Ohio Day of Dialog

House hunting with wife and infant son, 32-year-old award-winning Akron journalist David Giffels just can't find anything he likes—until he stumbles upon a crumbling Gilded Age mansion complete with stained glass, six fireplaces, a billiard room, and a waterfall in the back. All he has to do it figure out how to shoo out the animals and patch those man-sized holes in the roof. Both hilarious and moving, his account of a renovation gone wild is coming out from William Morrow in the spring with a 100,000-copy first printing. We'll take a trip with Giffels as he conceives and writes his book, shops it around, and gets that acceptance letter. We'll also talk with his editor about the editing process and his view of the book and the publicity director in charge of planning the blow-out promotion. You'll be the first on your block to know about this book; galleys will be available.

Panelists: David Giffels, author; David Highfill, editor, William Morrow/HarperCollins; Seale Ballenger, publicity director, William Morrow/HarperCollins
Moderator: Barbara Hoffert, Editor, LJ Book Review

David Giffels is an award-winning columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal, a contributing commentator and essayist on NPR station WKSU in Kent, Ohio, and a former writer for the MTV hit Beavis and Butt-Head. In his 16-year career he has won dozens of journalism awards, including the 2006 national award for commentary from the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. He is the co-author of two previous books: Wheels of Fortune (with Steve Love; Univ. of Akron Press) and an illustrated biography of the band Devo (with Jade Dillinger; SAF Publishing). He writes in the former servants' quarters of a semi-restored Tudor Revival mansion in Akron, where he lives with his wife, two children, and a large but uncounted number of bats.

It takes more than just good skills at the keyboard to turn out a best-selling book. And if anyone knows about best-selling books, it's Jennifer Crusie, author of delights like Bet Me and currently coauthor with Bob Mayer of the best seller Don't Look Now and the recently released Agnes and the Hitman. Where do her ideas originate? Is it dangerous to get too close to one's characters? Is collaborating with another best-selling author like a really good marriage—or an after-school fist fight? Find out about the writing life from a top author.

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of sixteen novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, and short stories, and the editor of two essay anthologies.

Her first book, Manhunting was published in 1993, followed by Sizzle and seven other category novels. In 1998 Jenny left category fiction for single title romance and published her first hard cover, Tell Me Lies (St. Martin's Press). Six books later, she is still happily writing novels and novellas for St. Martin's, along with short stories and essays on writing and pop culture. Her latest novel, Agnes and the Hitman is a collaboration with bestselling thriller writer Bob Mayer. For more information, visit www.jennycrusie.com.

Selected titles by Jennifer Crusie:
Don't Look Down, Bet Me, Faking It, Fast Women, Welcome to Temptation, Crazy for You, Tell Me Lies, Trust Me on This, The Cinderella Deal, Anyone But You, Charlie All Night, What the Lady Wants, Strange Bedpersons, Getting Rid of Bradley, Manhunting, Sizzle and Anne Rice: A Critical Companion (writing as Jennifer Smith)