Over the last 13 years I have grown fond of living in the Cleveland area.  We have a great lake, we have an outstanding park system, our suburban schools are excellent, the cost of living can’t be beat, we have the best medical hospitals at our beck and call…I could go on and on.  But one thing we don’t have an abundance of is bestselling authors popping in on tour.  I was lucky to see Beth Hoffman a few weeks ago and tonight I had to make a choice between bestselling authors.  Can you believe it?  Janet Evanovich and Taylor Stevens were speaking half an hour apart and as much as I tried to make the math problem work I knew I’d have to choose.  Taylor made it easy for me by inviting those on her email list to join her at TGIFridays from 5-6:30 before going to the library to speak from 7-8:30.

This was my second time meeting Taylor, the first time at Bouchercon last October, but this time I got to hear her speak so I was able to learn more about her growing up all over the world in a cult.  If you want to learn more that life you can read the second book in the series (The Innocent), a book Taylor calls a thrillerized version of her life. “If it’s in that book, it happened, yes.”  I admit that I still have to read this one, but it has moved to the top of my list. Here are a few pics from the evening.

If you get a chance to see Taylor speak you should take advantage of it.  She is so open and really enjoys talking to people and sharing her experience with you.  If you don’t have to opportunity to see her in person you should sign up for her email list.  She shares publishing secrets and gives a lot of insight into how the industry operates.  Sign up for her email list here.  I had a fantastic evening and am so happy that I chose Taylor over Janet 🙂  I’ve got a signed copy of her latest, The Doll, ready to give away soon!

I love to meet authors.  For book bloggers and writers they are celebrities.  My local library brought Leah Stewart, author of 3 books, to talk to us and answer questions.  I am over halfway through her latest book (and the first one I’ve read) and I’m loving it.  It is about a woman’s identity and how it changes once she becomes a mother.  Given my nine months of motherhood I relate.  I hope to have it finished and my review posted in the next few days.

Leah talked about her writing process.  When she started Husband and Wife she had a 3-year-old and a 7 month old at home.  I am in awe of that!  It took her a little over a year to write and was her easiest writing experience because she knew the story before she started writing.  Her second novel, The Myth of You & Me, took her 5 years to write because she had no clear vision, just the suggestion from her editor to write a contemporary story about a woman.  She offers the advice to know the story before you start writing.

If you’ve read Husband & Wife she based physical likeness of the Rajiv character on Naveen Andrews .  A few authors she feels are important because she connects with them personally are Austen, Eliot and Fitzgerald.  She had just finished reading a Sarah Dessen book and My American Unhappiness.  She does not like the labels of chick lit or women’s fiction, but understands their marketing value.

She was asked if she was happy or sad when she finished a book and she said, “I’m so happy when I’m done.”  I loved the honesty.  When she was asked the most important quality for a successful writer to have, her answer was perseverance, determination, or the inability to stop doing it.

I really enjoyed her talk and the easy way she listened to the questions and took her time to answer them completely, not just giving stock answers.  She describes her books as ambiguous, moral situations.  Husband & Wife centers on infidelity and she told us right up front that she has no knowledge of her husband cheating on her!  It’s fiction people.

She likes twitter and if you’d like to find her @leahcstewart.  Or on her website.  I thought the evening was wonderful and that she was a delightful speaker.   I do hope you will check her out.