Connecting through storytelling: Page Turner Luncheon features 3 engaging authors

Writers John Cribb, Deborah Royce and Annabel Monaghan will be featured at the event.

Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online at TheTandD.com/contests and at the newspaper office at 1010 Broughton St. The deadline for ordering tickets is Feb. 24.

Individuals can purchase tickets in blocks of six to be able to sit with individuals they know at tables of six because of ongoing pandemic concerns. Purchasing an individual ticket gives consent to be seated with someone an individual may not know.

Doors will open at 11 a.m. for a silent auction and meet-and-greet session with the authors, whose books can also be purchased during that time.

Signature Catering of Lexington will cater lunch. Daryl Cate of The Garden Gate Florist will again provide the floral decorations.

The luncheon’s higher education sponsors are Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, South Carolina State University and Claflin University. Orangeburg County is a table sponsor for the luncheon.

The luncheon benefits The T&D’s Newspapers in Education, or NIE, program, which allows the electronic delivery of The T&D to area teachers free of charge to use as educational tools in the classroom.

Kyla Fraser, president and director of local sales and marketing at The T&D, said the newspaper is happy to be able to hold its 14th luncheon in 2023.

“The Times and Democrat is very happy to be able to hold this event, one of the very few dedicated to literacy and which brings authors into our community. While we were unable to hold the event in 2021 because of the pandemic, we were back last year with no dip in attendance,” Fraser said.

“After 14 years, the event is well branded in the community, provides a wonderful program and benefits a great cause,” she said.

Fraser said this year’s luncheon will provide good food, a great silent auction and a “fun and engaging” mix of authors.

“Attendees can expect to have a wonderful time this year. For the second year in a row, we are holding the event at the Orangeburg County Conference Center, which is attached to the library. The space is wonderful for this event. It is able to accommodate a large crowd and well-spaced,” she said.

The Orangeburg County Library’s adjoining conference center, complete with a separate parking area, can seat approximately 400 and accommodate twice as many standing. It is located at 1643 Russell St. in Orangeburg.

Items donated by local and regional businesses will be available for silent auction bidding.

“Bidding begins when the doors open at 11 a.m. and finishes at 12:10 p.m. before the lunch portion of the program starts. Items won can then be picked up and paid for once the event is over,” Fraser said.

The event’s featured authors say that are honored to participate in this year’s Page Turner and look forward to sharing what they love about writing and what it means to them.

Deborah Royce

(deborahgoodrichroyce.com)

Deborah Goodrich Royce’s literary thrillers examine puzzles of identity. Her books “Finding Mrs. Ford” and “Ruby Falls” were joined by her latest work, “Reef Road,” in January.

“It is a novel that examines lasting scars from a single act of violence, based on the murder of my mother’s childhood friend. It zeroes in on the lives of two seemingly unconnected women in the hothouse environment of Palm Beach, Florida during the COVID lockdown of 2020 and slowly peels the onion to reveal what one woman has to do with the other,” Royce said of her latest book.

“Currently, I am working on an idea inspired by an email I received last year from a man I don’t remember, which got me thinking about memory and its reliability, or lack thereof,” she said.

Royce, who grew up outside of Detroit, had what she considered a nice career in film and television before her life took another direction.

“I played Erica Kane’s sister, Silver, on the long-running ABC soap opera ‘All My Children’ among other things before I transitioned to raising my young family. That entailed another move to Paris and eventually led to writing. I currently reside in Greenwich, Connecticut about an hour outside of New York City,” she said.

Her motivation for writing is simple.

“I write for the same reason I acted: it is incredibly meaningful and gratifying to connect with other human beings making their way through life just like I am. To be able to express an idea or a feeling and have it resonate with others makes us realize that we are not alone, that what unites us is far more powerful than anything that divides us,” Royce said.

She said perseverance and determination are critical to the art of writing.

“For me, it took a life transition—namely entering into the ‘empty nest’ stage—for me to prioritize writing. Once I did that, I made the changes necessary to clear the decks of unnecessary activities and fully focus on the writing. By giving the time and doing the work, the art was able to develop,” the author said.

She said she likes unveiling the secrets that characters have in her books.

