Random House Open House

This past Thursday was the second Open House event that I've attended at Random House, and I have to say, these are incredibly fun days to be a part of.

They usually announce the date a few months in advance, and then the lineup of authors is revealed about 6 weeks prior, giving you time to read at least some of the books that will be discussed.

The first one I attended, last November, I didn't know what to expect; all I knew is that it would be a day full of books and talking about books! When we arrived, we were greeted with a Random House tote bag filled with books - a couple from authors who were there that day, a couple from other authors and one or two advance copies. At this particular event, there were people I was very excited about seeing: Lisa Wingate (BEFORE WE WERE YOURS), Elizabeth Berg (too many to list), Van Jones, Salman Rushdie, Amanda Hesser, Khizr Khan (the Gold Star father who spoke at the 2016 DNC Convention).

Throughout the day, there were 30-40 minute sessions, usually in panel form, broken up into fiction, non-fiction, etc. and conversations with moderators. They had three sessions in the morning, then a lunch break, and then three more sessions in the afternoon, though those were the higher-profile people and were one-on-one conversations. They had a pop-up bookstore so you were able to purchase books from all the authors there that day (new releases as well as older books) because at the end of the day, there was a cocktail party with all the attending authors. For those of us who fangirl over authors the way others freak out over musicians or actors, this was the grown-up version of 12-year-old me meeting Shaun Cassidy. Honestly, it's almost too much to handle; you're in a room with a bunch of insanely talented writers, each stationed at a table, and you don't even know where to start. It was an adrenalin rush unlike any I've experienced, and needless to say, I was just as calm, cool and collected as you'd expect (read: Not. At. All.)

One thing I hadn't expected heading into the day was how much I would love hearing from authors I was unfamiliar with, and how they would introduce me to whole new worlds. One such author was Kelly Corrigan. I had heard of her (vaguely), and I even had one or two of her books floating around, but I had no idea that I would be hanging on her every word as she spoke, and that I'd end up wanting to be her best friend by the end of the day! She's so REAL and so relatable, and so human. One of her books - an advance copy of TELL ME MORE - was included in the bag, and I was leaving for a few days in Florida the day after this event. As you might imagine, this was a perfect situation. After I devoured it in one day, I proceeded to download the rest of her books and read them one after the other (in reverse chronological order, oddly enough!) with some also being listened to, since she was the narrator of her own books, and hearing her tell her stories was just the greatest. I will always associate sitting in an Adirondack chair by my dad's pool in Florida with Kelly Corrigan and vice-versa. It was heaven.

A couple months later, Kelly was at the 92nd Street Y for a discussion when her book was released in January, and I was right there to hear her, and first in line to have my book signed (again! it's the first book I own that has been signed by the same author twice!) and was thrilled to be able to tell her how much I'd enjoyed all of her books since I first met her in November. And yes, we did become best friends. Clearly.

Anyway.... you need to read all her books because she's awesome. Click here to see some of her awesomeness.

There is another Open House coming up in the fall, and I'll be posting info about it as it becomes available, including links to register. Also, tomorrow I'll be posting about the Open House I went to this past Thursday, including a round-up of all the authors there and the books I got.

Stay tuned....