Terry McMillan speaks at podium with an attentive Stella Simmons (2nd R, front table) among the luncheon audience. (SaltwaterCollection Photo)
ANGUILLA (May 27, 2012)—“So You Want to be a Bestselling Author? The Real Deal,” was the topic of keynote speaker Terry McMillan, at the inaugural Anguilla Literary Festival on May 25, 2012.
The best-selling US author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhalespoke poolside at the secluded Paradise Cove hotel, about the brutal truths, personal challenges, and the pros and cons of success that are related to writing and the publishing industry.
St. Martin’s children book author Stella Simmons was at the luncheon presentation attended by Anguillans, tourists from the region, the USA and Canada, and, as special guests, high school students from ALHS.
Simmons attended workshops on fiction writing and new publishing rules. (Her story “The Midnight Detectives” is found in the seminal anthology Brother Rich … – Creative Writing in St. Martin, Edited by Rhoda Arrindell (HNP, 2007).
US movie stars; bloggers and travel writers from the USA, Canada and Germany were among the visitors who were in Anguilla last week specifically to attend the Lit Fest (May 24-28). The festival/book fair was vigorously promoted abroad and hosted by the Anguilla Tourist Board.