A Delightful Evening with Tami Hoag

The Southwest Florida Reading Festival hosts several fundraisers throughout the year but it was the delightful moniker, Read Between the Wines, given to this event three years ago, that prompted best selling author Tami Hoag (http://tamihoag.com/ ) to drive across the state from her home in West Palm with some friends in tow. She told us that she really liked the idea of books and wine and meeting fans in an intimate setting where no microphones are needed and folks felt comfortable just calling out their questions.

I've been involved with the reading festival for many years and I've always noted that the more renowned the writer the more pleasant they are to deal with. Tami Hoag is no exception. What a delightfully unassuming woman, with a great sense of humor, honed, I'm sure from so many years on the road promoting her books. It seems that no matter how many times one's name graces the top of the New York Times bestsellers list, publishers will not let up on the grueling work of advertising.

Though she has a new book, The 9th Girl, out right now, one that Booklist called "knowing, thought provoking and one of her best," Ms. Hoag was remarkably reticent about pushing it. Instead, she spoke about her roots in romance and the down and dirty business of publishing. She regaled the audience of about 170 people with anecdotes about breaking into the mystery/suspense genre and how the romance writers had to teach those mystery folks a thing of two about marketing.

She got pretty serious when discussing how important it is to have respect for the police detectives and about the many times she shadowed them. Though some were reluctant at first, her professionalism convinced them that she wanted to get it right the first time as, she says, TV rarely does.

The audience sat rapt for almost an hour. One gal brought her own copy of Ms. Hoag's first big novel Night Sins, along with a few women from her book group. Another group from the local university seemed to know each and every character from every book written over the past twenty years. We enjoyed a tasty hors d'oeuvres buffet of salmon, cheese and fruit and wines from the Masciarelli vineyards. http://www.masciarelliwine.com/ Books were sold and autographed and a fine time was had by all. If you live in Southwest Florida, be prepared and don't miss this lovely event next year.