Lone Star Literary's Tour of Texas, Fall 2016
A recent swing through Fort Worth provided Lone Star Literary Life a chance to visit several literary locales. We stopped in to say hi to Rebecca Allen (at right, below, with Barbara Brannon, left, and Kay Ellington) and the other staff of TCU Press, then paid a call to several of the city's bookstores, which we'll feature in next week's issue.
If you haven’t patronized the grand Fort Worth Public Library central branch (built in the heart of downtown in 1999), put it on your travel list: not only is the Texas Literary Hall of Fame embodied there in a striking mural and a display case, it's an elegant and welcoming home for all things bookish.
Above: Fort Worth Public Library's central branch at 500 W. 3rd St.; below, the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, which will soon induct new members for the next biennium.
Second annual Permian Basin Writers' Workshop slated for Midland Sept. 16–18
The Permian Basin Writers' Workshop returns to Midland this fall, with a diverse lineup of presenters, speakers, agents, editors, and authors. The event kicks off Friday evening, Sept. 16, 7:30–8:30 p.m. at Midland's historic Yucca Theatre and continues throughout Saturday and Sunday on the campus of Midland College.
Billingsley is the national bestselling author of more than forty books. She writes adult and teen fiction as well as nonfiction. Several of her books have been optioned for movies, including her sophomore novel, Let the Church Say Amen, directed by actress Regina King, and produced by TD Jakes and Queen Latifah. Billingsley made her on-screen movie debut in the film, which aired in August 2015 and was one of BET’s highest rated original programs. TV One recently released the TV version of her book The Secret She Kept on July 10, 2016 and will be airing The Devil is a Lie in fall 2016.
Billingsley is also publisher, with Victoria Christopher Murray, of the new imprint Brown Girl Books.
Other presenters include editors and agents Jennifer Canzoneri, Katie Morford, Mark Falkin, Tricia V. Skinner — all authors in their own right. Kay Ellington and Barbara Brannon of Lone Star Literary Life and coauthors of the Paragraph Ranch series of West Texas novels will talk about aspects of the writing craft and the publishing industry. Poet Sawnie Morris; novelist and nonfiction author Jimmy Patterson; romance novelist Laura Drake; novelist Maria V. Snyder; and novelist Amy Williams round out the workshop's programming.
Registration is open now at www.permianbasinwritersworkshop.org
(From organization's website)
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Kaling added to 2016 Texas Teen Book Festival lineup
Award-winning Actress, Comedian, and Writer to Speak at TTBF on October 1
Admission to Kaling’s discussion is free. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and will take place at 10:15 a.m. at the St. Edward’s University Recreation and Convocation Center. Prior to the discussion, Kaling will sign copies of both of her books, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) and Why Not Me? The signing is limited to the first 250 people who purchase either book from the Festival store. The Festival store will open at 8:00 a.m. in the Alumni Gym.
Before The Mindy Project, Mindy was best known for her work on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning NBC show The Office. In addition to directing, producing, and portraying celebrity-obsessed Kelly Kapoor, Mindy wrote 18 episodes of the series, including the Emmy-nominated episode “Niagara.”
In 2011, Mindy penned the comedic memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, which continues to be featured on New York Times and USA Today best-seller lists. The memoir invites readers on a tour of Kaling’s life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood.
The TTBF takes place on October 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at St. Edward’s University. The TTBF remains free and open to the public thanks to presenting sponsor H-E-B, major sponsor Brigid Cockrum and Family, and other generous donors, sponsors, and dozens of committed volunteers. For more information, please visit www.texasteenbookfestival.org and keep up with announcements at Facebook.com/TexasTeenBookFestival and on Twitter and Instagram @TXTeenBookFest.
(Information from organization's press release)
Meacham to receive A. C. Greene Award at 16th annual West Texas Book Festival, Sept. 19-24, Abilene
Leila Meacham, the national New York Times best-selling author of Roses, Tumbleweeds, Somerset, Titans, and more will be the featured keynote speaker Sat., Sept. 24, at the West Texas Book Festival and will be recognized as this year’s A.C. Greene award winner. The A.C. Greene award is presented annually to a distinguished Texas author for lifetime achievement. The award is named for author, columnist, and Abilene native A.C. Greene.
