Victorian era, but specifically in Philadelphia, and they feature an heiress who seems to stumble into mysteries either through boredom or pure bad luck. I am definitely going to check out one of her books, because she was such a personality. She is from Philly, from an old family (yes, the Biddles), a member of whom had a feud with Andrew Jackson. She was quite entertaining talking about that particular altercation.

And finally, Katherine Neville, who talked a bit about her books and how they wandered all over time (which is not recommended for a historical mystery writer). Many of her books are apparently fairly intricate and strategic, set up like a big chess game in novel form. Her books sounded interesting, but I'll be honest - she herself was a bit off-putting to me. I thought that she seemed like she felt herself above the other authors on the stage with her, as though she was better than they. And my friend agreed, so I don't think it was just me. She's certainly been writing for longer than the other writers, and maybe her novels are just fantastic, but I was very put off by her stage presence. Because of that, I probably won't seek any of her books out. All in all, though, it was a great panel and I really enjoyed it!

A Summary of My Festival Experience

I really enjoyed the two panels I went to this year. I'd very much like to go to more next year if there are authors and topics I'm interested in! As for the exhibition, I had really hoped to hand out some of my freelance proofreading business cards to publishers there, but most of the tables seemed to be self-published authors trying to sell their books. All in all, I enjoyed the Festival entirely, and I even went on their website and offered to be a volunteer for next year. No one's contacted me yet, but I hope they do! And I'd encourage any of you in easy driving distance to Charlottesville to give it a try next year - it was a good time!

Belated Report from the Virginia Festival of the Book

Well, I am a little over a week behind in telling you about my attendance at the Virginia Festival of the Book. I ended up only going to two events in the end, but they were both quite worthwhile!

Coming of Age in the South: Novels
Authors: Cary Holladay (A Fight in the Doctor's Office), Jayne Pupek (Tomato Girl), Susan White (Bound South)

I wanted to attend this session because I am a HUGE fan of Southern literature; I'd say it may be my very favorite genre. I'd never heard of Cary Holladay or Susan White, but I've read Jayne Pupek's Tomato Girl (and enjoyed it), plus she lives very near Charlottesville so I thought it might be fun to meet a local author who writes a genre so near and dear to my heart. Well, I got there about 15 minutes early, and it was packed. I ended up sitting on the floor for most of the session, until a little old lady got up during the Q&A, put her hand on my arm and whispered, "I've got to get out of here; I'm not from the South and these people are driving me crazy! You can have my seat." HA!

At the beginning, they made the announcement that Jayne would not be able to come because of a family emergency. I was a little disappointed, but they said that both of the other authors would be reading from their most recent books, and I knew that would be fun. Cary Holladay read first, part of a story that takes place really near to us, in Glen Allen, VA. She was quite entertaining - she had a quotation from a famous author or historical figure for nearly every situation, or an anecdote from her days at William & Mary (go Tribe!). Her book, A Fight in the Doctor's Office, was published because it won a contest, and the prize was getting published. She's had several books published, and they've all happened in some way like that - she said she's never had an agent or been published through the traditional process.

Anyway - her book was about a woman and her parents on a road trip to find her husband (who they all call The Topiary because he's shaped perfectly round and always wears a fuzzy green sweater) because he has run off somewhere. They don't know where and they don't know why. They stop in Glen Allen for a night because her mother has a guide book that is a thousand years old that paints it as a quaint, beautiful town, but by the time they arrive, it's kind of dusty and run-down and in the middle of nowhere (I think it takes place in the 1960s). And the heroine falls in love with a little deaf black child and refuses to leave Glen Allen with her parents. That's about all of the book we got to hear, but it was definitely an intriguing intro!

Then Susan White stepped up to read from her first novel, hot off the presses, Bound South. I felt some connection to her, too, because she got her MFA and started writing this book while at Hollins University in Roanoke, VA, which is near to my family and Hollins has figured in my life at several different times for various reasons. Not to mention the fact that when asked what album she'd choose as the soundtrack for her book, she said she would have to pick different albums for the three different characters from whose viewpoint she wrote the book, but for the first character...(and here she scrunched up her nose and peered inquiringly and doubtfully into the audience of 90% women over the age of 65)...had anybody heard of an album called Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair? And I wooted on the inside and smiled and half-raised my hand on the outside. Anyway, she's moved back home to Atlanta now, and most of this story takes place in Atlanta. She started reading and I could not stop laughing. She read a little bit from each of the three characters' perspectives, and I do not know where she came up with these people, but I was dying laughing.

The story seems to mainly be about the relationship and interaction among these three women. One is the daughter (about 12 years old) of a housekeeper who works for a wealthy Atlanta society lady. This little girl belongs to a fundamentalist evangelical Christian church, and that colors everything in her world view. The society lady her mom works for is main character #2, and she is the archetype of Southern society, where everything has to be proper and just so...though she has an odd modern art collection, we learn, including a portrait of Jesus in a sparkly blue ballgown. Madam Society's daughter is main character #3, and she is a wild child in hot pursuit of tearing down everything her mother believes is right and good. She's the character the Liz Phair album was meant to back up. All three came alive before my eyes with her reading, and I wanted desperately to know their story. So I bought her book and got her to sign it. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I will before long, I'm sure.

It was a great session, especially for someone as enamored of Southern lit as I am. I hope for more on this topic at next year's Festival!! And now it's late and this is long, so I'm going to stop. More on the other session I attended at the Festival next time!

Virginia Festival of the Book

Who knows about the Virginia Festival of the Book? Besides me? It was mentioned at my last book club meeting, and I was ASTOUNDED by how few people there had ever heard of it, even though it's been held right here, in the town we live in, for a long time. I can't find information on exactly how long from their website, but I know it's been at least 9 years because that's how long I've lived here, and it's been here every year I've lived here!

Despite the fact that I've known about it since I first moved here, I have never actually attended. Well, this year, that's going to change! Two authors I like quite a bit - Louis Bayard and Jayne Pupek - are going to be speaking on panels, and I have business cards for my proofreading and copyediting biz to hand out to the publishers and authors who will be there for the expo! The only thing that makes me unhappy is that it's the weekend of my mom's birthday, so I'll have to wait to go home and see her until Saturday around noon if I want to catch Louis Bayard's panel.

For those not in the know, VABook! spans several days, features lots of authors and agents and publishers talking about books and writing and getting published, and almost all of the events are free. There are some that cost money and are ticketed, but the vast majority are free and are first come, first served as far as seating. They are in various locations around Charlottesville, from downtown to Barnes & Noble to the UVA campus. And the website gives you the schedule and all of the authors, and even has this cool feature where you can add events to your "book bag," creating a schedule for yourself.

I've never actually been to a book show/festival before, and I'm really excited!