Positivity

Best Selling Author Elin Hilderbrand

Coming to Library Gala

By JOSEPH W. SMITH III West Branch Life

“Like most readers, I have always valued and treasured libraries. My mother was a reading specialist. She had the summers off, and she would take us weekly to the library to check out a stack of books, ” says Elin Hilderbrand, a New York Times best-selling author.

That—plus encouragement from a secondgrade teacher—helped propel Hilderbrand into a career the New York Post calls “queen regent of the easy-breezy summer read. ”

So, it’s fitting that Hilderbrand serves as featured speaker for the James V. Brown Library’s Author Gala this year at the Community Arts Center (CAC) on October 13.

Hilderbrand will give a talk, in addition to having an exclusive meet-and-greet in the CAC’s Capitol Lounge and a booksigning afterward. For those unable to attend, the ticketed event will also be live-streamed for a modest fee.

Hilderbrand is the author of such sunny and absorbing novels as “The Beach Club” (her debut) and “Summer of ’69” (her first to bow at No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list). The novelist is also a proud mother of three, a dedicated Peloton rider, a seven-year breast cancer survivor and host of the Instagram show “Cringe Cooking, ” named by her son and specially designed for busy single moms.

The author’s visit to Lycoming County is likewise apt because her grandfather, Clarence Huling, was born and raised in Williamsport, though he soon moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where Hilderbrand grew up. As the author told WBL in a recent interview, “We visited Williamsport several times when I was growing up to see relatives and check out the Little League [Museum]. ” She holds writing degrees from Johns Hopkins and Iowa, but the novelist credits an early teacher who gave her the “Top Author” award at the end of a school year. “At that moment, I recognized myself as a writer, ” she says. Now in a position of similar influence, Hilderbrand has this advice for aspiring authors. “The best way to become a better writer is to read, ” she explains. “The other advice, which is advice I was given, is to go out and live in the world. You can’t be a writer without some life experience. And then, when you are ready to put pen to paper, it becomes all about discipline and persistence. ”

Hilderbrand notes how different the publishing industry is now since her first novel was published more than 20 years ago. “Social media has completely changed the publishing and book marketing landscape, ” says the author. “Back in 2000 when I started publishing, the only way you could market yourself was through your publisher. You hoped for reviews, you prayed nightly to be an Oprah pick. Now there are so many ways to spotlight your work online. ”

The writer plans to pen two more books and then, with 30 titles on her shelf, retire from what she calls her “day job” in 2024.

“One Nantucket-based novel every summer. I want to retire before I start to repeat myself or the quality of my novels drops. I do look forward to having more time to amplify the work of other novelists, especially women, ” says Elinbrand. Meanwhile, she notes that even though cell-phones have cut back on reading, “I have noticed the huge influence of Bookstagram on Gen Z readers and audiobooks are on the rise. People are learning about books on their phones and they’re listening to books on their phones. I’m optimistic about the future of the book. I can’t tell what people are doing in their homes, but I can see that people on the beach are all reading. ” This year, they’ll likely be reading her latest, “Hotel Nantucket, ” released June 14. Or maybe they’ll be planning a meet-and-greet with their favorite beach-read writer. jvbrown.edu