CALLING ME HOME Is Out in Paperback!

It seems like yesterday that Calling Me Home had its U.S. release in hardcover, but it's been nearly a year. And what a year! Reading through Julie's posts over the past eleven months, it's clear that for a first-time writer, the days and months after publication can be a whirlwind in ways both wonderful and tough.

And now, here she goes again. Not only will new readers pick up this terrific novel, but Target has made it their January Club Pick, which means that not only did Julie sign her name six thousand times for Target readers, but it's about to get a huge new audience. Here at WWW, we couldn't be more thrilled and cannot wait to see and hear about the success of the book.

Haven't read it yet? Head on over to Target, to your local bookstore, or even go online and order a copy, in print or e-book. It's a great read, and can we just say again how proud we are of our friend and partner, the talented and tired Julie Kibler?

If you're in the north Texas area, be sure to join Julie for a book event at Half Price Books in Plano on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. Some of us will see you there!

You can learn more about Calling Me Home and other upcoming events at Julie's website.

A New Generation of Readers

By Susan

All parents teach by example, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.
I've done my fair share of unintentional parenting, but one thing I've done for sure is model a reader's life for my girls. They've both come along with me to libraries and bookstores since they were babies: borrowing, buying, and coveting titles. They live with me and my stacks--by my bedside, in my home office, my car, and on my desk. They've heard me say more than once "I need another bookcase." In addition, they've been my best helpers when I'm loading boxes of donated used books into my car to deliver to International Book Project for the next shipment for Ghana or Nigeria. Books, around here, aren't outdated or cumbersome. They are what we do.

So it's not surprising that they have developed their own reading habits, favorite authors and series, and have flourished in an environment where books are better than chocolate. And yet this week, for all three of us, something clicked.
On Sunday, we drove to Dallas for Half-Price Books' semi-annual book purge. (I don't know what they actually call it, but it was amazing.) A warehouse full of half-sorted books, piled on tables as far as the eye could see--all for under $1.00 each. We split up, each searching for gold. My older daughter stood paralyzed by the possibilities and had a hard time even starting. The younger dove in, finding complete series of middle grade paperbacks, shuffling books upon books, her elbows gently brushing those beside her in their shared quest for something brilliant. And I headed for fiction, then to anthologies, then to essays and poetry.
It was probably an hour before I noticed a man holding a sign high that read "End Of The Line,"and I realized that the entire warehouse was the line, snaking around in circles to the check out. We reconvened and shared our finds: 42 books for $25. We waited to check out, each of us reading to ourselves, and I looked around me. Everyone in the line stood quietly, reading. I nudged my girls, "look," and we all smiled. There was no frustration or anger in this queue: just reading people, grinning to themselves, books in hands. "Everybody's happy," my youngest said.

On Tuesday, Veronica Roth's third book in the Divergent Trilogy released, and Parker, my firstborn, did the research for her Wednesday night book signing in Dallas. Now, I've been to lots of book signings, but this one was a "wristband event." In order to get a copy of Allegiant signed by the super-talented 24-year-old Veronica Roth, the book, with wristband, must be purchased on Tuesday to secure a spot in Wednesday night's line.

I talked to an employee at the Barnes & Noble; he told me he expected 700 wristbands to go out on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I drove my daughter and my best friend's daughter, Sunny, to Dallas for dinner and the signing. Then we waited, in a long quiet line of other readers. As our second queue of the week snaked through aisles of books, Parker looked up from quietly reading and looked around. "Book people are my favorite kind," she said. I couldn't help but agree.

On our exit, the manager told me that they'd distributed 1200 wristbands for the evening. I turned around and looked behind me at the crowded store: No, I decided. Books are not a dying art. No e-reader will ever replace this experience. Parker, clutching the book to her chest, kept repeating the phrase "This really is happening," as she smiled, all the way to the car.

So what changed this week, with me, with my daughters? We're all readers, focused on adding titles to our shelves. We're in it together, this reading thing. And as a writer, I'm inspired. The words are there, to be written, to be read. After the past few days, no one can convince me that paper books and brick and mortar bookstores are a dying art. As solitary as reading can be, I've got to agree with my girl. Book people are my favorite kind.

Elizabeth Gilbert Comes to Dallas

By Pamela

If you've followed us much at all here, you know how much we love supporting authors when they come to our area. Not only do I believe it's good karma or kismet but, as a writer, I find it so fascinating to hear an author share her story about how her book came to be. Much like watching the director's cut of a movie with the commentary on, listening to a writer tell about how a story grew from a germ of an idea into a tome you can hold in your hands is so intriguing.

Elizabeth Gilbert 

Soon we will be in the company of Elizabeth Gilbert as she tours through Dallas to promote her new novel, The Signature of All Things. Care to join us?

She will speak at Highland Park United Methodist Church's Authors Live! on Monday night, November 4, at 7 p.m.

Ms. Gilbert returns to her fiction roots in The Signature of All Things following the memoir of her spiritual and geographical journey in Eat, Pray, Love. Multiple narrative threads weave seamlessly into this 18th-19th century saga that is typically Gilbert.

Highland Park United Methodist Church is located at 3300 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. Ms. Gilbert's appearance is sponsored by The Friends of the Highland Park Public Library and The Friends of the SMU Libraries. The event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase and there will be a book signing following the program.

Hope to see you there!

Q&A with Adriana Trigiani

by Joan

New York Times Bestselling author Adriana Trigiani followed her wildly successful Big Stone Gap series with poignant, hilarious novels featuring lovely Italian families in New York. ( Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, Rococo, and Very Valentine). Her new book, Viola in Reel Life, will be released September 1 (available for pre-order).


