Litfest and Lyla Sage
*This post contains affiliate linksI have had this ill-conceived notion that the writing community and book community are non-existent in the state of Oklahoma. Living out toward the panhandle for a year was not helpful. However, I live close-ish to the city now, and I recently decided it was time to stop whining about missing my Colorado writing home, Lighthouse Writers, and all the great bookstores out there. Through my quest to find community, I found out that I was in fact wrong. There is a tremendous Bookish community and writing community in Oklahoma!
Through this I found Litfest. Metropolitan Library in downtown OKC hosted this one-day writing festival this past weekend, and I had to be there. It has been YEARS since I have been able to attend a writing event, and this was a great way to dip my toes back in. On the smaller side, Litfest is the perfect start for someone just getting into writing. With bite-sized talks that covered EVERY aspect of the craft, I was able to get the motivation and creativity flowing again.
Here is the schedule they had this year. You can see the sessions I planned to attend, which I more or less stuck to.
There were also tables with local writing groups and authors doing signings! I recommend checking this free one-day event out!
As if Litfest wasn’t a full enough day, I meandered my way north to Best of Books in Edmond for the Lyla Sage signing. I had a quick pitstop at Bricktown Brewery for some time with Falling Too Late by Dae Graves (More on that in the next blog!) and a cider.
Peep the Hello Clio bag, I am obsessed. Here is my shameless plug. Just buy it. The quality is fantastic and it was the perfect size to take with me on a very busy day. I wish I had it for the New York trip (Those blogs are coming this week!).
If you are on Tiktok or Instagram and even hint to the algorithm that Romance might be your thing, Lyla Sage will eventually pop up. She is blowing up online right now, and justifiably so. With a contagious personality and vibrant, unique covers, she has taken over everyone's Cowboy Romance Era. Full disclaimer, I have never read any of her books, but she is such a delight online I knew I wanted to attend the signing. Lyla did not disappoint. It was a lovely evening and Best of Books did a great job of organizing and hosting.
Rebel Blue Ranch is a four-book series with two currently released.
Lyla told this great story while she was answering questions about her publishing journey. She popped Done and Dusted onto Kindle Unlimited last June. She self-published but found an amazing cover designer to help her with the very specific vintage rodeo look she wanted. It is obvious she nailed the cover, and it paid off. Within a month she had Trad publishers contacting her wanting to pick up the series. The last year has been a whirlwind for her, and somehow she is still cranking out the books. I need some of that motivation!
Anyway, if you get a chance to hang out with her for an evening, don’t pass it up. I am off to start Done and Dusted.
