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Serial Killers & Serial Storytellers at October’s WordFest

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A variety of Northwest writers spin their magic at WordFest on Tuesday, October 8, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

WordFest regular and true-crime fan Sharon Cope-Jeffries will read from personal letters exchanged between Sam Wilson and Ted Bundy, offering a look into the mind of the high-profile serial killer. These letters were written between March 4-October 5, 1987. Now deceased, Sam was the younger brother of Penny Lightfoot, writer, WordFest member, and close friend of Sharon’s. Sharon will also read from Sam’s correspondence with true crime writer Ann Rule. 

Sharon is a Longview native, growing up in the Coal Creek area, and graduated from Mark Morris in 1981. A retired hairdresser, she loves creating all kinds of art, supports local, live theater, reads mostly non-fiction and poetry, and obsessively watches true crime programs.         

Tom Larsen will be reading an excerpt from Getting Legal, Book Two in The Wilson Salinas Ecuador Mysteries. In this book, Wilson is hired by the Attorney Arturo Moreno to negotiate the release of the attorney’s grandson who has been kidnapped. Wilson enters the unfamiliar world of wealth, lies, adultery, extortion and murder, where nothing is as it seems.

Tom was born and raised in New Jersey and was awarded a degree in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University. He is the author of six novels in the crime genre. His short fiction has been published in “Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,” “Mystery Tribune,” “Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine,” and “Black Cat Mystery Magazine.” Tom’s short story, “Pobre Maria” (Poor Maria) appeared in the anthology Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023 from Mysterious Press.  

Cheryl Landes’ latest book, The Best I Can Do, is about her experiences as a caregiver for her late husband, who had an undiagnosed mental illness that resulted in their marriage falling apart and forcing them into homelessness. The memoir, taking place in Seattle, New York City, and New England, received the Gold Book Award for Nonfiction from Literary Titan and the Silver Book Award for Nonfiction from the Nonfiction Authors Association.

Cheryl is a full-time technical communications consultant, travel writer, and also the author of Rainbows in the Snow, Beautiful America’s Seattle, Beautiful America’s Idaho, and Those Wild Northwest Days. She lives in Vancouver, WA, where she enjoys hiking, photography, listening to music, and reading.

Columbia
Storytellers

Debz Briske and Leslie Slape head the Columbia Storytellers, a group committed to the tradition of sharing personal tales that connect to us all. Debz, a storyteller and writer of psychological & paranormal horror and personal monologues, will perform her story, “Dancing with Myself: How dancing taught me to walk.”  Leslie, local playwright and author of The Harder Courage and Zorro’s Grape Adventure, will perform, “The Toy Piano: How I learned about the performer’s trance at the age 6.” 

Also, Craig Werner, co-founder of a band of independent filmmakers, will show a short film about local storytelling groups in Portland. (Technical glitches prevented the film being shown at the September WordFest.)

An open mic will follow the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

September WordFest meets on third Tuesday

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Because of the US Presidential Debate on September 10, this month’s WordFest is moving to Tuesday, September 17, 6:00-8:00 pm, when four Northwest writers will share their works at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Last year at WordFest, Kelso native Brianna Craft read from her first book, Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir. Brianna, a researcher for the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, works to further equity in the United Nations’ climate negotiations for the worldʼs poorest countries–which we know have done the least to cause the climate crisis but are the most vulnerable to its impacts. 

At the next WordFest, Brianna will read from her first young adult (YA) novel, We Don’t Have Time For This. A tied election throws two rival teen activists together to lead their school’s environmental justice club, and they are taken by surprise when their clashes reveal deeper feelings hidden beneath their antagonism. As Isa and Darius clash over the best way to lead the club, deeper feelings surface. What’s more romantic than saving the planet?

Briannaholds a masterʼs degree in environmental studies from Brown University and is an alumna of the University of Washington. You can find more information at https://briannacraft.com/about/

Robert Michael Pyle will read from his newest poetry collection, The Last Man in Willapa. Within these 75 poems, readers can find people, creatures, places, and stochastic happenings both large and small, that are lyrical, story-based, and beautifully descriptive. Bob writes from the details of the real, physical world, where nothing is beneath notice. 

His twenty-five books include Chasing Monarchs, Wintergreen(which received a John Burroughs Medal), Where Bigfoot Walks, Sky Time in Gray’s River, and Tidewater Reach. 

Bob grew up and learned his butterflies in Colorado, where he fell in love with the Magdalena Alpine and its high-country habitat, the setting of his novel, Magdalena Mountain. He took his Ph.D. in butterfly ecology at Yale University, and worked as a conservation biologist in Papua New Guinea, Oregon, and Cambridge, England.

