The sun sets on another day…
It is sunset now, and the rain is rolling in. The sky will be shading to levels of gray as night descends but it cannot block out the beauty of a great day.
There are always certain privileges in life. We hear that word way too much anymore. It is always a privilege to share a stage with talented and amazing people that spend their time trying to entertain others and show the world a little bit of themselves. I am humbled to be in the presence of such wonderful people who are far more then just the authors of a book or two books or more. Instead I am privileged to see past that and in spite of my sometimes over the top personality, to have listened and heard the stories that shaped many of the people here.
The world may see it different, but I am honored to call many of these individuals friends even though I don’t see them often and that is definitely not enough. Some of them are at the fringe of all I do and some of them may not truly know me, but others I have interacted with for years. Many of us met at this very event 10 years ago as it was held in the Frauenthal Theater in Muskegon Michigan.
It is amazing that some of the relationships forged all those years ago carry forward into today and yesterday. Many people visited even though they weren’t in today’s event, some driving for hours just to interact with the authors and try to keep the connections active that are so important to us all.
Of course there are some people that wouldn’t understand the bond between people who apparently have near infinite imaginations. People that see beyond the mundane in our world and instead can create their own worlds full of light or darkness with a goal of carrying readers to a new dimension beyond what they know.
Something that has been missing for a few years is below, a picture of all the authors that attended the 2026 Lakeshore Art Festival Author Alley.
There were many new faces this year and if I get anything wrong feel free to slap me. I’m not sure I would feel it but it would be fun.
Craig has one of the best displays for books and paired each book with the drink of choice that you should be downing while getting lost in his imagination. His sister Chris was with him and her approach to giving out bookmarks was fantastic! She was an inspiration in so many ways.
Sara is a fantastic author that has fun with everything that she does I have three of her books and I’m enjoying reading them. I listened to her and she had quite the adventure this weekend.
Christina writes about Santa and I’m looking forward to sharing her book with my grandchildren.
Hillary was new to the group and I have picked up her book and will read it very soon as well. She is a new author and I expect greatness to follow.
I have known Emma for a considerable time and Emma’s books are scintillating and exciting. Emma does a podcast called For the Love of Books, and this podcast is special to many authors across the area and far beyond.
Amy shared the booth with Emma and is a good conversationalist and does travel books that show people in Michigan where to go. I love it when people tell me where to go.
Jean is always the hit of the show because she brings chickens along and fluffy chickens or in this case silky chickens are the hit of the party. When all of this moved away from the previous coordinator she took over and has done a good job.
Mis Z is a new author to me and I will look forward to reading her soon.
Vera is one of my favorites and I have read multiple books of hers and had unexpected pleasure reading her book zombae and enjoyed every moment.
Lisa is new to me and I will read her book tonight. If I have it finished by the end of the evening I will put something out here.
Km Mcintyre has written several books. I have read her Realm of the Unknown previously and it was very well done.
Chris Hamilton has a unique approach to life and I enjoyed his approach to writing as well. I look forward to reading his book soon.
Eric Anderson is new to me but I enjoyed his discussion. I will read his books in the near future.
Ingar Rudholm has been around for some time and was the first author I met in Muskegon Michigan. Ingar had a small booth at the Farmers Market and we talked about books and I think I terrified him at the time. He was very shy back then. After publishing my first book we started doing some events together and one year I think we had close to 15 events that we shared giving both of us an opportunity to sell books and enjoy a lower rate while having fun and learning more about each other. Ingar has almost perfected his pitch. His ability to mesmerize children with a pocket watch and a carefully crafted pitch story is truly inspiring to watch.
This guy was never behind the table when I was out. Wonder where he was?
Robert is a new author to me but is quite prolific and his books look great. I will read several in the next few weeks.
These two authors are quite amazing. I have talked to them previously and looked at how they see the world. It is quite amazing to have well grounded individuals who write and both of them are examples of how we should all be,
I only have one of Elizabeth’s books but it was well written and shows a side of inspiration many miss. I look forward to more of her books in the future.
Laurie write san awesome children’s series of which I have 2. I will read them with the grandkids this week.
Michael is a staple at the Art Fair and is a great mystery writer. I find his books to be both well written and compelling. I have read several and they are always enjoyable. Usually people who read his books like mine as well.
This was a super event and I enjoyed the days, interacting with people, authors, and puppies. Yes, puppies were everywhere and Stevie the puppy visited from Grand Rapids as well.
So as the sun sets on another day, I hope you had a good weekend as well and I hope that every moment is special to you as every morning this weekend for special to me, even the strange ones. Keep being you enjoying other people, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and be spectacular…