Friday, March 20, 2009

General Randomness

Happy Friday, Everyone! Last Saturday I had the honor of being invited to speak at Eisenhower Public Library in Harwood Heights, IL. It was their first annual YA Lit Festival and I was on a panel with five other authors. One being our own adorable Simone Elkeles. The other authors were Ann Angel, Adam Seltzer, Claudia Martinez, and Pamela Todd. Simone enthralled the crowd by reading some hilarious fan email. I did a reading from Spring Breakup, which was a first, and was proud of myself that I didn't pass out. The other authors did readings from their books as well and it amazed me that after every single reading I wanted to read their books really bad! It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with so many talented and entertaining authors! I really wish that my library had exposed me to this kind of program when I was growing up. About eighty kids showed up and they were the most respectful bunch I had ever had the pleasure of being around. It was obvious that the high school librarian and the head librarian of Eisenhower were doing a fantastic job of getting these kids interested in books. Here is a shot of me and Simone.

I even had my first male fan come up and tell me he loved Revenge of the Homecoming Queen. I have to admit that I didn't believe him at first. But when he started talking about the characters, I realized he actually did read it! After the program the kids swarmed our table to get autographs and ask questions. They were adorable! So thanks to Peggy and Jennette and all the kids from Norridge High School! And a VERY special thanks to my good friend Karen for helping me with directions and letting me starve her to death the entire day!

In other fun things, Lifetime is getting ready to kick off another four Nora Roberts movies. The first one is Northern Lights starring LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian (yes, please, the dude is HOT!)There are four movies premiering for the next four Saturday nights. Stars from the other movies include Jerry O'Connell, Brittany Murphy, and the licktastic (yay, I made that up)Jason Lewis (Smith from Sex in the City). I'll be TiVoing all of them.


Happy weekend!
xo,
Stephanie
www.stephaniehale.com

4 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

Steph and Simone, your library panel sounds like an incredible experience! Thanks for sharing the story and the picture!

And those Lifetime movies sound great...

Thao said...

That sounds great, esp the reading and the guy fan!

Iris Black said...

Loved HIGH NOON and TRIBUTE! Can't wait to see them!

Iris
http://irisblack-author.blogspot.com

The Golfing Librarian said...

I bet I read it before he did! ;)