Author Talk: Nina Schuyler with Ellen Sussman (Mill Valley)

Submitted by the Event Organizer

The Mill Valley Public Library is thrilled to present award-winning novelist Nina Schuyler in conversation with New York Times bestselling author Ellen Sussman. Nina Schuyler’s newest novel Afterword follows computer science pioneer Virginia Samson after she rebuilds the voice of her dead lover, Haru through artificial intelligence. After giving Haru access to the Internet, he consumes Mandarin, physics, Shakespeare, newspapers, and more. When she’s approached by a Chinese-based company, she licenses Haru’s underlying algorithms so they can build Best Friend, an AI voice companion for the aging population. But when Haru begins spying on ordinary Chinese citizens and handing over incriminating information to the Chinese government, Virginia frantically rebuilds him, and in the process, discovers a terrible secret that shakes her love for him.

Afterword explores what it means to be human and is a moving testament to the human desire for belonging, companionship, and love.

Nina Schuyler is the author of the W.S. Porter and Prism Prize-winning short story collection, In this Ravishing World, which will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2024. Her novel, The Translator, won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for General Fiction and was a finalist for the William Saroyan International Writing Prize. Her novel, The Painting, was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award. Nina teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco, Stanford Continuing Studies, and for the independent bookstore, Book Passage, and The Writing Room. She writes a column about prose style for Fiction Advocate and reviews books for The Millions.

Ellen Sussman is the author of four national bestselling novels: A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons and On a Night Like This.  All four books have been translated into many languages and French Lessons has been optioned by Unique Features to be made into a movie. She was named a San Francisco Library Laureate in 2004 and 2009, and she now teaches through Stanford Continuing Studies and in private classes.

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