1A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch party for Susanne Winnacker's debut novel The Other Life hosted by Usborne. The Other Life is a fabulous dystopian read (watch out for my review which will be posted later today) so I was really excited to meet Susanne. I met up with Sammee and we made our way to The Soho Hotel where we were greeted by Amy, Rebecca & Anna from Usborne who introduced us to Susanne.
Me with Susanne Winnacker
I have to say Susanne was absolutely lovely, she is so friendly and was happy to answer all of our questions. I was excited to hear that she has already finished the sequel to The Other Life (called The Life Beyond) but I'm afraid we're going to have to wait until 2013 to actually get our hands on it. Susanne confirmed that there will only be two books in the series so The Life Beyond will be the resolution to Sherry and Joshua's story. She has already written her third novel too which she said is something completely different to The Other Life but we weren't really able to get much more information from her about it yet.
I found it really interesting that Susanne said her German publisher is currently translating the novel into German. I had assumed that she would have written the novel in her native language and was really impressed when she said she wrote in English. I can't imagine how hard it is to write a book, let alone to write one in a foreign language! Talking to her you can tell how fluently she speaks English but there is a big difference between speaking a language and writing in it. Susanne said that she has always been interested in American and British cultures, she has spent a lot of time travelling in the states and would love to move there if it wasn't for her husband's job. When she started writing she met her critique partners online and (I think) they are all American so it seemed logical for her to write in English.
Along with getting to spend time chatting with Susanne and the lovely Usborne ladies we were well and truly spoilt with delicious sandwiches and cakes to nibble on along with a beautiful cupcake to take home that had the red butterfly from The Other Life cover on the top. I have to confess my cupcake was rather battered by the time I got it home (it didn't like being bashed around in my bag!) but it still tasted just as delicious.
Back: me, Sammee, Casey, Leanne, Nicole & Hayley
Front: Susanne Winnacker
I'd like to say a massive thanks to everyone at Usborne for a fabulous afternoon and to Susanne for spending so much time chatting to us. If you haven't already picked up your copy of The Other Life it's definitely a book I'd recommend so make sure you come back later to read my review!
Who Was There?
Amy, Rebecca & Anna - Usborne
Susanne Winnacker - Website
Casey & Hayley - Dark Readers - Event Report
Leanne - District YA
Nicole - The Reluctant Hypersomniac
Sammee - I Want To Read That
Looks like so much fun. Loving the cakes and you look fantastic. x
ReplyDeletelooks like a lot of fun... only problem I have with this book is that huge butterfly on the front though and I wouldn't have been able to touch those cakes! Im terrified of them! lol
ReplyDelete@ Susan - aww thanks hun, it was a great day :o) I just realised I still haven't sent your book to you - I'll get it packaged up soon for you!
ReplyDelete@ Raimy - lol those cakes definitely weren't good for people who are scared of butterflies! I would have been the same if it was wasps or spiders but thankfully they aren't very likely things to find on the top of a cupcake lol