Carol Baldwin, Author, Publicist, and more!

Meet Carol Baldwin, Author, Writing Teacher and Speaker. Carol is a multi award winning author. Her book Half Truths is the winner most recently of the prestigious NC AAUW Young People’s Literature Award! Carol is also part of the Monarch Educational Services. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

To be a wordsmith is defined as a person who writes, an author, a journalist, a person who commits their thoughts to paper. But I believe it is so much more. The ability to craft a story, to change lives, transport the ordinary life to an extraordinary place. To put words on paper and awaken the imagination in ways that the reader never dreamed possible. Yes, to have the ability to see what isn't there and make you see it too. To awaken the senses in new and amazing ways, like feeling a cool breeze on a hot summer day on your cheek, to smell wildflowers as they bloom, to taste the delicacy on foreign soil, to feel like you've never felt before, touching places long forgotten, connecting your soul in new ways. That's what writers do. It's my pleasure to host Carolina Writers Speak, a new podcast, a chance to hear actual writers' voices, hear what inspires them, experience their trials and their struggles, and realize that we all have a story and it's worth telling. Carol has written a wonderful young adult book, and she's a multi-award winner for this book. So I know you're going to enjoy listening to Carol's insights and learning more about her. So welcome to the show, Carol.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Thank you for having me, Rose. It's always fun to chat with you. I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

