Sharon Pulkkinen is this year’s power behind Books In Boothbay, the largest single day literary event in Maine. She says she once was intimidated by the celebrity of authors she loved to read and couldn’t imagine actually talking to any of them. As a volunteer at Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library and a “frequent flier” at the Friday Literary Luncheons, she’s truly overcome that fear.

“They are wonderful people - easy to talk to,” she says. “(They are) all so different and interesting and friendly.” Lucky for Books In Boothbay all our Maine authors have helped Sharon discover how charming writers can be!

Books In Boothbay invites 40 authors who come together for an afternoon of book signings and readings, conversations and camaraderie. The thread that runs through the event is that they are Maine authors who represent and embody the creative landscape of writing in and from and about Maine. All genres are present so a lover of books will enter under the same roof with those who write fiction and non-fiction, illustrators, authors who write for children, authors who write to make us laugh, those who write to make us learn, or those who write to take us to another place or time. Many are national and regional prize winners. Just recently, we learned that four of the top eight Maine Literary Award Winners are already planning to attend our event.

Last year as the final touches were being put on the venue, Sharon was then a happy second in command to event creator, Wayne Sheridan.

“We were sitting at the picnic table behind the Town Hall at the Railway Village," she says, “when Wayne says to me, ‘By the way, I’m moving. This is your event next year.’ It feels like I’ve thought of nothing else since that moment,” she said smiling.

Wayne relates that his inspiration for the event came when he was volunteering for the statewide Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance in 2004. In addition to its annual fundraising events, the MWPA wanted to stage something that would be affordable to all MWPA members and the public at large and could take place beyond southern Maine where most of the events had been centered. The idea of a summer book fair in the midcoast came to Wayne and he presented the idea to the writer Amy MacDonald who was then president of the MWPA. She liked it and so did Maureen Heffernan, then Director of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. There were 27 authors at the first Maine Summer Book Fair in the Rhododendron Garden at CMBG in 2005. Since then the event has grown, moved, and changed its name, becoming Books In Boothbay. It is supported by Maine Writers and publishers Alliance and Sherman’s Book and Stationery Stores.

You can share Sharon’s love of “author talk” during the eighth annual Books In Boothbay, July 14 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. at Boothbay Railway Village on Route 27, 586 Wiscasset Road. It is a day for readers of all ages and interests. Admission and parking are free. $5 train rides qualify each rider for the chance to win a pair of tickets to “A Day Out With Thomas” in August at the Village. Follow updates on featured authors at www.booksinboothbay.blogspot.com or call 633-3112 for more information.