I, along with co-author Lynne A. Kasey, had a wonderful time at the revamped Des Moines Book Festival last month!

Iowa has marvelous writing notoriety for many reasons: the Iowa Writers Workshop, a stellar MFA program at the University of Iowa; the various MFA

programs at Iowa State University; Iowa Writers' House in Iowa City, with special author releases and dozens of workshops; the Iowa Summer Writers Workshop, held for about six-to-eight weeks in Iowa City (see a theme with that town, right?); the Iowa Center for the Book; the Des Moines Public Library AViD Series (Authors Visiting in Des Moines); and numerous additional opportunities.

Iowans love to read and write!

Various organizations in Des Moines staged book festivals for a dozen years or more. This latest incarnation is produced by the Greater Des Moines Partnership--which is also in charge of many other civic and social events. It was a well-organized event, filled with national and local authors, musical performances, children's activities, break-out sessions, and other cool aspects.

Lynne and I were on hand to promote one moment of a single day: essays and in 90 minutes (our allotted table time) we had a blast talking with people, sharing photos and stories from the book, meeting other authors and of course, connecting with new (to us!) readers!

I love the festival environment, and hope we do this one again and others!