A Book Launch.
On Saturday we had an opportunity to attend a book launch. It was a first for me.
Chef has had a celebrated career first in the military and then was a certified culinary educator, one of only ten back in the day. However, he’s always wanted to be a writer. He has taken many classes in it and is probably the most correct writer I’ve ever known. He’d make a great editor, but not so much a writer. He tries so hard, almost too hard to evoke emotion, but that’s hasn’t stopped him.
A few years ago, he and a few other similarly minded people decided to form The Great Valley Writers Association. Great is indicative of the size of the valley, just a sidebar. Anyhow, one of the Delta’s English teachers and a pro writer chairs it and Chef is her co-chair. It took them three years, but they managed to cobble together a group of short stories and poems related to the Central Valley and publish it. This was their launch for the book - Great Valley Stories - Portals to the Past.
We had a table close to the stage and they made the mistake of having people answer jokes as part of the ‘breaking the ice.’ They had a list of ten jokes and they ranged from simple (What dinosaur is a writer’s beset friend - Thesaurus) to the insane (What’s the difference between a writer and a large cheese pizza? - A cheese pizza can feed a family of three) to the impossible (What is a limerick writer’s favorite pop song group? ABBA - I guess they use an AA BB AA format when writing???). I ended up winning three books, mostly because no one else even tried - never get me started on humor. You know how I am…
The rest of the launch was mostly folks reading their poetry, talking about growing up in the San Joaquin Valley and being excited about achieving a dream.
The strangest part was how the group ‘courted’ me, trying to entice me to join and start writing with them. Not getting back on that dinosaur. I had my time with pro writing, and it’s done and buried. I’m thankful for the memories, but I have no desire to try to recreate them. Fanfic is much more fun! Still, the food was good and the wine flowed freely, so it was nice to be invited and I do wish them success with their future projects.
Chef has had a celebrated career first in the military and then was a certified culinary educator, one of only ten back in the day. However, he’s always wanted to be a writer. He has taken many classes in it and is probably the most correct writer I’ve ever known. He’d make a great editor, but not so much a writer. He tries so hard, almost too hard to evoke emotion, but that’s hasn’t stopped him.
A few years ago, he and a few other similarly minded people decided to form The Great Valley Writers Association. Great is indicative of the size of the valley, just a sidebar. Anyhow, one of the Delta’s English teachers and a pro writer chairs it and Chef is her co-chair. It took them three years, but they managed to cobble together a group of short stories and poems related to the Central Valley and publish it. This was their launch for the book - Great Valley Stories - Portals to the Past.
We had a table close to the stage and they made the mistake of having people answer jokes as part of the ‘breaking the ice.’ They had a list of ten jokes and they ranged from simple (What dinosaur is a writer’s beset friend - Thesaurus) to the insane (What’s the difference between a writer and a large cheese pizza? - A cheese pizza can feed a family of three) to the impossible (What is a limerick writer’s favorite pop song group? ABBA - I guess they use an AA BB AA format when writing???). I ended up winning three books, mostly because no one else even tried - never get me started on humor. You know how I am…
The rest of the launch was mostly folks reading their poetry, talking about growing up in the San Joaquin Valley and being excited about achieving a dream.
The strangest part was how the group ‘courted’ me, trying to entice me to join and start writing with them. Not getting back on that dinosaur. I had my time with pro writing, and it’s done and buried. I’m thankful for the memories, but I have no desire to try to recreate them. Fanfic is much more fun! Still, the food was good and the wine flowed freely, so it was nice to be invited and I do wish them success with their future projects.