Author Events Schedule
In the Conservatory
In the Reader's Tent
In the Books at Sow's Ear Tent
In the Children's Tent
In the Conservatory
12:30 pm – 1:15 pm
Catherine Coulter
The Life and Times of a Commercial Fiction Writer
“Let’s hear it for luck!” “Let’s hear it for discipline!” and “What the devil does a person who wants to be published today have to do to get through the door?” Ms. Coulter offers advice on writing, genre-hopping, and maintaining a schedule. She will provide insights on how her career has flourished and will contrast historical romances vs. contemporary fiction in today’s market.
1:30 pm – 2:15 pm
Pat Carr
Writing Historical Fiction in 20 Minutes!
Ms. Carr will read from her newest work, The Death of a Confederate Colonel, and treat the audience to a fast and fun workshop called, Writing a Historical Story in 20 Minutes. When asked why write historical fiction, Ms. Carr replies, “Fiction has the advantage of making a reader care about the participants in an event, which isn’t necessarily the case with the facts of history.”
2:30 pm – 3:15 pm
Jeffery Deaver
A Writer's Life
“A humorous and entertaining look at how I became a full-time writer, starting at the age of 11 through the present day, and what others who wish to be writers can expect on this arduous but rewarding road of creating fiction.” Graduating with a law degree, it was during Mr. Deaver’s long commute to his office that he began writing the type of fiction he enjoyed reading – suspense novels.
3:30 pm – 4:15 pm
Dana Stabenow
Low Tides and Libraries
“There was no book store in Seldovia, the Alaska village where I grew up. There wasn't any television, either, so if you wanted entertainment you went to the library. ‘Low Tide and Libraries’ begins with a description of my first visit there, climbing a 40-foot ladder at low tide from the fish tender I lived on with my mother, the deckhand, and continues with the story of how that visit set my feet on the road to becoming a novelist.”
4:30 pm – 5:15 pm
Andrei Codrescu
Poetry and Her Handmaidens
A copiously illustrated argument on why Poetry is the highest art and why the rest of the scribbler's arts, such as fiction, nonfiction, and other hybrids, are not worthy of kissing Her hem, and why, instead of kissing Her hem, they might endeavour instead to aspire to the status of Poetry. The illustrations will consist of various essays (yes, alas) on poetry and poetic occasions over the past two decades, and also a few poems.
In the Reader's Tent
12:00 Noon – 12:25 pm
Dale McCurry
Letters from the Pen
McCurry will be reading from his new book,
Letters from the Pen, a compilation of columns originally published in the
Lovely County Citizen. McCurry spent five years in federal prison documenting the beauty, tragedy and humor of fellow inmates.
12:30 pm – 12:55 pm
Alison Moore
Riders on the Orphan Train
“Riders on the Orphan Train" is a performance piece incorporating original music and fiction from a story in the current collection,
The Middle of Elsewhere. The Orphan Trains distributed 250,000 orphans and unwanted children at train stations across
the country between 1854 and 1929. Many came to Arkansas.
1:00 pm – 1:25 pm
Mohja Kahf
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf
Mohja Kahf reads from her newly-released novel,
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, a coming-of-age story of a Muslim American woman at the intersection of Islamic dress and bad 1970s polyester.
1:30 pm – 1:55 pm
Daniel Woodrell
Winter’s Bone
Woodrell, finalist for the L.A. Times Novel of the Year, will read from his latest novel,
Winter’s Bone. Set in the Ozarks, it follows the harrowing and tender story of sixteen year old Ree Dolly, who must find her missing father or lose the family home. Of his writing process Woodrell says, "I’m a kamikaze writer. No teaching. No day job. No other professional focus. I threw everything away to be a writer."
2:00 pm – 2:25 pm
Doug Stowe
Basic Box Making
Doug Stowe will be reading a series of "sidebars" or short essays about creativity...the “why to,” hidden amidst the “how-to” from his five woodworking books including his latest book,
Basic Box Making. Stowe also shares some of his writings found on his blog, which is “dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning.”
2:30 pm – 2:55 pm
Laura Parker Castoro
Icing on the Cake
When Liz Talbot's husband left her for a woman half her age, Liz put all her passions into her bakery. The problem is that fad diets and fitness crazes are ruining sales and she's barely staying afloat. Castoro reads from her latest book,
Icing on the Cake, which chronicles the amusing, chaotic life of Talbot, a woman coming into her own at midlife.
3:00 pm – 3:25 pm
Katie Estill
Dahlia’s Gone
A promise can change a life . . ." Estill will read from her new novel,
Dahlia’s Gone, which brings to life three unforgettable characters whose lives intersect in dramatic and mysterious ways. In the end this is a story about the beauty of hope, redemption, and the soul-healing friendship that can be forged among women. The beautiful landscape of the Ozarks led Estill to write this novel, as did her five-year service as the head of the Stop Violence Against Women Task Force of Howell County, Missouri.
3:30 pm – 3:55 pm
Will LaPage
Parks for Life
Will LaPage explores the vital roles that parks and public lands play in any healthy society. A life-long advocate of America's Park System, he will discuss his book,
Parks for Life, and highlight the importance of continued investment to maintaining and support of our public places for future generations.
