Florence Festival of Books

Florence Festival 2017

Janet Fisher

Same place, another year.

We just wrapped up another Florence Festival of Books, and my writer friend Lynn Ash took a picture for the record (She graciously declined when I offered to take a photo of her).

The book stacks had lowered a little and our heads were spinning with stories.

She highlighted her new book, Eugeneana, and also brought The Route from Cultus Lake and Vagabonda. I brought my two, A Place of Her Own and The Shifting Winds.

This annual festival on the Oregon coast brings authors from around the state and beyond, and we’d been talking and selling and signing for six hours. Lots of good book talk, but Lynn and I were ready to check out a local restaurant.

We headed for the Waterfront Depot right on the river, recommended by my neighbor, Todd Hannah, a local fishing guide. Good choice, Todd. Thanks.

Inside the restaurant’s rustic interior we gazed out the broad bay window and watched the late afternoon sun twinkle on stirring blue water while we feasted on exquisite seafood. Can’t beat that for a finale.

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Foray Into Florence

Janet Fisher

So I got on my dusty steed yesterday morning and made for Florence on the Oregon coast for the Florence Festival of Books.

I won’t talk about the accumulation of events that got in the way of an early start, or describe my grumbling over that slow car on the winding coast highway that loomed as the last impediment to my much-desired progress. Could I make it in time to set up before the 10 o’clock opening?

Happily I made it with minutes to spare, although a determined attendee bought both my books before I had entirely arranged my display. She didn’t quibble. Nor did I.

Here we are, my friend Lynn Ash and I, showing our books. We shared a table.

She presented her two memoirs describing her experiences as a solo camper, The Route from Cultus Lake and Vagabonda. I presented my two Oregon Trail stories, A Place of Her Own and The Shifting Winds.

The organizers do a nice job with this event. About 50 individual authors participated, as well as several writers groups and publishers. From 10 o’clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon we pitched our stories and heard many intriguing tales from people who came by our table, and we signed books for our buyers.

After it was all done, our table cleared, and things packed up, we were ready to kick back.

And I got my clam chowder while watching seals and waterbirds play in the bright-blue Siuslaw estuary as the sun lowered and gilded the Florence bridge. A calming moment before I took my dusty steed on the long, beautiful drive home.

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To the Coast and Beyond

Janet Fisher2 Comments

I’m heading for the coast tomorrow, September 24, as a participant in the popular Florence Festival of Books to sell and sign my books, The Shifting Winds and A Place of Her Own. This annual book fair is held at the Florence Event Center in Florence, Oregon, just minutes down Highway 101 from scenes like this, which I visited with my family last month before my grandson Alex went back to college.

web-thors-well-touristsPhoto by Robin Loznak

That’s Thor’s Well at Cape Perpetua, where the big waves slip through holes in the nubbly lava rock and explode with a huge whump at the well’s opening, occasionally giving a quick shower.

So the book festival offers a great opportunity for folks to spend some time exploring the work of local authors, then taking in some of the magnificent sights along Oregon’s famed coast.

And Beyond

The “beyond” in the title of this blog post relates more to time than space. To be clear, I have no immediate plans to go out to sea beyond the rugged shore. But I am developing plans for book events a ways out in the future. I just got word today that I’ll be a presenter next June at the Historical Novel Society 2017 Conference, which will be held in nearby Portland, Oregon. I’ll be co-presenting with authors Janet Oakley and Carole Estby Dagg, in a panel entitled “Historical Fiction Through a Pacific Northwest Lens.” We’re very excited about that.

More to come, though, much sooner, when I’ll return to the coast with a presentation at the Coos Bay Public Library October 6, then down to Bloomsbury Books in Ashland October 10. I’ll be posting additional events to my sidebar and Events page as schedules firm up.

So with that news, I’ll share one more look at the coast near Florence from a family trip last winter while Alex was home. Robin caught this scene on the beach below the Heceta Head Lighthouse. As the sun sets and light fades, it must be time for a steaming bowl of clam chowder.

sunset-at-heceta-headPhoto by Robin Loznak

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