Books, TV & Radio

Earlier this month, Ray Steele of WIBC 93.1 FM invited executive editor Evan West into the studio to discuss IM's March Crime Issue (cover story: "How Safe Are You?").

IM: How did this book come to be? What were its roots?

The Parks and Recreation producers also employed a lot of locals as extras and on the crew, and former U.S. House Speaker and presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich showed up at St. Elmo “completely out of the blue” during taping.

 

“Are you nervous about being a dad?” “Yeah.” “Why so?” “They’re so small.”

Despite the unseasonably pleasant weather, Dec. 1 saw the Eugene and Marilyn Glick History Center decked out in Christmas finery for the 10th annual Holiday Author Fair. More than 80 authors from around the state came to meet stalwart fans and first-timers to the literary event.

You read about them in Indianapolis Monthly, now hear them on the radio: Indiana authors Dan Wakefield and John Green join host John Krull on the weekly talk show No Limits, airing on WFYI 90.1 FM on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m.

If the soreness of one's writing hand is a gauge of literary success, Indy-based novelist John Green is on a tear. He recently inscribed every copy of his new young-adult book, The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton Juvenile), out this month, and needed steroid treatments to sign all 150,000 autographs. "When I did a bad one, I wrote a secret URL on the page that takes you to a video of me apologizing for the bad signature," says the 34-year-old, who has a huge fan base online. Half a million people subscribe to his YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, on which Green and his brother Hank do stuff like perform Star Trek parody songs and discuss the travails of the writing process. Like Twihards and Gleeks, their fans even have a nickname: Nerdfighters.

It was a busy day for Indy Reads Books; the new store had just opened this morning, and by 5 p.m., it was hosting a rare local reading by Indy author John Green. He spoke to readers and answered questions with his signature energy and wit, and afterward hundreds of readers waited patiently for a chance to speak with the author while he signed their books (and, in one case, a hat). After the marathon session, Green found time to talk with us.

Three years of work came to fruition today for Indy Reads with the 11 a.m. opening of its new bookstore on Mass Ave. A modest crowd filled the beautifully designed interior of the spot to take a look at the first bookstore to grace downtown since Borders left last year.