A Great Book Festival for Authors!

The Book ‘Em Foundation was formed to fight illiteracy and keep kids from committing crimes. Their slogan is “Buy a book, stop a crook.” There are several Book ‘Em events now and many authors attend and donate proceeds of their books to the cause.

This year’s Book ‘Em in Waynesboro, VA, was another incredible experience. In addition to the main even Saturday, many of the authors visit the surrounding schools. I visited five classrooms, teaching the kids how to create a believable character. Others visiting the schools included Alan Krugel with his rescued police dogs, AJ Rodridguez, and Chris Crutcher.

Saturday we began with a group photo of the sixty-plus authors and went right into a day filled with author talks and panel discussions. I had a solo talk in the auditorium that morning and participated in a YA panel discussion that afternoon. Many of the students and teachers came to visit us, as well as the general public, and it was a very successful day. One of the volunteers even made us a cake with all of our names across the surface!

The best part for me is seeing old friends and making new ones. Dirk Robertson comes every year from Scotland and he is just a doll! My buddy Trish, (author p.m. terrell), is co-founder of the Book ‘Em and the reason I got involved in the program. I saw many past attendees, including two people who came to Book ‘Em previously to browse the books and returned this year as an author and an illustrator. The other Book ‘Em founder, Officer Mark Kearney, was busy with the events as well as his own table, as his first book came out last year. I also got to see an author from the Charleston Book ‘Em, talented photographer, Deb Booth, and befriended another YA author, Kathryn Erskine.

These events are what make being an author so special! It’s the friendships we forge and the people we touch along the way.

Website - www.bookemfoundation.org