Mountain of Authors

Last Saturday, I participated in the 5th Annual Mountain of Authors program put on by the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) at the East Library branch in Colorado Springs. The event began for us authors at 11:00 am, when check-in opened up. For that first hour, we registered our books with the Friends of the Library volunteers who would be handling book sales, set up our tables, helped ourselves to the author and staff lunch buffet, and schmoozed with each other. I ran around during this hour and took as many photos of the participating authors as I could (see below).


Alice Scott and Bev Sninchak, with guest.


Jeanne Stein and Rod Summitt.


Stewart Green and Mario Acevedo.


DeAnna DeAngelo and Rebecca Dunning.


Richard Gibson and me.


Nancy Mills and Terry Odell.


Carol Hightshoe and K. D. Huxman (Karin Huxman).


Evangeline Denmark and Donita K. Paul (daughter and mother).


M. J. Brett (Margaret Brettschneider) and Jim Ciletti, the Poet Laureate of the Pikes Peak region.


Doris Baker and Parker Blue (Pam McCutcheon).


Mike Hamel and Barry James Hickey.

Then at noon, the doors opened to the public. Three writer friends served on the 12:30 - 1:30 PM Panel on Paranormal Fiction: Mario Acevedo, Parker Blue (Pam McCutcheon), and Jeanne Stein. Kirk Farber moderated. The panel is shown below.

From 1:30 - 2 PM was the Author Showcase, when each attending author took 2 minutes to talk about their books, and the Golden Quill Award was presented to Stewart Green. After a half hour break, when attendees could visit the author tables, the second panel was held from 2:30 - 3:30 PM on Publishing. Moderated by Tim Blevins, the panel included Doris Baker, owner of Filter Press, Teresa Funke, owner of Victory House Press, and Nancy Mills, President of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Doris and I serve on the Mountain of Authors planning committee, she as a publisher representative and me as an author representative, so we've gotten to know each other well. The panel is shown below.


After another half hour break for schmoozing, selling, and signing, Keynote Speaker Jerry B. Jenkins, author of the Left Behind series, spoke from 4 - 5 PM. He's shown in the photo below. The event finished up with a final book signing and reception, complete with sparkling cider and treats such as chocolate-dipped strawberries, decorated cupcakes, cannoli, cheesecake and more. Yum!


The hard-working library staff put on a well-attended and well-run event. I'm already looking forward to next year's Mountain of Authors!

Saturday's Mountain of Authors Program

This past Saturday, I attended the Pikes Peak Library District's (PPLD) fourth annual Mountain of Authors program. What a great day! I arrived at 11 am to consign my books to the Friends of the Library sale then set up my display table for the Author Showcase Spotlight. Local authors, fiction and non-fiction, traditionally and self-published, ringed the large community meeting room.

After setting up, I took some photos of the library's planning committee, with whom I worked on planning the event, and some of the authors. The first photo shows me with Kevin Hudgins, a PPLD librarian who went to high school with my daughter. The second shows the lovely Becca and Krista, two more of the librarians on the planning committee, and the third shows the scrumptious lunch PPLD provided to the authors and the rest of the committee staff serving the food.













































The next photo shows me with romantic mystery author Rod Summit, who appeared on the 2:30 pm Genre Fiction panel, and multi-genre author Karin Huxman, who most recently published two wonderful children's picture books and moderated the same panel. The next two photos are of local science fiction and fantasy authors: Carol Hightshoe, who also edits two ezines of fantasy fiction, The Lorelei Signal and Sorcerous Signals, and Laura Reeve, who writes the Major Ariane Kedros novels and graciously blurbed my SF novella, The Epsilon Eridani Alternative.










































The seventh photo shows me with fellow mystery author Nancy Atherton, who writes the Aunt Dimity mystery series. Next I'm color-coordinated with fellow author Kirk Farber, showing off his debut novel, Postcards from a Dead Girl, and who is also a client of my literary agent, Sandra Bond. Kirk and Sandra both appeared on the 12:30 pm panel, Getting Your Book Published, along with Fulcrum Publishing editor Faith Marcoveccio. Last is a photo of Margaret Coel giving her keynote speech from 4-5 pm. Margaret thrilled me by mentioning in her talk that she had read the manuscript of my March, 2011 release, Deadly Currents, and enjoyed it. Thanks, Margaret!











































Quite a few people attended this free local event to learn a little about publishing, meet local authors and buy a few of our books, and learn about local writing groups, Pikes Peak Writers and Pikes Peak Romance Writers. The day was capped off with a combination book signing and reception featuring sparkling cider, butterfly-topped cupcakes, and my favorite, chocolate-covered strawberries. PPLD really outdid themselves on this event. I wonder what they'll have in store for the local writing community for their fifth Mountain of Authors event next year?!

PPLD "Mountain of Authors" Program

This Saturday, April 10th, I will be participating in the fourth annual Mountain of Authors program at the East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd. I invite everyone in and around Colorado Springs who is interested in reading and writing to attend this free event!

The keynote speaker for this year's event will be one of my favorite mystery authors, New York Times best-selling author Margaret Coel. Book lovers and writers of all experience levels will find tips and inspiration from two speaker panels: one which will discuss getting your first book published, and the other featuring genre fiction authors. Many more local authors besides myself will be available for discussion and book signings during the author spotlight and showcase. No registration is required.

Program Schedule

12:15 to 12:30 p.m. – Find your seat!
12:30 to 1:30 p.m. – Getting Your First Book Published
Panelists: Sandra Bond (Bond Literary Agency), Kirk Farber (Author), Faith Marcovecchio (Fulcrum Publishing), Moderator: Tim Blevins
[Please note that Sandra Bond is both my agent and Kirk Farber's agent.]
1:30 to 2 p.m. - Author Showcase Spotlight
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. – Genre Fiction
Panelists: Nancy Atherton, M.J. Brett, Laura Reeve, Rod Summitt, Moderator: K.D. Huxman
4 to 5 p.m. – Keynote Speaker – Margaret Coel
5 to 6 p.m. – Book Signing and Reception

For more information about the Mountain of Authors event, visit the Library Blog.