Pints & Pages 915 Books and Brew Fest!

Saturday, June 28th, has come and gone and what an event it was!

For some context, The Old Sheepdog Brewery located at 3900 Rosa Avenue, in El Paso, TX, holds a bookish event roughly every quarter? I'm no 100% on that, but I missed the last one, so I was eager to make this. Thankfully, I secured my place and was one of several local author and vendors, excited to share their love and passion for the written word.

Though the event officially didn't start till 3 with an expectation to last till 10pm, I was there by 2pm, to find my spot and setup. I was initially set to be front and center at the main doors which at first seemed REALLY APPEALING, but the space was cramped, and shortly after, the hosts informed me that there was an absentee, so there was a spot available inside If I might be interested. I was glad that I did, because that area seemed to garner much of the foot traffic set on filling their cups!

They helped to move my table (the team their at Old Sheepdog Brewery are amazing BTW), and I was happily seated next to fellow author Amy Briggs! Highly recommend checking out her amazing collection of books here: www.amybriggsauthor.com

Before 3pm could roll around, the flow of interested readers began, and for the next few hours, I had the best time meeting and greeting, sharing the concepts behind my two published pieces, while my daughter Marina colored stickers she freely passed out. The two of us braved the continuous traffic before the cavalry arrived to offer assistance. My Mother, Aunt, and eventually my two sisters, Sarah and Toni came to our aid, but also check out the fest, something I wasn't able to do. We were finally able to grab food and get water refills, and continue focusing on the reading patrons happily walking by.

The turnout was amazing, leaving little spurts in between where I was able to sit back and breathe for a few seconds, before standing back up to deliver my shpiel. The event was taxing to say the least on my body. For those unaware, I'm physically disabled, making the idea of this event feel like an impossible endeavor, as my body normally can't handle too much exertion, becoming easily fatigued and ready to keel over. Somehow, whether through sheer force of will, adrenaline, something in the water (kidding), I survived.

Before 10pm could roll around, I was completely sold out of my debut novel The Ageless by closer to around 7pm. My second release The 5th Columnist was closely behind, and were packed up and gone around 9pm, as El Pasoans walked away with new additions to their TBR list. It was a wonderful experience, one I am eternally grateful to have been part of.

That brings us to the end of this brief post, where I'd like to thank a number of people. Firstly, I was stoked to enjoy the moment with my daughter Marina, who also has aspirations of writing her own book, with Dad's help of course. I want to thank the amazing crew at Old Sheepdog Brewery for hosting this event and making sure we were as comfortable as could be. To my family, thank you so much for coming and assisting with whatever I needed. I'm not sure I would've lasted as long without you. To my bros Luis and Hector Navedo, thank you for showing up and continually supporting me and my madness LOL. And to the group at 21st Century, Eileen and the rest, thank you from the bottom of my heart for not only showing up and supporting me, but also for being there with transportation to my many appointments and such. I was so humbled by your presence and the love y'all shared was detrimental to keeping my spirits up. Thank you all.

And that's where I'll end this post. My books are out there in the wild, eager to be read by people willing to offer up their valuable time as they open a cover and start on page one, filled with words that once lived caged within the confines of my brain, now spilled across the pages they will hopefully read, enjoy, and leave a review, ready for the next book to release...