A few years ago I came across some quoted pieces by Lang Leav and fell in love with her beautifully elegant and spare style of writing. Her style can bring emotion to life so effortlessly. I own a couple of her poetry books and go back to them occasionally to delve into their sentimental joys. Recently I discovered Lang Leav was going to do a book signing at my local Barnes & Noble to promote her latest YA novel release, Poemsia, and I had to go!
The event was held on a lovely Sunday afternoon - perfect to spend some time at the bookstore and then go for a nice dinner and a movie after - I wish more book signings were on Sundays, it's nice to not have to deal with traffic getting to the bookstore after a day at work. Anyways. The group of fans at the signing were all very devoted and enthusiastic. I enjoyed how much anticipation and glee there was for when she finally walked out. And I felt pretty gleeful as well. She seems unassuming and quiet in real life - with a soft New Zealand or Australian accent (not sure which) and that was a surprise to me - I didn't realize she lived in New Zealand now!
After Lang greeted us, the discussion moderator asked some questions about the inspiration for Poemsia - Lang was working on another novel (one that was more of a dark thriller) when she got up for some water in the middle of the night and her partner Michael spoke the word "poemsia" in his sleep. She woke him up and told him what he said and he gave her permission to use it, as it had inspired a story for her. Lang said that she often gets asked by fans for advice on becoming a poet and author and in a way this novel is her answer - in an interesting fictional format. But apparently there are a lot of life lessons to be learned, and knowledge about the nature of the business in this book. I am very intrigued! I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I'm sure I'll post a review of the book here when I do.
Of course, the talk also covered her poetry, and when it came to audience questions, people wanted to hear her inspiration for her various works. My personal favorite "Sea of Strangers" came up, and she even read the poem for the group. It made me so happy! She was also asked what poems of hers were Michael's favorite, and she said the ones about him - in particular, "Sundays with Michael." Although her favorite about Michael is called "Stowaway."
After the discussion and reading from her novel, the book signing commenced - she was able to spend time with everyone, and there were quite a few people who had her other books to sign as well. When it was finally my turn to go up, I wasn't sure what to say being a little starstruck, but she asked about our plans for the rest of the day and I love that she had a question ready for any tongue-tied fans! After that, I asked about her plans and my much more outgoing husband told her that when we first met, I had asked him to record audio of himself reading one of her poems ("Sea of Strangers") just for me to listen to sometimes. It really is such a beautiful poem.
Here's our photo!
I so enjoyed the book signing and if you haven't heard of or read any of Lang Leav's works I highly encourage you to check it out!
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