On November 9, the Ninth Northern California Authors Fair will be held at the Mt. Shasta Mall in Redding, California from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Clustered around the Center Court, the Fair is only one of the events put on by the Writers Forum, a Shasta County organization granted not-for-profit status in 1983. The event is sponsored by the Record Searchlight and funded by a Scripps Howard Foundation Volunteer grant.

The Fair draws authors (both house and self-published) from across Northern California. Genres include Children and Young Adult, Mystery and Fiction, History and Memoir, Travel, Crafts, Self-Help/Realization and more.

Local award winning authors in the past have been Linda Boyden, an author/illustrator of children’s books; Charlie Price who won the esteemed mystery Edgar Award in the Young Adult category; Steve Brewer, multi-talented mystery author including the highly popular Bubba Mabry series (one of which was made into film-noir movie titled Lonely Street).  Other authors have included Cathy Elliott and Lois Browning Bauer.

All authors will meet the public, answer questions and sell their wares.  The Fair, which is the last event of the year that the Mall offers to outside organizations, has been popular with holiday shoppers seeking gifts for book-loving family members and friends.  Anyone feeling stirred can also enter a “First Sentence” contest to win a prize. Who knows, it may be the first sentence of a book that is featured at a future Fair.

Ok, so this is a little self-promoting. But you get the gist of how big a deal it is; for members that aren’t doing their own self-promoting, it is a golden opportunity to rub elbows and chat informally with published authors.  No better way to rub than being a volunteer. Yes, we still have slots to fill. Contact any board member for more information.

See ya’ll there.

Larry Watters

President