The Big Book Club Getaway 2014 at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino

The Big Book Club Getaway - returns to the Mohegan Sun!

Read my recap of last year's event HERE

Choose from over 20 exciting presentations 

by more than 70 bestselling authors!

Friday Events (check the event schedule HERE)

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Pillow Talk ~ Bestselling Romance and Erotica Authors

• Featuring: Eloisa James, Laura Kaye, Cathy Maxwell, and L. Marie Adeline

Literary Libations at the Lansdowne Pub

• Featuring: Tim Federle and Tom Acitelli

Saturday Events (check the event schedule HERE)

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A Hero’s Tale – Military Memoirs and Biographies

• Featuring: Artis Henderson, Jason “Jay” Redman, and Captain Glenn Sulmasy

Novel Ideas – Male Authors in Journalism and Fiction

• Featuring: Norb Vonnegut, Pete Hamill, and David Handler

Writers at Work

• Featuring: Christopher Castellani, Adam Sexton, Stuart Parnes, and Julia Pistell

Magical Fiction – Spirits, Mystery and Wonderment

• Featuring: Sarah Addison Allen, Karen White, and Suzanne Palmieri (Hayes)

The Way We Were – Historical Fiction

• Featuring: Charlotte Rogan, Stephanie Lehmann, Donna Russo Morin and Heather Webb

International Thrillers

• Featuring: J.E. Fishman, Kitty Pilgrim, and Nick Hahn

Steamy Stories – Bestselling Romance and Erotica Authors

• Featuring: Eloisa James, Laura Kaye, Cathy Maxwell, and L. Marie Adeline

A Conversation with William Mann ~ Hollywood Biographer

• Featuring: William Mann

The World’s Strongest Librarian – Josh Hanagarne

• Featuring: Josh Hanagarne

Now Boarding – Travel and Culture

• Featuring: Nina Sovich, Susan Conley and Eloisa James

Whodunnit? Mystery and Suspense

• Featuring: Jennifer McMahon, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Rosemary Harris and Hank Phillipi Ryan

Toil and Trouble – Witches and the Occult

• Featuring: Brunonia Barry, Marybeth Reilly McGreen, Maggi Smith Dalton, and Paul Caranci

Reflections in the Light – Christian Writers

• Featuring: Tessa Afshar, Allia Zobel Nolan, Carol Barnier and Lucinda Secrest McDowell

A Peek Behind The Curtains – Broadway Revealed

• Featuring: Susan L. Schulman, Jennifer Ashley Tepper and Peter Filichia

Kiss and Tell – Harlequin Romance authors

• Featuring: Kristan Higgins, Shannon Stacey, Natalie Charles and Kristine Rolofson

Telling My Truth – Memoir and the Self

• Featuring: Karen Dietrich, Mellini Kantayya and Diane Smith

Finding Our Way in The World

• Featuring: Qais Akbar Omar, Carlos Eire, Brando Skyhorse, and Christopher Castellani

Delicious Writing – Books with Food

• Featuring: Giulia Melucci and Suzan Colón

On Water and Relationships – River Journeys

• Featuring: David “Bugsy” Morine, Joseph Monninger, Dr. Cindy Lovell, and Wick Griswold

Ellora’s Cave ~ Erotica

• Featuring: Avril Ashton, Karen Stivali, Tara Nina, and Diana Hunter

Touring Connecticut ~ Tales and Travels

• Featuring: Diane Smith, Eric Lehman and Garrison Leykam

Addicted? Harvard Doctors Speak Out

• Featuring: Dr. Robert L. Doyle, Joseph Shrand, MD, and Dr. Sylvester “Skip” Sviokla, III, M.D.

New England in Fiction

• Featuring: Joseph Monninger, Nan Parson Rossiter, and Jane Green

Register and purchase your tickets HERE 

The Big Book Club Presents "Frighteningly Delicious" - A Fall Halloween Program

On October 27, 2013 the team that launched The Big Book Club Getaway at Mohegan Sun earlier this year is pleased to announce a brand new event  at The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center (“The Kate”). 

This fall Halloween program will be "Frightfully Delicious" and includes a psychic medium and gourmet treats. 

Doors open at 10am and the event will conclude at 3pm

The fabulous line-up of authors that will be presenting that day includes:

Roberta Isleib aka Lucy Burdette, author of the Key West Food Critic murder mysteries, An Appetite for Murder, Death in Four Courses, and Topped Chef

Suzanne Palmieri aka Suzy Hayes, author of The Witch of Little Italy and I’ll Be Seeing You;

Brunonia Barry, author of The New York Times and internationally bestselling novel, The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places,

B.A. Shapiro, New York Times bestselling and #1 Indie pick author of The Art Forger.

 

Local authors, Paul Ferrante (Last Ghost at Gettysburg), Sydney Sherman (You are Not Alone), Eileen Kaplan (Laughter is the Breast Medicine), and Tedd Levy (Remarkable Women of Old Saybrook) will also meet guests and sign their books.

During lunchtime, an art activity will be offered by The Drunken Palette to benefit the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation. http://terribrodeurbreastcancerfoundation.org.  

A portion of the proceeds from all book sales will also go to Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation.

Psychic Medium Angelina Diana will speak about spirit communications and perform random readings throughout the audience.

Tickets are $55 each and include a gourmet boxed lunch and dessert sponsored by Bliss Gourmet of Westbrook.  