Shawn Deal has had a long career in teaching,  acting, directing, and producing plays. He is the author of 24 plays and professional monologues that have been produced throughout the United States and Canada and  have won 16 awards in competitions.

Shawn will read one of his monologues about a friendship from long ago. He writes: “Before my focus became girls, sports, and school––in that order–– adolescence was a time of innocence, where it was just fun to hang out with friends. It’s been forty-five years, and I still think about Tom Springsteen, the friend I had when I was twelve.”

Craig Werner has been a doctor in chiropractic practice for more than 3 decades, but his first Bachelor’s degree was in film and TV production, and he worked in the film industry before realizing his calling to health care. He’s retained his passion for filmmaking and helped found an independent filmmaking group in Portland, producing a number of films over the last several years, including a film about local storytelling groups that he will show at WordFest.

Craig writes, “As authors, we are nothing, if not story tellers. All literature is the attempt to carry a story from one person to others. The same is true of other mediums–music, stage plays, movies, and TV. I learned about groups in Portland who routinely gather together to tell each other stories and thought someone should tell THEIR story.”

An open mic will follow the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers usually meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

A YA novel about climate change heads July WordFest

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** Cancelled Due to Extreme Heat **

Three Northwest writers will read from their works at WordFest on Tuesday, July 9, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Last year at WordFest, Kelso native Brianna Craft read from Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir. A researcher for the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, Brianna works to further equity in the United Nations’ climate negotiations for the worldʼs poorest countries, which have done the least to cause the climate crisis but are the most vulnerable to its impacts. At the July WordFest, Brianna will read from her first novel, We Don’t Have Time For This, where Lemonade Mouth meets climate change activism in an enemies-to-lovers young adult (YA) romance.

A tied election throws two rival teen activists together to lead their school’s environmental justice club, and they are taken by surprise when their clashes reveal deeper feelings hidden beneath their antagonism. Isa Brown wishes her life would slow down, but with wildfires ravaging her community and a new natural gas pipeline threatening her dad’s job, the last thing she can do is relax. The school’s environmental justice club seems like a promising way to make real change. If only her annoying co-president would stop being such a control freak. Darius Freeman can’t stop hustling. If he does, how will he beat the other honors kids to be valedictorian? How will he get into the top schools in the country? How will he launch his political career?

No. Darius can’t stop, and the next step in his plan is leading the environmental justice club. But then Isa joins the club and becomes co-president. As Isa and Darius clash over the best way to lead the environmental justice club, deeper feelings emerge. What’s more romantic than saving the earth?

Brianna holds a masterʼs degree in environmental studies from Brown University and is an alumna of the University of Washington. You can find more information at https://briannacraft.com

Shamus Award Finalist Tom Larsen will be reading an excerpt from Getting Legal, part of his Wilson Salinas Mystery of Ecuador series. Having had some success as a private investigator, Wilson decides it’s time to “get legal”—get his P.I. license—even though, as his attorney tells him “in Ecuador, there is really no such thing as an Investigador Privado. The concept doesn’t exist.”  Still, the attorney hires Wilson to investigate the disappearance of his spoiled grandson, heir apparent to his lucrative legal practice, which throws Wilson into an unfamiliar world of wealth, lies, adultery, extortion and murder. His newly-won sobriety is in danger, and ultimately, so is his life.

Tom is the author of four novels in the crime genre. His short fiction has been published in “Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,” “Mystery Tribune,” “Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine,” and “Black Cat Mystery Magazine.” His non-fiction work has appeared in four volumes of the anthology series, “Best New True Crime Stories.” You can find more information  at http://www.amazon.com/TOM-LARSEN/e/B00N00JLZM  

Marc Imlay will be reading from Reflections on Heron’s Haven Pond, his forthcoming second book of poetry and sequel to Pilgrimages to a Bullfrog Buddha (2020.)  In both books, the saviors, saints, and sages of all religions, times, and places reside in an unspoiled natural park as various indigenous creatures interact with the narrator and one another. Marc is a retired chiropractor and acupuncturist.  Meditation has been a major interest which he has practiced daily for 52 years and taught for 50 years. Marc and his wife moved to Longview 10 years ago and are avid dancers and musicians.

An open mic will follow the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

June WordFest tells a variety of tales

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Three writers and a film-maker will present their works at WordFest on Tuesday, June 11, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Lenore Weiss will read from her environmental novel, Pulp into Paper. In the close-knit community of Hentsbury, Arkansas, racism and the local paper mill’s oppressive control over the town collide in this tale set in the 1990s. Rae-Ann, owner of a convenience store and unofficial mayor of the town, and Vernon, the plant’s Environmental Officer, find their budding romance hitting an unexpected roadblock when chemicals from the mill’s runoff claim the life of Rincon, a young black boy battling acute asthma. In a harrowing failed rescue attempt, Vernon relives the trauma of holding the dying boy in his arms.

