I just really like the ceiling of the courtyard in building 1 of the MDC campus. The geometry of it is very pretty.

Another day, another two hours in the car, but still totally worth it. I’d already walked most of the fair on Saturday, so I planned ahead and plotted a route from conference to conference. There was another impressive array of authors on the docket and my day ran the gamut from memoirs and literary fiction to children’s books young adult.

Helen Mitsios (seated) and her friend Cyn who stood in for Helen’s mother

I started out in building 3 where I waited for a reading by Helen Mitsios, co-author of Waltzing with the Enemy, a memoir by herself and her mother, a holocaust survivor. Her mother, unfortunately, was not there as she had passed away earlier this year. For anyone interested in World War II or the Holocaust, this book is a powerful look not only at what it took to survive those horrifying years, but the effect that fear had on the next generation of Jews like Helen. Helen’s mother raised her as a Greek Orthodox and although she never personally abandoned her faith, it became a secret she held onto until the last years of her life.

Hillary Jordan, Jaimy Gordon, and Tea Obreht

Because of the cancellation of another YA event, I ended up in a reading and question session by three award-winning literary authors: Hillary Jordan, Jaimy Gordon, and Tea Obreht. Each read a selection from their books and while each possessed a intriguing descriptive quality, I found myself most drawn to Hillary Jordan’s When She Woke, an almost sci-fi book that is a modernization of the Scarlet Letter. In When She Woke, criminals are no longer jailed, they are chromed, their skin dyed according to the nature of their crimes. The main character wakes up in the beginning of the story and her skin has been dyed red, the same red as freshly shed blood, as punishment for undergoing an illegal abortion. When she refuses to name the father of the child or any of the people who helped her obtain the abortion, she is sentenced to be a “Red” for sixteen years. I’ve always disliked the scarlet letter, but Jordan’s retelling of the story sounds fascinating.

It’s Jon Scieszka!! 😀 The picture is bad, but the light above his head ruined it…

I had a block of time and nothing scheduled, so when I heard someone recommend sitting in on Jon Scieszka’s talk because he was absolutely hilarious, I thought, “Sure. Why not?” Only after I’d already sat down did I realize that this is the genius behind The Stinky Cheese Man (which, apparently is called The Little Man of Cheese in France) and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (which, in Denmark, is called The Sugar is Empty… ?)!! I adored those books in elementary school! They are also on the shortlist of books that I loved at a young age and can actually still go back to, read, and enjoy. After his talk I went up to him and said, “This is probably going to be both good and bad to hear, but I loved your books in elementary school.” He laughs and says, “I love hearing that!” But then he blinks and realizes how old I am and says, “Ahh. Yep, I see the bad.” Jon has a fantastic sense of humor and had the whole audience (who ranged in age from his target reading group of 1st-4th graders all the way up through middle-aged parents) in fits of laughter. I was very happy that I wandered into his room and wished that I still had my old copies of his books so I could have gotten them signed.

Jennifer Knight, Jessica Martinez, and Danielle Joseph

My requisite YA event of the afternoon was a panel of two debut authors (Jennifer Knight and Jessica Martinez) and Danielle Joseph who is touring to promote her third book, Pure Red. They all did readings as well as answering questions, and I definitely want to read Jessica’s book Virtuosity. It’s the story of a violin phenom who is approaching the biggest, most important  competition of her career. She’s addicted to anti-anxiety medication which is the only way she can perform, but taking away the anxiety has also taken away any pleasure she has being on stage or pulling music from her violin (which is worth over a million dollars). As the competition looms closer, she begins falling for the boy who is wrong for her in almost every way, but is also her most dangerous competitor. The prologue absolutely pulled me in and I think I shall be downloading this to read while I’m taking a break between edits of Sing, Sweet. To top off the draw, Jessica is a violist herself and performed a small selection from her character’s competition concerto. I missed the first few seconds of it, but most of the impromptu performance is recorded for posterity and you can watch it at the bottom of the post. 🙂

This costume is so incredible!

That event (and a fast growing headache) brought my day to a close, but I am so happy I was able to attend. I met some great authors (and gathered further proof for my theory that authors are some of the best people on the planet) and heard from those who have succeeded the best advice they could offer. Check the internet for local bookfairs and do yourself a favor if you’re an author or a reader: GO!

