Amelia chatting with a local volunteer that enjoyed talking about books in the Author's Corner.

Iowa author, Amelia Painter, returned home from fourdays of book signings at the Tulip Festival Author’s Corner held in Orange City, Iowa May 13 – May 16th.

The Tulip Festival was an entertaining celebration for over 100,000 visitors this year.  The Author’s Corner was a new addition to the 2009 celebration.  There was a total of 22 authors featured.

My husband and I attended the public reception on  Wednesday, May 13th from 6-7:30pm and we met a number of local residents that later would be volunteering at various festival events.

I initially schedule for two days in the Author’s Corner, but we were having such a good time that we ended-up staying all four days.

And we were in good company.  We met a number of authors that were new to us, and had lots of laughs with local authors with which we were already acquainted. Noteworthy authors new to me included: Patricia Phipps, author of “My Grandma Always Told ME” — a collection of stories that range from humorous to serious and religious to ridiculous; Nicole Baart’s books. Nicole writes redemptive, hope-filled fiction; Tricia Currans-Sheehan, author of “The Egg Lady” and “The River Road;” and  Dan Reinking from Bartlesville,  OK, with his fascinating book “Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas” that provides comprehensive information on all species of birds known to nest in Oklahoma and other Mid-west states.

On Saturday, Spencer’s Vicki Myron, author of the New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Bestseller, “Dewey,” was on-hand to showcase and sign her book.

As for my book signing adventures, I have to report honestly that we had a great time.  The facility was really nice and the organizers even nicer.  My cookbook, “Discover Iowa: Cooking with Iowa Wines, Meats & Other Iowa Products” was the popular of the two books featured at my table.  It is a real favorite of cooks of all ages across the state.

If you’d like to learn more about my writing go to: http://published.ameliawrites.com/