“I like to call my novels ‘identity thrillers’ because I adore the kinds of literary puzzles that reveal that to the reader bit by tantalizing bit. I would also add that I am enthralled by the beauty of language and would have to admit that I enjoy a good digression here and there,” Royce said.

“My favorite moments in writing are when a character does or says something that surprises me and leaves me saying, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” she said.

Royce has a bachelor’s degree in French and Italian literature and history.

“I attended Lake Erie College, a small women’s college in eastern Ohio that had been an offshoot of Mount Holyoke back in 1856. What drew me there was the mandatory academic term abroad in the junior year. I was from a very humble background and had never been to Europe, so that was very appealing. Years later, my college awarded me with an honorary doctorate of humane letters on my 50th birthday,” she said.

Royce hopes readers get four things from her books, including enjoyment of a great plot and plot twist.

“I also hope my readers get enjoyment of the language so much that they might actually re-read the book and a contemplation of the deeper themes contained in the work such as generational trauma in ‘Reef Road,’” she said, noting that she hopes they also laugh because “a good thriller needn’t avoid humor.”

She credits her love of reading and discovery to her parents and teachers.

“Being an only child – sort of…but that is another story! – I had lots of time on my own to peruse any and every readable object in my childhood home. A particular favorite was a set of encyclopedia from the 1940s which was decades out of date when I pored through its volumes. But, no matter, I can still feel the embossed leather binding and those thin, thin pages!” Royce said.

The author said she is proud to say that her book “Ruby Falls” won the Zibby Award for Best Plot Twist.

Royce said she is happy to support the promotion of NIE.

“I cannot think of a more important initiative for the Page Turner event to support than placing newspapers in classrooms! So many young people have no familiarity with newspapers, either electronic or old-fashioned paper. In an era when people believe they are getting news from social media, the role of real news sources is increasingly vital,” she said.

Royce also said she is honored to have been invited to this year’s Page Turner Luncheon.

“Showing up in person to talk with readers is as important as actually writing the books! I believe that being in a room with readers builds a lifelong relationship which is the lifeblood of any literary body of work….Writers need readers and it is a joy and a privilege to meet them,” she said.

Annabel Monaghan

(annabelmonaghan.com)

Annabel Monaghan’s first book for adults, a collection of humorous essays for mothers, is titled “Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big?”

Monaghan is also the author of two novels for young adults titled “A Girl Named Digit” and “Double Digit” and is also the co-author of “Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen.”

The author, who lives in Rye, New York with her husband and three sons, is also the author of “Nora Goes Off Script” and “Same Time Next Summer.”

“I’m currently working on my summer 2024 book. As of now it is untitled. It’s another love story and so far I like it!” Monaghan said.

The author, who is from Los Angeles, said her motivation for writing is simple.

“I write first for myself. I usually have a feeling or a perspective -or even just something that I think is funny – that I want to get out. When a reader picks up my work and shares in that experience, I feel like I have connected to humanity in some way. It’s magic,” she said, noting that writing involves a sense of fearlessness.

“I feel that as I get older, I am more comfortable just telling it like it is and writing the story that is authentic to me. The braver I am, the better my writing is,” Monaghan said.

“I am free flowing kind of writer. I don’t really plot or plan. I write much more from my heart than my head. So I tend to feel my way through a novel. This is, of course, an inefficient way to write and leads to interminable rewriting, but it’s the only way that works for me,” she said.

Monaghan received a bachelor of art’s degree from Duke University in English before earning a master of business administration degree in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I worked in investment banking before I had children and then started writing when I was 37. Many writers tell me that their favorite part of writing is being done, having written. I actually love writing. I love sitting down and noodling through a story and meeting the characters as I go. If I was never published and could never be finished, I think I would write anyway just for the joy of it,” she said.

Monaghan said she hopes readers enjoy reading her books and feel uplifted by them.

“My favorite emails from readers are the ones where they tell me they smiled all the way through, or that my books felt like a break from a difficult time. There is so much joy in the mundane details of our lives, and I love to shed light on that,” she said.

She credits her mother for her love of reading.

“My house was filled with books, and there were not rules or limits around what we could read. We were also not allowed to watch television during the school week. So books were all we had,” Monaghan said.

