On the Road Again - Fort Stockton and Houston

My husband and I lived in Fort Stockton for five years. We'd still be there today if his job hadn't been
too stressful. The climate, the people and the terrain are beautiful. I taught school there for four years and must stay they were some of my happiest 30 teaching years.

Paisano Pete greets you as you enter the downtown area.

We moved away in February of 2002. Of course back then we didn't have E-readers. Cell phones were available but they certainly were not smart phones, ones you could read books on. We still have Larry's old bag phone somewhere. During the summers, I spent many hours in the Fort Stockton Library browsing and checking out their new books.

On Facebook, a teaching friend from Fort Stockton and renewed our acquaintance and I learned about their writer's group the Critique Cafe. Ideas progressed and I was invited to speak to their group. Their meetings are held in the conference room of the library and I felt right at home. As part of the engagement, I offered to critique 10 pages from each member. What fun to see their different interests and styles.

We left Fort Stockton on Tuesday morning, just in time to pick up Molly. As usual she was excited to see us.

The following Friday I drove to Houston for the Houston Indie Book Festival. Thank goodness for OnStar or I'd still be looking for the hotel where we'd booked a room. I was born in Houston, but that is my only claim on the town. I'd much rather drive in Dallas.

It's a pretty big event held at Menil Park under the overhangs at the Menil Museum. It's a great place as if it rains most everyone can stay dry. The weather was beautiful except for a cool breeze and there was a big turnout. I sold several books, traded for one and met some interesting people.

Here is a young woman in costume for the children's book she wrote. I can't read the title but obviously it's about butterflies. Many children attended the event and had room to run and play on the beautiful lawn as well as take a look at books for their age group.

Fellow author Ciara Gold and I shared a table and represented our publisher Champagne Group Books. Several people were interested in the new drop card, a method of buying an Ebook at a book signing. The customer buys the card, goes to the website on back, enters the customer code and downloads the format they prefer--Kindle, Nook, or etc.

 Later at the hotel Ciara and I had a fun time sharing story ideas and enjoying a wonderful dinner in the hotel of crab cakes, dinner salad and dessert. Yum! 

I may have a negative attitude about Houston traffic, but it wouldn't let it keep me home if I had the chance to attend the Indie Festival again.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
www.lindalaroque.com