And now, please enjoy Jessica Martinez’s beautiful performance of a Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto:

I started to write this as one long post, but then I looked at the pictures I wanted to share and what I had to say about the whole event and realized this was way too much for one post. So there shall be two, one for each day of major goings on at the Miami Book Fair International (MBFI).

Saturday turned out to be beautiful weather-wise which was a blessing considering that it rained buckets on Friday most of the day. The wind was pretty strong, but that was nice when you’re spending half the day walking from stall to stall in the South Florida sun.

I arrived around eleven and wandered the booths that lined the streets for the next hour. It was an interesting mix of new and used bookstores, independent presses, self-published authors, and writers services and organizations. Some I’d never heard of, others I recognized, but either way it was a fascinating look at the local writing landscape and I picked up some great books I never would have discovered otherwise as part of my research for Sing, Sweet Nightingale. It’s going to take me a while to read them all, but I think they’ll have some great information!

Colleen Houck, Debbie Viguie, Nancy Holder, and Sarah Dessen

At noon I headed toward building 1 where they held a fabulous panel of YA authors (picture from the discussion at right). The panel included paranormal/fantasy authors Colleen Houck, Debbie Viguie, and Nancy Holder as well as contemporary author Sarah Dessen. They were all fabulously kind and I wish I owned physical copies of Nancy and Debbie’s books (they co-write a bunch of different series) so they could have signed them! Alas, the only book I had was an ARC (advance release copy) of Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen. Now it’s a signed ARC! 😀

Clockwise from top: Colleen Houck, Me, Sarah Dessen, Nancy Holder, Debbie Viguie

These incredibly talented and incredibly kind authors not only gave a great presentation, they answered a lot of questions including my request for advice on building a platform relevant to the YA industry. Nancy and Debbie were especially helpful and I chatted with them for at least thirty minutes before I felt guilty for taking up so much of their time. If you ever get the chance to meet any of these authors, GO! They’re awesome.

Tasha Alexander, Ellen Hopkins, and Sunny Chen

After leaving building 1, I crossed campus to building 3 where another panel was being held. This one consisted of romance authors Tasha Alexander, Ellen Hopkins (also the bestselling author of YA books in verse like Crank), and Sunny Chen (who, if I remember correctly, is usually just listed as Sunny on her books). They spoke about their writing process–which is very different for each of these authors as each one writes in a very distinct style from the others on the panel–and about the perseverance is takes to make it in the publishing industry.

Errol Lewis, Pete Hamill, Mike Barnicle, and John Avlon

In one particular room, The Chapman Room for those of you who care, they held large, ticketed events. The tickets were free, but these were events they expected to draw a large crowd. For example, this is where they held the Christopher Paolini event last week. When I booked my tickets, I saw an event called Deadline Artists. I didn’t recognize any of the names, but the title intrigued me, so I registered for a ticket and attended the event. Turns out Deadline Artists is a collection of newspaper columns dating back to the early 1900s, the best of the best in literary journalism. Errol Lewis and John Avalon put the collection together while Pete Hamill and Mike Barnicle were contributors. Honestly, I almost didn’t stay once I realize what the presentation was about (I don’t read the newspaper and don’t follow politics, so I thought ugh. An hour listening to them talk about politics?). I am so glad I stayed. The conversation itself was fascinating, but it was worth the whole trip just to hear Pete Hamill read one of the columns included in the collection. Hamill was IN THE ROOM when Robert F. Kennedy was shot. He wrote a column about the event as he witnessed it and the beauty, horror, and power in his words is indescribable. Reading them would have been impactful, but for the first time I really understood the value of a reading because when he read his own words, you were there. Absolutely astounding. I recommend the collection to anyone with an interest in journalism or narrative non-fiction.

In addition to all the book-related events over the weekend, the Fair this year also highlighted the culture and art of China. Throughout the day various performers and musicians showed off their skills, but one of the most randomly amazing things I’ve ever seen is this juggling ballerina pictured at left. I mean, I’ve done pointe and I’ve tried juggling. On their own, their already hard-to-master skills. Put them together successfully and I have to bow down before your obvious physical prowess and eye-hand coordination. So cool!!

So ended my first day of the fair, but Sunday was just as exciting! Check back tomorrow for a recap and photos of Sunday!