Connecticut Author's Trail Finale Event

The author for the finale of this year's author trail was Luanne Rice, who just came out with an amazing YA novel: Pretend She's Here.

Photo:

Ten Facts:

She got her start writing short stories

She had stacks of envelopes of rejections

She sent the stories to popular magazines and literary journals

Her first publish piece was called On the Rocks

As payment, she earned 10 copies of the magazine.

She writes about three sisters

She has two sisters

She left college because her dad was sick

Her family has a house in Old Lyme.

She writes about the area but under a different name, but people recognize it frequently

About the Book:

Emily Lonergan's best friend died last year.

And Emily hasn't stopped grieving. Lizzie Porter was lively, loud, and fun -- Emily's better half. Emily can't accept that she's gone.

When Lizzie's parents and her sister come back to town to visit, Emily's heartened to see them. The Porters understand her pain. They miss Lizzie desperately, too.

Desperately enough to do something crazy.

Something unthinkable.

My Thoughts: I couldn't put this book down; it was so engaging. I had to find out what happened and how it was all going to work out. It was creepy, suspenseful, and heart wrenching. I felt terrible for Emily as she tried to save herself. I really liked her relationships with her new friends. I liked how it all turned out and the aftermath. A great read for any time of year, but especially October. I don't want to see any more without spoiling it, but this book is all about friendships, survival, and being true to yourself. 

About the Author:

Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-three novels including CLOUD NINE, BEACH GIRLS, and THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF SISTER. LAST DAY will be out in February 2020. Five of her books have been made into movies and mini-series, many have been New York Times bestsellers and two of her pieces have been featured in off-Broadway theatre productions. She lives on the Connecticut shoreline.

Meeting Mary Higgins Clark

I read Loves Music Loves to Dance when I was in the 7th grade for a book report and I loved it. I was hooked. I read all the other books by Mary Higgins Clark. I was so happy to meet her on Friday night. She was there with her daughter, author Carol Higgins Clark. They were charming, funny, and intriguing. 

The secrets we learned:

Originally, Mary Higgins Clark killed off her characters Elvira in Weep No More My Lady, but her daughter convinced her to rethink the death.  For her latest book, her editor asked for a biblical story. It's the only book that isn't titled after a song.

Deck the Halls, their first collaborative book, was made into a movie last year - they both had cameos in it.

Mary Higgins Clark knew she wanted to be a writer. She was always writing skits that she and her brothers would perform together. They wanted more of a starring role, but as the writer, she chose the rolls. She wrote during math and sciences classes. She went to secretarial school, but then her father died and they needed money.  She started a job in advertising.

She just got engaged when she was offered the opportunity to be a Pan Am Stewardess for a year. She would be traveling and seeing Europe, Asia, and Africa. Her fiance told her to get the travel bug out of her system and they would get married at Christmas, when people were more generous.

When she stopped flying, she signed up for a class at NYU for short stories as she never thought she could write a book. She didn't realize she was a mystery writer. She sold her first short story for $100, but it was at a time when short stories were not selling. Her agent pushed her to write a book. She was researching George Washington for a radio show and discovered fascinating details of his life. She wrote a book and gushed to her agent over all the research. Her agent was less than happy as the book only sold 1200 copies. It was later reprinted as Mount Vernon Love Story. She wrote from 5-6:45 in the morning at the kitchen table as she was working full time. Now she has an office where she can leave her work out. Mary Higgins Clark wanted to write a book that would sell. She looked in her library and realized that she loved suspense. So she started writing suspense.

Carol, interested in acting, began typing up her mother's books and fell into writing. Her first book Decked, was a murder on a cruise ship. Her mother came up with the title. Carol looked around in her life for ideas from books. One item was a letter from a man who wanted to be her butler. Another was from her stint on a game show where she lost the big money because her partner's terrible clues. One that might make it to her book was an unknown person buried in their cemetery's family plot.

Her mother's advice " If someone's mean to you, make them a victim in your next book."

Mary Higgins Clark writing advice: Take a look at your bookshelf. What books to do gravitate towards? Choose that type of book to write.

I LOVED meeting her!