I do too. For the folks that aren't familiar with the you, give us a little history about you and how you got to be a writer and why you became a writer.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Oh, my mother gifted me with when I was about nine or ten years old, she said to me that I had a way with words. She that was her blessing to me, and I believed it and grew into that blessing, if you will. I have always, I mean, always, you know, since I was a kid, would process things through writing. And I had pen pals before there were blogs, I had pen pals, and I journaled a lot, and it was a great way to train me to become a writer. I didn't know I was doing that, but I, you know, I was doing that since I was a kid. You know, and I wrote sappy poetry, tried to get it published. That didn't get published, but um, you know, I just I grew into writing from that. I started out by writing more pieces about myself or what I was going through. Um I was widowed at a very young age, I was widowed at 27, and so that became a way for me to work through my grief, that I wrote a lot of articles related to that. And um and then I was a counselor, so I wrote things about mental health. And but I always dreamed of writing a novel, particularly probably 45 years ago, a friend of mine gave me some Cynthia Voigt books, and I loved them, and I just thought, oh, I want to write a book like this someday, but I had no clue or no idea how I would do that. And I um at the time I was in Philadelphia, then I married a widower and moved to Charlotte, and eventually I had become mother to two step two stepchilders and then had kids of my own. But I got involved eventually when the kids were old enough in FCBW. It was SCBW before it was with I on it, the Society of Children's Book Writers. And it was through that that I started learning about writing for kids, and I didn't know what I didn't know. But I got the advice to start by writing from the magazine market, which was a really good idea. So I wrote a lot of short pieces and I got practice doing that, practice querying. I had success with that. And then when I got an article published in um highlights, I got two articles published in highlights, I was like, okay, I can move on. And so that's about when I started thinking about writing a novel. And that was around 20, 25 years ago, something like that. So, but I had a lot to learn. I had no idea what I needed to learn about writing a novel. So um your book.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Go ahead. I was just gonna say your book now, you know, which is your debut novel, is has been a huge success, and you've won tons of awards with it. So tell us a little bit about all that journey.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Okay, do you want to hear about Half-Trooths first? About the book? Okay. So um coming from the north and moving to the south, I was curious about what was like here before civil rights. And so that sort of became my global idea about a book. And I um it took me a while to narrow that down and to picture and to narrow down the time period to 1950. And I knew I had met Joyce Hostetter, who is a historical novelist, middle-grade novelist. We had met at a conference where she was presenting on her book Blue, and I was presenting on a book that I had written written on called Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades Four through eight. And she became my encourager and my mentor on this journey. And she encouraged me as I was thinking about this, how to research and to research locally and also statewide and internationally. And I came up with this story about it, and the story has always the nut, the kernel of the story has always been the same that is a white girl who moves from a rural area in so in it, it's in North Carolina, but at the time I didn't know where it was. So she moves into Charlotte and moves in with her rich grandparents in Myers Park, which is a wealthy area of Charlotte. And there she would meet a black girl, and in 1950, they didn't whites and blacks did obviously didn't mix in the South, but they would form an unlikely friendship. So that was the beginning of the story, and it developed from there. But um it took me 18 years from my first draft to publication. And that was a lot because I knew nothing about first of all, I had to learn about writing a novel, so I had to learn the craft of novel writing, and I went to workshops and read books, but I also had to research the history because I didn't know the history. There was so much I didn't know. Um, and maybe if I had known then what I was gonna have to do to write this book, maybe I wouldn't have done it. I don't know. I mean, obviously I'm very thankful and and and thrilled to be where I am, but it was a long journey to get here.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Yeah, you've worked very, very hard because writing the book is just the first part. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah, it is. I mean, it is the first part, and it's you know, no most people don't spend 18 years to write a book. Um, but they you need to put the the time and the effort, you really need to learn the writing craft. Um, I I now I teach at libraries and um I teach adults who want to write, and because of self-publishing, so many people think, oh, I can just write something and AI can help me do it, which is obviously a whole nother big problem. And then I can publish it on Amazon and there it is, and people will find it. And you know, the result of that is often not stellar, let's put it that way. And it's just, you know, because they haven't taken the time to really figure out what does it mean to write either a novel or a short story or a children's picture book or a poem, a haiku, any of those. You have to study the genre that you want to write in in order to write it well.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Every book begins with a story that somebody believes is worth telling. At Cushing Publishing, we believe authors deserve more than a name on a contract. They deserve a publishing partner who respects their vision, understands their goals, and cares about the story behind the book. As an independent traditional publisher, we work closely with a select number of authors to create professionally produced books and help those books find their place in the world. From children's stories and novels to poetry, history, and personal journeys, every book we publish is treated as something meaningful. Because your story matters and we want to help you tell it well. Follow Cushing Publishing and Cushing Media on social media or visit Cushingmedia.net to discover our authors, explore our books, and learn more about how you can publish with us. Cushing Publishing, where stories become legacies. I definitely agree with you on that. Now you you published your book, and and tell us about your awards because you've had an amazing journey. You've had the journey with your book that we all dream of.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Well, I you know, when you say that, the dreaming the I don't know. It's funny because Joyce and I have talked about what is success. And you she told me at one point, because she has she won some awards too, that no matter what you win, there's always something else that you want to win. You know, there's an there's another level. So I am thankful for these awards, and I can tell you about each one, but I don't feel like it's the dream. I don't, I don't, I mean, I'm still Carol Baldwin, like I haven't changed, you know. This is me. But it is gratifying to see that recognition, you know. Um, and it I mean, I'm very I got to the point where I'm very picky about I like I don't want to put something out in the world that's not good. And I feel like that is a recognition of that, that I've worked hard. So um the biggest award that I got is I I received in December the North Carolina um I always forget what it is, American Association of University Women Young People's Literature Award. So that is the North Carolina um, it's the young adult award for North Carolina. So that's a huge honor um to be that. Now, what that is gonna mean in terms of sales or getting it out there, that I I can't answer that. But it it you know, it looks nice on my website and it looks nice in my auto in my autograph. I mean, not my autograph, my address, um after my name and my emails. So I that's the biggest one. Um, but then I also received the first one I got was the bronze medal for the coming of age category from Reader's Favorite, and um there's a lot of awards out there. You can, you know, there's awards for indie authors, there's awards, there's just so many. And so you have to pick and choose. So I was thankful for that was the first one I got. Then I won an award of excellence from the North Carolina Society of Historians, and that is very special because I mean they give out awards for lots of different things, but it was a recognition, again, of the authenticity of the book, and um, that was something that, you know, to be recognized by a society of historians is is huge. And then um recently I got the Hindi's Libraries Females of Fiction Young Adult Award, and um Rebecca Wheeler, who had also won that, suggested that I enter that. So I'm thankful for that. And now um I'm a finalist in the SEALA Award, which is a uh given out by a Christian organization, the Blue Ridge Writers Christian Conference. And tonight they're having their awards assemblies, or and so I'll find out if if I got an award, or I'm a finalist, which is cool too, you know. So um, you know, it's I I can't I really can't say what like this will do for me. I think that it does give me some credentials, but my biggest challenge is I want to get the book read by teens. And that is really tough. I mean, my biggest market, I mean, well, surprisingly, I hadn't expected this at all, is adults. Adults are reading it and liking it, and I'm hoping that they are gonna give it to their grandchildren or their children to read, and sometimes that happens, but I really want to get into schools, and that is and my publisher who warned me, you know, Jen Lowry warned me that how difficult that is, and it is really difficult to do. But um I think it's the gatekeepers, like the librarians or the teachers or the media specialists or whoever it is at the school, hopefully those awards will mean something to them. I don't think it's gonna mean a whole lot to the kids, but hopefully that's gonna mean something to them and help me get into the schools.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

