First-time author Carol de Giere will be at Borders Books in the Providence Place mall tonight to talk about her new book, Defying Gravity, which provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at the creative life of Stephen Schwartz, composer of such Broadway hits as Godspell and Wicked.

The book signing takes place at 7 p.m.

De Giere “met” Schwartz online while working on a freelance writing assignment. She became intrigued by Schwartz’s comments about the creative process posted on his site. Later she launched the book project on her own site, www.musicalschwartz.com, and ended up moving from Iowa to the same Connecticut town where Schwartz lives to make interviewing him easier..

The 544-page book ($24.95 from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books) took eight years to complete. De Giere drew on 80 hours of interviews with Schwartz, as well as comments from friends and family. The book contains more than 200 photos and illustrations, including never-before-published sheet music handwritten by Schwartz.

Schwartz, 60, is the only Broadway songwriter to have three shows that have run for more than 1,900 performances, those being Wicked, Pippin and The Magic Show.