S EPT . 24, 2016 • F LORENCE F ESTIVAL
OF
B OOKS
3
Festival to kick off Friday with Author’s Panel
T
he 30 chairs set up were not
enough for the approxi-
mately 50 attendees to the
first-ever Florence Festival of
Books panel discussion in 2015.
It was a Publisher’s Panel on the
various ways to become published
and was so well received that it was
decided to have another panel in
2016.
It will be the same time: 3 to
4:30 p.m.
Same place: Florence Events
Center.
And same admission price: Free!
This year it’s an author’s panel
with the topic: “The Path — From
Idea to Book.”
Five Oregon authors will share
their unique paths from the tiniest
spark of an idea to the actual pub-
lished book. They comprise a
diverse mix of authors.
• Tom Cherones began working
in educational television while a
student at the University of
Alabama. He later produced and
directed programs for WQED in
Pittsburgh before moving to
Hollywood. He is most well known
for his work as a television direc-
tor. He directed 81 episodes of
“Seinfeld” and 56 episodes of
“NewsRadio.” His work on
“Seinfeld” earned him an Emmy, a
Golden Globe and even more
awards. Cherones is the author of
“The Hardly Boys,” a parody of the
Hardy Boys books. Cherones
divides his time between Florence,
Los Angeles, and Taos, N.M.
• Byron Dudley is the author of
a dozen books and is best known
today as a poet. He is also an edu-
cational assistant for students with
special needs in the Eugene School
District. In the past, he spent years
as a long-haul truck driver and as a
photographer. He also spent years,
off and on, living in Japan and
steeping himself in its culture and
art.
His latest book “Up the Mtn,”
shows his virtuosity with the
Japanese poetry form of haiku.
Dudley also has a fascination with
nature and lives in a cabin up the
McKenzie River.
• Ned Hickson is an award-win-
ning, nationally syndicated humor
columnist and the editor of
Florence’s Siuslaw News. He is the
author of two books, “Humor at
the Speed of Life,” a compilation
of his columns that was published
in 2013, and “Pearls of Writing
Wisdom: From 16 Shucking Years
as a Columnist.”
Obviously, his humor column
has been integral to his books. Ned
and his family reside in Florence.
• Duana C. Welch, Ph.D., is a
relationship advice columnist who
presents what to do, how to do it,
and the science behind the advice
in her blog LoveScience. She is
also the author of “Love Factually:
10 Proven Steps from I Wish to I
Do,” the first science-based book
to take you from before you meet
until you commit to The One.
Welch is also a contributor to
the magazine “Psychology Today”
and eHarmony.
She lives in Eugene with her
family.
• Janet Wellington is the author
of several e-book romance novels
that are in her own words “heart-
centered, personal and powerful.”
Wellington was formerly published
in print, but has happily switched
to self-publishing online. She
refers to herself now as a “do-it-
yourself e-book author.”
While she holds down a day job,
she looks forward to the day when
See
PANEL page 15
THANK YOU TO
OUR SPONSORS:
CHAPTER SPONSOR: BANNER BANK
VERSE SPONSORS: FLORENCE ROTARY;
HARRIET & DICK SMITH, LADIES OF ELKS
LINE SPONSORS: KAREN D. NICHOLS/COASTAL WRITERS; FLORENCE
REGIONAL ARTS ALLIANCE;
RONALD HOGELAND & NANCY ARCHER;
ON YOUR FEET WITH A SPLASH; PACIFIC PUBLISHING;
PORT HOLE PUBLISHING; SEA LION CAVES; SIUSLAW PUBLIC LIBRARY;
LYNN & SHELLEY TAYLOR; RIVER HOUSE INN; SIUSLAW NEWS