Literary Fest Attracts Standing-Room-Only Crowd

“To bring readers and writers together to celebrate the books women love to read.”

That is the mission Mt. Lebanon residents and published authors Gwyn Cready and set for Women Read/Women Write, Pittsburgh’s first-ever book fest of its kind.

“There is no festival that taps into this,” said Mileti, while welcoming the standing-room-only crowd at Barnes & Noble near South Hills Village on Saturday.

“I’d like to thank all the participating authors; I look forward to welcoming more next year,” she said.

Not an open seat in the house, aspiring writers sat intrigued by four panel discussions—all extremely informative and collectively comical—led by the accomplished panel.

The participating authors included:

• Literary fiction author Teri Coyne, author of “The Last Bridge,” as recommended by the LA Times
• Romance novelist and book fest co-founder Gwyn Cready, RITA Award-winning author of “A Novel Seduction”
• Mystery author Casey Daniels, widely-known for her Pepper Martin mystery series
• Romance author Gaelen Foley, the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of 17 historical romances set in the world of Regency England
• Mystery author Kathleen George, Edgar-Award winning novelist of “The Odds,” among other acclaimed novels such as “Taken” and “Hideout”
• Romance author Madeline Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of “Dangerous in Diamonds”
• Screenwriter, script consultant and historical fiction author Mitchell James Kaplan, author of “By Fire, By Water”
• Non-fiction author and contributor to the “Chicken Soup” series Julie Long, co-author of “Baby: An Owner’s Manual”
• Women’s fiction author and book fest co-founder Meredith Mileti, author of delicious debut novel “”
• Mystery author and award-winning playwright Kathryn Miller Haines, author of “The Girl is Murder” ... and
• Former lawyer turned historical author Heather Terrell, whose books appear in more than 10 countries. She is also the author of the upcoming young adult series entitled “Fallen Angel.”

All authors joined in on “Breaking into Publishing,” which followed by “The Mystery of Mystery Writing,” “Eat, Place, Write: How Setting and Food Help to Bring a Story to Life” and “The Empowered Heroine: What’s Changing.”

The ability to “market yourself” was a key piece of advice, as was the value of a book agent, the value of a query letter and the skill to developing a tough skin in order to grasp rejection.

“I’m thrilled with the turnout,” Cready said. “I’m gratified.”

Kaplan said he didn’t expect anything less from Cready and Mileti.

“I know what they’re capable of,” he said. “They’re enthusiastic. The level of turnout is high because people love the idea. It’s very interesting to me that 60 percent of books are sold to women.”

Long agreed.

“People don’t realize the talent in Pittsburgh,” she said. “There are so many local authors and we have a strong chapter of children’s book authors here. This city has so much to offer in the arts.”

Planning is under way for next year’s event.

If you’re interested, be sure to join the festival’s mailing list and follow its social media updates—find them on Facebook here and Twitter here.

Visit the Women Read/Women Write website and/or email info@womenreadwomenwrite.com for more information.