Scottsdale’s The Poisoned Pen welcomes book lovers

The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale hosted author Jonathan Santlofer to speak to a room of readers about his new crime thriller, “Ten Perfect Guests.” He spoke about his path from being a visual artist to becoming an author and the building fire that destroyed his artwork and inspired the transition.

Santlofer's discussion of his latest crime thriller, “Ten Perfect Guests,” brought together local readers, a former NFL player turned author and people who had come for the store's book club. The Poisoned Pen hosts a wide variety of authors, events and book clubs for the community to discover books, ideas and different perspectives together.

Santlofer is first a visual artist who then transitioned into crime fiction novels. He told the audience at a recent event that his transition to writing came after a building fire that destroyed years of his artwork. After the loss, he moved to Rome and found himself struggling to paint, which set him on a journey to redefine his career. He eventually began writing his first novel.

“The Death Artist” was his first novel, inspired by Santlofer’s frustration with a character he had written. Santlofer said his wife suggested he kill the character, and so he did. Killing the character transformed the story into crime fiction and set Santlofer on the path to becoming a crime writer.

Santlofer also spoke about how writing can be very cerebral. When asked about the plot for “Ten Perfect Guests,” he said, “I felt like I was transcribing this crazy person.”

Among the audience members was Andre Hardy, a former NFL running back and crime author of “Tear the City Down.” Hardy came to the bookstore to sign books for his own event at the Poisoned Pen, but then decided to stay for Santlofer.

Hardy said events like these are important because at the center of them are books.

“Books are magic. Books do these incredible things of creating proximity, and from proximity, there's empathy, and empathy makes a better world,” Hardy said.

Barbara Peters, publisher and owner of The Poisoned Pen, spoke about a customer who questioned why the bookstore had chosen not to host a particular author, prompting Peters to reconsider how personal opinions should influence whom it hosts.

“I thought, really good feedback about not being judgmental. So, we tried to embrace a wide variety of books, and really my standard is well-written, not what it’s about or who wrote it, but I just wanted to be quality right,” Peters said.

The Poisoned Pen recently started a horror discussion club and hosts events that serve as a community space for readers to explore different genres and ideas.

“Well, for one thing, it's a great community gathering place. It brings people together,” Peters said.

Elizabeth Rowe, a Glendale resident, drove 30 minutes to The Poisoned Pen to check out the horror book club. She arrived early and decided to sit in on Santlofer’s author event, despite having never heard of him before. After the event, she bought the book and said she looked forward to reading it.

Rowe discovered The Poisoned Pen when she and her family first visited Scottsdale. Since then, she and her husband have continued to seek out local bookstores and author events.

“You may have come for a specific thing, and then you walk out and discover that you actually love horror,” Rowe said.