When fourteen-year-old Viola is sent from her beloved Brooklyn to boarding school in Indiana for ninth grade, she overcomes her initial reservations as she makes friends with her roommates, goes on a real date, and uses the unsettling ghost she keeps seeing as the subject of a short film—her first.

Put it this way: If Adriana Trigiani writes it, I will read it. Recently, I had the unbelievable privilege of interviewing Ms. Trigiani. Check her Web site for tour dates or follow me to her Dallas book signing September 17 at the Borders at Preston and Royal.


Joan: Each time I read one of your novels, I dub it my favorite. Do you have a favorite?

Adriana: Thank you! As for favorites--I really don’t have one--I’m a good mother (in that way). I love all my children equally.

Joan: Speaking of children, Viola in Reel Life is your first venture into young adult fiction. What led you to write in this new genre?

Adriana: Tara Weikum, my editor--called and asked. I’ve been dying to write a young adult--as this was the period when I got hooked on reading--I loved Beverly Cleary, Madeline L’Engle and Louise Fitzhugh when I was a girl. I used to pick them up on the Bookmobile. Writing young adult books is like a trip back on to the bookmobile for me.

Joan: I’m excited Viola will encounter a ghost. Tell us about the spirit and why you chose to introduce a supernatural element into the story.

Adriana: Well, I was looking for a way to explain the unseen--the spark an artist experiences when she goes to create a poem, a book or a movie--the impulse--and in the case of Viola Chesterton, a budding filmmaker--she learns about her artistic impulses via a very delicious story about an event that happened on the campus many years ago. I wove those two ideas together.

Joan: Most of your books center around families, yet Viola is sent away to boarding school. Is this intentional?

Adriana: It’s so interesting. I still consider VIOLA IN REEL LIFE about families at its center--Viola is part of a loving and interesting family, who are very present in her life and the book. She also becomes part of a boarding school family. I really never venture far from my deeply ingrained themes- even when I try!

Joan: I imagine that’s the reason your books are so beloved. I’m thrilled your latest adult novel Very Valentine will be another trilogy and am looking forward to reading Encore Valentine next February. Will Viola also be a trilogy?

Adriana: Thank you--I’m so excited for you to read Encore Valentine. I’m crazy about it--it’s in its final copyediting stage now--and today I go and look at the cover art--always a wonderful part of the process. As for Viola--expect a lot more of her--three to start, and hopefully more!

Joan: Your fans will be very happy. You have a strong connection to your readers, and I understand you listen carefully to them. Have you ever been surprised by a reader’s reaction to one of your novels?

Adriana: Not really--though the responses run the gamut. There is criticism, and praise, and my favorite letters are about the families of my readers--and stories of their lives.

Joan: You use a lot of personal family history in your books. Do you have plans to write a book about the wisdom your grandmothers passed on to you?

Adriana: I keep a book for my daughter, and hope to write a non-fiction book based upon it for my readers.

Joan: With such a full schedule, how do you find time for everything: writing, directing the Big Stone Gap movie, answering your own email and caring for a small child? Do you sleep? Or have a clone?

Adriana: I’ve always been aware, even more so today because I’m a mother--of the ticking of the clock. My mother gave me very good advice when I had Lucia, she told me that I can do anything, as long as my family comes first. I build my life that way, and believe me, I fail a lot, and come up short. But, I also know my time on this earth is limited, and I try and make the most of the time I’ve been given. I am very lucky, and I know I’m lucky. I figure the best way to honor the blessings is to work hard and do my best. I answer the emails personally because my readers take the time to write to me, and I owe them a proper response. I’m a good sleeper--I go to bed early and rise early. As for clones--one of me is enough!

Joan: As an author of very visual stories, art plays a big role in your books, and I understand you keep a sketchbook, fabric and other relevant items close to your desk. How does this practice help you create visually stimulating characters?

Adriana: I was very lucky to have a professor at Saint Mary’s College--Dr. Reg Bain, in theater. The first thing he had us create was a collage inspired by reading a play. This became a habit with me. I collect odd items and fill my desk with them. Maps, bits of fabric, beads, small paintings, you name it--it has the potential to inspire me. When I met the great Mario Buatta, he shared that he creates a board for every interior design project. Tactile objects, old letters, texture, materials--all these things inspire me.

Joan: Speaking of art, your book covers are stunning. We've heard horror stories of authors not having a say in their cover art. Did you just get lucky?

Adriana: Thank you. I love my book jackets and cover art. After I’ve written the book and the editor and publishers have read it, we have a lot of discussions and meetings--about everything from color palette to message. I’m right in there with the cover artists. I have been very lucky--my designers are brilliant.

Joan: How often do you travel to the places in Italy your characters visit? Would you consider writing a book set entirely in that country?

Adriana: I travel annually--all over the place and mostly--Italy. Yes, I’d love to set an entire book there--and other places I have been fortunate enough to visit. Whenever I leave home, I find something wonderful. My job as an artist is to soak up the details of a place and bring the lush landscape to my readers. Of course, the characters and story have to live up to the settings, and in my novels, I hope they do!

Joan: They absolutely do! Thank you so much for joining us!

Readers, if you haven't pre-ordered and want to win an autographed copy of Viola in Reel Life, leave a comment. But hurry; we’ll only take entries from people who comment before midnight on Thursday, August 6, so check back on Friday to see if you’ve won. Be sure your comment links us to contact info for you or contact us at wwwtx6 (at) yahoo (dot) com. Also, unless you're willing to spring for postage, winner must live in the U.S.