Dayreader Niketa here to tell you about our latest adventure…..
Our exciting adventure starts off in the early morning hours in Murfreesboro, TN with
Dayreader Donya, our trusty sidekick/driver Sandy, and myself heading out for a three-hour
drive to Woodstock, GA to attend the Mystery Write Symposium. As we arrived in Woodstock,
we decided that before we meet the authors we would meet the quaint town known as
Woodstock. On a side note, you should really visit this town!! It has so many interesting shops
and boutiques that a person could spend a whole day there. It is so worth the drive! Anyways,
after our short detour of visiting the town and eating lunch we decided to head to our real
destination.
The Mystery Write Symposium was held at the Foxtale Bookshoppe. This is the cutest
bookshoppe I have ever been to, and it fits in with the other shops so well. It is a small cozy
bookstore with a children’s room where they read to little ones. The owners and staff were
friendly and extremely helpful. All of this makes this shop a true treasure of the town!
As we entered the facility, we could barely contain our excitement and we could not wait
to meet the authors that attended. All of theses women are so unique and very interesting! For
instance Hank Phillippi Ryan is an investigative reporter for Channel 7 news in Boston, and she
has more awards than I can count! When we were talking about her accomplishments, she
mentioned her thirty-two Emmys and she said “Those thirty-two Emmys are thirty-two secrets
that someone didn’t want you to know about”. That was one of the truest statements that I had
ever heard, and I found her job so intriguing! After a career like that, how do you not become a
writer?
Another interesting author that was there was Susan M. Boyer. Her early arrival made
her easily accessible to all. Now this is an author that is down to earth and enjoys talking to her
fans. She is such a lovely lady! She has won an Agatha Award in 2012. She has a series out
right now called Lowcountry. Lowcounrty Boil won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. So
congrats to her!
We also got to meet Carolyn Haines and she is a such a hoot; not to mention a genre slut
(according to her agent)! Now this is a woman that has written seventy books and is published in
twenty countries! Not only does she have a love of writing, but she also has a love for animals.
She runs the Good Fortune Farm Refuge to help animals find their fur-ever homes! She also sells
cookbooks and 100% of the proceeds go to support the refuge! Carolyn also has some really
great childhood stories to tell....ask her about the human legs in the freezer....
Next we have J.T Ellison who has also won several awards for her thriller/mystery books
and is published in twenty countries. This is a woman that has some pretty interesting stories to
tell and enjoys shocking her audience. For instance, the shocking story she told us was about her
ride along with Metro Police. Doing a ride along with a police officer takes a person with a brave
soul for sure and her ride along was not dull at all. During her ride along, she saw man get
killed! Luckily, the officer she was with was able to catch the murder. But that was not the end
of her exciting night; she had to sit in front of the murderer while they drove him to the precinct
to be booked! Miss Ellison is a beautiful, brave soul!
Finally we were able to meet sweet Stacey Allen. After searching for an agent for seven
years, she has finally been able to publish her first book. Woohoo! Stacey’s book is called
Expedition Indigo, which sounds like it will be a great read! What makes this book appealing to
me is that it is written with a bit of Miss Allen’s own experience with diving. You see, when
Miss. Allen was younger she had a near drowning experience that took some time for her to over
come in order to become the avid diver she is today. Ms. Allen loves to travel and is currently
visiting in Alaska (jealous).
Overall this was a memorable experience with lovely authors, stories and fun moments
that will last a lifetime. Please don’t hesitate to check out each of these lovely ladies and don’t
forget the bookstore, Foxtale Bookshoppe.
Our exciting adventure starts off in the early morning hours in Murfreesboro, TN with
Dayreader Donya, our trusty sidekick/driver Sandy, and myself heading out for a three-hour
drive to Woodstock, GA to attend the Mystery Write Symposium. As we arrived in Woodstock,
we decided that before we meet the authors we would meet the quaint town known as
Woodstock. On a side note, you should really visit this town!! It has so many interesting shops
and boutiques that a person could spend a whole day there. It is so worth the drive! Anyways,
after our short detour of visiting the town and eating lunch we decided to head to our real
destination.
The Mystery Write Symposium was held at the Foxtale Bookshoppe. This is the cutest
bookshoppe I have ever been to, and it fits in with the other shops so well. It is a small cozy
bookstore with a children’s room where they read to little ones. The owners and staff were
friendly and extremely helpful. All of this makes this shop a true treasure of the town!
As we entered the facility, we could barely contain our excitement and we could not wait
to meet the authors that attended. All of theses women are so unique and very interesting! For
instance Hank Phillippi Ryan is an investigative reporter for Channel 7 news in Boston, and she
has more awards than I can count! When we were talking about her accomplishments, she
mentioned her thirty-two Emmys and she said “Those thirty-two Emmys are thirty-two secrets
that someone didn’t want you to know about”. That was one of the truest statements that I had
ever heard, and I found her job so intriguing! After a career like that, how do you not become a
writer?
Another interesting author that was there was Susan M. Boyer. Her early arrival made
her easily accessible to all. Now this is an author that is down to earth and enjoys talking to her
fans. She is such a lovely lady! She has won an Agatha Award in 2012. She has a series out
right now called Lowcountry. Lowcounrty Boil won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. So
congrats to her!
We also got to meet Carolyn Haines and she is a such a hoot; not to mention a genre slut
(according to her agent)! Now this is a woman that has written seventy books and is published in
twenty countries! Not only does she have a love of writing, but she also has a love for animals.
She runs the Good Fortune Farm Refuge to help animals find their fur-ever homes! She also sells
cookbooks and 100% of the proceeds go to support the refuge! Carolyn also has some really
great childhood stories to tell....ask her about the human legs in the freezer....
Next we have J.T Ellison who has also won several awards for her thriller/mystery books
and is published in twenty countries. This is a woman that has some pretty interesting stories to
tell and enjoys shocking her audience. For instance, the shocking story she told us was about her
ride along with Metro Police. Doing a ride along with a police officer takes a person with a brave
soul for sure and her ride along was not dull at all. During her ride along, she saw man get
killed! Luckily, the officer she was with was able to catch the murder. But that was not the end
of her exciting night; she had to sit in front of the murderer while they drove him to the precinct
to be booked! Miss Ellison is a beautiful, brave soul!
Finally we were able to meet sweet Stacey Allen. After searching for an agent for seven
years, she has finally been able to publish her first book. Woohoo! Stacey’s book is called
Expedition Indigo, which sounds like it will be a great read! What makes this book appealing to
me is that it is written with a bit of Miss Allen’s own experience with diving. You see, when
Miss. Allen was younger she had a near drowning experience that took some time for her to over
come in order to become the avid diver she is today. Ms. Allen loves to travel and is currently
visiting in Alaska (jealous).
Overall this was a memorable experience with lovely authors, stories and fun moments
that will last a lifetime. Please don’t hesitate to check out each of these lovely ladies and don’t
forget the bookstore, Foxtale Bookshoppe.