Updates:
Sadly, Covid put the brakes on all public events I’d hoped to schedule in 2020 and 2021.
November 19, 2019, 5-7 p.m.: Launch party for Broomstraw Ridge at Summers County Public Library, 201 Temple St, Hinton, WV 25951, 304-466-4490. Please come if you can for a 2nd celebration of Appalachian history and culture, along with some cookies. See you then!
(I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend Hinton’s Railroad Days festival this year (2019), Oct. 25-27. Signed copies of Madam’s Creek will be available at Otter & Oak on 2nd Ave., just uphill from the traffic light.)
Sunday, August 11, 2019: Lilly Family Reunion, Flat Top, WV–book sales and signings. See link for details. Open to all–great music, food, and folks! Activities for kids, too.
Friday, April 5, 2019: First Fridays at Lewisburg’s A New Chapter (bookstore), 922 W. Washington St.: book signing, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019: Summers County’s Wednesday Club: talk & signing at Green Sulfur Springs.
Again this year I’ll be at Hinton’s Annual Christmas Bazaar, Dec. 1, 2018, from 10:00 to 4:00. It’s at the Freight Depot on Commercial St., downriver from the waterslide. I’ll have Madam’s Creek and an educational children’s coloring book to sign and sell. I hope to see lots of friends and make some new ones. Please stop by my table and say hi.
Hinton’s 2018 Railroad Days Festival is coming up: Oct 20, 21, 27, & 28, 2018. I’ll be selling/signing copies of Madam’s Creek at Otter & Oak on 2nd Ave., Oct. 21, 27, & 28*, starting at 10:00 a.m. and continuing until late afternoon or I run out of books. The store is just uphill from the traffic light (the only one in the county), and directly across New River from Madams Creek (the apostrophe fell out sometime in the past hundred years). An “excursion train” will bring approximately 1000 visitors to town each day, joining many locals in a blend of history, live music, food, arts, crafts, carriage rides, a big used-book sale, a veteran’s museum…. See link below for info about the train trips along the New River Gorge. Come on out for some kettle corn and a good time! (Oct. 20 is Fayette County’s Bridge Day. If you like a REALLY big crowd and a buh-zillion vendors, plus maniacs with parachutes jumping off a bridge and aiming for a tiny little beach way below, check that out.)
*If I run out of books, I’ll still be at Otter and Oak at 10:00 each day to hand out free, signed Madam’s Creek bookmarks. I’m not sure how long I’ll stay, but I’m grateful for anyone who stops by. I do have a lot of books, and hope to have enough! The shop has a few signed copies, too.
I’ll be at the Lilly Reunion at Flat Top, WV, with a stack of books the first weekend of August. I look forward to meeting lots of Lillys and their families and friends.
See http://www.lillyreunion.org for schedule and map. From Interstate 77, take the Ghent exit (south of Beckley) and head east at the exit stop sign. You will come to Rt. 19 almost immediately. Turn right onto 19 (south) and pass Winterplace Ski Resort. Shortly thereafter, turn left on Ellison Ridge Rd. See website map for the last turn, which is sure to be marked!
Right now, I don’t know if I’ll be there Saturday or Sunday–most likely Saturday if the weather is dry and not wildly windy. :o)
(Many thanks to the Lilly family for including me. What an exceptionally well-organized reunion (the 89th!) in a lovely setting. Warm people, great food and music…. A real sense of pride and history, as well as connection to one another and the region that spawned a strong and talented family.)
There will be a Madam’s Creek book signing and reading at Taylor Books in Charleston, WV (226 Capitol St., 304-342-1461), on June 2, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. I hope to see you there!
Also, a Madam’s Creek (which includes a little of Princeton’s Civil War experience) book signing and reading is scheduled for June 9, 2018, 11:00-1:00, at The Hatter’s Bookshop in Princeton, WV (935 Mercer St., 304-487-0787). A poetry reading and book signing by another author will also occur at Hatter’s that day in honor of Celebrate Princeton! This street fair on Mercer St. will feature live music and other performances, waterslides, lazer tag, a car show, a live art mashup, dance performances, and a bounce house and free popcorn for children. Come on out!
The book launch party is scheduled for November 11, 2017, 1:00-3:00 p.m. at the Summers County Library. There will be a brief talk and reading at 1:30. A book signing will follow for anyone interested in buying a copy. I’d love to see you there! This event is a celebration of a part of the world that receives little attention. For those of us who love Central Appalachia, let’s party!
Next… books will be available at Hinton’s Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, from 12:00 to 5:00. The Bazaar is at the Freight Depot, downstream from the waterslide. I hope to see you there! There will be all sorts of vendors–a good chance to support local businesses and non-profits.
Next… there will be a reading and signing at the Raleigh County Public Library in Beckley, WV, on March 24, 2018 at 1:00. (Many thanks to those brave souls who came out in a snowstorm, as well as those kind souls who provided refreshments!)
Betsy Reeder, Writer 