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.