Going North!
Our niece Lori and her husband Ted Seibert live in Ridgefield. In preparation for our visit, Lori put on a new hat and became a publicist. Mine! She had a speaking engagement for me at her Church of St. Stephen where my topic was “Christian Literature in the Secular Market.” I attended the one-day Ridgefield Writers Conference, made some new friends and had a great critique session. I spoke at Founders Hall in Ridgefield to energetic golden agers who were happy to hear that it’s “Never Too Late To Start Writing.” I attended a Civil War reenactment, one of the few Northern ones I’ve found. We had a wonderful time, sold more books, and my niece is a fabulous cook. Buddy was happy to welcome us home.
Although I was born in the North and lived there until I was 18, I consider myself a Southerner since I’ve lived all the years since in the south. It was interesting to “go home” to hear the flat accents and be part of the Civil War reenactment from a northern point of view. People are nice wherever I’ve gone, north, south, east, west. They’ve been both gracious and welcoming, whatever their political point of view. There are fascinating places to see and learn about all over the country. What I’ve learned about selling books, as the year ends, is simply this. Don’t be afraid to travel and try new venues. How else will you know what works? And along the way you pick up a lot of good stories, complete with colloquialisms and dialects.