That should certainly open a lot of doors.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

I hope so. Um I haven't quite seen that yet. So I did hire someone who to help me do this side of thing. And um, she's not exactly a publicist, she's more just an administrative assistant, and she's been writing lots of letters, and um it's it's right now budgets are tight. So I'm not gonna do this for free. And you know, there's a lot of considerations. Um we'll see. And I pray that the Lord will open the right doors. And I met yesterday with a Christian school just a mile or two from my house, and they're very interested in me coming to give at least a presentation, but hopefully working with the students, and it's gonna be in Women's History Month. And she wanted it. The person who contacted me wants it all about truth telling. And so I'm excited about that. So that will be like a first. I mean, I've been a few schools here and there, but that'll be more of a bigger event, I think.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Well, I would think that that would be a huge market for your book in itself, is is the Christian private schools. You would think so.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

But again, it's getting your foot in the door. You know it's so, you know, it's sort of and it takes a lot of work and a lot of time. This happened, this connection happened. I mean, I my kids went to this school and I contacted the principal who knows me, and I wrote an email to the librarian. Didn't hear anything, but I talked to a neighbor who teaches there, and she said, Oh, yeah, you should come. And she contacted somebody at the school, and so she arranged the meeting. And so so much of it is networking and um being open to opportunities and don't ever say no. Try really hard not to say no to anything because you never know where it's gonna lead.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Absolutely, absolutely. Every writer has a story, and every writing journey deserves encouragement, inspiration, and a place to grow. Speaking of writing as a digital magazine, we created for authors, aspiring writers, and everyone who loves the written word. Each issue brings you author interviews, practical publishing, and marketing advice, industry insights, new book discoveries, and honest conversations about the creative journey. Whether you're writing your first setup, preparing to publish, or building an established author brand. Speaking of Writing is here to remind you that you're not traveling this road alone. Discover your next great read and find the inspiration to keep writing your own story. Follow Speaking of Writing, Cushing Media, and Cushing Publishing on social media to view the latest issue. Meet our featured writers and stay connected with your literary community. Speaking of Writing, published by Cushing Media.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

So do you are you working on a new book? Well, I have two books in mind, and I've so I've started both of them. Both are historical fiction, but the one that I'm gonna tackle first will be okay, so back to half-truth. So there's a white girl and a black girl. The white girl who moves in with her grandparents in Charlotte, um, her grandfather's it's gonna be his backstory as a kid in southern New Jersey, where it'll be 1893, and he is an app he wants to be a glass blower. So it's gonna be about him, and it's also gonna be about a colonial boy who is a g who is also wanting to be in the glass industry. And all of that is because I fell in love with glass years and years ago, and actually wrote a book for kids about glass that was under contract but never got published. So I've done a lot of work and and research on it, and I was just sort of like, I want to do something with this. So that's what when I have time for away from my marketing sorts of things, that's what I'm working on. A little bit at a time.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

That's such a great category, especially for that time frame, because it is an art, and it's an art that's passed down and taught from person to person. So how appropriate for that time frame and and an art that's timeless in its production.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

