I love it when people break stereotypes. I love it when people come together and enjoy each other’s oddities. All of this was done over the weekend at the UntitledTown literary festival in Green Bay, WI.

A lot of authors joke about being introverts, many say they hide behind their books, but part of in-person talks and panels is setting that aside and reaching out to others no matter how shy or crazy you are. I love going out and meeting new people and attacking other writers.

This 4 day festival included 120 authors, numerous events, and some author perks. Living 500 miles away meant I missed the kick-off, but Friday night I was lucky enough to see R.L. Stine speak. He is hilarious, friendly, and everything you wish him to be. He signed books for everyone and took more time than originally expected to appease a giant crowd of fans.

My big author talk was Saturday morning. I had the floor to speak about indie publishing and my experiences. Despite an annoying train that held up most of my audience, I was happy to have a good turnout and allow others to learn from my mistakes and successes.

Of course my phone died before my children’s book panel, but that was a huge event where I was lucky enough to sit with other great children’s book authors including New York Times Bestseller: Jacqueline West. We joked about our all our random backgrounds and the joys and struggles of writing for young audiences.

As promised, I totally embarrassed myself at karaoke that night. (The things an author will do for free pizza haha) At 8 months pregnant my lungs nearly burst and I could barely sing on key, but it was fun and if you want to hear my horrendous impression of Gracie Slick – Jefferson Airplane, here’s that disaster.  Sorry about the lighting.

The last event came all too soon and had such a great turnout that people were standing in the back of the room and hanging out in the hall by the door to hear everything four of us crazy fantasy authors had to say about world building and dark magic.

This was my favorite aspect of the entire festival. We had all sat on other panels and hosted our own talks, so by the time we got to the last day we just had fun and joked around, which invited the audience to enjoy a more personal session.

The audiences really listened and the other authors were great to work with. I hope to be able to come back for this event next year!