Sharing Much Love for the Philadelphia Art Sanctuary.

Saturday, May 21 the Philadelphia Art Sanctuary hosted a fabulous literary and arts conference. I was just overdone by the numerous workshops and activities happening under one roof. Some 50+ authors partook in the activities, and I was invited to be among them. WoW!

I mean, imagine for a sec; being in one building, in a city often dubbed the ‘Mecca of Talent’ with all this creative energy. Quite honestly, I was overwhelmed, BUT, I hung in there and did my thing!

A frequent question I am asked, is if my publishing books written by other authors, along with my own writing and publishing, on top of reading and reviewing books published by other authors under various publisher imprints, creates a conflict of interest?

Answering this question was my sole focus at the conference. Now, initially I was a little concerned that I was going to be encouraged (let’s say) to talk about my books. I mean, I love my books. That is, I really, really love my books. I think they are all that and some, but respect more how I’d like to see literacy advance.

My goal is to inspire a reading movement. I want everyone motivated to read one book (cover-to-cover) a year. For those already reading at this rate and beyond, great. For the rest who have never read a book from front to back, this is too large of an unwitting audience to ignore, particularly given the substantive disparity that still exists with understanding one another. Be it mental illness, cultural differences, or relationship issues, (gender or sexual rooted), empathy is in high demand, which is only microscopic of what deep reading promises.

Sincerely supporting great books does not cause a conflict of interest. What it does is promote reading books (cover-to-cover) among all ages, genders and social and cultural demographics; not without obvious mention... this helps authors, publishers and the literary industry overall. What I am doing is investing in literature today, for tomorrow.

So, I thank the Art Sanctuary for giving me an opportunity to spread this message. The reception I received has inspired me to find similar venues to keep the storytelling discussion going. I, as well, look forward to connecting with the storytellers I met who share a like vision in promoting literature.

Phenomenal Job. Again and again, thank you.