Alisa M. Libby's Blog, page 30

Book Talk at West Bridgewater Public Library

Today I met with the teen book group at the West Bridgewater Public Library. This group was a little bit younger than my usual audience–they were probably around 11 to 14 years old. And I have to say, they were fantastic. At least half a dozen of them were writers, working on novels, short stories, poetry, and songs. And their interests ran the gamut of fantasy, magical realism, and historical fiction. I always worry that a group, especially of teenagers, won’t ask any questions (I know I was sh

chocolate publicity, online video

Saturday I had a booksigning at the Barnes & Noble in Framingham. This was a good experience from beginning to end: great staff, great manager, great promotion (they had a nice sign in the window!) and great customers. I was also pleased that they had copies of The Blood Confession out, and some customers opted to buy that one instead of, or (even better) in addition to The King’s Rose. My dutiful paparazzi (aka my sister Marcie and her daughter Jessica) were present to take some photos of the e

The King’s Rose Book Launch Party Recap

The official book launch party for The King’s Rose was held at Simmons College on the day of the book’s release - fancy, eh? I work at Simmons GSLIS (Graduate School of Library and Information Science) so I’m blessed to be working with lots of book-minded people who were very encouraging and enthusiastic about celebrating the book. Especially my wonderful supervisor, Jen Doyle, who came up with fantastic ideas for the event and helped promote it to the library world. And she did a fantastic job

The King’s Rose – released!

Finally, after you’ve listened to me nattering on about it forever, the book is out. There are so many people who were integral to the process of creating this book, so I feel the need to thank them here: my ever-patient agent, Esmond Harmsworth; my wonderful editor, Julie Strauss-Gabel; Michael Frost for that delicious cover photo; Lisa Yoskowitz at Dutton for all of her guidance and assistance; and just Dutton in general. I send you all big blankets of love.

I also really, truly need to thank T

one day one day one more little day

Today a very nice woman came to the house and interviewed me for the Brockton Enterprise. I think it went well (once the dog settled down) though I feel a little cringe-y about the final product. But that’s nothing unusual.

I scurried around the house yesterday making sure the family room/kitchen area was tidyish as I figured that’s where we would be sitting, and of course that meant moving stuff (piles of mail, drying sweaters, etc.) into the office. And what did she ask first? To see my office.

The journey of The King’s Rose

I am feeling a little bit antsy today. Do you know that feeling where you have a lot of work to do and you have this big dealie coming up soon (my book launch party this Thursday) and you should really sit down at your little desk and get stuff done like a real grown up person, but all you want to do is just sort of…wiggle around the house, listen to Bowie a touch too loud, and generally fritter away time? I’ve been a horrible time-fritter-er today–I’ve even managed to subvert Tom’s best intenti

slacking a bit

My oh my, there is nothing that can completely derail me from blogging like a birthday, a stomach bug, and a tiring week at work. Oh, and having the third season dvd of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But now we have officially landed in the week of the book’s release (!!) and I’m determined to get back in the swing. I am going to be all over this thing, you’ll see. You’ll see!

books I loved as a kid

The moment I read the poem “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes stands out as a shining moment of revelation in my elementary school career: I can see the book, with its large print, spread open on my desk. I think that poem actually altered my brain from that point forward.

In fifth grade, I read The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. My sister Susan and I liked to build forts on Saturday mornings: a square of chairs draped with overlapping blankets, held in place with an assortment of rubber bands an

snow, again…and art

We watched Simon Schama’s “Power of Art” series, which was very interesting - highly recommended for all of you art lovers out there. Though I must say that the early episodes, focused on the art of Caravaggio and Bernini, were my favorites. I guess I’m not a modernist…but are any of us surprised to hear that? I didn’t think so.

And now…a word from Sheryl’s friend - and my biggest critic - Rowdy:

waiting for book’s release

I’ve often wondered what other authors do with themselves in that strange “in between books” stage. I read an interview with Pucker author Melanie Gideon (if I recall correctly) about how she spends this time reading a lot, seeing a lot of movies, and listening to very loud music. I think these all sound like excellent ideas. I also like to go to a museum and spend the whole day just wandering around. And apparently I allot a substantial amount of time to hand-wringing and generally dark thought