Saturday, October 27^th    11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Fullerton Public Library 353 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton,  (714) 738-6333

Meet local authors, learn about writing and publishing, obtain signed copies of our author’s books.  Twenty authors will be offering their books for sale and many will be participating in the panel discussions.

Authors: Panel #1                                        11:00-11:45

John Blaydes, moderator,  Panelists:

• Lis Leyson, Boy on the Wooden Box (New York Times Best Seller)
• Debra Holland, The Montana Sky Series (New York Times Best Seller)
• Ron Baesler, God’s Rejected King: A Story of Saul
• Jeanette Reese, It Wasn’t Supposed to End This Way

Meet local writers, some of whom have achieved national and international acclaim.  Lis Leyson assisted her husband in writing his memoir about his experience as the youngest child on Schindler’s List—a truly amazing story. Dr. Debra Holland, a New York Times Bestselling Author penned the Montana Sky Series, romances that warm the heart and challenge the mind.  Dr. Baesler’s fictional story about Saul, the tortured king of the Old Testament, paints a picture of personal pain and unrelenting dilemmas the old king might have faced in his life.  Jeanette Reese writes memoir about life, love and loss. When her husband and her mother die, the two people she loves most, she is left with the dilemma of finding a new purpose, moving on and creating a new life.

Poetry for Pleasure: Panel #2                          12:00-12:45

     Panelists:

• Veronica Michalowski, Body Landscape: the Delights and Dregs of Dating
• Fritz Von Coelln, Catharsis, Coming to Grips With Grief
• Natalie Graham (Associate Professor, CSUF) Begin With a Failed Body

Join us as we explore issues about poetry, publishing poetry and listen to authors share their work with words that dance off the page.  Audience members are invited to bring short poems if there is time to read.

Fiction Versus Memoir: Panel #3                     1:00-2:00

     Panelists:

• John Fox (fiction): I Will Shout Your Name
• Florine Miller (fiction): The Quilter’s Flu
• Ron Baesler (fiction & memoir): God’s Rejected King and The Good, the Bad, and the Holy
• Jeanette Reese (memoir): It Wasn’t Supposed to End this Way

How do fiction writers and memoir writers differ in their approaches?  For a memoirist, the plot is life, but for a fiction writer the plot is born in the imagination.  How does a memoirist manage characters, when their characters are often alive, and may or not want to be in the author’s book?  What ignites the mind of the fiction writer to write scenes, yet how does a memoirist describe scenes true to the story?  Come and explore the difference approaches these fiction and truth-telling writers have taken.

Children’s Books—Writing & the Challenges of Illustration: Panel #4    2:15-3:15

Panelists:

• Rayleen Williams, Red Finds His Way: A Trilobite Tale
• Shirley Jordan, Benjamin Brown and the Great Steamboat Race
• Fritz Von Coelln, Charlie’s Challenge, a “True” Story About Polar Bears
• Curt Abdouch, BIG M: The Mammoth of Moorpark
• Craig Smith, Author of Iwa Tales; Publisher, Dockside Sailing Press

What makes a children’s book good?  It is the characters?  Or is it the way the characters speak?  Is it the plot?  Is it description?  And since illustration is so critical to a children’s book, how does an author manage illustration?  Learn more about different approaches to creating quality children’s books.

Writer’s Workshop: Crafting Chapter Endings             3:30-5:00

 Workshop leader: John Matthew Fox, MFA, MA, author and editor

An accomplished writer himself, John Fox is a professional editor, backed up with an MFA from USC and an MA New York University. This workshop is a writing craft seminar, where Mr. Fox will examine how famous writers ended their chapters, discuss the principles and techniques for chapter endings, and time permitting, give you a chance to get feedback on your own chapter endings. So, come and learn tips from a professional editor, put pen to paper and perhaps read a few lines of your work!