barrettI (Barrett) am a bookworm. Books are my friends. They have fired up my imagination since before the time I began school. This is why I want to bring Lori Leak to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books 2016. Soon Kristen Palana and I will launch a crowdfunding campaign asking for support to get to this wonderful outdoor international book fair.
With few exceptions, I have been to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books every year for over a decade. The festival information pages has a great description:
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has evolved to include live bands, poetry readings, chef demos, cultural entertainment and artists creating their work on-site. There’s also a photography exhibit, film screenings followed by Q&A’s and discussion panels on some of today’s hottest topics.
The best part of it for me is the discussion panels and live conversations held by authors — many of whom are celebrities, politicians, journalists etc from around the world. The topics are spectacular. You get to ask questions and receive answers.
There is a children’s book stage and hopefully we can get “Lori Leak Travels to Paris” accepted for a short live reading. The application is being sent now. Cross your fingers for us. It would give Kristen and I the opportunity to read from the book and talk about the story and the illustrations.
We hope to raise funds to rent the smallest booth (10×10) with two chairs and a table. We can have an activity or two for children and sell copies of the book, play French music and maybe even have a life-sized Lori Leak poster or cardboard likeness. We will be able to showcase both Kristen’s talents as an illustrator and animator and mine as a writer. Overall we can internationally spread the word about this wonderful story and character. We hope you will contribute when this campaign launches in mid-September.
There are such wonderful happening there — one year we were treated to Billy Idol…and another year to a live band performance by Rock Bottom Remainders — and the band members were authors Amy Tan, Stephen King, Scott Turow and Barbara Kingsolver. Here is a video of Amy Tan singing, with Dave Barry and Stephen King on guitar!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waNnIQIWwPI?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0]
Did you ever think some of your favorite authors were rockers? Creative people need creative outlets!
We will post here and on Facebook and Twitter when the crowdfunding campaign opens.
It would be awesome if you would help we three (Kristen, Lori Leak and me) “Go West Young Women” and make it to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 9-10 2016 so the world can hear about Lori Leak!