I recently had the pleasure of hearing the vivacious Eleanor Brown speak to her Triad-based fans courtesy of the Bookmarks Book Festival (FYI: They have great literary events year-round, not just when the fest happens in September).
Her present tour to support the paperback release of her bestselling debut novel The Weird Sisters rivals that of a rock star. For anything you could possibly want to know about this delightful, absorbing book go to this page on her site: Author Q&A
I was able to catch up with her for a few breathless minutes to ask her about life after publication.
1. Have you figured out a way to sign an e-reader? Kidding aside, what are your thoughts on digital books?
I generally sign bookmarks for folks with e-readers, but I’ve also signed the e-readers themselves or their cases. My boyfriend worked out a way for me to sign an image of the book cover and email it to folks, but it’s too slow to do during a signing. We’ll see what happens in the future!
I’m a reader first and foremost, so I love digital books. Since I travel a lot, the fact that I can take a near-infinite number of books with me on a device that weighs a pound feels like a miracle. I’ve also found that because of the lower price points compared to hardcovers, people are willing to take a chance on a new author (like me!) and that really feels like a blessing.
2. What questions/comments do you love and which ones would you rather not hear?
Oh, I’m happy to hear any and all questions and comments. I hear a lot of the same ones frequently, but even though I’ve heard the question, the person asking it has never heard the answer, so I’m always happy to answer it again!
3. You’re currently on a massive book tour to promote The Weird Sisters. Which is stronger now: a fear of flying or a fear of missing an event because of flight delay/cancellation? (Eleanor’s blog on handling this common phobia)
My fear of flying has been manageable this tour, for a number of reasons, so I guess my fear of missing an event is bigger right now – I hate disappointing people!
4.What’s the biggest misconception about being a bestselling author?
That writing is all you do. That really oversimplifies the business aspect of being an author, which is as difficult and time-consuming as the writing part!
5. What’s the most fun about it?
Probably the most fun is the same as any other author – sharing and talking about stories with other people. The best part of having The Weird Sisters be so well-received is realizing that all the questions I wrote the novel to answer are shared by other people – we’re not alone.
6. What are you working on now?
Another novel set it an small town in the summer, but over the course of this story, the characters all get the thing they have always wanted, which turns out to be not such a good thing!
Buy The Weird Sisters/order a signed copy
Thank you, Eleanor!