Jodi Picoult and Me
Tonight I got to see a favorite author of mine, Jodi Picoult, speak at a local library. She was as incredible as I imagined she would be. I've loved her books for a couple of years and I was thrilled that I got to meet her in person. I got to the library about 2 hours early and had to stand in line to insure that I'd get in, but it was definitely worth it. She spoke for about an hour... about her life and writing, and specifically about 3 of her books -- Change of Heart, 19 Minutes, and Second Glance. In person she talks very rapidly, which I like, and is a very animated speaker. She talked most about how she does research for the books she writes... like traveling to Arizona to research the death penelty, Vermont to go ghost hunting, and Colorado to learn about school shootings. She told us that one of her books, My Sister's Keeper, has been made into a movie that will likely come out this coming summer. She also told us that unfortunately the ending of that movie will be drastically different from her book. She says that when she sold the rights to her story they promised the ending wouldn't be changed, but they lied to her. I know... how sad! She also gave a bit of writing advice that I found helpful. Not so much that it was annoying, but a bit cause she knows some fans like to hear that sort of thing. She took questions at the end which brought out all sorts of random and yet interesting facts about her and her books. I can't do her presentation justice in my retelling, but the short version is that I was fully drawn in by her, wrapped in her words, and the time she spent speaking seemed to fly by. That's a clichet I know, but it's true. I'm very easily distracted, and don't always have the greatest concentration, but I was completely engaged the entire time.
It was a chaotic mess after she finished speaking, as everyone rushed towards the front to talk to her and have her sign books. I don't normally need regular print books, but I bought two paperback ones so I could have her sign them. I chose my two favorites -- My Sister's Keeper and Vanishing Acts. I did get to speak to her briefly while she was signing and she was very sweet. I gave her a compliment on her books... something lame about her creating little gems for me to carry around with me. And she said something like "oh that's so beautiful, thank you." Which I think was probably genuine. I then asked her which of hers was her favorite character, and of course it turned out to be someone who I couldn't place right away. It was a book that I had read, but I misheard what Jodi said, plus I was kind of on the spot and my personal random access memory didn't quite click quickly enough. So I said something like "Yeah I read that one but it's been a while..." Which probably sounded like I was lying, which I wasn't. It's just that I've read something like 8 of her books and the one she mentioned, Perfect Match, was one I couldn't recall quickly enough. Anyway, she was nice about that too, even though I probably looked flakey. She also let me take a picture with her too, which was pretty cool. I uploaded the picture with this entry... someone please tell me if it doesn't look right and I'll try to fix it.
Overall, this was a pretty amazing night and I'm so glad that I got to meet Jodi.
This is an unusually eventful week for me because not only did I get to see Jodi, but also I get to see one of my favorite comedians perform live this Saturday. She's Chelsea Handler, the woman who hosts a talk show on E called Chelsea Lately. However, while seeing her perform will be fun too, I won't get to actually meet and talk to her the way I did Jodi.
So yeah... getting to see two fenominal women in one week... not bad!
It was a chaotic mess after she finished speaking, as everyone rushed towards the front to talk to her and have her sign books. I don't normally need regular print books, but I bought two paperback ones so I could have her sign them. I chose my two favorites -- My Sister's Keeper and Vanishing Acts. I did get to speak to her briefly while she was signing and she was very sweet. I gave her a compliment on her books... something lame about her creating little gems for me to carry around with me. And she said something like "oh that's so beautiful, thank you." Which I think was probably genuine. I then asked her which of hers was her favorite character, and of course it turned out to be someone who I couldn't place right away. It was a book that I had read, but I misheard what Jodi said, plus I was kind of on the spot and my personal random access memory didn't quite click quickly enough. So I said something like "Yeah I read that one but it's been a while..." Which probably sounded like I was lying, which I wasn't. It's just that I've read something like 8 of her books and the one she mentioned, Perfect Match, was one I couldn't recall quickly enough. Anyway, she was nice about that too, even though I probably looked flakey. She also let me take a picture with her too, which was pretty cool. I uploaded the picture with this entry... someone please tell me if it doesn't look right and I'll try to fix it.
Overall, this was a pretty amazing night and I'm so glad that I got to meet Jodi.
This is an unusually eventful week for me because not only did I get to see Jodi, but also I get to see one of my favorite comedians perform live this Saturday. She's Chelsea Handler, the woman who hosts a talk show on E called Chelsea Lately. However, while seeing her perform will be fun too, I won't get to actually meet and talk to her the way I did Jodi.
So yeah... getting to see two fenominal women in one week... not bad!