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ENLARGE
Special to the LVN
Fernley author Mary Jean Kelso, center, visits with avid book readers before signing her “Andy and the Albino Horse” the family purchased at the Bend, Ore., Barnes & Noble store during the West Coast Guardian Angel Publishing get-together.
Fernley author, Mary Jean Kelso, recently traveled to the Bend/Redmond, Ore., area to attend the first Guardian Angel Publishing West Coast Get-together.
Authors and illustrators from as far away as St. Louis, California and Nevada met for a week full of activities.
Those attending, besides Kelso, were GAP Publisher, Lynda S. Burch, authors Susaan Batson, Janet Ann Collins, Bill Kirk, Shari Lyle-Soffe, author/songwriter Janie Robinson, author/actress Susan Burger, and resident host artist K.C. Snider.
Included in the itinerary was an interview on Good Morning Central Oregon where Snider and Burch were guests of Kristi Miller.
They discussed the Saturday Barnes & Noble signing which was the store's largest event of the year. All the GAP Angels read their books and signed them for the store's clientele.
The GAP West Coast get-together was hosted by Snider and her husband, Fred, (with the assistance of publicist, Claudia Valiquet).
The week-long agenda included meetings with Burch, catered dinners (by Bonnie Ellis), appetizers by High Desert Society of the Arts and local entertainment (children's songwriter and singer Janelle Musson, aka Janellybean, and singer, Mark Kershner).
Park ranger Julie Jacobus led a tour of the Newberry Volcanic Monument and other spectacular scenic sites in the surrounding area.
“It is my hope that by learning the history of the volcanoes, and seeing the beauty of nature here, it will inspire you to go back and write books for kids that will create a curiosity in them and encourage them to become excited about the land and wildlife,” Jacobus stated.
Jacobus, who will soon move to Reno, said she sees too many children come into the visitor's center with their eyes on, and fingers attached to a game player or other electronic device while missing all the beauty and interesting things around them.
Upon return to their respective desks, and in keeping with the tone of the event, Burch presented each attendee with the Newberry Award. With a sense of humor (tongue-in-cheek ala Mark Twain) Burch created the honor (not to be mistaken for The Newbery Medal which is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) coveted by every children's picture book author).
Burch made it clear (when the authors got excited), “This is a joke, a spoof, a play on words guys.”
No less impressed, the authors/artists accepted the honor until the “real” Newbery comes along.
Robinson's song “Heroes,” based on Kelso's “Andy and the Albino Horse,” can be heard and/or purchased at www.myspace.com/janiejazzgirl. For information on Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc., visit www.guardianangelpublising.com. Photos and more on the gathering are at www.guardianangelpublishing.com/WestCoastAngels-2009.htm.
GAP Mid-West get-together is in Sept. 2010 in St. Louis where a Children's Illustrator's Museum has been established to house art work created by artists around the world.
Included in the museum is Snider's single-framed triple illustration work from Kelso's book, “Andy and Spirit Go to the Fair,” which won first place in watercolor at the 26th annual Winnemucca Western Art Roundup, as well as other illustrations she has created.
Authors and illustrators from as far away as St. Louis, California and Nevada met for a week full of activities.
Those attending, besides Kelso, were GAP Publisher, Lynda S. Burch, authors Susaan Batson, Janet Ann Collins, Bill Kirk, Shari Lyle-Soffe, author/songwriter Janie Robinson, author/actress Susan Burger, and resident host artist K.C. Snider.
Included in the itinerary was an interview on Good Morning Central Oregon where Snider and Burch were guests of Kristi Miller.
They discussed the Saturday Barnes & Noble signing which was the store's largest event of the year. All the GAP Angels read their books and signed them for the store's clientele.
The GAP West Coast get-together was hosted by Snider and her husband, Fred, (with the assistance of publicist, Claudia Valiquet).
The week-long agenda included meetings with Burch, catered dinners (by Bonnie Ellis), appetizers by High Desert Society of the Arts and local entertainment (children's songwriter and singer Janelle Musson, aka Janellybean, and singer, Mark Kershner).
Park ranger Julie Jacobus led a tour of the Newberry Volcanic Monument and other spectacular scenic sites in the surrounding area.
“It is my hope that by learning the history of the volcanoes, and seeing the beauty of nature here, it will inspire you to go back and write books for kids that will create a curiosity in them and encourage them to become excited about the land and wildlife,” Jacobus stated.
Jacobus, who will soon move to Reno, said she sees too many children come into the visitor's center with their eyes on, and fingers attached to a game player or other electronic device while missing all the beauty and interesting things around them.
Upon return to their respective desks, and in keeping with the tone of the event, Burch presented each attendee with the Newberry Award. With a sense of humor (tongue-in-cheek ala Mark Twain) Burch created the honor (not to be mistaken for The Newbery Medal which is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) coveted by every children's picture book author).
Burch made it clear (when the authors got excited), “This is a joke, a spoof, a play on words guys.”
No less impressed, the authors/artists accepted the honor until the “real” Newbery comes along.
Robinson's song “Heroes,” based on Kelso's “Andy and the Albino Horse,” can be heard and/or purchased at www.myspace.com/janiejazzgirl. For information on Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc., visit www.guardianangelpublising.com. Photos and more on the gathering are at www.guardianangelpublishing.com/WestCoastAngels-2009.htm.
GAP Mid-West get-together is in Sept. 2010 in St. Louis where a Children's Illustrator's Museum has been established to house art work created by artists around the world.
Included in the museum is Snider's single-framed triple illustration work from Kelso's book, “Andy and Spirit Go to the Fair,” which won first place in watercolor at the 26th annual Winnemucca Western Art Roundup, as well as other illustrations she has created.