It's exactly timeless, and that's what when I I mean, I had no idea about that, and I could talk to you about glass forever. But um, when I found out that the the the instruments and the tools that they use now are what they used the Romans used, like I was just like blown away by that. I just think that that's so fascinating, but it's the same tools that they use, and um, so anyway, that's where I've gotten those ideas.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Well, I think they're really good ideas. I'm excited to read that one as well. Well, because I loved Half-Trace. I think it was a great book. Oh, thank you. Thank you. How how would you what kind of advice would you give to authors in their journey as to to how to keep going and keep getting better and seeking that excellence and and that education?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Well, you just you gave the answer just then. Just now. You have to persevere. You have to um believe in what you're doing because there'll be people around you who think you're crazy for keeping on going. But you really do need to get educated in and there's lots of ways of doing it. I mean, there's tons of information on the internet, on writing whatever genre you're in, and there are lots of craft books that you can consult. And I probably didn't do enough of that because I wanted to get right into it, but I still consult them. Um, and I still use, I mean, I have a membership to One Stop for Writers, which I can't recommend enough. It's just a an amazing resource online for creating if it's for your novel, um, and characters and setting and plot. So you really you need to educate yourself um so that you are writing well. And join a critique group, obviously. You know, you need to get input on your work. Don't do it by yourself, go to conferences, get connected with other writers. Um and the one of the you know, one of the things that my the a couple people who were like my critique partners, developmental editors sort of um, they helped me when I got away from the idea. Like it one of the reasons it took me 18 years is because I kept getting away from this idea, this core idea of the girls and their relationship. And I went into all sorts of other things, and they were the ones that pulled me back. And you need that kind of feedback, so from other people. Um, so you don't want to be alone, and now it's it's different. I don't know, I I'm doing this a little bit differently when with the second book. I used to take every chapter as I was writing it, and I would take it and take it to my critique group, and now I'm writing this differently because this is another tip is don't think that your first draft is gonna be it. And don't just like I spend so much time on the first chapter over and over and over again before I'd move on. And I'm done doing that now. I'm writing, I think a little bit more globally, if you will. So I don't feel like it's ready to give to a critique partner. Um, so I'm not sure. I'm still mulling that over in my head how to do that, uh, because I don't really want to get a critique now on things that is that are too rough. But I am looking ahead thinking, I am gonna I know I'm gonna need input.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Definitely so now one Big hole that I see in writers today, um, without question, is that they will spend hours and and thousands of dollars to be a better writer. And and that's good, and you should, except for one little detail. If you don't spend any money learning how to be a marketer and and how to put your book out there and get it out there, nobody's ever going to see that you wrote a great book. So could you touch on that a little bit? Because I know you're a publicist as well as an author.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Right. And well, and I understand it because the desire is to be creative, and marketing doesn't feel creative. Although, if you're creating PowerPoints, that's very creative. So, but you do have to think about who your audience is and how are you going to reach that audience? And you have to be creative in thinking about that. So, one of the things I'm doing because of the nature of my book is I'm trying to go to teachers' conferences and librarians' conferences, and now that's an output of money on my part and time, a lot of time, but hopefully, well, and it is slowly panning off. I met, I went to one conference in last October, met someone who worked for the North Carolina library system, and after many emails back and forth and suggestions on how I, you know, she was really excited to meet me and maybe do something there in um Brawley. But I am gonna, which that hasn't turned up, but I am going to be on doing a webinar for them on Tuesday. So um, and I have it on my events page if anybody is interested. It's gonna be on uh writing historical fiction to celebrate historical fiction month. So things do happen as a result of, like I said before, you know, of networking. You gotta put yourself out there. You just have to. I mean, I I am so conscious now. I carry my postcards with me about my book, and I'm very conscious about when I meet somebody new somehow to say, do you like to read? And what do you like to read? And I'm always amazed at how many people that, and it mostly is adults, because that's one meeting, you know, who are interested in reading, and they take a postcard and hopefully they will read the book. And sometimes I get from that book clubs. So book clubs is one way to get your book read. Now, you know, so much of this depends on the type of book you're writing and who your audience is. So, um, you know, I have a good friend who has written a chat book of poetry, so that that audience is going to be different than my audience. And so she needs to think about, if she wants to, how she's going to get that book before an audience. And she had a book about mental health, you know, and we talked about, well, you know, who can who might be able to use that book? Um, so it takes it takes work and it takes time, and it also takes spreadsheets. I had a huge spreadsheet about um magazines that I could write for. Um and I need to put your magazine on there, you know, so that it's in place. Um museums that maybe I could speak to, schools that I could go to, and um community organizations. So could, you know, uh writing organizations, you have to, you just have to brainstorm, keep track of it, and and contact them and see if they w would be interested in you coming as a speaker, or you know, so that and you have to think about well, what can I speak about? So if it's a book on mental health and on poetry, who you know, who might be interested in doing that and hearing that? And it could be a community organization, because mental health is a big issue, you know. And so, um, and that's where I hired somebody to help me with because it just it got it gets so big, and I could just spend so much time doing that. So she is the one who is following up on all that for me. But that's an investment, like you said, it is definitely investment.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

