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I participated in a regional readers/writers event for young people this last week. It’s called the Cavalcade of Authors. ‘Cavalcade’ doesn’t begin to describe the scope of the event. The organizers brought twenty-seven nationally recognized authors of books for young adults to our local junior college. The Columbia Basin Junior College in Pasco, Washington and the event organizers provided a classroom or lecture hall to each author. Each guest author gave several lectures and workshops for the students in the course of the day.
Twelve hundred students from Washington and Oregon attended. Each student had to complete a reading series of books by the guest authors. Said another way, each student had to work for the privilege of attending the cavalcade. The organizers reserved a few minutes of each session for autographs, book signing, and photos ops. A large group-signing event closed out the day.
Jeff Bailey and Michelle Lane
Fifty members of the local chapter of the National Honors Society also volunteered for the day to help keep the event ‘flowing’ smoothly. They led groups from one place to another, gave directions, and rescued lost attendees. I want to give a special salute to those members of the National Honors Society who gave their day to help keep the huge event well regulated.
I quote the Cavalcade of Authors website, "The Cavalcade of Authors is dedicated to providing the secondary students of our region access to some of the best Young Adult authors of our modern era. Our special interest is to celebrate Pacific Northwest Authors while introducing students to a variety of genres and subject matter and to furthermore, promote reading and writing within our community. We provide for our participants an authentic writing conference experience where students can learn from the ultimate mentors: the authors of the books they are reading"
My wife and I acted as the event host to an author from New York, Steve Sheinkin. Steve writes historical novels. BOMB, the Race to Build – and Steal– the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon is his latest work. As I have almost fifty years of experience in various nuclear industries, I was impressed with Steve’s dedication to the accuracy of his historical facts. He is a master at mixing historical facts with true-to-life characters to tell a compelling story.
We also met Justina Chen and were able to spend time getting to know her at an event mixer. Justina’s most recent book is The Art of Inspiration, which I believe she knows something about. I watched her interact at one of the book-signing event and noticed how quickly she engaged and captivated the students around her. The Art of Inspiration will be my next book purchase.
Justina Chen, Jeff Bailey, and Steve Sheinkin are pictured at the right.
Megan Shepherd is another of our new friends from the Cavalcade. Megan told us the story of how she got started transcribing the oral history of a small village in Senegal into written works while in the Peace Corps. She told us of living in a mud hut with no electricity and no running water. At home, I feel deprived when my coffee gets cold. Megan’s latest book is titled The Cage and looks to be tailor-made for the young adult reader. I knew that she was a natural storyteller as she told us of adventures in Senegal.
The Cavalcade of Authors reminds me of the National Science Fair. I was a scientist/judge for the National Science Fair for years. I was always amazed at the quality of the young people that I had to honor to meet and evaluate. The cavalcade attracted the same high quality young people. I look forward to meeting the best of our regions emerging writers and the cadre of successful author/mentors again next year.
Every day I try to concentrate my efforts on the single most productive task on my daily to-do list. For the three days of the Cavalcade of Authors, the cavalcade is the single most important and rewarding activity that I can imagine.
My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in May of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.
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