Tag: Amelia Island

Amelia Island Book Festival Author Expo

The last day of the events I participated in at the Amelia Island Book Festival included an all-day Author Expo where we displayed and sold our books. The event was set up in a middle school gymnasium. We’d been assigned booth numbers prior to our attendance, and people were standing by at the curb to check authors in and assist carrying their stuff to the booths. We also received a ticket voucher for a box lunch.

  

Guests started streaming in starting at 10:00 am. Various celebrity authors gave talks during the day, and there was always an influx to the marketplace when these authors came in to sign books. I enjoyed meeting readers as well as other writers.

   

Dinner was at Brett’s Waterway Café downtown at the marina. We had a lovely view of the water as we dined on jumbo shrimp cocktail and stuffed flounder. This was a fitting conclusion to our weekend on Amelia Island.

     

A variety of interesting restaurants and gift shops, historic buildings and museums, state parks and boat rides are only some of the things you can do on the island, aside from lounging by a hotel pool or hunting for shark’s teeth on the beach. It’s worth a long weekend during one of their monthly festivals to relax, dine, shop and stroll along the beach. Amelia Island is north of Jacksonville nearly to the Georgia border and then east toward the beaches. Plan ahead so you can make the most of your time while there.

Amelia Island Book Festival Writers Workshop

On Friday at the Amelia Island Book Festival, I headed out of town in early morning and pouring rain to present my “Developing a Mystery Series” workshop. This event was held on a college campus about thirty minutes inland in the town of Yulee. A brief introduction by the day’s organizers at 8:00 am led to two workshop tracks, one on craft and one on the business of writing. Coffee and muffins were available to attendees.

I set up my book table out in the hallway by the check-in desk. At the allotted time, I gave my presentation to the group. Then I manned my table until lunch, which was a lovely buffet.

 

Bestselling author Sandra Brown gave the luncheon speech, talking about her career and about how the industry has changed.

The event concluded by 1:30 pm. I drove back to our hotel for a rest. The weather had cleared somewhat but was windy and cool. We went for dinner a block away at the beach to Sliders Seaside Grill. I ordered grilled shrimp that came with hush puppies and other accompaniments. We retired early as another big day was ahead tomorrow.

Amelia Island Book Festival Authors Reception

We arrived on Thursday for the start of the Amelia Island Book Festival. There was an author reception sponsored by The Book Loft in the downtown historical district. We parked in a free public lot by the historic post office building and strolled along Centre Street to browse in the shops. Here you’ll find boutiques, souvenir shops, homemade fudge and olive oil specialty items, along with numerous restaurants and a tavern or two.

Amelia Island Post Office   

The independently-owned bookstore held the party upstairs and tempted us with appetizing hors d’oeuvres and glasses of wine. A crowd ensued and we made some new acquaintances. The event made me feel welcome as a guest author, and I looked forward to the next day of writing workshops.

 

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