I had a great time at the Stateline Literacy Council‘s annual awards banquet at La Casa Grande, here in Beloit tonight. I was only there for about an hour and a half, but I got to meet a lot of wonderful people and catch up with my neighbor Tony Grover, who lives down the street.
I also chatted with the two other authors there. Joe Accardi grew up in Beloit and worked as a librarian all around the area. He wrote Beloit’s Club Pop House, a history about a legendary teen nightclub here in town from 1946—73 that hosted musicians like Bobby Vinton and Del Shannon. Kimberly Vogel is a local writer and illustrator who has published a couple dozen historical and modern fantasy books of her own and has plans for many more. They both showed a lot of passion for their work, and we all sold some books to the hungry crowd.
Thanks again to Wizards of the Coast for donating some books to this worthy cause. I had my customers pay the SLC directly for the books they wanted so that the charity could have every dime. Thanks also to Angela Martellaro for inviting me to join in the fun.