4:00 pm – 4:25 pm
Suzette Haden Elgin
Science Fiction Poetry
Elgin reads several of poems and explains the term “science fiction poetry” and speaks of the importance of writing her stories as poems rather than as short stories or novels.
4:30 pm – 4:55 pm
Randy Denmon
The Lawless Frontier
Reading from his newly published first novel,
The Lawless Frontier, a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur award for best original paperback, Denmon will also talk about his motivations and love of writing.
5:00 pm – 5:25 pm
Velda Brotherton
Fly with the Mourning Dove
Velda Brotherton will read from her novel,
Fly with the Mourning Dove, and reveal how family stories intrigued and inspired her, after many years of gestation, to research and write this historical tale set in the high desert of New Mexico.
In the Books at Sow's Ear Tent
2:00 pm - 2:45 pm
Dr. Jim Young
A Labor of Love and Keys to the Door of Truth
Jim Young, a former university president living in Beaver Arkansas, is an award winning spiritual writer, poet and widely collected documentary and fine art photographer.
A Labor of Love and Keys to the Door of Truth are the second and third volumes in Young’s Spiritual Awareness series that deal with the metaphysical meaning of Jesus and His disciples, the courage necessary to “let go,” and the challenges of embracing our own divinity.
1:00 pm – 1:45 pm
Tom Koob
Buried by Table Rock Lake and
The History of Fishing Table Rock Lake
Journalist and fishing guide Tom Koob Knows everything there is to know about Table Rock Lake. Since moving to the Ozarks in 1980, he has regularly fished Table Rock Lake. During these numerous outings he became fascinated with the tales, facts, and “everything else” Table Rock. An accomplished writer, Koob is regularly featured in
Bassmaster Magazine and he writes a fishing column for the Knob Rock Rattler.
12:00 pm - 12:45 pm
Wayne Clark
The Letters and Diaries of Isaac Clark
Life long Carroll County resident Wayne Clark has transcribed the letters and diaries of the founder of Clark’s Academy, Isaac Clark. Isaac Clark’s story is about his struggle to provide education, interrupted by service in the Confederate Army, in an impoverished region as told through his diaries and correspondence. A Carroll County bestseller,
The Letters and Diaries of Isaac Clark is also compelling reading for anyone interested in Arkansas and frontier history in general.
3:00 pm – 3:45 pm
Lanny Gibson
The Magic of Scrub Holler
Lanny Gibson is an Ozark Mountain farmer who has written lovingly, hilariously, and with deep understanding of his chosen path.
The Magic of Scrub Holler, and its sequel,
Scrub Holler Revisited are collections about life that happens to be wrapped comfortably in a farmer’s overalls. Illustrations by his wife, Derlyne Gibson.
4:00 pm – 4:45 PM
Sharon Laborde Horton
A Year in the Heartland
Horton’s first and splendid novel,
A Year in the Heartland, is the story of a personal quest of Leigh Walker as she journeys through the complexities of modern life and how that journey transforms her. A life long educator, artist and avid gardener, Horton lives along the White River with her husband Ron Horton
Ron Horton
Carrie Nation’s Hatchet, or How Jesse James Met his Demise
Jesse James and Carrie Nation probably never met, but Ron Horton describes their “chance” encounter in Beaver, Arkansas in 1909 as seen through the eyes of young Mark Halladay. Horton’s intriguing novel centers around the discovery of a set of rather cryptic directions to Jess’s treasure—and murder. With more than twenty historic photographs of the period, readers of all ages will delight in this look back at what might have been.
5:00 pm – 5:45 PM
Don Erickson
The Shadows and the Darkness
Don, a teacher of writing at the University of Arizona and Illinois State University, is spending his retirement raising cattle in Carroll County and writing. His first novel, The Shadows and the Darkness takes us into the future where two young men, Orrey and Dann Radnor encounter a band of aliens and their subhuman servants who force them to play crucial roles in saving their village and their nation from destruction and eventual enslavement. Erickson is currently at work on his second novel.
5:00 – 5:45 pm
J.K. Phillips
Jakie Creek; Legacy of an Ozark Outlaw
A local runaway bestseller,
Jakie Creek is a fast-paced novel inspired by the true life and times of William Henderson Phillips, a Union soldier and renowned outlaw who returned to Golden Missouri in 1865 to find his farm life changed forever. This is the story about the North and South, good and bad, black and white, but mostly gray—a place between, a place called Jakie Creek.
In the Children's Tent
Join David Harrison and Ozark Publishing, Inc author Daina Sargent for an enchanting afternoon of readings, poetry, storytelling, and puppets.Ongoing activities throughout the day.
Daina Sargent writes and represents Ozark Publishing and its many popular children's books, including the Animal Pride series and the Learn to Read series,
David Harrison introduces three brand new books that are making their debut at Books in Bloom!
Piggy Wiglet is a picture book,
Cave Detectives and
Bugs are non-fiction books for young readers.
