Photo courtesy of their publisher
Pamela Jaffee-Harper
VICTOR SCHMITT-BUSH
Staff Writer
To some graduates, their time at Fredonia lives on only as a story. A good read it might have been, but it remains a memory, nonetheless.
For others, the story is still being written.
Staff and students alike will be pleased to know that Fredonia alumna and New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub, along with her editor, Lucia Macro, will be returning to Fredonia from Nov. 9-13.
As per the Writers@Work organization, “Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than 90 novels, best known for the single title psychological suspense novels she writes under her own name.”
Macro has also attained great success throughout her career as an editor, working for several renowned writers such as Hazel Gaynor, author of “The Girl from The Savoy” and “The Girl Who Came Home” and New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper, whose upcoming novel is “The It Girls,” and many more, according to Writers@Work.
Both authors will lead a series of events ranging from book signings to student workshops. They will even be available for open office hours in which students may ask questions and/or discuss a variety of things in relation to writing and editing.
According to Macro, their visit is about much more than publicity. There will be many opportunities for students to go to book signings, but she feels that the real treat is in inspiring students to succeed.
“ . . . the purpose is to reach out to students who are interested in careers in publishing — not just as writers, but as editors. Or even if they want to know what my assistant does every day or what it is like to live in NYC.”
Corsi Staub is a proponent of such virtues. “This isn’t just about discussing writing with writers — which we always love to do — but about discussing what happens next, after you leave college,” she said. “We frequently talk about things we wish we’d known back then, when we were preparing to embark on life in the real world.”
In other words, the road to adulthood is a hurdle by which no one comes back unscathed, but it is those who dive boldly into the abyss who come back stronger. Sometimes however, according to Corsi Staub, it wouldn’t hurt to march into the unknown with a bit more than a positive spirit.
“When I was an aspiring writer at Fredonia, I was a small town girl who wanted big things, and I probably spent more time trying to figure out how to achieve them than I did studying,” said Corsi Staub. “It would have been nice to have gotten advice and guidance from someone who was already living the life I wanted to live.”
In that same vein, Corsi Staub has become her own hero. She has made appearances much like this one at a number of universities, imparting her own knowledge and experience to students, offering to them a personal and comprehensive experience that she wishes she could have had when she was a student.
She and Macro led a similar bit in Geneseo back in October 2015. According to Erin Carlo, a nonfiction speaker for Issue 4.1 of the Gandy Dancer, she spoke “about her writing life, her inspirations and motivations, as well as the adversity she has overcome along the way.”
According to Carlo, much like that of this upcoming event, “Attendees were able to ask questions about writing, editing and publishing. Wendy and Lucia were exceptionally knowledgeable, and remarkably approachable.”
This won’t be the first time that Corsi Staub makes a special appearance in Fredonia. She explained, “I’m a big believer in remembering your roots and giving back to the people and places that sustained you in the past. So I have frequently signed and spoken on campus, and in 2008, one of the greatest honors of my life was to deliver the Commencement Address.”
In this visit, much emphasis will be on Corsi Staub’s newest and upcoming releases. Her new novel “Dead of Winter,” which will be on sale Nov. 7, is set in Lily Dale, New York, a few miles away from Fredonia, and will be at the heart of much discussion.
She will also be introducing her novel that she completed in March titled “Bone White,” to which she said “relates — or not — to the authentic setting in ‘Dead of Winter.’”
Corsi Staub and Macro will be making their appearance at a number of places in and around campus, ranging from Fenton Hall, to the Williams Center, to the Science Center and even the Rockefeller Arts Center.
“Come see us,” said Macro. “I promise we are super nice and interested in what you might want your future to be.”