It was great meeting Wendy Corsi Staub March 3 at the independent book
store Monkey See, Monkey Do. It was an intimate gathering and she talked to us
like old friends. I became aware of her writing only recently and read through
her Lily Dale series in a few weeks.
During her talk I was struck by several things. As a New York Times
best-selling author under contract with HarperCollins, she is a very prolific
writer. She has about 80 titles to her credit. It was interesting to hear about
her work schedule, which to me sounds grueling. She writes from 4 a.m. to 7
p.m. taking all her meals in her “office.” Due to her contract she must write 4
books by this fall! I cannot imagine the pressure of such deadlines. I admire
her creative stamina. Just coming up with all the story ideas I found amazing.
She also shared some of those story seeds with us – how a stray cat that was
hanging her house gave her the idea for one of her upcoming books.
The other thing that I found to be wonderful was Staub’s support system.
Her sister and son accompanied her to the talk. Her sister lives locally and
her son goes to a local university, but I found it wonderful when her sister
cut in and said what an intelligent, creative person she has always been. “She
won’t tell you this, but she is very intelligent,” she said. Staub’s husband
and her son are her only beta readers. She said they know what her readers want.
Her husband also helps with the business end of the writing. Her son helps with
cover art and titles.
It was a great afternoon! Wendy Corsi Staub is a wonderfully personable
woman. I’ll be sure to pick up a few more of her books. I’ve got my eye on this
new one set in Lily Dale.
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