Bloomington Book Festival

On Saturday, March 24th, I took part in the Bloomington Book Festival at the brand new Bloomington Arts Center. The facility is very impressive, a beautiful new building. Thirty-three authors were featured at the festival this year. There were several writing workshops offered in the morning and authors were invited to do readings of their work.

I brought several copies of "Hidden Heritage...the Story of Paul LaRoche" for my book table. It never fails--Paul's stunning photo on the cover always gets attention from passersby. I have to commend MORI Studio of Minneapolis for their great design work, both on the cover and the layout of the interior. I can't tell you how many compliments I receive on the cover alone!

Since the weather was unusually warm for March, the attendance for the book festival was down this year. I did however have a nice surprise when three girlfriends from high school (we won't say what year, but back then it was Wadena High School in north-central Minnesota), showed up to check out the festival. I want to thank Irene Nelson, from Richfield, Eileen Westland, from Perham, and Marsha Karam, from Nevis, for stopping by to see my book table.

I am happy to say that my photocards received quite a bit of positive feedback as well. I brought both sets of the South Dakota series along and sold several packages. Both the "Holy Name Chapel" and the "Lakota Images" sets seem to be favorites with people.

A special thanks to Kate Pettit with the Bloomington Art Center for all her hard work in organizing the 2007 book festival! My next appearance will be at the Prior Lake-Savage Schools on April 12, 2007, with Sharon Boyer-Jacobs, Student Services Coordinator.

With our wonderful 81 degrees on Monday, I think we can safely say spring is on the way!
Blessings,
Barbara

Welcome!

Welcome to my brand new blog! Ever since "Hidden Heritage...the Story of Paul LaRoche" was released in 2006 from Beaver's Pond Press, I have received numerous emails from people who have read the book and want to share their comments. Paul too has been stopped by a number of people at his performances who want to tell him how the book has impacted or touched their lives. Because of this, both Paul and I would like to give readers of "Hidden Heritage" a place to share comments and thoughts about Paul's unique journey.

Just two weeks ago I attended the Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego and one of the things I learned is that "blogging" is the way to go! So a big thank you to my web designer, David Schneider, for getting me set up.

For any of you writers out there, I would highly recommend this conference. There were many topics covered, a wide variety of seminars to choose from, great speakers and presenters who were very approachable. The conference went from Friday through Sunday, and it was packed full of wonderful resources for writers of all levels. I came home with a huge notebook full of notes. I must say however, the networking and contacts I made with other writers, screenwriters, agents & editors at the conference will no doubt prove even more valuable.

I am looking forward to seeing how this blog develops. Another learning curve!
Blessings,
Barbara

First blog

This is my very first time to write on a blog.