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First Ever Western Fictioneers Convention!
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| The St. Louis Arch Photo credit: Diane Garland |
I’ve been looking forward to the first Western Fictioneers convention for a year, and it’s almost a dream that I’m actually here in St. Louis, Missouri, with some of the best writers of the 20th and 21st Centuries. This convention is filled with talented, productive powerhouses. It’s definitely an honor to get acquainted with these awesome authors.
Let’s have a look around and see who’s here a little early.
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| Kathleen Rice Adams, Cheryl Pierson, James Griffin, Jacquie Rogers, Vonn McKee |
First, special thanks to Vonn McKee, convention chair, who pulled this whole thing together. Believe me, the first convention is tough because she had to lay all the groundwork, and there’s no previous experience to know what works and what doesn’t. She’s also the program chair, entertainment director, IT Gal, and singer. Other than doing all the work, she’s been slacking. Hahaha.
Then there’s our fearless leader, Western Fictioneers President Cheryl Pierson, who co-owns Prairie Rose Publications with Livia Reasoner (she couldn't attend, unfortunately for us). Cheryl is both a terrific author and an excellent editor. She has a couple of characters in the Wolf Creek series, and writes western historical romance as well as a few genre blends. We've been online friends for years, and when I started my Romancing the West blog, she was the very first author I booked, so we go back a long way. It's definitely a pleasure to finally meet her.
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| WF President Cheryl Pierson directing traffic, with Vonn McKee and James Griffin |
One person I've been dying to meet for the longest time is Troy Smith. He's a wonderfully talented author and the head wrangler of the Wolf Creek series. He wrote one of the top five best books I've ever read, Bound for the Promise-Land, which will be reissued shortly. And he loves Have Gun - Will Travel, which puts him right up there with those of us who have good taste in good old TV shows. So here is the moment I've been waiting for... the chance to get my picture, two, actually, with Troy. Just wow... rubbing shoulders with such a gifted person is quite a feather in my cap.
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| Troy Smith and Jacquie Rogers |
There are some people in life who just click. It took about five seconds of online communication with Kathleen Rice Adams (we call her Tex) to know she's one of those people that I could work with easily. We've done several Facebook events together, and we have quite a system set up for the Prairie Rose Publications Fandangos. It's always a pleasure to work with her , but please don't tell her that lest she get a big head. No, that won't happen--her Chihuahuas make sure she knows her place.
Look for us to be planning another Fandango for the holidays. We always have a blast!
The convention hasn't even started yet--we're still gathering--but watch for more pictures of incredible authors on my Facebook page.
Jacquie, what a wonderful post! That is a weekend that will remain unforgettable for me--I met so many wonderful people--new friends and those I felt as if I'd known for years (LIKE YOU!) Thanks so much for posting this along with these wonderful pictures. I put it back up today since we hadn't had anything new and I wanted to be sure everyone got a chance to see it.
ReplyDeleteDelightful post and a delightful convention too. I didn't get to meet everyone so we'll just have to do it again, by golly.
ReplyDeleteGreat convention, I sure had a blast!
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