Author Brad Meltzer book reading at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

By Lisa Palley, Palley Promotes

Brad Meltzer is pretty great. This is not to regale and bore you with quotes from both colleagues and media about how terrific a writer Brad Meltzer is. What I do want to tell you is treat yourself, and take advantage of seeing Brad live, in person for the upcoming Wednesday, Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. presentation at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove.

Even though Miami is lucky enough to have him right here in our community, he is always on the road touring in big and small cities, to big and small communities all over the country. And he does do a lot of media. But the way to experience Brad is in person.

This year he is releasing two children’s books, both of which are part of his I Am series – I am Jane Goodall and I am George Washington – and one book for adults, The House of Secrets. Beyond the fact that he is a New York Times best-selling author with books stacked high for purchase at the airport, and for borrowing at the local library.

Brad loves people: he loves to meet his readers, he loves to talk with them, and he loves to hear what we have to say. He is one of the most generous authors I know. And from where I sit, I think he does it because he wants to, not just to build his brand and sell books.

Last week I attended a reading by Brad at Books & Books in the Gables. He was there to launch his new children’s books. The audience was composed of children and adults, and what Brad did was not a book reading, but a presentation. It was well thought out, timed and engaging. He truly embodies the gift of making his rehearsed presentation sound as if he were delivering it for the first time. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, and how he wanted to say it.

His charming presentation answered questions he knew we wanted to ask: How do you decide what to write about? How do you do your research? What was it like to write about someone who was still alive? How do you decide what to include in a biography? And what not to? Brad was articulate, funny, expressive, honest and generous. He is obviously someone who took the time to do it right.

His appearance at Books & Book was co-presented with Read to Learn Books for Free, Miami Book Fair’s literacy initiative, in partnership with The Children’s Trust. A warm “Thank You” goes out to Brad for taking a moment to remind everyone how lucky they were… because they had books in their lives, and, that they had access to books.

He urged his audience to remember others, especially the children. He knew his audience would purchase his books; he asked them to buy an extra one and drop it in the Read to Learn Books for Free donation bin. Or on their next visit to Books & Books to bring gently used children’s books and drop those in the bin. His impassioned directive was delivered extemporaneously, and was truly heart-felt.

After the evening ended, I realized how honored I felt being there, and I wanted others to experience what I and about a hundred people did that night.

Mark your calendar for an experience not to be missed: Brad will share and talk about his new book, The House of Secrets, on Wed., Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove, hosted by Miami Book Fair, Read to Learn Books for Free, GablesCentral.com, The Bookstore in the Grove and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The presentation is free and open to the public.

You’re in for a treat; this will not be a traditional reading – Brad will not just open his book, pick a page, select a paragraph and commence to read. What it will be is a sit-down, a chit-chat with Brad, sharing things you’d want to know, and even things you didn’t know you wanted to know.

Because that is the kind of guy Brad is.