She said the NIE program is a worthwhile one.

“I think the Newspapers in Education initiative opens the door to invite young people into the broader world. Allowing them to both dive into the rich language of newspapers, while also exposing them to different viewpoints than they may be getting at home, is the best way of ensuring we have a new generation of engaged, thinking citizens,” Monaghan said.

She said she is “absolutely thrilled” about being able to attend this year’s Page Turner luncheon.

“I am excited to share my book, along with the pieces of my heart that went into it. There are so many different kinds of love to explore – friendship, romance, motherhood and, importantly, love for oneself,” Monaghan said.

John Cribb

(johncribbauthor.com)

John Cribb is a bestselling author who has written about subjects ranging from history to education.

His work includes co-authoring “The American Patriot’s Almanac” and “The Educated Child,” both New York Times bestsellers, co-editing “The Human Odyssey,” a three-volume world history text, and developing on-line history courses.

His novel titled “Old Abe” has been hailed for its vivid portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. The novel is one of two historical novels Cribb has written. The other is titled “The Rail Splitter,” which tells the story Lincoln’s remarkable journey from a log cabin to the threshold of the White House.

“I’m a pretty methodical writer. In the case of ‘The Rail Splitter” and ‘Old Abe,’ I wanted to be as true as possible to Abraham Lincoln’s life and times. So I spent a great deal in both research and plotting the story line,” Cribb said.

“Old Abe” was a finalist for the 2020 Forward Indies Book of the Year Award in Historical Fiction.

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Cribb lived in the Washington, D.C. area for nearly years 20 after college before moving back to his hometown.

“My wife, Kirsten, and I have raised our two daughters in South Carolina. We love it here, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” he said.

His motivation for writing is not hard to understand.

“I’m happy when I write and never quite happy when I don’t write. I love the creativity of writing, both nonfiction and fiction. We are all built to create in one way or another. Writing is the way I create, and nothing makes me happier than readers telling me they enjoyed or in some way profited from what I’ve written,” Cribb said.

He said discipline is among the traits critical to the art of writing.

“It helps me to be on a schedule. I try to stick to the schedule of writing in the morning, when I have more creative energy. Reading is also critical, I think. Reading improves writing. I try to be selective about what I read because reading good writing helps makes my own writing better,” Cribb said.

He continued, “Most of my schooling was as the Spartanburg Day School, but I went to high school and graduated from Spartanburg High School. I went to college at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where I majored in American and English Literature.”

Cribb said the creativity – and difficulty – of writing is what he likes most about writing.

“It is the most demanding and challenging thing I have ever done. Both fiction and nonfiction writing require crystalizing your own thoughts before leading readers down a path you want them to follow. Thousands of decisions go into each page, from spelling to punctuation to sentence structure to constructing arguments or imagining dialogue,” he said.

Cribb continued, “My first book, long out of print, was, believe it or not, titled ‘A Field Guide to I-95.’It was a history of the land that Interstate 95 traverses, from Maine to Florida. I’m not sure how many people ever bought that book, but it was a joy to research and write, and helped me get going as a writer. I’ve also done a good bit of editing.”

He said he hopes readers get their “sights and spirits” lifted in some way when reading his books.

“I like the advice of St. Paul: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.’ That’s a good guide for selecting a writing project,” he said.

Cribb credits his mother for fostering a love of reading, along with elementary and high school teachers, who he said all had a contagious enthusiasm for reading.

“My mom made sure that my sisters and brothers and I were exposed to books from an early age and read to us every day when we were young, before we could read ourselves,” he said.

Cribb said the NIE program which the Page Turner Luncheon supports is a valuable one.

“Some of my favorite memories from my school days involve newspapers and teachers who invited us to read articles from our local newspaper and discuss current events—events in our community and events on the world stage.

“I also wrote for and edited my high school newspapers. I love the idea of putting papers into the classroom. It invites young people to think about and, ultimately, attach themselves to causes larger than themselves” he said.

Cribb is also excited about attending the luncheon.

“I have friends who’ve been featured authors at the Page Turner luncheon and had a wonderful time. So I’m excited to be invited. I hope to share my love of storytelling and thoughts about how reading can transform lives, especially young lives,” he said.