E.G. and Jennifer Keith share thoughts on
their books at local book signing event
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[December 22, 2022]
Both E.G. and Jennifer J. Keith have recently released
new books. Twelve-year-old E.G., who released her first novel, “Havoc”
last year, has now written a sequel entitled Serenity. The second book
is written in the same genre as the first, a mystical world of magicians
and dark powers along with light or “good witch” powers in the
background while it delves into teen relationships and the growing pains
of realizing who one is and what their place in the world might be.
Mom, Jennifer J. Keith has written her first book, “Fixing the Funny
Bone,” which explores finding the lighter side of negative life
experiences.
While E.G’s book is tagged as young adult fiction, Jennifer’s book is
based on fact, and she uses her own personal experiences to illustrate
that bad situations can make us better people and finding the lighter
side of those experiences than help us heal.
On Sunday, December 11th the Keith ladies hosted a book signing and
question and answer session at the Lincoln Woman’s Club. It was a cold,
blustery day with a lot of other activities going on in the community.
Perhaps because of this, the event was not as well attended as E. G’s
book signing last year. However, those who did attend had the wonderful
experience of hearing from the two women about their current books and
future plans.
The first hour of the afternoon was spent with guests coming in and
having the opportunity to purchase books at the door. E.G. and
Jennifer sat side-by-side at a signing table at the foot of the
elevated stage area in the room.
As guests came to the signing table, they had the opportunity to
share a few one-on-one moments with the ladies. Visitors were then
invited to enjoy a buffet of snacks until the time came for the Q &
A.
When the two took to the stage, standing together behind the podium,
E.G. was the first to speak, but spent most of her mic time talking
about Jennifer’s new book and exalting her mom as smart, funny, and
very supportive.
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Jennifer was clearing flattered that E.G. would express such
high opinions publicly and wasted no time in returning the
complements to her daughter.
The two talked about their books, based on questions taken from
audience members.
E.G. was asked if she used people she knew as the models for
developing her book characters. She said she felt that was
inevitable. If she wanted a character to have a certain trait or
habit, she thought of that habit, which led to thinking about
people she knew who possessed something similar.
She said she had to be careful
because if she ended up creating a character based on someone she
didn’t like, then the inevitable was that she would have to kill
that person out of the book. The comment brought laughs from the
audience, when the question was asked was her sister one of the
characters in her book. She said no not really, because if she did
that she might end up having to kill the character.
Jennifer was asked what her motivation had been for writing her
book. She gave her therapist partial credit, and said E.G.’s
accomplishment at age 11 had helped spur that motivation.
Jennifer said in her book she had used life experiences some of
which her therapist knew about, some she did not. She said when
visiting the therapist last, comments were made about this, and the
therapist said she was collecting notes for future visits.
Jennifer talked about her method of writing, saying that she spent
one hour a day writing. She had found it to be good therapy but also
found that some of the topics she tried to approach were “too hot,
or too trigger.” She said she wasn’t sure that her husband Ryan was
exactly thrilled with some of the things she wrote. She noted she
had written about his proposal, then added that he was still there
with her, so he must have taken it in stride.
Jennifer also mentioned the therapy sessions she’s been attending
and said that if it hadn’t been for those sessions, she might have
written a completely different book.
E.G. was asked if there is a book three in the future. She said yes
there is, but it will be a prequel to the first two, looking
backward instead of forward. She was also asked if she would
continue writing after book three and would she maintain the same
genre. She said yes, she intends to keep writing, but she is
exploring other genre’s including mystery. The issue she said with
mystery is that the writer really needs to plan out the plot, and
she is not good at planning. In her current books, she lets the
storyline flow from her imagination, and it goes where it goes. In a
mystery she must have an order of events to develop the mystery and
bring it to an end. She isn’t sure she wants to do that but thinks
she might give it a try sometime.
Jennifer on the other had said that currently she doesn’t plan to
write a second book. She said that this book had been several years
coming. Jennifer had thought of writing a book but had just not done
it, and she isn’t sure she will ever do it again.
Both ladies are talented writers, and while the books are very
different, they are both worthwhile reads. While E. G’s book is
labeled as young adult fiction, it is a good book for any age reader
and well worth the time spent. Jennifer’s book is deeper, more
personal, and yet relatable for any adult who has lived through
tough experiences and had to struggle with the aftermath and the
lingering memories.
Both books would make great gifts this Christmas season.
Jennifer’s book can be purchased online at Fixingthefunnybone.com.
Books ordered from Jennifer’s website will arrive autographed from
the author.
Both of E.G.’s books are available through her website egkeith.com.
Books may also be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart.
[Nila Smith]
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