This past weekend I participated in the first-ever Easton Book Festival. I’ve been excited about this event ever since I learned about it through the Greater Lehigh Writers Group. My part required a lot of prep work and planning, and it was well-worth the effort as a great day was had by all who attended. I am so glad to have been a part of this wonderful event!
I started out Saturday morning at the Author Expo. This part of any author event is always one of my favorites, as it makes for such a wonderful opportunity to discover new authors. Here I am with fellow author Rory Janis Miller, whose story, Bev: The Invisible Sister sounds like a truly heartwarming tale!
A number of authors were given the opportunity to do readings and I was honored to be among them. After a considerable amount of contemplation, I decided to read the first chapter in A Sultry Peformance. I had a blast taking readers through Chris Gordon’s midnight venture into the park, where he and the alluring Victoria Morrow, lead dancer of Sultry & Sensational’s exotic dancing team, cross paths for the first time. I enjoyed relaying their banter out loud and it was thrilling, doing it with an audience who was as captivated by their story as I am!
So many events were taking place at the Festival that it was hard to keep up! Fortunately, my husband Bill attended with me and he was kind enough to man my author table while I participated in a panel discussion about Self Publishing. Our moderator wasn’t feeling well, but the remaining 4 authors, myself included, jumped right into an engaging discussion with our audience which brought about many questions regarding the in’s and out’s of self publishing. I shared my own journey, how I published 7 stories with Siren BookStrand, prior to my debut indie release, and how I connected with a wonderful one stop shop (Killion Group) which made the process relatively painless. I shared my joys and tribulations and I learned some interesting new things from fellow authors Loretta Bolger Wish and Steve Mariotti, below.
I ended the day hosting a workshop on Editing and Pacing. There is of course so much information to cover where these topics are concerned, that a class on either could easily run for a couple of days or even a few weeks. But I did my best to break down the best advice I’ve learned into a 30 minute workshop. Many readers expressed that they were disappointed they couldn’t attend, so I videotaped the workshop, uploaded it to youtube and I’ve shared it with you, below. I hope you find these tips useful when editing your own work!
The best part of the festival for me? Umber Rana, 2021 Easton Book Festival Conference Chair asked me if I would be interested in hosting a workshop at next year’s conference and I said of course, I’d be delighted! I hope to see a few of you at next year’s event!
Release Party!
Join me and a variety of BestSelling Authors at the Release Party for P.T. Macias’s Elite Power Supreme Legacy Series October 31st – November 4th.
I’ll be hosting this Saturday, November 2nd at 9:30 AM EST and giving away a copies of ALL titles from The Rabourn Theater Series!
