The Emerald City Writers’ Conference I attended in October, was an amazing experience. One of the fund-raising events at the conference was the raffle of goodie baskets during the banquets. These baskets are donated by generous authors and publishers. The wide variety of gift baskets were displayed along three sides of the ballroom. Purchased tickets were deposited into jars to select a basket, then after the meal, winners were drawn.
My daughter-in-law, Kira Brady, won a charming “Tea for Two” basket. She had donated a “Dragon” basket, featuring her paranormal book series, The Deadglass Trilogy, which is set in post apocalyptic Seattle and features dragons.
I won the “Timeless Treasures” basket donated by Julie Rowe, which included digital copies of all her books, the Mammoth Book of ER Romance featuring one of her stories, a leather binders, a tote bag, various treats a romance writer enjoys (plus chocolate) and a darling, glittery hat (which I’m wearing in the picture.) Even after the conference, Julie sent a digital copy of her new release, Timeless Keepsakes, a collection of Christmas stories, which has her Secret Santa story. Julie ties charms and sparkling beads to her bookmarks–lovely! She also made the beautiful Christmas cards at the top of this post. Here is a pictures of all the items Julie included in her basket…except the Swiss chocolate bars which were devoured soon after receiving the basket. Such generosity! Thank you, Julie!
The Emerald City Writers’ Conference also has a book fair which is open to the public. A portion of the proceeds is donated to DAWN, an organization which helps victims of domestic violence. This was a fabulous opportunity to meet the authors and have them autograph their books. Kira Brady was signing the first two books in her Deadglass Trilogy, Hearts of Darkness and Hearts of Shadow. She displayed the map of alternate Seattle designed by Teresa Grasseschi. Hearts of Chaos, the third book in the Deadglass series will be released in March 2014.
I appreciate the generosity of all the authors and publishers. And thanks to you for joining me for tea today! With all the preparations for the season, I hope you can relax with a cup of spiced tea for just a bit. Have a merry Christmas!
Sherida Stewart 
Sherida, I bet you were thrilled to win Julie’s basket! It was filled with a lot of thoughtful, lovely things. KIra’s is lovely too. I love that map! Chocolate doesn’t last long around here either. : )
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Thank you for stopping by, Donna! Wish you could have seen ALL the amazing baskets…..I should have taken a picture! Sending you virtual chocolate….one of a writer’s best friends! 🙂
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Best wishes for a happy Christmas to you and yours,
Sarah
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Sarah! You’re one of those generous writers from ECWC! It was special to meet you at the book fair. I’m also sending you wishes for a lovely Christmas. Thank you!
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