Video Interviews
In the weeks leading up to the Bucks County Book Festival, Festival Founder and Executive Director, Ellen Robertson Green, interviews visiting authors and literary agents on Facebook Live.
THE HOTEL NANTUCKET
by Elin Hilderbrand
Author Elin Hilderbrand is a force to be reckoned with. Her latest novel, The Hotel Nantucket has already been on the bestsellers list for 12 weeks and was #1 for 4 weeks! The story has been optioned for TV, by Warner Brothers, and may possibly land on cable tv! Meet Elin.
LOVECRAFT COCKTAILS
by Mike Slater
Author and comic bookstore owner, Mike Slater shares his super fun backstory, influences from his past (hint, yes to Sesame Street and Lord of the Rings, no to Seinfeld), and about how the nom nom Meme internet sensation led to his books.
SWING: A MEMOIR OF DOING IT ALL by Ashleigh Renard
Raised in figure skating, Ashleigh brought the quest for perfectionism into marriage and motherhood, striving for the highest level of difficulty while trying to make it all appear effortless and beautiful. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and hopeful, what will she do when she realizes she has taken “doing it all” to a level she never intended? Ashleigh says it only takes a minor shift, so why we don’t prioritize our own fun or pleasure. She says couples who work together to have more fun in the bedroom can open up to more difficult conversations in other areas of their lives as well.
IN THE FACE OF THE SUN
By Denny S. Bryce
What a fun and insightful interview with author, Denny S. Bryce. Among many other interesting details she shared about her novel is that the story involves a 1968 mustang escape vehicle – a nod to her own mother’s mustang although, as a kid, Denny was not allowed to ride in the car. Bryce started writing the story with only a place in mind – the first historical luxury hotel from the 1920s built for African Americans who were not welcomed in other luxury hotels. She then built her characters around the hotel and began moving her readers fast forward to the 1960s in another tumultuous time and place.
THE RISE OF KOBE BRYANT AND THE PURSUIT OF IMMORTALITY
by Mike Sielski
Interview by Ellen Robertson Green
It’s a moment in time from an American historic standpoint, early to mid 90s, and sports author, Mike Sielski, is on a quest to understand Kobe Bryant’s identity, controversies and all. How did Kobe fit in during his childhood in Philly and beyond? While the book is certainly a look at Excellence and Greatness and the price someone pays to achieve it, it is also about so much more than basketball. Meet Mike and hear more insightful bits about how he obtained the personal recorded interviews of high school Kobe and his coach and what caused him to compile all his research into this amazing book.
BEETHOVEN IN BEIJING
by Jennifer Lin
An award-winning journalist for 31 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jennifer Lin had never written and produced a television documentary until Beethoven in Beijing which was broadcast on GREAT PERFORMANCES, the signature PBS series created by WNET in New York City. And yet, because of Jennifer’s journalistic expertise, she was certain there was a bigger story about China and the US that needed to be told and she pitched her idea to the Philadelphia Orchestra who gave her the go-ahead to run with it!
With her documentary being completed in March of 2020, and the pandemic throwing a wrench into the plans to showcase the film at festivals and events, she decided to turn her extra notes and information into a book. This interview is as fascinating as the story itself which happened in 1973 after President Nixon established relations with China and then began a campaign of sending cultural ambassadors there to warm up the Chinese people to Americans. Listen for details about what may have seemed like an impossible last-minute request to play Beethoven’s sixth Symphony when the Philadelphia Orchestra was prepared to play the fifth!
THE RECRUIT by Alan Drew
A psychological thriller, this police-procedural story is the second in a series of three books published by critically acclaimed author Alan Drew with Random House. Alan is also head of the creative writing program at Villanova University.
Lots of interesting backstory here from Alan into what prompted him to write THE RECRUIT, which takes place in a fictionalized version of his hometown in Irvine, CA. He remembers strawberry fields and orange groves from his youth, which were then bulldozed for track homes housing over 300,000 people.
Alan talks about his awakening to white privilege and how it struck him that he only vaguely knew parts of the Vietnam war era history and the refugee crisis taking place only minutes from his hometown. The book takes place in 1987 during the start of the internet and the coinciding disinformation campaigns, that as he notes, have continued on through today.
AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT
by John Vercher
John Vercher is an award-winning author and also a Mixed Martial Artist. AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT is John’s second book. His first, THREE FIFTHS shines an unflinching light into the dark corners of racism, loyalty, and how powerful blood can be. John has also worked with high school and college athletes as a physical therapist as well as dementia patients in home care and nursing care.
