In late March, Sweet Reads Books and Candy hosted a visit by author Amy Lynn Green, who has written several books, including “Things We Didn’t Say” and “The Lines Between Us.” The visit wasn’t the first time an author stopped at Sweet Reads, but rather it has been an ongoing feature of t he book store since it opened in 2016. “The first author was right away in August (2016),” store owner Lisa Deyo said, adding that it was a big one for the store. Grant Blackwood, an Austin graduate who has written the Briggs Tanner novels, as well as having contributed to the Clive Cussler series of books as well as Tom Clancy and James Rollins. He was Deyo’s first visiting author, making a visit at the same time he was in town for the Austin ArtWorks Festival. While author visits seem like old hat these days, Deyo confessed that those first visits were something of a learning experience. “I had no idea. What am I supposed to do?” Deyo said. “At that point, I hadn’t gone to that many presentations. Is he supposed to talk. How do you advertise it?” It’s not uncommon for the store to host author talks throughout a month, whether that’s something Deyo herself does, or if it’s being hosted by a book club at Sweet Reads. Those early author visits included a lot of authors from the area and region, but then things were upset by the COVID-19 pandemic. Deyo said it was tough for people to come back to such an intimate setting to listen to the authors. She said it was even difficult for her. “After COVID, it was two years before I was even comfortable,” Deyo said. “It took that long and it was the magic of book clubs. Book clubs had kind of revamped themselves and new ones had started.” The book clubs proved invaluable in the renewed effort to bring in authors, because they gave Deyo an inside look of which authors the groups were reading. “You listen for that story. That need that’s out there,” she said. “A lot more people were reading local, regional or Minnesota (authors). Authors were just popping out.” At the same time, the renewed author visits also had to generate interest and bring in people who wanted to listen. Again, the book club meetings have proven invaluable as they tend to be the perfect audience. These are people who have likely read the book and have questions about what they have read. “The setting is perfect and the authors love it,” she said. Aside from local or regional authors, Deyo has been able to host a number of nationally recognized authors including William Kent Krueger and Allen Eskens, the latter of whom recently visited the store. These are authors who have reached out to her to indicate they are passing through to promote a new book and would like to make a stop. It would be easy to relate that to the popularity of Sweet Reads and Deyo herself, but rather Deyo said that’s an indication of just how popular Austin itself is. “They’ll always connect with me and say, ‘hey, September I’m going to be out there, I’ll be available this week,’” Deyo said. “That’s really cool. They like coming to Austin because Austin is very well read. We have smart people that will ask them smart questions.” Listening to the authors present has always been a draw, as it gives people a chance to ask those questions about the books. The entire visit can be special for both the author and those who attend these visits. And that extends to Deyo. “It’s just a personal pleasure,” she said. “I love hearing the stories. Every author has just a different reason for starting to write.” “In here, it’s just a little different,” She continued. “The emphasis is on making that author feel special and asking questions of them. That’s a fun thing to host. I get to sit back, make sure there is plenty of room. How cool is that?” Upcoming visits include a pair of authors — Lisa Cassman, who authors children’s books and Stan Tekeila, who has authored “Trees of Minnesota” and “Birds of Minnesota.” They will be presenting at 10 a.m. and noon respectively as part of celebrating Independent Book Store Day on April 26. In May, Sweet Reads will host Thomas Rumreich, author of “Unholy Communion” at 3:30 p.m. on May 14 and Matt Goldman, author of “The Murder Show,” at 3:30 p.m. on June 17. The post Let’s talk about books: Sweet Reads author visits bring writers to the public appeared first on Austin Daily Herald. ...read more read less