This past weekend two of my fellow authors here on the blog, Karen Witemeyer and D’Ann Mateer, joined me in Dallas for an event at my church called Books & Brunch.
It was wonderful to spend time with Karen and D’Ann in person again. It had been a few years! We shared dinner Friday night before meeting back up at the gathering Saturday morning. I’ve been asked if we coordinated our outfits. Ha! We did not. But as soon as D’Ann and I realized we’d both chosen denim shirts, we decided Karen (with her patterned blue shirt) should go in the middle.
Many of the ladies present meet quarterly as part of “Faithfully Yours Book Club”–a shared ministry of Park Cities Baptist Church and Concord Baptist Church. The women alternate which church they meet at, but they usually share a potluck brunch, and they always discuss books.
Potluck meals at church were a favorite of mine when I was growing up. Our church almost never organizes them these days, so it was a treat to experience one again.
Both last year (the first time the church library hosted me and other authors for Books & Brunch) and this year, I so appreciated the vibe of this gathering. It’s very laid-back, warm, friendly, and welcoming. I relished every minute because it’s always a joy for me to meet and speak with readers.
As you can see above, Karen’s once again in the middle for our panel discussion, which was moderated by Emily on the left (who also must have telepathically picked up on our blue-top-with-pants energy). We spoke about where we find inspiration, our writing process, our advice for new writers, and more. Then they opened it up to the audience, who asked great questions. Audience Q&A is my favorite part of panel conversations!
Logos Bookstore, a Christian bookstore that’s been a Dallas institution for more than 50 years, brought our books and others to sell as well as bookish gifts. The church library gave each author a gift card and so we were able to do a little shopping ourselves!
Susan, the bookseller, said that Theo of Golden was her store’s bestselling book last year. (It’s the beige book with the feather on the front in the photo above.) Have you read that one? It’s on my TBR list!
Susan told me that it was originally self-published. And yes, here’s the scoop, “Theo of Golden by Allen Levi was originally self-published in October of 2023. After selling over 170,000 copies through grassroots efforts and word-of-mouth, the novel became a massive hit, leading to its acquisition by Simon & Schuster for a traditional release in 2025, reaching #1 on best-seller lists.” Don’t you just love stories like that?
The success of that book, just like the success of our Books & Brunch gathering, was wholly due to readers.
Thank you, readers, for your support of authors, for your kindness, and for your enthusiasm for the books we write.
Becky Wade
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What a fun event, Becky! To get time with authors and readers is the best. I know you and D’Ann and Karen had a great time catching up. I so look forward to seeing you in November here in Nashville for Read Write Rendezvous!
Can’t wait to spend time with you in Nashville, Tammy!
I’ve had a few friends recommend Theo of Golden recently and so I’m on the very long wait list at the library for it. Church potlucks are the best. The Bible study I attended on Tuesday evenings for years would always have one. It was great going from work to a gathering of women where we could sit and chat while having some delicious food. Your event looks like a great time!
“a gathering of women where we could sit and chat while having some delicious food” YES, exactly! There’s something so comforting about this combo.
I’m so curious about how your joint-church book club works. I’d love more information about how a ministry like that works.
It’s an interesting concept, isn’t it?! It’s worked well for many years for my church and Concord church. It’s open to women of both churches, alternately hosted by both churches, and promoted by both churches. If you want more details, please follow the link in the post to my church’s library and then email the librarian, Linda. I know she’d love to provide more information about how she makes this work. 🙂
It was such fun being with you and Karen and all those readers! What a great group of ladies all around!
Yes, great group of ladies!
I love this post and all of the pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for following the blog!
That looks like such a great event! Thanks for sharing your experience. I love that two churches are working together this way.
Me, too!
I just received a notification from my library that a copy of Theo of Golden was available for me on the Libby App! I haven’t started it yet, and am wondering if I will have time to to finish it (13+ hours) in my two weeks…