The Gold Country Book Festival, in Auburn, California, was a great experience of community. Writing can feel like a solo occupation, so it’s wonderful when writers and readers get together to celebrate the written word.

On Saturday, May 17^th, the Placer County Library hosted 35 of us local writers in its leafy courtyard throughout the day. It also housed a four-author panel on the writing life, a children’s book corner, a workshop on how to borrow eBooks from the library, and a seminar for Millennial writers led by two published authors who are still in their teenage years.

It was a delight to see people relating to so many topics, with books reflecting a wide array of genres. People connected over mysteries and thrillers, children’s books and storyteller cards, Christian poetry and generosity, pre-teen fantasy, and Dust Bowl fiction. They connected in conversations ranging from bicycling California to living in Pakistan; publishing music to interviewing sports stars; global warming and coming-of-age stories to writing scripts for Hollywood. There was something for everyone.

Pastoring can also feel like a solo occupation, as well – for the pastor, at least. It’s wonderful when pastors and church members plan equivalent opportunities to celebrate the Word Made Flesh. I hope we do as well as this writer-reader event did, in encouraging one another to our commitment and our love of the process together.

Your partner in ministry,

Betsy Schwarzentraub