Stacey Lee & Evelyn Skye Visit Hicklebee's TAB

Stacey Lee & Evelyn Skye | July 22nd, 2016

It’s been a few weeks since the Stacey Lee and Evelyn Skye event at Hicklebee’s, but I wanted to share my incredible experience at the event!

Prior to the event, I hadn’t read a book by either Stacey Lee or Evelyn Skye. But I’m not one to turn down a chance to go to an author event (especially when said author event is happening at Hicklebee’s). After eating dinner in Willow Glen with a friend, I hurried over to Hicklebee’s. I was running a little late, so I only had a moment to snap a picture of the display featuring Stacey Lee and Evelyn Skye’s books before snagging a seat.

The two authors, who are critique partners and close friends, kicked off the event by talking about how they met and briefly describing their books (Stacey Lee is the author of Under A Painted Sky and Outrun the Moon while Evelyn Skye wrote the New York Times bestseller The Crown’s Game) before moving into a Q&A session. Before accepting questions, however, the authors asked how many writers were in the crowd. Almost every hand in the audience went up, and writing questions were quite prominent in the Q&A session.

While both authors are pantsters rather than plotters, Evelyn Skye talked about how she uses the three-act structure described in the screenwriting book Save The Cat! to help her stay on track and hit her story’s important emotional beats. Both authors also talked about allowing a rough draft to be rough, saying that a lot gets fixed in the editing process. In fact, Stacey Lee said that she ended up turning a romance in Under A Painted Sky into a friendship at her publisher’s urging.

As a writer myself, I found their answers to be incredibly helpful, and I jotted down their insightful comments about persistence, research, and taking care of yourself for the next time my fictional characters stop talking to me.

Not all of the questions revolved around writing. When a member of the audience asked the two authors to name the books they are currently reading, the book-loving audience leaned forward in anticipation of the answers. Stacey revealed that she’s currently reading My Lady Jane and loving it, and the crowd whooped. Evelyn Skye’s answer to this question, however, received a very different reaction from the audience. When Evelyn disclosed that she got her hands on an advanced copy of Saaba Tahir’s A Torch Against The Night, the audience gasped in envy.

Of course, the friendship between Stacey Lee and Evelyn Skye made the night that much more fun! When the authors revealed that they love milk tea, a TAB member asked if they preferred it with or without boba. Stacey Lee and Evelyn Skye responded, “With boba!” in unison, displaying their near-telepathic connection with each other and causing the crowd to laugh.

After the Q&A came to a close, attendees rushed to purchase copies and get them signed. Stacey handed out swag from her huge piles of bookmarks and postcards while Evelyn asked everyone at the event to sign a special copy of The Crown’s Game. And, of course, no TAB event would be complete without fresh-baked cookies and treats!