They Write Our Stories—Come Meet Them!
For me, March used to mean frantic activity prepping Women’s FEST with dedicated co-chairs Dottie Cirelli and Nancy Hewish plus dozens of volunteers.
Since I stepped back and extricated myself from that dizzying loop I’ve watched with delight as the FEST has only gotten bigger and better.
The current FEST co-chairs are Teri Seaton, Kim Smitas, Michelle Manfredi, and Lisa Evans. They have completed most of the meetings and are now working on the Rubik’s Cube of a schedule and waiting to welcome hundreds—even thousands!—of women to the April 25-28 events. Bravo, gals!
But something made me utter YES when I planned to say NO to taking initial responsibility for what I hope will be a big bonus at FEST.
Thanks to Bywater Books and a group of cool authors calling themselves Sapphic Lit Pop-Up Bookstore, we will again have award-winning lesbian authors at FEST.
And not just a few! About 20 writers, some of them the hottest sellers in the biz, will host a Pop-Up Bookstore at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center throughout all of FEST.
You can meet the authors, hear them read (romance, literary fiction, humor, erotica, mystery, memoir), buy (buy! buy!) books, and have them signed.
My part in this deal was brief. I encouraged my pals at Bywater Books to take part, then stepped away as Bywater’s Christel Cogneau and Pop-Up’s Tagan Shepherd put the whole SHEbang together.
I must admit that there are some younger authors in the mix who I do not know but cannot wait to meet—and read.
But some of my favorites will be here, like the remarkable Ann McMan, author of the classic Jericho Series and recently, Dead Letters from Paradise. Then there will be acclaimed novelist Cheryl Head, whose hot new book, Time’s Undoing, is a break-out hit. This acclaimed book has won multiple awards and is available in the wild at airports!
Then there’s Lynn Ames, whose biography of softball superstar Dot Wilkinson (Out at the Plate) is another big success. It’s a great story of this pioneering athlete and Lynn will be in town to talk about it. She’s scheduled to talk about Dot and her glorious softball history at CAMP Rehoboth’s Elkins-Archibald Atrium on Saturday of FEST from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
I’m very excited that Penny Micklebury, the much-lauded African-American novelist and playwright, will be at FEST. Look up her work and you will see a ground-breaking pioneer in lesbian literature.
The list of authors coming to town is stellar.
And now, a completely shameless plug: another FEST literary event will be the launch of my sixth and final book in the Frying Series at 11:00 a.m. Friday at the Convention Center. The new book, Big Girls Don’t Fry—Rehoboth Beach Wrap-Up, has been in the works since 2016, and I’ve had a lot to say. It will be available at the Pop-Up bookstore in the Convention Center. Come see me! Come see these fantastic authors! Treat yourself to some great Sapphic literature.▼
Fay Jacobs is the author of five (soon to be six!) published books and tours with her one-woman sit-down comedy show, Aging Gracelessly.