Release the Chickens! Part 1 of 4

In this episode, Bruce and Sharon talk about getting back to events and Bruce shares some of the panels he will be facilitating at an upcoming convention. Sharon talks about attending the Roadside Book Festival.

Things that get mentioned: https://www.greatspiritanimalsanctuary.org/ https://roadsidebookfestival.com

https://mesabookfestival.com

https://tusconscificon.com

This episode was recorded August 25, 2022.

Join authors Sharon Skinner and Bruce Davis as they record the next episode of their Brick Cave Podcast. Covering a wide gamut of literary topics, you are sure to find the listen an engaging and entertaining event.

About Sharon Skinner

Sharon Skinner is the author of numerous books and a number of short stories, including the Tavara Tinker Series. Her most recent title, The Exile's Gift, is available now from Brick Cave Media. She is online at https://sharonskinner.com or https://bookcoachingbysharon.com

About Bruce Davis

Bruce Davis is the author of many books and several short pieces of fiction. He writes science fiction, fantasy and non fiction. His most recent title, Silver Magic, is currently available from Brick Cave Media. He is online at https://brucecdavis.com

About Brick Cave Media®

The Brick Cave Podcast is ©2024 Brick Cave Media® LLC., all rights reserved. for more information on Brick Cave Media, visit the organization's website at https://brickcave.media. The Brick Cave Membership Community is called the BC Book Club, and you can join at http://bcbookclub.com.

Wanna Hear Their Thoughts on YOUR first Page?

First Words is the segment of the show where Bruce and Sharon each select the first page of someone’s work, read it on air, and discuss it with feedback.

You can submit your first manuscript page to have them read it during the show, learn more here:

https://brickcave.media/index.php/brick-cave-podcast/about-the-podcast

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, Bruce. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. It's been a
long summer. Yes. It has. And we haven't done this in a while, and I've
sorely missed it. You know, I've missed it too. I I
enjoy our talks. So I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of
things and having these conversations again
about books, all things books and writing. Books. Books and

(00:22):
writing. So what do you wanna talk about tonight? Well, I
as you know, we just returned from San Diego from the book fair
there. And despite the fact that it was
a little slow, I will grant it that, I thoroughly
enjoyed being there, being able to talk
to people about books, being able to talk to you and Patrick.

(00:45):
Patrick Heyer, by the way, our resident poet,
about just things. I think that
the live events are really
inspirational in a way. They they make me feel like
there is yet a reading public out there that's

(01:08):
interested in books and interested in reading what we produce.
No. I agree. And, you know, because we don't see the
sales that go digitally, and we don't see that I mean, we see the reporting,
but we don't see the books going into the hands of the readers
when they buy them online or when they buy them unless we end up
having to come down here to the cave, and we have to sign some books,

(01:30):
which is always fun. That's always fun. But it's nice to
actually put the books in the hands of readers, have them get excited.
You know, I love having pictures taken with the kids
with their you know, especially if it's the first time they've ever had an author
signed book. That's always a blast, and the parents love it. So
I enjoyed watching some of the younger

(01:52):
readers who would buy your middle grade books just get
so excited about, you mean you wrote this book?
Yeah. Was that hard? Yeah. Or a
couple of times where people would stop
but not really come over. And you just kind of encourage
them to come up. And you'd pitch them the book and all of a sudden

(02:15):
they get wide eyed and excited. It's like, oh, that
sounds like a lot of fun. I wanna read that. It's like
Yeah. Yeah. That was that was cool. That is. It's fun. It's fun to engage.
It's you know, and you have some really interest interesting conversations
with other people there, people who are writing books or who
want to be writing books. And, yeah, again,

(02:37):
it's, you know, it's like us getting to come in here and talk books is
one thing, but it's a whole another thing when you get to talk to people
all day long Right. About books. Right? Especially people you
don't already know and kinda know what their tastes are and what they're looking for
and just all of a sudden find out, oh, you like this. I
like that too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting because,

(02:59):
there were a number of people who would be talking to me about my
books, and then they'd step over to you. And then they'd get really excited
because what you had on tap was something that
really resonated with them even more. And that's always
fun. Well and just the opposite. I'd I'd pitch
somebody and say, well, why don't you talk to Sharon? All of a sudden, you're

(03:20):
selling 2 or 3 books to them. It's like, dang.
Yeah. It's all about, you know, taste. Like you said, everybody's got their different
flavors that they're interested in. And so it's it's nice because the Brick
Cave booth has so much on offer. Oh, I know. And I I think
that's something that
I'm not sure people understood or realized until we

