I’m Thankful for my Friends: GAYLE
FYI, comment on this post and be entered to win a SIGNED copy of Gayle Forman’s gorgeous, wrenching, gem of a book, IF I STAY
So I’m really happy about this deal I made (with myself) to blog about a friend every Tuesday, because it gives me a great excuse to write about my friend Gayle. I went to her event at BookCourt last night, and as she read a few passages from IF I STAY and played music in between the passages, I felt the way I sometimes feel when I’m in the audience, watching someone I know well - a mixture of pride and awe that makes me want to weep with gratitude, because I get to know this person in real-life. How lucky am I?
This post is supposed to be about Gayle, but I need to talk a little about IF I STAY, in case you haven’t read it (and if you haven’t, you should). It’s the story of seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist with cool parents and a near-perfect boyfriend. She’s apprehensive about the future: leaving home to follow her dreams means leaving the people she loves behind. Then one morning, she goes for a drive with her family, there’s a terrible accident, and Mia, the sole survivor, has a life-or-death choice to make. It sounds depressing, I know, but IF I STAY is romantic, lyrical and one of the most hopeful, life-affirming books I’ve ever read. I read it last spring, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it; I talked about it to everyone around me. Then, a month or so later, I was at another friend’s book release party and I spotted Gayle Forman across the room. I’d never met her (I recognized her from her author photo), I knew she had no idea who I was. But she was talking to Coe Booth, who I do know, so it seemed like an OK thing to go say hello. I walked over to them, feeling sheepish, but trying to seem normal and breezy. Then, when there was a break in the conversation, I turned to Gayle, my cheeks growing hot, and said in a rush, “I’m so excited to meet you! I loved your book so much!”
Gayle hates when I tell that story; she’s going to hate that I’ve written it here. “But that’s not the reason we’re friends,” she says, when I remind her of my fanaticism.
Certainly my obsession with IF I STAY played a role in our friendship - it’s why I made a beeline across the room to meet her. Though chances are, we would have met anyway, because we’re both YA writers in New York, and besides I would’ve crossed the room to talk to Coe, because I love Coe. Gayle’s book has very little to do with why we continue to be friends - except for this: I think the book itself, its spirit and humor and heart, is emblematic of the person that Gayle is, and that’s the kind of person I want to have around me. Gayle is incredibly kind, she cracks me up, she makes me think hard about things, she doesn’t get caught up in the minutiae, she’s fiercely loyal, and she shares my deep love of cupcakes.
I expected this writing-about-my-friends thing to be an easy exercise, but this is kind of difficult; there’s a lot of pressure to write well when you’re writing about a friend who happens to be one of your favorite writers. I know I’m not doing her justice.
Gayle’s five-year-old daughter was at the reading last night. IF I STAY is a teen book and the characters in it sometimes curse, the way teens do. (You can actually read more about that here, on Gayle’s blog.) Gayle had decided not to edit any of that out of the passages she was reading last night, but she made the same deal she has at home: every time she said the F-word, anyone in the audience who was under fifteen would earn a quarter. “So pay attention and count the F-words,” she said. I was sitting in the row behind her daughter, and she barely squirmed through the entire reading. She was busy counting. And here’s something else I’ve learned from watching Gayle: cool parents have cool kids.
I already have a signed copy of IF I STAY on my shelf, but I picked up a copy of the shiny new paperback last night, and Gayle signed it for a lucky winner - just leave a comment on this post by this Friday, and I’ll randomly pick a name and send it along (the only requirement is that you live in the continental US, or at least have an address there I can send to - otherwise the postage will be cost prohibitive).
Here are some pictures from last night. Daphne Grab, me & Gayle:
Rebecca Stead, Daphne Grab, me & Gayle:
By the way, as I told the other girls: it’s not that I’m short; they are just exceptionally tall.
So I’m really happy about this deal I made (with myself) to blog about a friend every Tuesday, because it gives me a great excuse to write about my friend Gayle. I went to her event at BookCourt last night, and as she read a few passages from IF I STAY and played music in between the passages, I felt the way I sometimes feel when I’m in the audience, watching someone I know well - a mixture of pride and awe that makes me want to weep with gratitude, because I get to know this person in real-life. How lucky am I?
This post is supposed to be about Gayle, but I need to talk a little about IF I STAY, in case you haven’t read it (and if you haven’t, you should). It’s the story of seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist with cool parents and a near-perfect boyfriend. She’s apprehensive about the future: leaving home to follow her dreams means leaving the people she loves behind. Then one morning, she goes for a drive with her family, there’s a terrible accident, and Mia, the sole survivor, has a life-or-death choice to make. It sounds depressing, I know, but IF I STAY is romantic, lyrical and one of the most hopeful, life-affirming books I’ve ever read. I read it last spring, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it; I talked about it to everyone around me. Then, a month or so later, I was at another friend’s book release party and I spotted Gayle Forman across the room. I’d never met her (I recognized her from her author photo), I knew she had no idea who I was. But she was talking to Coe Booth, who I do know, so it seemed like an OK thing to go say hello. I walked over to them, feeling sheepish, but trying to seem normal and breezy. Then, when there was a break in the conversation, I turned to Gayle, my cheeks growing hot, and said in a rush, “I’m so excited to meet you! I loved your book so much!”
Gayle hates when I tell that story; she’s going to hate that I’ve written it here. “But that’s not the reason we’re friends,” she says, when I remind her of my fanaticism.
Certainly my obsession with IF I STAY played a role in our friendship - it’s why I made a beeline across the room to meet her. Though chances are, we would have met anyway, because we’re both YA writers in New York, and besides I would’ve crossed the room to talk to Coe, because I love Coe. Gayle’s book has very little to do with why we continue to be friends - except for this: I think the book itself, its spirit and humor and heart, is emblematic of the person that Gayle is, and that’s the kind of person I want to have around me. Gayle is incredibly kind, she cracks me up, she makes me think hard about things, she doesn’t get caught up in the minutiae, she’s fiercely loyal, and she shares my deep love of cupcakes.
I expected this writing-about-my-friends thing to be an easy exercise, but this is kind of difficult; there’s a lot of pressure to write well when you’re writing about a friend who happens to be one of your favorite writers. I know I’m not doing her justice.
Gayle’s five-year-old daughter was at the reading last night. IF I STAY is a teen book and the characters in it sometimes curse, the way teens do. (You can actually read more about that here, on Gayle’s blog.) Gayle had decided not to edit any of that out of the passages she was reading last night, but she made the same deal she has at home: every time she said the F-word, anyone in the audience who was under fifteen would earn a quarter. “So pay attention and count the F-words,” she said. I was sitting in the row behind her daughter, and she barely squirmed through the entire reading. She was busy counting. And here’s something else I’ve learned from watching Gayle: cool parents have cool kids.
I already have a signed copy of IF I STAY on my shelf, but I picked up a copy of the shiny new paperback last night, and Gayle signed it for a lucky winner - just leave a comment on this post by this Friday, and I’ll randomly pick a name and send it along (the only requirement is that you live in the continental US, or at least have an address there I can send to - otherwise the postage will be cost prohibitive).
Here are some pictures from last night. Daphne Grab, me & Gayle:
Rebecca Stead, Daphne Grab, me & Gayle:
By the way, as I told the other girls: it’s not that I’m short; they are just exceptionally tall.