But then I have a writer who who wrote a book about a murder on a pickleball court, and so when she was marketing her book, I said, Well, you know, set up at your pickleball tournaments, and she said, I never thought of that, and but she did, and she sold a tremendous amount of books. Oh, yes, definitely. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

So think out of the box a little. Yeah. Well, one of the things that's interesting because my book has to do with race relations, I and I'm white, and at one point in my journey, I tried to write it from both girls' points of view because an editor had suggested that. And then um an agent said, Don't do that, that's not gonna be acceptable because you're white. So I have so I changed back just to the white girl's point of view. But I have been very concerned with how will the black community receive the book. Well, what I'm finding is that in several conversations with different blacks who I've met, they're very interested in it because it talks about genealogy and it talks about the what happened with the slaves, it you know, it touches on that because actually the girls end up finding that they're out that they're related. So it goes into that history, and that is a community that I hadn't really expected um would be so interested in it. Um, and so I I and I also go to book fairs, so that's another place. But like like you said, you have to think outside the box about who might be your reader. I think that that, yeah, at a pickleball tournament, oh definitely, they'll love it.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

They'll add it up. And you know, one thing that that is important about marketing in 2026 is building those communities. Because your grassroots is where your success lies, not out there on the internet.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

It's true, it's true. I mean, you know, it's always a debate on how much time to spend on the internet, and I have actually I'm not on the internet a lot. I just post occasionally, I put my blog posts up there, and you know, if it's something that's going on with Monarch, or I'm also involved with Right to Ignite, which is a Christian writing organization, but I don't engage a lot because it's just very time consuming. Yeah. I'd rather and I'd rather talk to a person, I'd rather talk to a teenager or who might want to be read my book, or you know, someone I just I've I've been amazed at the conversations I've had because when I explain the book, particularly to African Americans, they are very interested because of the genealogical aspect to it.

SPEAKER_02 28:50

So well, one of my um folks that I met through my writing journey was an African American, and she told me that one of the biggest hurdles that she has is that there is not a lot of literature about African American history. You know, there is as far as as the the racial part, but not about the actual living part. You know, so there that's an audience I think that's hungry for for information about what was life like and how did folks live and what did they do and and just the normal things, you know. They don't have access to that like like a white person would. You know, we can see a day in the life at Triumph Palace, you know, but it's just a different kind of thing that they don't have access to as much stuff as we do. So that is a huge audience, I think, from that perspective.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Yeah. Um, I applied for an award in it from an African American group. Um, I have no idea that it was in the historical fiction category, but that would be that to me now that would be really amazing if I placed in that in that contest.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. So what's left on your bucket list, Carol?

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Well, so that to work on that book. I mean, it's called what is it called? Out of the flame. And um, to spend time doing that. And then the other book that I want to write out, I can't decide if it's a a novel or it's gonna be a graphic novel, will be called uh Nightmare in Nuremberg, and it's based on an event in my grandfather's life in Nuremberg, Germany, and how he was able to get out of Germany. I mean, well, it's it leads up to that, so it's gonna be sort of a time trample fantasy thing, and I thought about it as a graphic novel because there are a lot of Holocaust novels, but then graphic novels are also incredibly expensive to publish, so I'm just not sure that that's the right way. But I'm I'm gonna backburner that for right now. I just came back from a trip to um Europe and I spent time in Nuremberg, and that rekindled that, oh yes, I need to write this book. Um so I you know, there's just like yourself. How many balls can you juggle at the same time? You know?