The sixteenth annual festival, September 19-24, 2016, will also feature panels with the following authors:
- Carl & Pixie Christensen, Lone Star Steeples: Historic Places of Worship in Texas (Texas A&M University Press, 2016);
- Glen Sample Ely, The Texas Frontier & the Butterfield Overland Mail (University of Oklahoma Press, 2016);
- Dennis Roberson, Winning 42: The Strategy and Lore of the National Game of Texas (4th ed., Texas Tech University Press, 2009);
- Chad S. Conine, The Republic of Football (University of Texas Press. 2016);
- Susan Kralovansky, Twelve Cowboys Ropin’ (Pelican Publishing, 2015);
- Marguerite Gray, Hold Me Close: Revolutionary Faith (WestBow Press, 2015).
This year's featured cookbook authors include
- Jacqueline Cavender, As the Spur Stirs (2016, Cavender’s);
- Jessica Dupuy, The United Tastes of Texas (2016 Oxmoor House); and
- Anthony Head & Laura Samuel Meyn, Meatless in Cowtown (2015, Running Press).
A panel of Texas publishers will have a session Friday afternoon, Sept. 23, about how to get a book published and answer questions from the audience. The workshop is free and open to anyone interested in the world of publishing and getting published.
For more information, visit the festival website.
(From organization's website)
Texas Book Festival to host Nick Offerman, Hannah Hart, and T.C. Boyle as part of 2016 festival weekend
Pre-order book tickets for popular author sessions available now
AUSTIN – The Texas Book Festival is excited to host Nick Offerman, Hannah Hart, and T.C. Boyle in support of their latest releases as part of the 2016 Texas Book Festival lineup. Offerman, Hunt, and Boyle will discuss and sign their new books during the Festival Weekend with a limited number of pre-order book tickets available now via the Texas Book Festival website. Tickets include one copy of the author’s book and a priority seat at his or her Festival session.
"It’s so exciting to finally share this news! I'm a huge fan of all three of these authors and can't wait to have them share their latest work at this year’s festival,” said Julie Wernersbach, the festival’s literary director. “Each book covers different territory — woodworking, identity, social dynamics — with unique style. And I’m really excited to roll out our new experiment, offering festivalgoers the opportunity to have their books and seats waiting for them at the session, which giving them time to enjoy even more of the festival while also ensuring that we’re supporting the authors who make the commitment to appear here.”
America’s suavest carpenter, Nick Offerman, will discuss and sign his latest release, Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop Sat., Nov. 5 at 12:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church. Offerman is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, and carpenter widely known for his breakout role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Offerman’s new book shares his experiences of working at the Offerman Woodshop and takes readers behind the scenes of the woodshop, both inspiring and teaching them to make their own projects.
YouTube vlogger and bestselling author Hannah Hart will present her new memoir, Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded, Sun., Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church. This collection of narrative essays offers an intimate look at her life, including family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship, and fame. Hart is best known for starring in My Drunk Kitchen, a weekly series on YouTube that has garnered more than 2.5 million subscribers and launched a bestselling book by the same name. She is one of today’s most popular Internet celebrities, with millions of followers across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.
T.C. Boyle will celebrate his fourteenth novel with The Terranauts, a deep-dive into human behavior in an epic story of science, society, sex, and survival. Boyle, the acclaimed, bestselling author of the PEN/ Faulkner Award–winning World’s End and The Harder They Come, will present The Terranauts Sat., Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church.
Book tickets for these sessions are available only via Texas Book festival website. Purchasing a book ticket reserves one priority seat at the festival session and one copy of the author’s book. Limited free seating will be available day-of at the sessions on a first come, first served basis. Priority seating will be reserved for ticket holders, who will be able to pick up their book at the festival session.
For a schedule (coming in September) and more information visit www.texasbookfestival.org and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @texasbookfest.
(From organization’s press release)
