Imagine hundreds of women, and some men, gathered from all over the country at the San Jose Convention Center, to share their reading pleasure with others of the same ilk. These folks are members of book groups, with some booksellers and publishers thrown in, whose idea of a heavenly weekend is to listen to their favorite authors chatting in literary salons.
The evening before, I had a raucous dinner with authors Gail Tsukiyama [Women of the Silk] and Julia Glass [winner of the National Book Award for "Three Junes"]. Over pasta and several glasses of wine, we were easily the loudest table in the restaurant, sharing stories of family, travels, and other non-literary subjects. What a blast! I finally left for bed at 11 pm, but I heard later that Gail and Julia lasted until 2 am.
The next day, my salon on historical fiction had an overflow crowd, most of whom had never heard of me or Rashi’s Daughters. Gail was on my panel along with C.W. Gortner [The Last Queen – about the final queen of Castille], and we had a wonderful time discussing such questions as “are your characters based on any real people you know?” and “how did you get interested in your subject?” as well as our writing discipline [or lack of it]. Gail and C.W. were witty, funny and of course, very knowledgeable about their historical time period. There were great questions from the audience as well, as could be expected from such dedicated readers.
Then we had book signings, where I had good news and bad news. Good news – since most of the attendees had never heard of me, they all wanted to buy Book I. Bad news – since Book II is my newest release, the book sellers had more copies of MIRIAM than JOHEVED, and the latter sold out. But the best news was all the wonderful new readers I’ll have, the delightful people I met, and learning about this wonderful new organization that celebrates book groups.
Did you know that October is National Reading Group Month? This month libraries, bookstores, and reading groups will celebrate the month dedicated to the joy of reading and literary discussion.
I will be celebrating NRGM this coming weekend at Book Group Expo. Taking place at the San Jose Convention Center, this is reading junkies' chance to: Meet authors. Eat chocolate. Attend lively discussions. Taste wine. Get books signed. Savor fine tea. Eat more chocolate. Have fun. Find out more at their website. I will be on the Historical Fiction panel, discussing “Characters in Conflict - How does historical fiction help us understand what is happening in our world today?”
So if you’re anywhere near the Bay Area Oct 25-26, you might want to stop by and check it out. You’ll find me signing books and eating chocolate, possibly simultaneously.
With all the terrible economic news floating around, I thought I’d give my fans a little reason to smile. In short, my agent is almost done negotiating a movie option for Rashi’s Daughters, one that could lead to a TV movie or miniseries [let’s face it – something on TV is far more likely to attract my readers than a film in a theater]. So have some fun imagining which actresses you’d like to see as Joheved, Miriam, and Rachel; and which actors as Rashi, Meir, Judah, and Eliezer.
Since it's the night before Kol Nidre, I hope you have an easy fast and “G’mar hatima tova” – may you be inscribed for a good year.