MARK YOUR CALENDAR
March 31 at 7:30pm
Portsmouth, NH

Event tickets are sold out but vouchers for autographed books also still on sale

– 10% discount when purchased in advance.

Writers on a New England Stage welcomes author Jodi Picoult. The New Hampshire resident will present her new work of fiction, HOUSE RULE. Tickets to the evening event are sold out, but vouchers for signed books are still available.  

HOUSE RULES hit bookstores on March 2, and has already debuted at #1 on the NYT bestseller list. Michele Filgate of RiverRun Bookstore, said of Picoult’s blockbuster success, "She is simply one of the most popular and successful writers out there. Her books fly off the shelves."

"Picoult’s base of readers is huge and a signed copy of her book will no doubt be a collector’s item down the line," Filgate says. She encourages fans to reserve a book now by buying a voucher at an advance-purchase discount price from The Music Hall or RiverRun Bookstore in downtown Portsmouth.

"Even if you can’t get a ticket to the show, you can get a book, which will be held at the bookstore for pick up," says Filgate.

HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis.

He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder.

HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

In her Writers on a New England Stage evening, Jodi Picoult will be interviewed by long-time public radio producer Virginia Prescott, host of New Hampshire Public Radio’s "Word of Mouth." Live music will be performed by the award-winning house band Dreadnaught. The live show will be rebroadcast on New Hampshire Public Radio.

Book purchases  

Autographed copies of Picoult’s new book HOUSE RULES, available on the evening at The Music Hall or the day after at RiverRun Bookstore, are $25.50 when reserved in advance through the purchase of a voucher. Advance vouchers can be purchased through The Music Hall box office and at RiverRun Bookstore at 20 Congress Street in downtown Portsmouth.

Autographed books, as available, can be purchased on the evening for the full retail price of $28. Patrons who want to read the book in advance of the event and also want a discount can buy an unsigned copy as soon as RiverRun Bookstore has them available. The 10% discount price will be in effect when they show their ticket to the author’s Writers on a New England Stage evening.

Writers on a New England Stage has spotlighted a broad range of celebrated authors including Alan Alda, Mitch Albom, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Dan Brown, Barbara Kingsolver, E.L. Doctorow, Anita Diamant, Madeleine Albright, the late John Updike, Wally Lamb, Greg Mortenson, and Cokie Roberts, among many others.