Cash bar and themed cocktails available.  

Books will be available for sale by R.J.Julia Booksellers.  

Other sponsors include The Day, the Bee and Thistle Inn, Middlesex Hospital, and Barnum Financial Group.  

Register at http://www.thebigbookclub.org/register-here/

Questions?

CONTACT:  Colleen Doyle LaFrancois at (860) 460-0875 or Susan McCann at (860) 767-1707

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

300 Main Street

Old Saybrook, CT 06475

860-510-0473

October 27, 2013
Event Schedule: 10:00am - 3:00pm

Click HERE for schedule details

The Big Book Club is a creation of LaFrancois Marketing Consultants and Essex Books. 

The Big Book Club Getaway at Mohegan Sun

The first annual Big Book Club Getaway was held this weekend at the Mohegan Sun Conference Center in Connecticut.

Source: Big Book Club Getaway

This is a must event for book lovers!

Whether you are a book worm, aspiring author, or a book club member, if you are an admirer of the written word, this book extravaganza is for you!

I was honored beyond belief to be a part of the pilot conference, and I can only say that if this first conference is indicative of the ones that I hope will follow, it will soon be a premiere event for publishers, writers, and readers, near and far!

Love history? Cookbooks? Magazines? Fiction? Non-fiction? The humanities? There was something for everyone at the Big Book Club Getaway!

Susan McCann of Essex and Colleen LaFrancois of Old Saybrook, organizers of the event, also brought a charity close to my heart on board, as a portion of the Big Book Club Getaway's profits will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association.



Kristen Cusato, Southwest Director of the CT Alzheimer's Association, emceed the event.
In addition, one of Friday night's featured speakers, included Dr. Gary Small, author of The Alzheimer's Prevention Program.

L-R Top to bottom
Gift bags from the Alzheimer's Association, Colleen and Susan
Kristen Cusato, Dr.Gary Small 

Also included in Friday night's lineup, was Chicken Soup for the Soul's publisher, Amy Newmark, who was introduced by one of my favorite independent book store owner's, Roxanne Coady, of Madison's R.J. Julia's Bookstore.

Roxanne Coady

Amy explained the submission and publishing process for Chicken Soup for the Soul.  Did you know that authors retain the copyright to their work? And that no matter how many words or pages your manuscript contains, Amy promises you can 'cut and paste' it into the tiny little submission box!

  
Amy Newmark was also honored Friday evening with an official Connecticut State Proclamation!

Some of Saturday's highlights included

• UCONN professor, humorist, and author, Gina Barreca
• a panel discussion with prominent sex therapists on the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon.
• and Brad Meltzer, host of The History Channel's show Decoded

L, Gina Barreca, Top R Fifty Shades of Grey Panel, Bottom R Brad Meltzer

Brad Meltzer's talk was truly heart-warming, and included a portion on living your life to its fullest. To loosely paraphrase, "You don't write your obituary, others do that for you.  Instead you must go out and live the life you were meant to live"

And Gina Barreca. Oh. My. Goodness. RUN. Don't walk! RUN! And buy her book It's Not That I'm Bitter. This woman is hysterical! I was laughing so hard I was crying...and so was my husband!

We also attended a panel discussion on books about Connecticut sponsored by The History Press, who feature regional history books written by local authors.

Below, authors Wilson Faude, Wick Griswald, and Eric Lehman share a laugh.

Wilson reminds everyone that history should be fun!

Wick Griswald's A History of The Connecticut River

Another great panel discussion was the Sportswriter's Panel.  This was a wonderful group of 'baseball guys' that gave a glimpse of the "behind the scenes" stories of America's favorite game.  Phrases like "pus-ball hitter" and "he was out on a bang-bang play at home" brought smiles of nostalgia to everyone.

Roger LaFrancois, Mark DeJohn, Todd Civen, Dr. Jeff Brown, Marty Appel, Rick Wolfe
Sports Writers Panel

The Mystery and Suspense Writer's Panel was also a wonderful highlight and it was a thrill to see up close and personal some of my favorite writers!

L-R, Tess Gerritsen, Hallie Ephron, J.A. Jance, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.

I took so many notes from these great women...and I could kick myself because I lost my notebook full of the best quotes and quips.  These ladies are not only great suspense writers, but they also have an amazing sense of humor!  I was pleased to learn that these women all whetted their appetite for the mystery novel, on my beloved Nancy Drew detective series.

Have a place to visit on your bucket list?  Well, Patricia Schulz did! In fact she had a thousand of them that she details in her book 1000 Places to Visit Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List.

Last, but most definitely not least, was the closing author, talk show host and television icon, Leeza Gibbons.

Leeza's book Take 2: Your Guide to Creating Happy Endings and New Beginnings is for anyone who "wants a do-over or needs to re-boot their life" and her inspiring story of starting over at any age is a must read!

Photo Source: Wendy @ ConnecticutBloggers.com
L-R Me, Leeza Gibbons, Wendy from CT Bloggers

All in all it was a great weekend, and this will definitely be an annual attend for us!

Note:  I received tickets to this event as a prize offered by one of the sponsoring publishers, however, all opinions expressed herein are my own.

PSST: If you are at Mohegan Sun and find my notebook please return it to me! It has Warner Pacific College on the cover. I think I left it on the fabulous Ms. Gibbons' table! **UPDATE** My notebook has been found! Read all about it HERE !