When I purchased the ticket for this event, I had no idea what to expect. I knew Liane Moriarty of The Husband's Secret, What Alice Forgot, Big Lies Little Lies, and Truly, Madly, Guilty was the keynote speaker, however, I had no idea she would actually wind up sitting at our table! What a joy it was to meet her. She is cute, funny, and very witty. She talked to us about her family and her work. To say that I had my "fangirl" on, goes without say.
So, the luncheon went like this... every 10 minutes the authors would rotate to tables of booksellers and readers. We had the opportunity of having 10 authors sit at our table and discuss their books in the following order:
- Mary Alice Monroe - A Lowcountry Wedding
- David Casarett - Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
- Sharyn McCrumb - Prayers the Devil Answers
- Tosca Lee - The Progeny
- Janet Nolan - Seven and a Half Tons of Steel
- Liane Moriarty - Truly, Madly, Gladly
- William Ferris - The South in Color: A Visual Journal
- Ben Westhoff - Original Ganstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Easy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West coast Rap
- Kathleen Glasgow - Girl in Pieces
- Robert Olen Butler - Perfume River
At the end of the rounds, there was panel interviews with the authors. I really enjoyed this as well, because it gave us an opportunity to hear from the authors that did not cycle through our table. After each panel interview, we had time to purchase their books and have them personally signed. I had absolutely no shame in my "fan girl" moment by asking to take pictures with each of the authors.
Can we talk about how well this event was put together?! There was never a lull moment. Everything moved smoothly. There was a great variety of authors present. Ariel, Marybeth, and Ann did a great job of interviewing the authors. E. Shaver Booksaver of Savannah, Georgia did a great job of organizing the sale of the books. Making the sales move quickly, so that we had time to visit with each author, while having our books signed. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to visit this lovely bookshop, because of our limited time in Savannah. I will, have to make another trip just to visit the actual shop. The food was great, the service and location was perfect. It was great to be surrounded by so many book loving people. I met and sat with the sweet Bethany of Bookreviewmama.
Needless to say, my TBR pile just got larger!
At the end of the day, Marybeth made an announcement that they would be putting on another event next year in New Orleans! Guess where I'll be next year...you betcha...New Orleans!!
Well, moving on to my next adventure on this journey to 50 will be Orlando for EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival. I hope you will join me by following me either here on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook! :)
