Berg weaves a tapestry of literature

While it certainly seems to be the right fit for novelist Elizabeth Berg, she's not afraid to admit that writing is a lonely profession.

But Berg won't be lonely Friday when she visits Cedar Rapids where she'll be speaking as the final author in the Metro Library Network's Out Loud! series. The event begins at 7 p.m. at the The Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

'To come out to events like this gives me an opportunity to meet live people, rather than characters on a page,” Berg says. 'Many of the people I meet have read my books, and that's always nice to know. Oftentimes, people tell me things that are funny, or moving, or truly memorable.”

And Berg would like to encourage those attending Friday to not be too shy to ask questions of her after she's done with her talk.

'I say this even though I myself am too shy to ask an author a question,” she admits. 'Although many years ago, before I was ever published, I asked Ann Beatty if her fingernails were false.”

Fans of the acclaimed novelist - who has more than 20 published works, including 'Open House” which was chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection in 2000 - are sure to have many questions indeed.

For example, people are often curious about the inspiration for her works, Berg says.

'That's a complicated question with a simple answer: life. Writers tend to be curious people, and highly imaginative,” she explains. 'Some people read an interesting or provocative newspaper article and that's the end of that. A writer reads such an article, and her imagination gets fired up. Questions occur to her. She might feel an urge to finish the story that the article suggests. I think writers can't help making up stories. Show us the contents of someone's grocery cart and we've got a character.”

While she doesn't necessarily play favorites with her novels, Berg does admit that her character Katie Nash - who plays roles in her novels 'Durable Goods,” 'Joy School” and 'True to Form” - is her favorite character.

'I think about her a lot,” Berg said. 'My characters are like my children, in a way. I create them and then I worry about them forevermore.”

These days Berg and her readers are likely worrying about the characters from her latest work 'Tapestry of Fortunes,” a novel about a motivational speaker who has just lost her best friend and is at a crossroads in her life.

'She sells her house and gets rid of almost everything she owns, moves into a house with three other women, and ends up taking a road trip with all of them,” Berg said. 'She's going to meet up with an old boyfriend she hasn't seen or heard from in a very long time; the other women have different agendas.

'I think what people like in this book is the idea of life being so full and rich at a time when you might not expect it to be. And who doesn't like a road trip? Or the idea of seeing an old flame?”

Berg says another part of this book is special to her.

'It's the part having to do with the narrator's relationship with a young man who is dying, whom she visits in hospice,” she said. 'And I like the narrator's mom, who is modeled a bit after my own mom.”

Readers are sure to appreciate knowing that personal life lessons and connections come through in Berg's novels.

And they are likely to anticipate her next work.

I just completed a novel that's a pretty dramatic departure for me,” she said. 'It's a work of historical fiction, about the 19th century French writer, George Sand. What a passionate and scandal-plagued woman she was!”

The book, titled 'The Dream Lover” is slated for publication in April 2015.

A native of Minneapolis, now living in Chicago, Berg says she looks forward to visiting Iowa.

'I've been to Iowa many times before,” she said. 'You have to love Iowa, or you're not an American.”

Her ideal summer menu is pretty all-American too.

'Linguine with pesto sauce, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob,and strawberry shortcake for dessert,” she said. 'I'm hungry just thinking about it.”

Berg loves to cook - and eat - and actually wrote a cookbook with her daughter that is no longer in print but she thinks still can be found on eBay.

In the rest of her free time, Berg says she enjoys being outside and people watching.

'I love movies and plays and concerts and going to art museums and riding the el,” she said. 'Oh, and bringing toys to animals in shelters.”

It is perhaps in those every day things that she also gains inspiration, as Berg agrees details are important to writers.

'No matter what kind of writing you do it's always the details that make the story,” she said. 'When you pay a lot of attention to details, you can't help but get story ideas.”

If you go

'What

: Out Loud! Metro Library Network Author Series presents Elizabeth Berg

'When

: 7 p.m. Friday

'Where

: The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, 7725 Kirkwood Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids

'Cost:

Free, but registration required at www.crlibrary.org