Author at Literary Bookpost March 12
Published 12:00 am Friday, March 4, 2011
By Daphne Safrit
For the Salisbury Post
Seventeen-year old Amy is supposed to be in a cryogenic sleep, along with her parents, for 300 years. They are supposed to be transported to an earth-like planet aboard the spaceship Godspeed because Earthís resources are failing. Amy is not supposed to be awakened 49 years early. And thus begins the gripping saga of Amy searching for the murderer onboard who is systematically killing those still frozen.
Of course, Godspeed is not your common spaceship. Along with housing frozen scientists, military personnel and other leaders who will help to populate and cultivate the new planet, there is also an entire community that is awake. Eldest runs a tight ship (pardon the bad pun), ensuring that all members of his mono-ethnic society perform the jobs they were born into.
Everyone does exactly as Eldest wants, even dying at the right time, with the exception of the patients living on the psych ward at the hospital and his successor, Elder. But with the arrival of Amy, a pale redhead who is younger than everyone except Elder, Eldestís complete control begins to falter.
Beth Revis has created an entire world on Godspeed, one that I continue to revisit in my mind. Told in alternating chapters narrated by Amy and Eldest, I found ěAcross the Universeî impossible to put down. Part space adventure, part murder mystery and all wonderful, Revis has created a story that I enjoy sharing and I look forward to watching her fan base grow.
Revis is a former high school English teacher who writes about grammar, writing and publishing on her blog Write it Out and is also the founder of the popular dystopian blog, the League of Extraordinary Writers. She lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and dog. Revisí debut novel, ěAcross the Universeî came out in January from Razorbill/Penguin.
Revis will be at Literary Bookpost, 110 S. Main St., downtown Salisbury, on Saturday, March 12, for a reading, signing, and reception beginning at 1:30 p.m. For more information on this event, visit www.literarybookpost.com or call 704-630-9788.
Memoirs writing workshop
Opening the Door, a workshop for adults who are writing their memoirs, led by Jenny Hubbard, writer-in-residence, Center for Faith & the Arts, will be offered Tuesday, March 22, 10 a.m.-noon at the center, 207 W. Harrison St. (the lower level of Haven Lutheran Church).
This workshop, designed for the writer already in the process of composition, will focus on ways to help organize, condense and magnify a life on paper.
Participants will be required to send in ahead of time two typed, double-spaced pages of the work in progress, which will be shared with the group.
Limit, 10 participants. To reserve a spot, mail your pages and a check for $10 (made payable to Jenny Hubbard) to Center for Faith & the Arts, PO Box 4098, Salisbury, NC 28145-4098.
Questions? Call 704-647-0999 or email Sarah Hall at faithart@bellsouth.net.