Author Get Together

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. Back in the old days (pre-Covid lockdown) I used to attend 4-5 reader and/or writer events a year. My last event of this type was the Emerald City Writers' Conference in Oct 2019.  Until this past week.

Eight members of the other blog group I belong to, Petticoats and Pistols, traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota to combine a writers' retreat with a multi-author booksigning event called Wild Deadwood Reads. The booksigning is an annual event - this is its 6th year - and is held in conjunction with the town's Wild Bill's Days celebration. 

One member of our group, Kari Trumbo, had gone a few times before and when she came back from the event last summer her excitement about her experience there generated the idea of planning a group trip in 2023.  The idea was kicked around for a while, interest was measured and excitement started to build. One driver of this was the fact that even though we've been together as a group for a while (some of us longer than others) most of us had never actually met face to face.

So all the months of planning paid off last week in what resulted a really fun event. It was so great to be among other writers again. This is a little of how it went.

The first day was Thursday. All eight of us got together that morning in a house some of our group were staying in. The morning was devoted to writerly discussions and in just getting to know each other better. There was lots of talk, sharing, laughing and overall fellowship. Then we all had a yummy lunch together, provided by one of our group - the fabulous Karen Witemeyer.

After lunch several us ventured out to the  Days of '76 Museum.  It was full of interesting exhibits, including this one on hearse wagons. And while I was there I came up with an idea forr a brand new series that I'm truly excited about!!  (More on that when I've fleshed it out a little more!)

Our next stop was the Mount Moriah Cemetery where notables such as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok are buried. The photo below includes Karen Witemeyer and Julie Benson in the background.

On Friday we all separated and did our own thing, enjoying the 'playing tourist' thing. My daughte accompanied me on this trip because she'd never been in that part of the country either and loves to explore. She and I, accompanied by Mary Connealy and Julie Benson, took the opportunity to visit Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. A fun bonus, since Jan Drexler lives near Mt Rushmore, she and her husband met up with us there! It was such fun meeting her face to face and her husband is a real sweetie too.

Here's me and my daughter in front of Mt Rushmore

And here's Mary, me and Julie in front of the Crazy Horse monument along with a better picture of the monument itself

And then Saturday was the booksigning itself. To give you an idea of the size of the event there were 92 authors and 100s of readers who walked through during the event. It was such fun to meet readers, both those entirely new to me and the ones I'd 'met' online. And I had the honor of sharing my table with Mary!  Here is a collage of a few photos from the event

All in all it was a great reentry into the world of author and reader gatherings. I had a great time and it was a wonderful four days - especially as it gave me the opportunity to spend time with so any really wonderful people.

So tell me if you've ever visited this part of the country or had an opportunity to attend a similar event. Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for your choice of any of my books.