Atria Weston Place

I was more than a little skeptical when I got a call from a retirement community in Knoxville, Tennessee, asking if I would come and visit to talk about Samurai Shortstop. My book, after all, is written for young adults.

There was a connection, however. One of the residents, Elizabeth Brashears, was one of the founding members of the Tennessee Reading Association, an organization which has done much over the last few decades to promote reading among young adults. Ms. Brashears was recently recognized by the TRA for her work when they named an annual writing award she helped to institute after her, and the activities director at Atria Weston Place wanted me to help commemorate Elizabeth's achievement.

Since I was already going to be in town for the Festival of Reading on the World's Fair Park the following day, I said sure.


I ended up having a great time. I spoke to about twenty-five of the residents at Atria Weston Place in Knoxville, and they had many questions during and after my presentation. I sold a few books and made some new friends, including Ms. Brashears -

Thanks to Marlene Viravec and everyone at Atria Weston Place for a great morning!