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"A Festive Occasion"
Recently I was invited to participate in the South Carolina Book Festival that was held in Columbia, South Carolina. To say I was honored to be invited is putting it mildly. I was awed. Usually if I attend an event such as this it is to interview someone important for a newspaper or magazine. But this time I was one of the invitees and that is a real special occurrence for me.
The best thing about attending an event like this is the "networking." You get to meet authors, publishers, aspiring writers, publicists, and a whole bunch of other people who don't want to talk about anything but writers and writing. For two full days it is all about the writer and the written word.
The first night I was there I met two very special people. The first was Kathy Wall. She and her husband Norman were introduced to my wife and myself and we just instantly clicked. Kathy writes mysteries for St Martin's Press now but when she first started she self published her book. Her next two books were published by a small independent publisher and then she got contacted by St. Martin's and the rest as they say is history.
Kathy is amazed at her good fortune. She just shakes her head good-naturedly when she tells how it all happened. Her new book RESURRECTION ROAD will be out next spring and I will certainly look forward to reading it.
The second person I met was Dorothea Benton Frank. Dottie Frank entered the cocktail party I was attending and took it by storm. The woman has more personality than twenty other people combined. She absolutely sparkles and when Dottie is around the attention is focused on her.
She is self-deprecating but in the funniest way. She can even get away with talking about her husband's corporate jet without sounding like a snob. She is a natural storyteller and the tales roll off her tongue like the dew falling on Dixie. I could have listened to her for hours. She told one story that had me rolling in the floor. It was about a driver almost refusing to pick her up because he thought he was supposed to pick up Aretha Franklin instead of Dorothea Frank.
Dottie Frank is the author of SULLIVAN'S ISLAND, ISLE OF PALMS and my favorite SHEM CREEK. They have all been New York Times best sellers. Her next book is PAWLEY'S ISLAND and it will be published in May.
Barbara Taylor Bradford was also at this event but I didn't get to swap stories with her. I just got to see her behind a line of people who wanted her to sign their books. I was at the other end of the table to sign copies of my book but the crowd went to her. I couldn't even entice them by saying I was Jackie Taylor Bradford, her younger brother. Nobody bought it.
If you ever have a chance to go to a Book Festival, go. It is a wonderful way to hobnob with amazingly creative and interesting people. At least that is the way I found it to be. The South Carolina Book Festival was wonderful fun. Maybe they will invite me back next year? |
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©2005 Jackie K. Cooper |
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