Several years ago, when Lee Child was in town with the Thurber House, I was scheduled to interview him. Unfortunately, I had to go out of town unexpectedly and missed him. Fortunately, I was able to catch up with him recently and talk to him about writing the Jack Reacher novels (including the most recent, 19th novel, Personal), working under deadlines, and how a potential supermarket job gave Jack Reacher his name.
Surgeon Kelly Parsons wrote Doing Harm in the off hours over the past 8 years to give an insider’s look at how murders are secretly committed in hospitals.
Perhaps I should label the above [satire] like Facebook is apparently doing just to make sure that it’s clear Dr. Parsons has written a fiction novel.
We talked about his novel, how he developed the plot, and what group -a surprise to me- seemed to offer him support in his writing.
Be the first person to comment below and win a copy of Doing Harm (must be picked up at WCBE, 540 Jack Gibbs Blvd, Columbus, Ohio).
Thirsty for a great interview? Mindy McGinnis, a young adult librarian, author, and active blogger, is a must-meet individual whose talent and comical personality make for one refreshing conversation.
In her two post-apocalyptic novels, Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, the world is faced with a shortage of water and owning it means killing to survive.
The Craft summer intern, Kayla, met with McGinnis at the 2014 Ohioana Book Festival to discuss what exactly makes water the blue gold of the world and where exactly that leaves makeup and UGG boots when fresh water is no longer in large supply. On her video blogs, McGinnis coaches her fans on how to dress for survival, telling girls that the closer they look like to guys, the better.
During her interview with Craft, McGinnis reveals who inspired her video blogs where, in some cases, she is seen feeding her book a bottle, and then a kitten, and listing all the taboo topics (including rock and roll) that may or may not be in her novel. Her sense of humor leaves many of her fans baffled. To this McGinnis responds, “When I do panels and people watch my vlogs, they’re like, ‘You’re so funny, your Twitter feed is so funny, your blog is so funny, and your book is not funny.’ No, my book is not funny. My book is not funny, and it’s not meant to be funny.”
McGinnis hopes that one day, she gets around to publishing more of the pieces that reflect her humor, but fans can look forward to her gothic historical novel coming out in 2015.
You can check out her video blogs on writerwriterpantsonfire.blogspot.com, and you can listen to the full Craft interview.
Veronica Roth seems like one of the nicest authors I’ve talked to in a while and her Divergent series has racked up huge sales. But we did have different views on one important aspect of our shared experiences. Listen in to find out where Veronica’s sunny disposition ran into my more sober one.
Now is YOUR chance to ask Veronica Roth about her hit books Divergent and Insurgent and the movie version of Divergent, as well as her brand new book Four, a collection of short stories set in Roth’s dystopian Chicago told from Tobias “Four” Eaton’s point of view. Just enter your question into the comment section below and if we use your question, you’ll win Four.* Then listen to WCBE for your question and her answer!
*Available for pickup at 540 Jack Gibbs Blvd., Columbus, Ohio. Shipping not available. Comments must be left by 5 pm Monday, July 7, 2014.
What if I told you Superman was real? Or that some characters in the Superman comic book series were real?
At the 2014 Ohioana Book Festival, Craft summer intern Kayla talked with the good-humored Brad Ricca, author of Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster- The Creators of Superman, which recreates the adventures of Superman’s original writer and illustrator, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Ricca spent years exploring the lives of Siegel and Shuster, starting with their Great Depression origins. Her interview with Ricca reveals some of the facts he found that not even the living relatives of the two creators knew.
Even if you aren’t a comic buff, Ricca’s personality and passion for comics fills the readers in on the interesting history of the comic and the creators in their youth. Hailing from the city of Cleveland, Ricca earned a Ph.D. English from Case Western Reserve University. He was recently awarded a 2014 Cleveland Arts Prize, and he has been invited to share his knowledge of comics in publications such as The New York Times, Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, and others. Super Boys was declared one of the top ten arts books of 2013 by Booklist and received praise from Stan Lee former chairman and president of Marvel Comics.
As Kayla says, “It was fairly nerve-wracking to meet the author acclaimed by Stan Lee himself, but Ricca is easy-going and comical in the best kind of way. He made me realize just how important comic books, Superman, and Stan Lee are to the world.”
Journalist and essayist David Giffels has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Grantland, and Redbook among others. His most recent book is The Hard Way on Purpose, a collection of essays about growing up near Akron and Cleveland, an area he sees as embodying a sense of place, but “a weird, surreal place,” The Rust Belt.
We discussed The Rust Belt, shared stories of destroyed places of our youth (his in Cleveland, mine in Toledo), and ended with a look at his experiences writing for Bevis and Butthead and a book on Devo.
Sally Howard
Journalist Sally Howard has written for The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, and Forbes on topics such as travel and celebrities like Daryl Hannah, Jimmy Choo, and Colin Firth. Read more about her at her website or follow her on Twitter @wanderingsal. Her latest book, The Kama Sutra Diaries: Intimate Journeys through Modern India, covers her travels in India and her exploration of what she sees as a sexual and social revolution in that country. She uncovers territories from little-known, at least in the west, ancient erotic Indian statues to the surprisingly little-understood, like India’s consumption of explicit web material.
Listen to Sally Howard on Craft
Kama Sutra Diaries Cover image
Ohioana Book Festival featured author Laura Bickle has a serious investment in crime, since she has a dual background in criminology and library science (hey, library fees are serious in my house).
Her novel, The Hallowed Ones, follows an Amish heroine during a zombie apocalypse, great reading while The Walking Dead is on a break. Tune in to find out why she set the series in Amish country.
Lynn Cullen head shot
Did Edgar Allan Poe have an affair with an aspiring poet? Thurber House guest Lynn Cullen makes some guesses at the Poe mystery with her historical novel Mrs. Poe. She’ll be at the Thurber House on Tuesday, May 6.
In our interview, we discuss how fans of Poe’s “The Raven” would follow him down the street, flapping their arms and the truly bizarre behaviour of Poe’s main rival and literary executor, Rufus Wilmot Griswold.