Sunday, April 13, 2008

Author Brunch Recap

Today was the LIWA Author Brunch at Hofstra. In addition to being thrilled and honored to interview Alice Hoffman about her new book, THE THIRD ANGEL, I was excited to hear Larry Davidson interview Eric Van Lustbader and Victoria Lustbader. Larry was a terrifically colorful interviewer. Eric was so wry he could have a second career as a stand-up comic, and Victoria was utterly disarming in her candor. Fantastic!


Eric Van Lustbader, Victoria Lustbader and Larry Davidson



I got to see a proof for the cover of Eric's forthcoming FIRST DAUGHTER (Forge 8/08), and it looks astounding. (It's on my wishlist.) I already read Victoria's amazing debut, HIDDEN, which is now out in paperback, and am looking forward to her next one, STONE CREEK (Harper 5/08).


It was good to see old friends and new ones at this event. My bud, Carol Hoenig, was there. She's wasn't promoting anything, but she's a wonderful writer and if you haven't read WITHOUT GRACE, I highly recommend it. If you're an author, you should also check out her Guide to PLANNING BOOK EVENTS. Carol's a pro and has tons of valuable info.

I was very excited to meet my newest writer friend, Long Island homey Saralee Rosenberg. I had just read the ARC for her forthcoming novel, DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD, which I was more than happy to blurb, as it's rare to find a book that's so funny and yet has so much heart.

Big thanks to the friends who came, to everyone who introduced themselves, and to the gals from the Hofstra bookstore. A major shout-out to award-winning journalist Debbi Honorof for putting this event together. She astounds me.

Here are some shots Carol got while Alice and I were chatting ...





As you probably know, writers are my rock stars. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to meet Alice and find that in addition to being one of our most talented contemporary authors, she's kind, generous and down-to-earth. She made me feel like we were old friends.

That said, I hope you'll rush out and buy THE THIRD ANGEL not because I like Alice Hoffman so much, but because you'll love the book. USA Today sure did.


4 comments:

Lisa Marie said...

wonderful I'm so very happy for this is amazing and beautiful congrats...Lisa

Maryanne Stahl said...

fabulous! I love Alice Hoffman and have followed her career. so glad it turned out to be such a positive event for you. sure wish I could have been there.
Was a tape made of the interview?

Myfanwy Collins said...

Sounds like a wonderful event. Wish I could have been there!

SusanD said...

Sounds like a wonderful time, and you look beautiful as ever, Ellen! Congrats!