Beth Brookhart | Updates

Vegas Baby!

Beth Brookhart — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Just returned from Las Vegas where I received the PenCraft Award for Humorous Literary Fiction. The conference was a small one with just about 50 attendees and there and a full day of seminars. A book marketing discussion by Jennifer Vance of Books Forward was incredibly interesting and a talk by author Cathy Post about her book, Hurricane Audrey, was very interesting. At night we all received our awards.

I met some wonderful fellow authors/award winners including Brenda Haas, author of Finding Sutton's Choice, a touching novel about a family dealing with Alzheimer's and buried secrets. I met a super nice young woman named Naomi Fata who is a bridal seamstress and home schools her children, along with pursuing her writing career. Her book, Stitching Your Story, Piece by Piece is a devotional and a lovely book. I also met Apple An, a novelist who focuses on her family's story in China. Her book, Mother of Red Mountains is about her own mothers story growing up in China. All worthy reads!

Even better, I got to meet New York based author, Andrea Simon, a fellow Sybelline Press author, who wrote a terrific book Did You Have the Life You Wanted.? It was great to meet a Sybelline author from the east coast!

Beyond the conference I had a fabulous stay at the Fontainebleau hotel and casino. What a gorgeous place. I can't say enough good about it. I even won a little money on the King Kong slot machine. (I won't mention how much I lost at other machines!)

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Kern Literacy Council event on February 26

Beth Brookhart — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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November 8 - Kern County Library Southwest Branch

Beth Brookhart — Wed, 5 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Please join me for an enlightening talk with Lorraine Devon Wilke, author of Chic Singer. Hosted by Lois Henry. 1 p.m. Hear how we came to publish at a "seasoned" age and what it took to get our books into print.

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Three months an author

Beth Brookhart — Tue, 8 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My book debuted three months ago and it's been really exciting and a bit daunting. I guess I hadn't anticipated so much attention and so many good vibes coming my way because of it and I am so very grateful. To those who have purchased the book , I am eternally thankful. And for those who gave me a review, I cannot thank you enough. Apparently, reviews are what drive algorithms on Amazon so many thanks for that. I only say that because all of them have been good so far (fingers crossed for the future!).

Since my publication date I participated in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and the Bay Area Book Festival. Both were really fun and I got to interact with other authors under the Sybelline publishing masthead. It's fun to see what other people write about and how they are promoting their books. Also, people who go to book fairs are exceptionally nice!

I also had a super fun launch party in Bakersfield in May with many friends who attended. That made me feel like a real author as I signed copies of the book. I honestly hate being the center of attention but I'm learning to accept it, hopefully with some grace.

I attended a book club meeting (full disclosure - it's the book club that I am in) and it was fun to hear what they thought of the novel. It was gratifying to know they could understand the motivations and plot points and what they meant to my characters. It really helped me to see the book through new eyes!

In the future, I hope to do more book signings in Bakersfield and elsewhere as well as visit with book clubs. Email me if you'd like me to visit your book club, in person or on Zoom (bethbrookhartwriter@gmail.com). I also know I need to do more promotion of my book, a skill I'm slowly learning. Promotion is confusing and time consuming and I'd really rather be writing my next book. It's almost ready for an editor so I'm hopeful.

In the meantime - I'm reading and watching a few good things: Assistant to the Villain (hilarious); The House in the Pines (intriguing); The Quiet People (excellent plot twists); Younger (Netflix - hilarious); Love in a Cold Climate (Brit Box - charmingly funny); Department Q (Netflilx - so, so good); tried to watch Nosferatu on Netflix but it was too creepy.

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Book fairs

Beth Brookhart — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I attended my first book fair as a bona fide author on Sunday. It was the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, a huge event held at the University of Southern California. Sybelline Press had a booth and and I was able to sign books for those who purchased. What a fun time and so flattering! I continue to be thrilled when anyone buys my book.

I was also excited to meet several other authors in the Sybelline family and to meet Vicki, the publisher. They were all lovely ladies with wonderful books, Vicki included. She's a savvy publisher and certainly knows the business.

There were thousands of people there and hundreds of booths of every kind - from meta physcial books to fantasy to romance. The romance, especially the steamy romance, had the biggest crowds! Good for them but count me out on writing anything in that genre. I wouldn't know where to begin!

I'm planning on attending the Bay Area Book Festival at the end of May so hopefully I will get better at these festivals. I need to practice my signature which looks like a demented gorilla's signature!

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Do you have a good story for Beth?

Beth Brookhart — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Four Queens of the Buttonbush Museum tells the tale of four women volunteering their time to save a museum. Unfortunately, plans go awry and some of the characters go a bit haywire in their efforts to help the museum. Do you have a good story about a volunteer experience that you had - either for good or not so good? The chair of the Rotary Club who thought they were a stand-up comic but the jokes fell flat? The chair of the church potluck who ran the operation like a military invasion? A committee member who did absolutely nothing but took all the credit for a successful fundraiser? Beth wants to hear about it. Every month I'll read one or two reader stories (anonymous, of course) and those selected will receive a ???

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My blog

Beth Brookhart — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to my webpage! I hope you will enjoy The Four Queens of the Buttonbush Museum. I spent seven years writing the book, along with doing a lot of other things, of course. I rewrote the book many times and I probably took out more sections than I left in it. In the end, I hope you find it a fun, playful look at four determined women who have a singular purpose but no real plan to achieve it.

I get asked by many people if any of the novel is real. I answer by saying the book was inspired by my volunteer work and board membership at my local history museum and by other places where I've volunteered. But there was a time when four women board members, myself included, ran the museum when the executive director left. That happened at least twice and it was an arduous task running a museum on a volunteer basis. But we gave it our all. We did start to call ourselves the Queens, but we were anything but royal! It was a fun, challenging time and the experience gave me loads of inspiration for my book. But there are no real characters in the book, no factual recounting of events. I think all authors use their personal lives for inspiration, but there are huge exaggerations, extrapolations and embellishments that make the story more exciting and interesting.

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Book Clubs

Beth Brookhart — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I am available to chat with your bookclub about The Four Queens of the Buttonbush Museum. Email me at bethbrookhartwriter@gmail.com to schedule a date.

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