For the first time since its inception, the Santa Clarita Valley Book Festival was held during College of the Canyons’ fall semester at the University Center last weekend.
Authors could register for $70 during the third annual event, having the opportunity to meet other local authors and like-minded individuals while pitching their works to attendees.
“The first two years we did it in the spring semester, which caused some issues with commencement. Spring is a busy semester. It used to be a community event — it was a little bit of everything and we were just trying out different things, but this time College of the Canyons has taken it on as their event,” said Ruth Rassool, a member of the English faculty and the committee chair of the event. “We went through shared governance, which is a process of its own to see how it can be supported as a College of the Canyons campus-wide event.”
According to Rassool, the goal was to simplify the event. In the past couple of years, there were keynote speakers, workshops and panels, and events going on in the big conference room, often going on simultaneously. In addition, 67 authors were present this year, which is fewer than previous years.
“We’ve got fewer authors — the lobby is perhaps more open this time. Just the way that the facilities set out the tables, I think there’s a greater, better flow this year. And then there’s authors and exhibitors up on the bridge, up in the lounge on the second floor, and a little bit down the hallway, but not too far. We’ve got readings going on up there, as well, throughout the day in two different rooms,” Rassool said. “The authors pay their fee, and the proceeds go to support whichever department or school. This year, it’s the School of Humanities.”
The goal for Rassool and other committee members is to find ways to support the authors in the future.
“There’s a lot of children’s authors. Maybe we could get our early childhood education center involved, and it would be great to see the titles of people that have come to the college for the book festival to [be on] campus afterwards. I’m looking for ways to acknowledge the authors’ help in attending the festival, and have us invest in their works, too,” Rassool said. “Our students have benefited, and that’s the goal.”
Courtney Whims, author of “Of Flames & Fallacies,” its sequel “Of Blood & Banes,” along with a children’s book called “Dragon and the Duck,” was accompanied by her husband, two children and a dragon animatronic named Daeja — based off of the dragon character in her series.
“All the hard covers are done by me. I have book one and two and hope to have a release date for the third book in the next few weeks. My first book came out January 2025. I’m self-published, a completely indie author. I do have an agent, and I had a few opportunities to go traditional and get picked up by a Big Five publisher. Overall, I decided I love being an indie author. I get to make all my own artwork and covers,” Whims said.
Whims spent roughly a month writing the first book, but went through countless changes to turn it into the published version it is today.
“The first book took me about four or five weeks to write the first draft. That first draft is nothing like what you would read today, because it goes through so many edits and drafts. Over the last year I found a freelance editor who does my developmental edits and line edits, then another editor who does the proofreading. It’s like 10 different steps getting the book ready for publication,” Whims said. “I’m a pretty fast writer. In an hour, I can put down anywhere between 1,000 to 3,000 words, especially when I get in the flow.”
Jokingly comparing herself to a court reporter for how efficient she is in jotting down her thoughts, Whims has also found the process of publishing on her own to be much faster.
“My agent and I were going to pitch it to traditional publishers, and then I decided I didn’t want to wait a year or two to get it on the shelves, so I self-published it,” Whims said. “My custom animatronic head is the character in the series and in the children’s book, and she’s actually based off of my black Lab in real life. I like going to signing events and bringing custom animatronic dragon heads, and I usually have a much more robust setup, because I think it’s fun to have a more immersive experience for the readers.”
First-time author Kristin Haywood was inspired to honor her late brother, by not only creating an author name, but also by writing a book based on his childhood experiences.
“The last name I chose is ‘Michaels.’ It’s based off of my twin brother, whose name was Michael. He passed away when we were 23, so all of this is really in honor of him. I wanted to change my name up and honor his name and memory,” Haywood said. “It’s nerve-wracking. [Being an author] all happened very, very fast. I wrote the book about a year-and-a-half ago, self-published it this year in February, and then got invited to do this event. It’s been overwhelming, but exciting and scary all at the same time.”
Haywood’s children’s book, “Mikey and Blazer,” is based on Michael and their grandfather’s dog, Blazer, that they spent time with growing up.
“The book is based on true events. Every summer we would go up and visit my grandparents, and Mikey and Blazer were just inseparable. The friendship and bond that he created with the dog was just unlike anything else. This book is about ‘Mikey’ learning how to be courageous and brave to get through some hard life challenges with Blazer by his side,” Haywood said. “I’ve been thinking about being an author for probably five years or so, and I just didn’t really have the confidence in myself. I was thinking about my brother, and I thought, ‘You know what? What if I base it off of him?’ I want the little ones to remember to be kind, brave and believe in yourself. That’s the motto of ‘Mikey and Blazer.’”
