Next Saturday, Oct. 10, marks the fourth annual Great Valley Bookfest at the Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley.  Next Saturday also marks the fourth annual Great Valley Bookfest that I won’t be able to attend.

It’s actually kinda weird, because I’m always super excited for the Bookfest, even though I know I’m not able to go.  Last year, there was the whole “going-to-school-in-Chicago” barrier and I wasn’t going to spend umpteen bucks on a round-trip flight back to Manteca for a weekend (*official flight price*).  The year before that, I was making a retrospectively pointless visit to a college in Missouri that ultimately rejected me. (Oh well, it’s their loss.)  And the year before that, well, I’m not really sure why I didn’t go, but it was probably because I had only heard of it after it had already happened.

This year, it’s the same reason as last year, except I actually can’t go because I’m busy here being a super-cool (or at least I like to think so) RA (residential advisor) …aaand because flight tickets are still umpteen bucks.  Instead, I have to live vicariously through my grandma who has been in attendance each year.

And even though I’ve missed out on all the book fun each year, the Great Valley Bookfest still holds a special place in my heart.  It was a simple packet of publishing information from a presentation my grandma went to that jumpstarted my own writing career. 

The packet briefed over the pros and cons of both traditional publishing and self-publishing.  Being an impatient high schooler, I took the self-publishing route so I could have a book published before I graduated high school.  Soon, those papers produced a published novel, which produced a Fiction Writing major at Columbia College Chicago, which produced an unofficial monthly guest column at the Bulletin, which produced this article you’re reading now.

I owe a lot to the Bookfest, and sometimes I feel like I’m not being grateful for the opportunities it opened up for me since I have yet to go.  I hope this article helps remedy that feeling a bit.  I also hope this article helps ramp up attendance this year, because if you’re not already planning on going, you totally should. 

You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you to go when I haven’t even gone yet.  Trust me, if there weren’t two thousand miles between me and Bookfest, I’d be there for sure.  But since there are those pesky miles between us, here are two of the many amazing book-people I think deserve a shout-out:

uChris Teicheira:  You just knew I’d mention Chris, the infamous “Manteca to a T” writer and fellow Portagee.    He’s got a book coming out featuring some of the best articles from his column with some fun extra never-before-seen articles included.  The cover is also really cool shade of orange, so there’s that.  I’m getting a signed copy, are you?

uKristin Miller:  Not only is she a fellow Nile Garden alum (Go Panthers!), but she’s also a New York Times Bestselling Author.  That’s totally awesome.  She writes romance and has like 20-plus books out, so definitely be sure to visit her.

And of course, there are like umpteen other awesome authors and writers and book-people attending Bookfest that you should check out.  I just don’t have enough space on the page to write them all.  You can look up all of the festivities and special guests on the Bookfest’s website:  greatvalleybookfest.org

So, HAVE FUN next Saturday at the Bookfest.  Here’s to hoping the fifth annual Great Valley Bookfest next year won’t also be the fifth annual Great Valley Bookfest that I won’t be able to attend!