SoCo Book Festival Favorites: from Letterpress to Literacy, from Book Publishers to Book Mobiles

Teresa LeYung Ryan

I spent Saturday at the 12th Annual Sonoma County Book Festival in Santa Rosa's Courthouse Square. Book lovers young and old wandered along 4th Street from 10-4. Booths showcased local book sellers, self-published authors, indie publishers and small presses, as well as a public library sale. Several stages held professional panels, author talks and poetry readings.

Struck by the plethora of creativity in my county, I enjoyed chatting with people such as author/ photographer Thomas Cooper about his book Tankhouse: California's Redwood Water Towers From a Bygone Era. I ran into a former teaching colleague who connected me to a professional networking group; I got information from a local nonprofit to pitch a story to Petaluma Patch; I took pictures with fellow Redwood Writer, Teresa LeYung Ryan, writing coach and author of Love Made of Heart and Build Your Writer's Platform & Fanbase in 22 Days (ebook and print edition). Check out her blog's event recap.

Here are some of my favorites. If you couldn't make it to the festival, at least you can do a virtual tour:

Iota Press

Iota Press
"What draws you to letterpress?" the people at the booth asked as I browsed. The aesthetic, the antiquity, the physicality of each printed letter. Based in Sebastopol, Erick Johnson offers custom printing, as well as workshops in typesetting and letterpress. His Iota Quarterly ($30/year) features "poetry, yarns or graphics." The animated way he speaks clearly demonstrates his enthusiasm for the artful arrangement of words on paper. From his website: "I have an interest in the graphic powers of type and ink fused with literary art."

Supporting the Writing Life: Part 1

I've been thinking about all the ways we writers can strengthen our commitment to the work. So I've compiled a list of 12 things to do that support the writing life. Look forward to these in installments.

READ, READ, READ!

Read every day—it’ll strengthen your writing. Fit it in first thing in the morning, before going to bed at night, instead of watching TV, while climbing the stair master, or during your lunch break. Or get a book on tape/CD for the car. (I couldn’t wait to drive anywhere just to listen to Annie Proux’s That Old Ace in the Hole!) Read in the genre you’re writing in, read outside the genre to widen your span, and read about writing.

During my first full-time job the summer I was fourteen, I raced every day to the couch in the ladies’ lounge during each 15-minute break to devour A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. That book saved me from the monotony of paper pushing and swept me away into the wonderful world of the imagination.

I still read during my half-hour lunch breaks; reading gives me the separation I need and moves me slowly through the pile of books by my bedside (Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide; If the Buddha Married: Creating Enduring Relationships on a Spiritual Path; Real Knockouts: The Physical Feminism of Women’s Self-Defense; Seabiscuit: An American Legend).

What books have you read this year? What books are on your to-read list? When do you make time to read?

ATTEND A READING:

Listening to authors read excerpts and discuss their work can inspire you to read and write more. Often authors illuminate their writing process, their approach to crafting work or getting published. You can catch a glimpse of the life behind the pen, and feel camaraderie within your community. Check out listings at your local independent bookstore, university or café.

This year I only went to a few author readings, including Anne Lamott and Pam Houston. Both women were insightful, humorous and clearly accomplished in their craft and identities as writers. Sitting in packed rooms of eager audiences was akin to singing along with a favorite band at a concert, albeit quieter. Next week I’m going to a local book signing by my cousin, veteran YA author Ellen Schreiber of the Vampire Diaries series!

What author events have you attended? What readings will you listen to this year?

Gifted

The other day I brought an audio book by Anne Lamott to my day job for a colleague to listen to. Remarking on the author's accessibility through a mix of self-deprecating humor and just saying it like it is, I wondered aloud if Lamott mulls over every turn of phrase or if sometimes the words just come. 
 

 
"Oh, writers like her have a gift," my colleague responded. 

The implication was that by virtue of being bestowed with brilliance, authors and poets simply channel their passion to the page. No real striving required. Lamott, herself, disagrees. In her how-to-get-off-your-tuchas-and-write classic, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, she says:

First Friday Author Feature: Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott was a daydreamer in school. "It's how novels get started: You wonder," she said during a reading at my local independent bookstore last month. On tour to promote her eighth novel, Imperfect Birds, the third in a trilogy including Rosie and Crooked Little Heart, Lamott spoke to a packed room about "how we come through our survivable losses" -- substance abuse, perfectionism, adolescence -- and how these themes infuse her stories.