Hanging out with bookish friends
If you’re like me, your bookish friends are some of your best friends!
Lately I’ve been spending lots of times with my bookish friends at fun events like the Middle Georgia Lit Fest in Warner Robins, the Book and Bake sale in Canton, and back in Warner Robins for a wonderful English tea with a Jane Austen theme.
Here are a few snapshots —
at the Middle Georgia LitFest
Tea with a few besties at All Saints
Book and Bake sale with my friend, Anna Holloway
I had a great time with my friend Anna Holloway at the Book and Bake sale in Canton, Georgia. The sale was a fundraiser for several worthy causes, and included about twenty local authors sharing their books and stories about author life. There is so much talent in this state! And it was a treat to spend time with them all, swap tips and tricks, and of course I came home with several new books!
Anna wrote an article about the event in her blog, and I thought I would share it with you so you can get her perspective on the event. Enjoy!
Not Just A Book Sale
Have you been to Canton, Georgia?
I hadn’t until the Bridgemill Bake and Book Sale this last weekend. On the way to the Bridgemill Athletic club where the sale was held, I saw landscaped entries to neighborhoods—for example a large portrayal of a millstone created in bricks—woods, ridges, and over-all-beauty creating the sense that this is a prosperous area.
The ladies who hold the sale must be fairly well-to-do, but they exemplified hard work, compassion, and down-to-earth friendliness. The proceeds from the sale go to help others who are more unfortunate.
One room had many used books at very low prices, usually $1. Baked goods were in little brown boxes tied with ribbons. I was in the authors’ room with Margaret Rodeheaver of Will Way Books, the Macon Writers Group, Scribblers, and the Fort Valley Writer’s Group, and with Rick Maier of Scribblers, and, by the end of two days, almost 20 authors from nearby and farther away. Some had been published by publishers and many, like Margaret and I, were self-published (which is becoming more and more of a thing these days for a number of reasons). Many genres were represented: children’s, middle grades, young adult, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, historical fiction, mystery, romance, and combinations of these. My book, Looking for Jazz: A Memoir about the Black College and Southern Town That Changed My Life, may have been the only memoir at this event.
Looking for Jazz is about my coming in 1968 from Wisconsin to teach, black college life among students and faculty, a Southern town not yet integrated at all, current events (the Vietnam War, voters’ rights, civil rights and integration, women’s rights, interracial relationships).
How many books did I sell at $15 each? About six. How many books did I buy for grandchildren, a friend, and myself? About six new and ten used.
What can’t be quantified is the value of the connections I gained and the things I learned. When I came to Fort Valley, I had a Geechee neighbor, Maybelle Henry. I purchased T.M. Brown’s book, The Last Laird of Sapelo about how Geechees came to the island, how they became a community of families on their land, and how their land and homes have been decimated in recent times.
I came to Fort Valley State College because it was near Fort Benning where my first husband was stationed, and I have remained there with Herman, a black vet I married and raised a family with. I bought the Serpent Papers by Jeff Schnader a novel based on young men’s dilemma about whether to support the war. I also talked with Thomas Anderson who has written many mystery-romances and was at the University of Wisconsin the same years I was and even took the same history professor’s class. While we were there, we experienced serious anti-war protests.
I bought a book of poetry, That’ll Leave a Mark, by Kevin Schumaker. He also came from Wisconsin and, like me, is married to someone black with whom he has raised a family.
I bought a compilation of stories put together by Dottie Chapman, one of the first black students at the University of Mississippi. The book is Outstanding Black women of Yalobusha County: Their Stories and Their Contributions to a Mississippi Community.
At every book selling event I attend—often with Margaret—I meet people who’ve known others I’ve known or have experienced places or events I’ve experienced. I can report on the number of books I sell, but the human connections are of incalculable value.
I hope you enjoyed this blogpost by my friend Anna Holloway. Learn more about her and her books at https://annahollowaywrites.com/