BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL 2010

On Saturday September 25, 2010 I traveled to the BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL in the Mt. Vernon section of Baltimore for an all day event. The weather was PERFECT - warm and sunny -and the Festival was very well attended. I spent the day sharing the history of the orphan trains with many interesting people from all walks of life! Pictured with me here is a young man named Logan and his mom who purchased all three books. SMILE LOGAN!!!

I had the pleasure of meeting some other children's authors and enjoyed spending "down time" talking with them and learning of their journeys to book publication. Anita Reese sat to my right. http://www.anitareese.tatepublishing.net/ Anita has written two books that incorporate the use of sign language in the reading process. I purchased her book, "Learn to Read with Sign Language - Basic Sight Words" for my niece Sara Anne who is an emerging reader. On my left was author K. Michael Crawford http://www.happilyeverart.com/ who is the award winning author of a very unique series of books which combine reading with drawing. She also spent the day encouraging over 500 festival attendees to contribute to one piece of art work in an effort to break the Guinness Book of World Records and by the end of the day, the record was broken!!! Michael, I found out, will also be traveling to Waynesboro VA the weekend of October 16th for the "Book 'Em" event so we will have the opportunity to spend the day together then as well. Check out both of these author's websites for some GREAT CHILDREN'S BOOKS!

By the end of the day I was exhausted but happy with the event, having sold lots of books and made some very good contacts for future speaking engagements. A huge THANK YOU to my friend Stephanie Paloni Chupein who lives in the Fells Point section of Baltimore and graciously put me up for two nights so that I could be nearby for the event. Thank you for your friendship Stephanie, and for your "Bed & Breakfast" type hospitality!

Next up...... WAYNESBORO VIRGINIA'S "BOOK 'EM" EVENT - Buy a Book, Stop a Crook!" http://www.bookemfoundation.org/Waynesboro/index.html. This is a fundraising book event dedicated to increasing literacy rates and by extension, decreasing crime rates. Sponsored by the Central Shenandoah Crime Stoppers and Hosted by the Waynesboro Police Department, this worthwhile event is in its 7th year! Also attending will be my friend and author Melissa Foster http://www.megansway.com/ author of "Megan's Way". If you're anywhere near the Waynesboro area on the 16th, stop by and say hello!