The Third Coast Book Festival in Grand Haven, Michigan; March 2025

Spearheaded by the wonderful folks at The Book Cellar (https://visitgrandhaven.com/listing/the-book-cellar/), the inaugural presentation of the Third Coast Book Festival (https://www.thirdcoastfest.org) was an all-out literary take-over of downtown Grand Haven, Michigan. The all-day event was a terrific collaboration of the bookshop, the downtown development authority, over 100 authors, and a hard-working, heart-centered charity. It was a tremendously ambitious undertaking, and I'm grateful to those who organized the event for making book nerds like Drake and me feel welcome in their town. Each downtown business hosted one - and in some cases, several - authors and their books. They made space for us in their storefronts, and enthusiastically introduced us to their customers and visitors. They prepared a brochure with a map which included a list of all the authors and businesses, making it easier for each of us to be found by readers.

Saturday was the debut for my new children's book, Henry Hippo's New Home. I was fortunate to spend the day at Vintage Green Antiques (https://www.vintagegreenantiques.com/ ). The owner, Joyce, was an absolute delight, and extremely generous with her kindness. She went out of her way to introduce me every time the bell above her door rang, suggesting that visitors stop and learn about my books. We passed the day laughing, talking, and sharing the wonderment found in the artifacts on her shelves. I found several books that were over 150 years old... I'm proud (and a little surprised) to say I only came home with just one of them. 😊 But next time, I will plan a head, and reserve room in the budget for ancient books! 🦆 Scroll through the photos to enjoy a brief tour of Joyce's shop, it really is quite a fun place to visit!

After a wonderful day of meeting readers, talking about books, and sharing stories, the entire gaggle of Indie Authors met up at Central Park Place, the Grand Haven community center, for a little nosh, some lovely acoustic music, a few keynote speeches, and a silent auction to benefit Bluebird Cancer Retreats (https://www.bluebirdmi.org) For a few hours, we got to meet authors we've only connected with online, hug authors we've known for a while, but don't see as often as we'd like, and discover new-to-us authors as we learned about their writing careers. I laughed a lot, enjoyed some wonderful craft conversation, and made connections that I hope will last a long time. If you're curious about who was there... scroll through Drake's Gallery of Authors, below. 😊🦆

The trip was made even more enjoyable by the wonderful welcome and excellent service we received from Autumn Kumzi at the Best Western Beacon Inn (https://www.bestwestern.com/content/best-western/en_US/booking-path/hotel-details.23062.html). To say Autumn's enthusiasm after learning that a few authors were staying in her hotel was exuberant, might be an understatement. Our room was comfortable, clean, and the hot waffle breakfast and endless hot cocoa made the trip much more enjoyable. When we return for next year's event, we will certainly stay with Autumn again.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Third Coast Book Festival, and in fact, talked and laughed so much, I came home with a bit of a horse voice. But I don't mind, I had a great time! My hope is that Grand Haven hosts us again next year.

A huge Quack of Thanks goes out to everyone who worked so hard to pull this event together and make it so much fun. I would love to continue to be a part of this spectacular event as it grows every year!