Here's What I've Been Working On ...

I've been super busy lately. On top of all the usual things I need to do, and a revision request from an agent(yay!), I've been putting together a storytelling festival. Since I've never even been to a storytelling festival, it's been a bit tricky, but luckily I have a good friend who happens to be a storyteller and she has been a great help. Plus she will be doing puppetry and stories. Lesa has a great talent for drawing kids in with her quiet storytelling style. She's making puppets and doing a special story just for this event. She is so sweet. I just love her. I'm lucky because I get to hear lots of her stories, all I have to do is ask.

I'm really excited about this festival for alot of reasons. It's the first time Oroville has had a storytelling festival. It's the first time I will get to go to a storytelling festival. And the author of one of my favorite books, A HEN, A CHICK, AND A STRING GUITAR, is coming! Margaret Read MacDonald has written over 45 books on storytelling and folklore and I am still just amazed that 1.) I had the guts to ask her to come and 2.) she said yes. She's also bringing her friend and author, Supaporn Vanthanaprida. Wowie!

Plus my friend, and star in the storytelling world, Dayton Edmonds will be there spinning his unique style of stories. He's always a big draw and has also been a great help. I would have never known I needed an opening and closing ceremony(duh!) if it weren't for Dayton.

I found Rocci Hildum online. I like his stories that I've gotten to listen to and he seems like such a nice guy. I can't wait to meet him. Plus I found lots of local talent that are excited to share their stories: Joey Pierre, Deb McVay, Gailene Hooper, Arnie Marchand, Web Hallauer and Harry Haney. I'm always amazed at the amount of talented people I find close by when I start looking. And I'm totally amazed at the hugeness of this festival.

Now the pressure is really on. With all these amazing people coming to perform I have to make sure this event is well publicized. I'm happy that I actually have a budget for this, which makes it a bit easier. I'm having announcements put on Northwest Public Radio(which I think is exciting. I love NPR and it will really get the word out.) and will be placing ads in some newspapers. I'm writing up articles and press releases. They take alot of work, all in the hopes that they might get used. I guess I just have to try and see what happens. I suppose I should quit talking about it and get back to work.

Here's the flyer. I'm not sure how to make it any bigger.





created by Hilary Mello at greenhilldesigns@gmail.com