Books bring people out every year to Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore at the end of September. On a sunny day, the Baltimore Book Festival will be packed with book lovers from far and wide. On Saturday…well, we had a lot of "liquid sunshine," but the festival took place anyway, and though attendance was down, we were there.
At first, you could have found us (my publisher, Peg Silloway, and me) in the MidAtlantic Book Publishers Association booth, talking with visitors about publishing and handing out information packets on the books published by association members. In every packet was a Real Estate the Right Rome Way post card from my publisher, The Silloway Press.
The president of MBPA, Sheila Ruth, was there with her husband, Nick, and their son, David. Sheila is the publisher in the family and had several of her books on display. Nick is the author of Dark Dreamweaver, and was sporting his signature tee shirt. David is an outgoing young man and natural marketer who handed out information packets and is also writing a book. We had a chance to talk with a few visitors for longer than usual when a heavy downpour sent everyone scurrying for cover, and created a river in the booth. Yep, that "sunshine" was really flowing.
After our shift, we went over to the Live Baltimore booth where I was ready to volunteer, but they didn't need me just then, so we borrowed an umbrella and went for lunch. If the weather had been sunny, we would have found something to eat from the vendors and used one of the many picnic tables that the city set up. But with all the liquid sunshine falling on us, we opted for Donna's where we dried off and enjoyed a lovely lunch.
When Peg left, I went back to Live Baltimore where Ruth Louis, a board member, and Teresa Stephens, a staff member, were welcoming visitors with information and smiles. Like Teresa and Ruth, I live in the City and love it. Besides the bright yellow umbrellas, which were very popular, they had a selection of books about Baltimore including one on Sparrows Point (where I just took a listing, 2414 Lodge Farm Rd. 21219 Baltimore County, Maryland). There were also several books about famous people who have lived and worked here such as Dr. Ben Carson, football great Lenny Moore, and the many writers like H.L. Mencken who have called this city home.
Next year we'll be hoping for a bit more of the traditional sunshine, since we plan to be at the Book Festival again, but this time to sign and sell books!
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