Leaves Word Fest Not Just for Writers

Leaves Word Fest Not Just for Writers

Pamela Hall

The Ashland Beacon

    The KYOWA Writers Group, an organization of local writers, will host the Falling Leaves Word Fest Saturday, October 10, at the Raceland Community Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will consist of an Author Fair, as well as Listen and Learn workshop sessions. It will be an event where those in attendance can do some early Christmas shopping, while those interested in writing can sit in on sessions to help them hone their craft.

    “We’re really excited to bring this to the area,” said Cathie Shaffer, president of the KYOWA Writers Group. “There are so many talented writers in the Tri-State who are always willing to talk with beginning writers or even those who just think they might want to write a book or short story someday.”

    The Author Fair portion of the event will consist of several authors who will have their books available for purchase. It will give attendees a chance to meet the authors and have them sign purchased books. It is a great opportunity to have a book dedicated to someone for gift-giving.

    The Listen and Learn sessions will cover a variety of topics, but not necessarily topics related to writing. Lacey Williams will give a presentation called “Cryptids and Creatures,” and Mark Shaffer will instruct attendees on how to take “Awesome Photos with Your Cell Phone.” Other sessions will include “The Art of Songwriting” by Pamela Hall, “Branding and Marketing” by Rebecca Hemlock, “World Building for Beginners” by Cammie Eicher, and “Trauma Bonding with Your Reader: A Totally Ethical Guide to Reader Obsession” by Amalie Berlin.

    “The programs are designed so that people who just want to drop by will find something of interest,” Shaffer said. “For example, Lacey Williams’ knowledge of local cryptids, those mythical things that lurk in the woods. Mark Shaffer’s photography session will help people get ready to take holiday photos. The sessions aimed at helping writers improve their writing skills cross genres with good, solid advice.”

    “Getting to talk about world building at the conference makes me happy,” Cammie Eicher said. “So many people want to write fantasy or create places that don’t exist for their stories but aren’t sure how to go about it. I hope they’ll leave with the confidence to create places or worlds of their own that readers will also fall in love with.”

    There will also be a session called “Writers Got Talent.” For this session, writers may bring two double-spaced, typed pages of their writing. The pages will be read aloud by a KYOWA member to a panel of authors who will not know the identity of the author. The panel will critique the work, giving pointers on how to improve.

    The KYOWA Writers Group plans to make Falling Leaves Word Fest an annual event. The group hosted the Dogwood Writers Conference for several years each spring. The decision was made to move the event to fall and rename it Falling Leaves.

    Admission to the Falling Leaves Word Fest is $10 to attend the Listen and Learn sessions. The fee covers any of the sessions, regardless of how many sessions are attended. There will be no charge for shopping at the authors’ tables at the Author Fair.

    Don’t miss Falling Leaves Word Fest Saturday, October 10, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Raceland Community Center.