On Feb. 24 2024, the McMinnville author fair unfolded. Held at the McMinnville library in both the Carnegie room and the Fireplace room, each room held roughly two dozen authors in attendance. Each table sat a different author where attendees could purchase books directly from them, get their book signed, or both! All of the authors there decorated their own booths however they liked. Each booth had a different flare or method to how they were set up; some were extravagant and others more simple. Alongside the booths, were the authors, all of whom were welcoming and incredibly friendly, with all manner of Mac residents pouring in. Attendees could walk up to any booth they wanted and talk directly to the authors. It was an open forum venue, so no hard lines or waiting times. There were few consistencies in the kinds of books each author presented; the only consistency was the variety.

Take Chery Gill, who wanted to write a book on planning an estate because she wanted to make something that was complicated, “simple.” Or Price, who’s writing career started at the age of 59 but ended up an Edgar Award winner for best mystery-thriller. Take Cheryl Warner, who wrote a YA novel about a rockstar and a blind girl falling in love. The genre of music? Rock symphonic metal. When asked how she translated the music to her book, Warner said, “Been to so many concerts, it was easy to recreate the vibe and feel. Fans have said that my lyrics felt authentic to the genre.” Another author, Mike Paull, who was there with illustrated poems said he had started writing because as a kid, “sat alone in my room all the time reading… [Which eventually led to] me rewriting the poem ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas’.”
There were poets, children’s books authors and illustrators, writers young and old, from Yamhill County to the greater Portland area. With it being the first of its kind, there was no shortage of people in attendance. The atmosphere was filled from ceiling to floor with comradery and joy made more prominent by the sunny February day.
Even three of Linfield’s own were in attendance: Barbara Drake, who was responsible for creating the Creative Writing major at Linfield, Joe Wilkins, a current Creative Writing professor, and Emily Grosvenor, a former Journalism professor. Grosvenor’s book was one of the more unique ones there, concerning self-improvement through how you organize your living space. The event was a two-hour affair, leaving plenty of time for those in attendance to talk with the authors and learn more about the people who wrote the books.