Culture
Meet The Author Event To Be Held At OU-Lancaster
By: Cheri Russo
Posted on:
An author with ties to Lancaster will be reading from her new novel at Ohio University Lancaster on Oct. 8.
Laura Wettersten taught music at Saint Mary’s school in Lancaster before becoming a librarian and author. Her first novel for young adults, My Faire Lady, was published this summer by Simon & Schuster.
Her presentation at OUL is being sponsored by the Hannah V. McCauley Library.
"It’s always fun to highlight local people who have succeeded in difficult fields like publishing. It isn’t easy to find a publisher to take on a new author," said Judy Carey Nevin, library director at OUL. "To have a publisher like Simon & Schuster publish your work is impressive. I’m thrilled to be able to bring an author to campus whose book will appeal to so many of our students."
The book’s main character is Rowena Duncan. Duncan is a modern girl with big plans for her summer—working at the mall with her best friends, taking trips to Cape Cod, date nights on the beach—until she catches her boyfriend making out with another girl.
Heartbroken, she applies to an out-of-town job posting and finds herself somewhere she never expected: a Renaissance fair.
Wettersten will do a reading from her novel, followed by a question and answer session.
"Although I'm a writer and youth services librarian now, I actually went to college for music education and, prior to this job, spent nine years at St. Mary's school in Lancaster as their music and drama teacher," said Wettersten. "Between that and college, I spent two years in Chicago learning musical theater-style singing with a prominent voice coach there."
My Faire Lady has only been available since July and is already on the shelves in more than 20 libraries in Ohio—including the Hannah V. McCauley Library at OUL.
While the typical audience for the book is young adult readers, Wettersten said she hears from fans of all ages.
"I get a steady flow of fan mail from readers young and old," she said. "By far the most frequently asked question is if My Faire Lady will get a sequel. Honestly, another Renaissance Faire book isn't part of my deal with Simon & Schuster, but perhaps they'll want one in the future. I certainly know what's going to happen for Rowena, but I won't tell just yet! The best email I've gotten so far was from a young girl who was going through a tough time, fighting a lot with her parents about her future, just like Rowena, and the book really helped her through that."
Wettersten will read from her book Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Raymond S. Wilkes Gallery for the Visual Arts. The event is free and open to the public.
Copies of My Faire Lady will be available for purchase in the campus bookstore. The bookstore will remain open until 6:30 p.m. to accommodate people who would like to have the book before the event.