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Right, right. Well, um so how can your fans follow you and find your books?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Well, I mean, the first thing is it's on Amazon, but if you don't want to go to Amazon, if you're in Charlotte, it's at two uh indie bookstores, Park Road Books and Troubadour Booksellers, it's in both of those. In Bards and Nobles can get it. Uh Monarch, though, is gonna be starting a bookstore starting next week. And actually, if you could put that in your notes and Monarch, you know, her shop, that would be the absolute best way for people to get it. And it's gonna be a special edition with a new cover, and it's gonna really be cool. So um, but in terms of social media and stuff like that, I can send you my link to social media, but um, I would love it if they would subscribe to my blog, and you can find that on Carol Baldwinbooks.com. And I blog about once a week about obviously it's about books. So um, and if anybody who's listening has a teenager who likes to read and write, that's who I employ in quotes, as my reviewers. So because I don't have time, the time that I used to have to read and review books, I am trying to get as many kid writers to do that. Usually 13 to 16 year olds, often girls, but it doesn't have to be girls, you know. But you can contact me through my website if you know of somebody who would really likes to read and write, and um, I would be interested in connecting with that person.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

All right. You know, that's a great thing. I I really think that's a great thing because that gives kids an opportunity for something that they would never have just had to happen to them to be able to review books. And you know, reviewing books is such a cool thing because people think they have to write a book report, but you don't. You know, you just you just say whether you liked it or whether you didn't, and what you liked about it is pretty simple, you know, or what you hated about it, either way.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Right. Right. But it's also it really develops critical thinking skills because you have to think about you have to think about the book and why you liked it or why you didn't like it. What would you know, what would you what how would you have changed it? You know, what why are you drawn to the characters or the setting or whatever it is? So um obviously, you know, I'm in favor of it because that's the type of person who I am, but I would love to hear from others in your audience who have a child or a grandchild or a student who um has shows an interest in that because it'll also give them the opportunity to work with me. So I will critique their well, I will tweak their work and they can learn from that feedback. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

I would love an article about this for the magazine. Because I think that's such a great concept that more authors could use to give back.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Hmm. All right, I have to think about that. The thing what I immediately thought is I should have one of the kids write that.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Yeah, it'd be great. That would be awesome. Yeah, and it would be good for them. We'll see. Alrighty. Carol Baldwinbooks.com. That's where you can find her. Half Truths is the book. Do yourself a favor, order your copy today. You won't be sorry that you spent the money because it's fantastic. And is it available as an ebook?

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Uh yeah, you can get it on Amazon as an ebook. I haven't made it. We don't have an audio book yet. I'm thinking about doing it, but that's another big project.

SPEAKER_02 34:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

You probably know more about it than I do.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

Yes. Uh, we're getting ready to start offering that as a service through our publishing company. My husband's getting ready to retire and he can do that. He knows how to do all the technical maths. So you and I can talk. Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. So we're gonna work on that very soon, probably before the summer's out, have that up and running.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Gotta keep him busy, you know.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

Yes. All right. Well, thank you so much for being on the show. I appreciate you giving me your time as always. And I I love chatting with you and catching up. It's been too long. So take care. And uh, everybody out there listening, as always, thank you guys for listening.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

If you love books, stories, and the people that bring them to life, make plans to join us for the Litfest 2026. Presented by Cushion Media and Cushing Publishing, Litfest brings readers, writers, and families together for a full day of author conversations, feature presentations, book signs, and literary fun. There is plenty for your children to do too. They can write letters to Santa, gather in the story corner to hear children's authors read their books, enjoy games and puzzles, and other activities. Plus, a special visit from the big man himself, Santa Claus. Join us on Saturday, December 19th at the Riverfront Convention Center in beautiful downtown Newer, North Carolina. Admissions free, and there's something for your whole family. Learn more at CushingMedia.net and follow Cushing Publishing on Facebook for announcements and updates. Litfest 2026, where stories find readers, writers find community, and families make memories together.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

Everybody has a story. Just let your mind drift away and find yours. I know it's out there. What are you waiting for?