Lenore’s passion for environmental issues comes from a lifetime of working for women’s rights and health and environmental organizations. She has received the Clark-Gross Award for best novel-in-progress from San Francisco State, and the Distinguished Chapter Service Award from the Society for Technical Communication. Her publishing credits include Cutting Down the Last Tree on Easter Island (West End Press), The Golem (Hakodesh Word Press), and a poetry collection, Video Game Pointers from WordTech Editions. She serves as the Associate Creative Nonfiction editor for the Mud Season Review, and lives in Oakland, California.

Ellen Jacobson will read from Poisoned by the Pier, the third book in her Mollie McGhie cozy mystery series featuring quirky characters, an adorable cat, and way too many dead bodies. In this book, Mollie is thrust into another murder investigation when someone is poisoned during a cake baking competition. While she tries to identify the killer, Coconut Cove’s annual boating festival is in full swing. In between getting ready for her first sailing race and cheating on her diet, Mollie uncovers clues, interviews suspects, and does her best to avoid rutabagas.

Ellen is the author of more than a dozen books in three series: the Mollie McGhie Sailing Mysteries, the North Dakota Library Mysteries, and the Smitten with Travel Romantic Comedies. She has held corporate human resources roles in the United States, Scotland, and New Zealand, and currently lives in St. Helens, Oregon. You can learn more about her books at ellenjacobsonbooks.com.

And now for something very different: Did you ever wish you could share that amazing travel experience with family and friends other than through postcards?

Writer Linda Eddleston and film producer/ musician Ron Walker will share their experiences from a recent adventure on the Princess Discovery Riviera Mexican Cruise Ship. Linda will offer ideas and examples of how to record and document vacation trips by creating travel journals, and Ron will show a short film of their cruise experience.

An open mic will follow the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

May WordFest offers thrills, chills, and stories of children in wartime

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Three Northwest writers will read from their works at WordFest on Tuesday, May 14, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Castle Rock author Mary Stone recently published a short story collection, The Innocents at Home—Children of the 1940s. The 18 fictional stories, told through the eyes of children living in the US, Poland, Germany, and France, are about the abnormality of childhood during this decade and the experiences of war, internment, love and loss, prejudice, faith and resilience.

During her time as a counselor at Lower Columbia College, Mary used her lunch hours to walk across the street to the Longview Public Library to do research for these stories, going through microfiche, poring over old Life and Saturday Evening Post magazines, and hardbound volumes to create realistic narratives. Upon retirement from Lower Columbia College, Mary was honored with Faculty Emeritus. Yet, she didn’t retire altogether. Mary continues to write, as well as teach writing classes, and publishes a monthly devotional blog on her website: https://marystonewriter.com

Rick E. George will read from Lethal Alliance, the second novel in his Boyd and Abboud Mystery Series, where FBI Agent Russell Boyd and Arabic interpreter Nawar Abboud face a contemporary problem: When extremist politicians bash the nation’s leading law enforcement agency, what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, as they find out, to their great peril. When a group of Christian Nationalists known as the Kin of Christ link up with an ISIS terrorist group to plan an attack at a Seattle sports event, Boyd and Abboud infiltrate the groups.

But on the brink of thwarting the plot, they experience a stunning betrayal, forcing them to go into hiding to save their lives, while at the same time, trying to save America.

Rick is the author of four novels, including the first novel of the Boyd and Abboud Mystery Series, Sinister Refuge. His short fiction and poetry have been published in various literary print journals. He has worked as a reporter, wildland firefighter, and an educator, and lives with his wife in the Cascade Mountains outside White Salmon, Washington.

Debz Briske will be reading two short pieces of creative nonfiction that involve dead bodies she encountered in her life and travels.  “A Gringa in Rio” is a story set in Brazil during the military dictatorship, and first experiencing the jungle, hearing Samba, and seeing a dead body. It was also the first time she watched a person die, and struggled with how she wanted to respond and what she could do in a different culture.

“The Dog Stood Watch” deals with a murder on the Evergreen College campus when Debz was a student there, and the connections of animals to the spirit world.

Debz is a storyteller and writer of psychological and paranormal horror and personal monologues. She works in health care, which provides ample occasions for horror, humor, and cadavers, and loves baking, gardening and exchanging ghost stories.

An open mic will follow the presentations where people can read 10 minutes each.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 pm., in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.