rgz Seattle HOST: Deborah Reber Reading

Hi, readergirlz!

I went to see Deborah Reber promote her new book, Language of Love, at University Books in Bellevue. Deborah shared the inside story: she wrote her book under contract, and went through the whole back-and-forth of the editorial process. Then, shortly before pub date, her editor told her the house had decided not to publish any more romantic comedies. They were going to cancel her book.

For an author, that's like putting a year's worth of work through the shredder. It was not a good day, Deborah said.

However, Simon Pulse realized Deborah's book was too good to lose. So with a little creative thinking, and a little genre-shuffling, they were able to package it into a two-book collection titled Love, Love, Love. And now it’s on the shelves, with the coolest cover ever. For the inside story on that, check out Melissa Walker’s blog post.

Here’s a picture of Deborah and me, above, with her beautiful book.

See you soon, girlz!

Our Seattle Host, Stephanie Guerra, teaches children’s literature, young adult fiction and a seminar in writing instruction at Seattle University. She also heads a volunteer creative writing program at King County Jail, and researches and speaks about literacy instruction for at-risk and incarcerated young adults. Stephanie lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and children. Her debut young adult novel, TORN, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in spring of 2012.