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NEWS BRIEFS
Event to feature 35 romance authors
Authors Mary Wine, left, and Trista Ann Michaels, along with aspiring author Angela Johnson, author Lora Leigh and aspiring author Sharon Martin, pose for a portrait at Huntington's Visitors Center to promote the 2010 Women's Romance Writers Readers Appreciation Weekend.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- Often, a writer is alone with her computer. She pours her heart into a book, sends it out to the public and wonders if it resonates with any readers.
That's one reason why romance writer Mary Wine enjoys the Women's Romance Writer's Readers Appreciation Weekend in Huntington, which this year is planned for September. The event will be Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 9-12, at Pullman Plaza Hotel, featuring 35 authors of romance and other genres, and is open to about 300 readers.
The event features a chance to mingle with authors and other avid readers, and attend events such as a tea party, a pajama party, a masquerade ball and book signings. There also is a chance for the general public to attend a book signing on Sept. 12, without attending the full weekend schedule of events.
Registration is now open for the event, and can be done online at www.readerappreciationweekend.com. The registration deadline is July 31. Cost for readers who would like to attend for the entire weekend is $130.
Wine, along with fellow authors Trista Ann Michaels and Lora Leigh, the founder of the event, came to Huntington on Wednesday to promote the event, which Leigh said is a way for the authors to show readers how much they're appreciated. While there are many weekend events hosted by authors that are geared toward aspiring writers, there aren't many that are geared toward the readers, she said.
This event is entirely for the readers.
"It's a laid-back, intimate weekend," said Leigh, a New York Times bestselling author who is from Eastern Kentucky but recently relocated to Hagerstown, Md. It's kept casual so that those who attend have time not only to meet their favorite authors and mingle with other fans, but to shop and explore Huntington. Participants have come from all over the country and as far away as Scotland, Germany and Australia, she said.
It's the fourth year for the event, and its third time in Huntington.
The event is a great opportunity for the city, said Tyson Compton, president of the Cabell Huntington Convention and Visitors Bureau.
It's a wonderful group of tourists who come, he said.
"It's 350 people, mainly women, who are coming to have a good time, to eat and shop," he said. He's glad that Leigh and the other organizers have gotten enough support here in Huntington that they've chosen to return.
Several local businesses have offered promotions for the guests, and they've donated items to be raffled off during the event. Proceeds will go toward Golden Girl Group Home in Ceredo and to Bays Mountain State Park and Planetarium in Tennessee. Last year, the event raised $8,000 for charity.
