Posts Tagged ‘tavia gilbert’

One of the best and weirdest parts of becoming a published author is being asked to speak.

If you’ve read The Heroine’s Bookshelf, you’ll know that I come from San Diego, CA. I never felt self-conscious about my speaking voice until I started my first year at Smith College in Massachusetts (I shall leave out the period of time I lived in Germany, which was another kind of speaking anxiety altogether). When I got to Smith, I didn’t just hear a bunch of new accents…I realized I had one, and that it had a kind of class/intelligence implication to some of my schoolmates and teachers. I started to feel really nervous about the sound of my own voice, even though I’ve always been a big talker.

A decade later, I’m a bit more accepting of my voice. I’ve worked hard to eliminate “like” from anything but casual conversation. Cue many opportunities to speak. From book clubs to conferences to groups of interested parties (I just did a really fun workshop at the Boulder Writers Meetup and am thrilled to have been invited to speak to the Denver/Boulder Jane Austen Society tomorrow) to interviews (this just in from Blackstone Audio…a conversation with the narrator of my book, Tavia Gilbert), I am called upon not only to say something, but to have something to say. And I find that I really like it.

In a way, this is all about layers, self-confidence, and security. Speaking to a group is just as thrilling, terrifying and instructive as writing, and I always learn something about myself along the way. Something else I’ve learned, though, not only from a career of counseling and training clients, is that effective speaking is also about listening, so don’t be surprised if I ask you some questions during my talks.

I guess I never realized that I might have something interesting to say!

Favorite book moment of the week: It’s a toss-up between being a fly on the wall for the many omgBorders conversations (what can I say, I’m fascinated by spectacular rises and falls) and, of course, witnessing the enormous outpouring of good cheer and support for February’s Heroine Love event, which will feature 12 of my favorite book bloggers, an ever-more-amazing prize pack, and lots of literary secret-telling and praise.  More and more I realize that community is the most incredible thing to come out of The Heroine’s Bookshelf…a community of writers and a community of readers who are so dear to me.

Review/testament of the week: I had the great pleasure of speaking to the first-ever Heroine’s Book Club at the Burke County Public Library in Morganton, NC on Saturday.  The topic was Louisa May Alcott, and one of the ladies had very nice things to say about how I addressed the author’s life along with that of her heroine.  Still beaming over here. *

Current favorite “customers who bought this item also bought” pairing on Amazon: Skippy Dies: A Novel, by Paul Murray.  I had the pleasure of hearing the Macmillan/Faber & Faber rep talk about this book at the Boulder Book Store’s book club event and it’s been inching its way up my crazy to-read list ever since.

This time two years ago: I was furiously working on the book proposal that would become The Heroine’s Bookshelf.  The more things change…

Current personal heroine: Tavia Gilbert!  You may know her as the incredible woman who voiced The Heroine’s Bookshelf in audio form for Blackstone (and what a job she did).  I had the privilege of meeting her on The Littlest Book Tour, and she is not only well-spoken, beautiful, and whip-smart, but she works on bettering herself and expressing herself every single day.  What more can you want in a real-life heroine, I ask?

*Wonder what the heck she’s talking about? Go to your local indie bookstore or buy The Heroine’s Bookshelf online and let me know what you think!

What do Annie Dillard, Jenny McCarthy, Marya Hornbacher, Kelly Corrigan, and the lowly Erin Blakemore have in common?  More than you’d think…we’ve all had the honor of having our audiobook narrated by Tavia Gilbert!

Yesterday, Tavia kindly wrote me a note telling me she’s been selected by Blackstone Audio to narrate the audiobook of The Heroine’s Bookshelf. I immediately went to Google and found out that Tavia is not only an Audie nominee, Library Journal Top Audiobook winner, and Earphones winner, but that she brings some serious intention, purpose, and skill to her craft.  The thought of someone I’ve never met speaking in my words in a studio all the way across the country is slightly surreal…and I’m so excited to hear the results.