Look at these two lovely literary ladies! Arrested Development writer Maria Semple and The Breakfast Club actress Molly Ringwald sat down together to talk about their post-Hollywood writing careers at the LA Times Festival of Books.

One highlight from the event: When an audience member complained that the wait list to check out Semple’s book Where’d You Go Bernadette from the Seattle library was really long, Semple replied, “Oh, I know, in Seattle there’s literally 1,700 people on the wait list. They’re so cheap up there.”

You can watch the discussion between these two “strikingly pretty authors” over at the LA Times.

A great interview with Where’d You Go Bernadette author Maria Semple on Psychology Today (in which she reveals how she keeps track of the chronology of a story)! Also, there’s a chance to win a copy of the book if you like Psychology Today’s post on Facebook or tweet it.

Where’d You Go, Peep? This peep is decked out as Bernadette Fox, the star of Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. In true Bernadette fashion, this diorama was constructed with materials found no further than twenty miles from the office.

Want your own fishing vest and sunglasses (human-sized of course)? Enter our sweepstakes.

slaughterhouse90210:

“My heart started racing, not the bad kind of heart racing, like, I’m going to die. But the good kind of heart racing, like, Hello, can I help you with something? If not, please step aside because I’m about to kick the shit out of life.”
—Maria Semple, Where’d You Go, Bernadette

How am I just now stumbling upon this kick-ass post?

We might be a bit biased, but we love Maria Semple’s author website. Here is a sampling of some of the pictures your can find on it. What’s your favorite author website?

thelibrarygirl:

So, I just TORE THROUGH this book. Witty, clever, quirky, thoughtful, unexpected…I was so enthralled by the story and the writing. It’s super smart, sharp when it needs to be, but also rambling at times and in the best possible way. It’s been a long time since I had such fun with a story.

What do you think of Bernadette?

Inspired by Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go Bernadette and Bernadette’s claim that there are two types of hairstyles in Seattle (“short gray hair and long gray hair”), The Seattle Times’ FYI Guy blog analyzes data about Seattle’s gray-haired female population. What did they find? “Bernadette may be on to something.  Data from Experian Marketing Services show that, out of the 31 U.S. metropolitan areas with at least 1 million women, Seattle is one of just three that ranks in the bottom 10 for both home and professional hair coloring.”

Our very own Where’d You Go Bernadette faces off against The Orphan Master’s Sonin The Morning News’s Tournament of Books. You can read the exhilarating, action-packed play-by-play here.

Bernadette made a cameo on ABC’s Bunheads! You too can be this cool if you get your hands on Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. I promise.

Have you been looking for an excuse to read Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple?Real Simple’s No-Obligation book club is reading it this month.