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He Writes, She Writes

A Conversation with Authors Frank Delaney & Diane Meier

Thursday, September 9th, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.Join Joseph Montebello as he facilitates a conversation with authors (and spouses) Frank Delaney and Diane Meier. In this engaging “He Writes - She Writes,” we’ll discuss how each author uniquely approaches their work, whether gender plays a role in their development of style and character, and how married writers work with each other – or not. Are they each other’s best/worst critic? The focus will be on Frank’s latest book Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show and Diane’s latest The Season of Second Chances.

In Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show, Frank weaves Irish vaudeville and politics of the 1930s into a mix that is both delightful and astonishing. The novel opens with young Ben McCarthy's father abandoning the farm to join a traveling theater troupe. Devastated, Ben's mother sends him off to bring his father home. He finds the troupe and falls in love with the same young actress who seduced his father. Venetia is a stunning young woman, the child of a famous actress and a villainous political opportunist named King Kelly. This rollicking tale is magically intimate and emotionally real; chockfull of Irish wit, superstition, and sentiment, and features a larger-than-life cast of suitably eccentric characters.

Frank Delaney was born in Tipperary, Ireland, and after a fledgling career in banking became a broadcaster with RTE radio and television, the Irish state network, working on documentaries, music programs and finally as a newsreader. In the mid 1970’s he joined the Northern Ireland region of the BBC in Belfast as their current affairs man in Dublin and covered an intense period of the virtual war know as the Irish ‘Troubles.” Later, after half a decade of reporting bombings, shootings, kidnapping and sieges, he moved to London and began to work in arts broadcasting. Bookshelf, which he inaugurated for BBC Radio Four, became an award winner; on television he wrote films for Omnibus and other arts programs and in the early 1980’s hosted his own talk show, Frank Delaney, featuring an array of cultural and literary personalities. Delaney is the author of six books of non-fiction, twelve novels, one novella, and a smattering of short stories published in both magazines and collections. 

Sure to be much-loved and often-shared, Diane Meier’s graceful, funny novel The Season of Second Chances nudges its characters and readers toward self renewal, change, and a chance for greater happiness. A world of possibilities opens up for Joy Harkness when she sets out on a journey that’s going to show her the importance of friendship, love and what makes a house a home. Setting aside the divisive thinking of an either/or world, this liberating novel values both the arcane scholarship of college professors and the practical, artistic insights of handymen and real estate agents. It is a healing book. It suggests that for a person who has the courage to seize a second chance, there’s also the opportunity for a rewarding third chance, or fourth, or fifth.

Diane Meier is the founder and owner of Meier, Inc., a New York City marketing firm whose clients include Neiman Marcus, DeBeers, Elizabeth Arden and Pierre Balmain. Her career has honed skills from strategy, writing and design to public speaking. She is also the author of the acclaimed The New American Wedding: Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture.

Diane and Frank live in New York and Litchfield County.

A wine & cheese reception will follow the event.

The Hickory Stick Bookshop will provide books for signing & sale.

Space is limited REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

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