He talks with Ellen about how so many contact sports, not just MMA, can be brutal on the athletes – which is one of the struggles his main character endures in his latest novel. The book also exposes the identity crisis many who come from a mixed-race background face. He notes that as a kid, when people asked him questions like who you are and where you come from? He started to question himself.
DOG FRIENDLY
by Victoria Schade
Dog lovers listen here! What a fun interview with Victoria who is fresh off her recent book tour for DOG FRIENDLY. Did you know she’s written both fiction and non-fiction, has been training dogs for over 20 years, and is a huge advocate for dog rescues? She shared ways you can get involved with your local rescue beyond the commitment of fostering or adoption. You can volunteer for transfers to drive animals, hold the leach at adoption events, spend money at adoption events, contribute money, volunteer at shelters to walk dogs – Victoria promises, Your Life Will Change.
Writers Workshop – How to Query and Pitch to Publish!
Marie Lamba, Literary Agent & Author
What catches Marie’s eye when reading author submissions?
“When your personality comes through – that’s when I know there’s something really special.”
Additional Advice from Marie:
1 – know the business side, who is your market, age group, etc.
2 – pull me in with your voice – I want more!
As much as you may love writing, Marie says you will love it even more when people read your books and you connect with YOUR readers.
Join us for more amazing insight and learn how to move past a stack of rejection letters by conquering your pitch and hooking an agent with your queries.
Sarah N. Fisk, Literary Agent & Author
SO MANY JUICY BITS of expertise from our writers workshop coach Sarah N. Fisk. Sarah had been to a lot of writers’ conferences and saw a pattern of workshop leaders either touting traditional publishing or advocating self-publishing. But neither knew the other side and often misrepresented the other side. So, they developed this workshop to give a more balanced and unbiased view. Listen to the end to hear more of how they pivoted from engineer to writer to literary agent.
You can find Sarah on Twitter @Sarah_Nicolas and their podcast https://sarahnicolas.com/projects/queries-qualms-quirks/
HIDDEN HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY
by Jennifer Rogers
If you don’t find history interesting – you haven’t heard the local history and stories that Jennifer Rogers-Burns has uncovered and shared in her book, The Hidden History of Bucks County. She is truly passionate about the stories and people who have shaped our lives today and has brought so many interesting historical figures to life through her work.
THE SECOND HUSBAND by Kate White
Seventeen novels, five career books, and still writing. Congratulations to Kate White on her upcoming 10-year anniversary of being a full-time, and very successful, writer! It is a second career for Kate who served as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan from 1998 to 2012 before leaving to concentrate full time on writing suspense fiction.
Author of The Second Husband, Kate joined Elle from her office barn at her part-time home in Bucks County. The plot of this latest book – a reopened investigation of the protagonist’s first husband’s brutal murder and the unspooling of her life with her second husband.
Kate writes thrillers and who-done-it novels and revealed that she is a plotter and always knows the end of her novel when she starts her notes; who did it and why, and how to hide them. She misdirects the reader from the onset, making it hard to guess the end!
MAD WOMAN by Louisa Treger
Louisa Treger’s first career was as a concert musician and when asked about her transition from performance musician to writing, she said she feels that being a musician has been the best training for being a writer. So many parallels…including the ability to hold your audience while on stage performing, and tell them a story, which is very much like the skill you need as a writer.
“As a writer, we’re saying, come let me take you by the hand.”
This is a must-listen-to interview to learn more about her novel, Mad Woman, the historical fiction about Nellie Bly, America’s 1st female investigative journalist who braved the retched conditions of an asylum by faking madness in order to be admitted and to then report on the unbearable conditions.
“Words are my thing and I’m so happy writing.” We’re so happy Louisa Treger is joining us live in September!
REMEMBER THE LADIES by Judith A. McDowell
Millions of people are on Ancestry & genealogy sites and do DNA tests. Perhaps we want to know our medical history or simply to learn more about our life? In her writing, Judith McDowell digs even deeper into personal and family history opening the door to the actual stories of generations past. She says she wondered who came to the U.S. from another country, how did they travel, how many made it, who was lost along the way.? Her own story reminds her of people who have been displaced more recently and been trying to find a new place to live.
In her book, REMEMBER THE LADIES, she has taken the stories of six of her ancestors. In addition, Judith explains how she did the research and what you can learn if you dig a little deeper than the initial Ancestry search.