This morning I drove out to Glencoe, a Chicago suburb not far from where I grew up, to attend an author event held by the Women’s Library Club of Glencoe. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a literary event in Chicago and thought this one sounded like fun. The event was held at the new Writers Theater.
Stacey Ballis and Renee Rosen are local authors with Penguin’s Berkley Books imprint. I read Stacey’s first book and have heard of Renee for a long time, so was excited to meet them.
But before I did, I met up with Kelly Q. Anderson, another local writer I’ve been social media friends with forever and who interviewed me for her Convos With Writers. So I was completely thrilled to meet her in real life. And it’s always fun to go to these events with friends, especially ones who love books and writing. We’re already talking about hanging out at other literary events in Chicago!
Stacey and Renee each spoke about their paths to publication, and both were as different as their genres. Stacey writes what she calls contemporary culinary-lit and got her first book deal and agent in one swoop, while Renee spent 17 years writing her first novel and changed agents after the publication of that first book. They also spoke about their latest books and what they’re working on now.
Even though they had different journeys, both were incredibly inspirational to a writer (moi!) who is working on her second book project. I was second in line when they signed books after their discussion and Q&A. It was fun chatting about some mutual friends, getting some of their books signed, and snapping this photo.
I also met author Trisha Daab, who writes Disney guidebooks for blended families. The event occurred right in the middle of the school day, so I had plenty of time to get there and enough time to drive home (it’s an hour each way) before my kids got out of school. Chicago really is a great literary city and I love supporting local authors.
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