Book Festival Fun

I wanted to share my Book Festival experience with you. It was an incredible day full of mind-sparkling meetings and programs. I had a blast and met some seriously talented authors. In fact I came home with a pretty big stash of books that I can't wait to dig into.

I also spoke with them about joining us on the Blondie and the Brit -- Writing, Publishing and Beyond Podcast that I co-host with Suzanne Kelman and they've all agreed to be on the show! I'll be scheduling them soon for 2018 so stay tuned. You can find us here on Podbean or iTunes.

I was the moderator for the first session of the day for Middle Grade Authors and was lucky enough to introduced these two incredible authors and manage the 45 minute session with them: Xavier Garza and S.J. Dahlstrom. Xavier also illustrates his stories and presented an excerpt from one of his books. S.J. read the first chapter of The Elk Hunt from his Wilder Good Series. Both captivated the room with very different styles.

Xavier Garza, KJ Waters, S.J. Dahlstrom

The next session was about Science Fiction writing and as that is my genre I didn't want to miss it. I watched these two lovely ladies, Rachel Caine and A.G. Howard, weave a magic spell on the audience. Rachel spoke about her neck injury from leaning over the laptop so much. A.G. spoke about using a kernel of a fairy tale to write her novels. When they were finished I immediately bought their books and introduced myself.

Rachel Caine, KJ Waters, and A.G. Howard

While talking to A.G. Howard one of my fans came up and asked me if my books were available for signing, which they were. This prompted A.G. to ask about my writing. Imagine my shock when she jumped up and purchased my book on the spot! While waiting in line we encountered a young girl with her hands full of books and she nearly bumped into us. A.G. noticed that the girl had every single one of her books and I believe the girl nearly fainted standing next to her favorite author of all time. I got a picture and A.G. kindly held my book up in the photo. I'm sure this pic is floating around on social media somewhere. If you find it let me know!

A.G. Howard and my book! 

I attended the Romance Author session with Timothy Lewis and Linda Broday and was really impressed with their presentations. I found it interesting how different they were albeit both very successful with Linda the ultimate pantser writing by the seat of her pants and Timothy who plans out every detail to the nth degree.

Timothy based his internationally best selling book on a photo album full of postcards he found at his uncle's estate sale after his death. His uncle sent a post card to his bride every Friday since the day they met. Such a touching story.

Linda talked about her extensive research library to capture the essence of the wild west in her historical romance novels. Two extremely talented authors I'm looking forward to reading.

I finished my day raptly listening to Jodi Thomas recount how she began her dream of writing. She was an average student with the not so lofty goal of just getting a date before she finished high school, not interested in college or writing. Her humble and endearing account was so inspiring. I will be interviewing her this spring just before she launches a new women's fiction series about a quilt shop and I can't wait to share her awesomeness with our podcast listeners.

The cashier eyed me as I appeared again and again to purchase more books. I believe I encountered her at least 10 times that day and she even took care of me as I ditzed out leaving my purse at the counter while I took advantage of the moment to capture this picture with Jodi Thomas. 

Me with Jodi Thomas

I also met local TV News personality Karin McCay and had her sign her book for my little Shorty. I was sorry to miss her session since it was at the same time as Jodi Thomas. She writes an incredible series for kids that was inspired by her grand kids who moved away to Germany.

KJ and Karin McCay

I captured this shot of all the signed books I came home with that day. I wish I'd taken more pictures with the authors. Please check out these amazing authors on Amazon. Books make great holiday gifts!

From left right, The Elk Hunt by S.J. Dalhstrom, Magic Mommy Stories by Karin McKay, and Maximilian and the Lucha Libra Club by Xavier Garza.

To Purchase: S.J. Dahlstrom: http://geni.us/SJDalstrom
Karin McCay here: http://geni.us/ZBwD 
Xavier Garza: http://geni.us/XavierGarza

Forever Friday by Timothy Lewis, and The Whole Enchilada cookbook by Angeline La Rue

To purchase:
Forever Friday by Timothy Lewis: http://geni.us/tVBFOu
Angelina LaRue's Cookbook: http://geni.us/TheWholeEnchilada

Rustler's Moon by Jodi Thomas, Splintered by A.G. Howard, Ink and Bone by Rachel Cain, and To Love a Texas Ranger by Linda Broday.

To purchase:
Jodi Thomas: http://geni.us/JodiThomas,
A.G. Howard: http://geni.us/AGHoward
Rachel Caine: http://geni.us/RachelCaine
Linda Broday: http://geni.us/LindaBroday

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My books are available here:

Blow: http://geni.us/blowblog

Stealing Time: http://geni.us/StealingBlog and only 99 cents in the UK site on Amazon this week.

Shattering Time: http://geni.us/ShatterBlog