"Buy a book and stop a crook!"

What a great idea -- a book festival to promote literacy and cut crime rates! I just discovered the Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, which features authors, publishers, and literary agents:

February 22, 2014
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
ROBESON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
LUMBERTON, NORTH CAROLINA
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

 

The goal of the Book 'Em Foundation is to "raise public awareness of the correlation between high illiteracy rates and high crime rates." There will also be arts and crafts and face painting for the kids, so bring the whole family!



Storytelling

Storytelling is big in the South. It seems to me that oral storytellers and writers have a lot in common--having to think of interesting plots, exaggerate or fictionalize the truth, keep the audience's attention, and have a flair for the dramatic. Of course, being a good storyteller doesn't guarantee you'll be a good writer, and vice versa. But I'd like to go to a storytelling festival one day, just to see how it is, and I bet I would learn some tips for my writing.

Here's one in Roswell, Georgia, June 27-28:

http://www.cvb.roswell.ga.us/storytelling.html

Free Book Festival

The South Carolina Book Festival in Columbia is FREE and open to the public, Feb. 22-24. Featured among the many events is a presentation entitled "Women Writing Southern Fiction," with NC writers Pamela Duncan, Virginia Boyd, and Lynn York. Sounds like you won't want to miss it!