Emily Giffin

My sister-in-law introduced me to Emily Giffin's books a few years ago. She gave me Something Borrowed and Something Blue for Christmas in 2006. I read both of them in a matter of a few days - I couldn't put them down! After that I've read every book Emily Giffin has written. I will admit that the first two were my favorites, but the others have been good as well.

A few months ago a friend at work and I started swapping books. She lent me a bunch of Nicholas Sparks books, and I lent her my copies of Emily Giffin's books. Julie was so into Something Borrowed that we talked about it every day at lunch. I realize this makes me a dork, but it was so fun! Anyway, Julie started following Emily on twitter and would check her website daily. She found out that Emily was coming to St. Louis to promote her latest book, Heart of the Matter.

Last Tuesday, Julie and I went to Saks at Frontenac to meet Emily. The book signing was sponsored by a non-profit organization and was quite an event! When we arrived, we signed in and were given gift bags full off coupons and samples from fun stores. Then we headed downstairs and found a bunch of chairs set up in a lobby area. We decided to grab a couple of chairs up front since we weren't really sure what all was happening. We ended up sitting there for over an hour, but it ended up being a good choice because the place was packed! They had an open bar with a "Giffintini," beer and wine. Waiters walked around with trays of yummy snacks as well.

Finally Emily arrived and was interviewed by a lady from the Post Dispatch. She talked about inspiration for her stories and how she goes through the writing process. As a teacher, it was so fun to hear how a real author writes a story -from start to finish. She talked a lot about her characters and explained that they are her focal point. She talked about how even people in her life who have hurt her always end up surprising her in good ways, and she uses that idea to create characters who are "flawed" but still endearing. It made me want to go back and read all the books I didn't like as much now that I know how she thinks about writing. After the talk we waited for almost an hour to get our books signed, but all the waiting was totally worth it!  If you’ve read Something Borrowed, you’ll probably be excited to know that the movie is coming out next summer.  Kate Hudson is playing Darcy and Ginnifer Goodwin is playing Rachel.  I can’t wait!

During the interview

Emily Giffin 

Julie and I finally meet Emily  (Please notice my horribly   unflattering shirt…nice!)