I was thrilled to be invited to the first Queen City Word Fest, a large gathering of writers in Staunton, Virginia, from the Shenandoah Valley and beyond, with their books on display and for sale.  Staunton is the Queen City of the Valley, and she graciously made this event free to the authors and the public.  It took place in a large old warehouse on West Beverley Street next door to The Book Dragon Shop, which was a major sponsor of the event.  A parking deck around the corner was quite convenient, until the handle of my book-hauling cart broke off.  A very kind young man walking by saw me ineffectively trying to pull it, picked the whole thing up, and carried it to where I needed to go.  May good karma reward him many times over!  Signing a copy of The Appalachian Forest for him was the least I could do.

It was fun to walk around and see the enticing book covers, talk with authors of many different genres, hear from readers what interested them, and sell a few books.  Each author was given half of a six-foot table, and I shared mine with a versatile writer, also named Christina (it seemed like fate but was actually alphabetical) Abt, from East Aurora, NY, who had fascinating books in many genres.  I hope the Queen City will deign to do this again.