On A Personal Note:
I won a ticket to The Beverly Hills Literary Escape (for a short piece I wrote) and spent a delightful day with talented and successful authors.
If you’re looking for a good read, you can’t go wrong with any of the books in this group. Many, if not all, were nominated or awarded top literary prizes.
Held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (where Richard Gere and Julia Roberts stayed in the movie Pretty Woman.), everything was sumptuous: crystal chandeliers, fresh white roses, too numerous to count.
It was clear that every detail of the conference was well thought out and arranged for the benefit of the authors and attendees.
Founder, Julie Robinson, aided by Stephen Sislen and their warm and efficient team, created an atmosphere of generosity and learning. Everything was done for our comfort. The well-moderated author panels were fascinating and informative. I was grateful to be there and didn’t want to miss a word.
Though pitchers of water perched at every ballroom table, most of us helped ourselves to the never-dwindling supply of Evian bottles that waited on ice. Or there were sodas, croissants, pastries, hot beverages.
Buffet lunch on the terrace offered Rodeo Drive–looking like a movie set–as a backdrop. Lunch was not only copious, but delicious and healthy enough that even I could eat.
One author sat at each table, which allowed for more intimate time. I sat beside David Gilbert who wrote, & Sons, and wished I’d been more familiar with his body of work beforehand. It’s unusual to have as much access to the writers as we were given, or to interact on such a genuine and personal level.
Among others at our table: a retired professional dancer who now owns and runs an art gallery in Culver City, and an ebullient woman who left an exotic, story-filled career in foreign service, to marry and start a family with her dream man. His only drawback is the 17,000 square foot Beverly Hills house they’re waiting for the right time to sell.
These were just two of the people I met who seemingly had not let barriers that stop so many stop them.
It was my good fortune to have been chosen for this rich, sunny day in Los Angeles, where for the moment, culture, intellect, and even irony, were embraced.
Check out some of their offerings at Literary Affairs.
One of my book recommendations: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club.
Your Reward:
“Afternoon Reading” by Belgian painter Fernand Toussaint (1873-1956)
