I was disappointed back in December 2022 when Brenda Novak announced her book stream tour would not be stopping in Wisconsin.. she would travel through WI but not stop. It didn't surprise me but it would have been nice. I wasn't driving 4-6 hours just to go see her. So when she announced that her book tour this year would take her to Kenosha, I mentioned this to the hubby. He rearranged his scheduled so he could take me.
I discovered Brenda Novak by accident at the start of the Pandemic when she invited Susan Mallery, another favorite author of mine, to be part of her virtual book launch. And I was hooked. I joined online book group. She writes women's fiction and along with some romance and suspense. She really likes conflict so some of her books are struggle because unless I am the mood for a thriller, I prefer light reads. Not all her books are overly suspenseful and are good reading. I am definitely a fluff kind of reader. Her Dundee, ID series is probably my favorite series and Summer on the Island is my favorite one this year.
Blue House Books in Kenosha was hosting Brenda. It was right down town and the first tour stop to sell out.. The hubby and I had pizza from Cut Stone Pizza before hand. Like most Indie Bookstores, it is not a large bookstore. Even though we got there 10-15 before hand most of the seats were taken. I directed the hubby to a cozy arm chair in the corner while I snagged one of the few remaining seats up front.
Brenda talked about her new book, The Banned Books Club as well as how she got started in writing. She spoke for a good half hour along with reading part of her book. Then she opened the floor up for questions. After that she signed our books we pre-ordered, which was not a requirement.
Meeting Brenda was pretty dang awesome. She and her daughter, Alexa both recognized me from my blog post I did earlier in the year about places to visit in Wisconsin for a different book she had coming out this year. They even looked to see if any of the recommendations I had in the blog were close. Sadly there were not.. in my original vision there might have been. Brenda was great. I usually hate meeting authors, so famous.. or infamous, that I don't know what to say but it was easy to talk to them. She was impressed I made the journey down. I said I bribed the hubby with pizza.
It was a fun evening. Maybe one day she will get to my neck of the woods. The only problem is a lack of a good venue, even with the air stream. I would if the Plaza and Lyon's book would sponsor her and she could do it outside on the plaza in Neenah. That would be fun. Hmm. I might have to suggest that.
As much as I loved meeting Brenda Novak, I think R.L. Stine and Debbie Macomber still beat her out for my favorite author events. It will be really hard to beat both of them.
St. Louis and the south always get big name authors. I will take what I can get around here especially now that the Fox Cities Book Festival is no more. I would suggest always taking the time to meet your favorite author when you get a chance even if it's a few hours away.
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