By LANA CLIFTON
The Bob Herzfeld Memorial Library hosted a book signing Monday, Nov. 30. The featured book was Open Before Christmas. Sarah Johnson of Benton and Ann Hall of Bryant were two of the six authors who collaborated on the book. They were both on hand to autograph copies and answer questions about the book.
The two authors will also be available at the Mabel Boswell Memorial Library in Bryant on Tuesday, Dec. 1 beginning at 6 p.m.[more]
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2 and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, they will have a table set up at the Saline Memorial Hospital’s “A Holiday Affair,” a community festival for holiday goods and crafts. According to Johnson, one or both of the ladies will be present both days of the festival.
Johnson and Hall met at a creative writing class that was held at the library in Bryant last year. They soon formed a friendship.
“I wrote a note to Sarah and said if you ever want to write together, let me know,” said Hall.
They began meeting together to share their writing. Hall had told her twin sister, Charlene Creech of Jonesboro about her new friend. So, when Creech had an idea for assembling a collection of Christmas stories, she suggested Hall contact Johnson to submit something.
According to Hall, the book began small, with each contributor planning to include one story or poem, but it grew. Eventually six women, all native Arkansans, pulled together fiction and non-fiction stories, recipes and poems with Christmas themes and formatted it into a book divided by author. They named themselves the Six Southern Gals and decided it was time to find a publisher.
The group chose to self-publish through Digital Print and Imaging in Little Rock. They sold out of the books in the first printing and are now on their second printing.
Copies of Open Before Christmas are available for purchase at several businesses around the state. Locally, they can be found at Cherry’s Hallmark in Benton and Bryant and Books and Baubles, Dianne Roberts Art Studio and The Christmas Store, all in Benton. They also set up a website at www.sixsoutherngals.com to provide more information and allow on-line purchase of the book.
