3 more authors to watch at this GBF

The Gazette ran a very nice piece this week about the GBF and the track record we’ve built in identifying and recruiting authors who weren’t all that well-known at the time, but ended up breaking it big.  (A few who come to mind are Helen Simonson, Sarah Blake, Tom Angleberger, and Wes Moore in 2010; Eleanor Brown, Paula McLain, and Tayari Jones in 2011.)

In the article, the good folks at Politics & Prose speculate that, among the 2012 Featured Authors, the ones to look out for are Jennifer Miller, Siobhan Fallon, and Alex George.  Hard to disagree with that assessment, but there are three others I’d add to the list:

***Chris Pavone – His debut spy thriller, “The Expats” just hit the New York Times Bestseller List – #9 this week.  On May 19th, you’ll see Chris in an onstage conversation with the Washington Post‘s CIA beat reporter, Ian Shapira.

***Madeline Miller – Here we have another impressive debut novel, “The Song of Achilles,” a re-telling of the story of the great hero of Greek mythology.  This book is also starting to make some noise on the national best-seller lists and has drawn some terrific reviews.

***Matthew Quick – Speaking of terrific reviews, Matthew Quick’s recently-released novel for young adults, “Boy 21,” earned mega-raves in a New York Times review last week.  It’s also worth noting that an earlier book of his, “The Silver Linings Playbook” is now being made into a movie starring Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, and Julia Stiles.  This guy is definitely one to watch.

And there are a ton of others whom we could easily add; this Festival is jam-packed with fabulous writers.  That’s why I always say, come to the Gaithersburg Book Festival not only to see your current favorite authors, but to discover your future favorites as well!

Which new writers are you excited to see on May 19th?  Leave a comment.