(03:43):
could engage with them. Because I know a number of people that,
yeah. You write science fiction and you write fantasy. I said, well, have you all
heard of poetry? Poetry. Yeah. Yeah. And then
Patrick is on stage. Right. And it it was kinda nice. Yeah. It was a
lot of fun. It was fun. And, you know, it didn't hurt that I got
to walk on the beach the next day. So Oh, good for you. Yeah. That

(04:04):
was I got to go to the airport and fly home. Well, I know. But
yeah. You gotta yeah. Take it where you can get it. Right? Exactly. Yeah.
So, yeah, so that was fun. So
and, you're gonna be doing, you are the guest of
honor and No. I'm not the guest of honor this year. That's next year. Next
year. Okay. Everything got pushed back here. Oh, but you but you will be at

(04:25):
I will be the local author guest of honor at CocoCon in
2023. Okay. 2022, I will be
there in attendance, and I have a number of
panels and presentations scheduled. So I'm
doing Friday, I believe, is the first presentation. Friday at
7:30, I will be doing how to read a scientific

(04:47):
study. Oh. How layman can evaluate the
validity both of science reporting and
scientific presentations, which are 2 totally different
things. Yes. Yeah. And then I'll be doing
a talk that I've done before at other cons about

(05:07):
wounds and survival in pre industrial warfare and why
the Roman legionaries got better care than civil war soldiers.
And then a number of fun panels. 1 on the one I'm
looking forward to most is, Fantastic Creatures and How We
Create Them. And and when is that? I believe that one's on Saturday.
Right. But the dates Oh, the dates this is the Labor Day weekend. This is

(05:30):
Right. Second, 3rd, and 4th. So that's coming up. That's coming up next
week. And then I'll be at Roadside Books,
Festival up in Taylor. Yes, indeed. I am
sorry that I'll need to miss that, but we have family plans that weekend. So
But I'll be up there on 17th. Brick cave will have a booth up there,
so that'll be fun. I get to go see the animals and get to my

(05:51):
get my, mugshot with, Romeo and, you
know, all the horses that are hams about getting their pictures taken. So
Yes. Indeed. That's always a fun fun festival. It really is. And this
year, it's gonna be bigger. And it's there's gonna be, I don't know,
face painting and bouncy houses and all sorts of Oh, good. Cool
stuff. They they really deserve to expand that. It's a nice

(06:15):
venue, if you will. It's in the country, but it's, you know, if you
like getting out on the farm and getting to see the animals, it's It's great.
Well and there's nothing like the release of the chickens. I mean, there is
just nothing better than watching the release of the chickens in the morning. It's
just amazing to see that many birds come out of
that space and flock out. So I don't know. My

(06:37):
favorite was the turkeys who would come by, sample our
books. Or the goats. Yes. Yeah. Who no longer
can come by and try and eat our banners. But, you know, yeah.
So that's a lot of fun. So I'm looking forward to that.
So what else shall we talk about? Well,
shall we pitch the Mesa Book Festival Oh. Which everyone should

(07:00):
come to? Yeah. So the Mesa Book Festival, December
17th, and that is I'm very excited for
it. We're looking forward to that this year. Beautiful downtown
Mesa. There's a lot of stuff happening in downtown
Mesa. People really need to come and see
what's going on. And sample all the fun good stuff. The

(07:23):
fun good stuff, the good food, the drink, the
books that will be at the Mesa Book Festival. Yeah. Come
on down. Yeah. That'll be great. So we'll be talking more about that as we
get closer. Oh, yes. We keep keep, getting closer to that. So
I'm looking forward to that. And,
I think that's most of most of the

(07:46):
events. Oh, we do have, are you gonna be at Tuscon? You're gonna
be at Tuscon this year. This year. Right. That's November.
I forget what dates are. They are. It's the first full weekend. 1st full weekend
in November. I think. I I've set the dates aside. I have to check on
it. So, I'll be there. Brick Cave will be
there. And that's actually happening

(08:09):
on November. I'll tell you.
It's the 2nd weekend in November. It's the, 11th, 12th,
13th. Yeah. 2nd weekend. Again, signed up to do some
panels, but I've not received confirmation of which ones I will actually be doing.
But Yeah. I haven't either, but I always enjoy that con. I do too

(08:29):
because, again, you you it's it's an intimate con and they keep it small and
you get to talk to people about books. And you're talking to other writers and
you're talking about creatives and people who are really interested in books.
And this year, the Brick Cave is, sponsoring the con
suite on Friday night, so that shall be fun. That'd be fun
to do. Yeah. So And to get down there then. We'll be there. Yeah. Absolutely.

(08:51):
Absolutely. So award season is coming up.
Shaikan is