Celebrate Authors welcomes three more writers for Sept. 19 event

Celebrate Authors 2021, sponsored by Moonbow Alterations and Moonbow’s Book Nook, will be held 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, in the boardroom and Roadrunner Room on the second floor of the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, 200 E. Picacho Ave.

The event is free and open to the public.

Celebrate Authors 2021 will feature authors from Las Cruces and surrounding area with books published in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The event began in 2014. New for 2021, the event will also honor local writers who have died with a memorial board at the Sept. 19 event. To provide names of deceased authors to be honored, contact Alice Davenport at adavenport@totacc.com.

Here are three more authors who will participate in this year’s event:

Elva K.  Österreich is a southern New Mexico journalist, poet, author and adventurer. She is editor of “the biggest little paper in the Southwest,” Desert Exposure, and writes for the Las Cruces Bulletin as well. Her first book “The Manhattan Project Trinity Test: Witnessing the Bomb in New Mexico,” came out in November 2020.

The book  “is a comprehensive history of the people who were instrumental in creating the atomic bomb ignited early on July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico rangeland, and its effect on those who lived near the blast,” fellow southern New Mexico writer Alethea Eason said. “The story of the Manhattan Project is told through oral histories of those who worked at the Trinity Site and the farmers, ranchers, and their families who woke to an unimaginable brightness, uninformed of the nature of the blast and the ‘earthshaking consequences of the birth of the nuclear age.’”

“I look for flow, meaning and connection with the readers,” Österreich said. “Writing is about bringing something to life for the reader, creating something that touches the imagination and emotional core, something that encourages folks to think meaningfully about and connect with things normally outside of their purview, places and thoughts.”

Her advice to authors is two words, found in “Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul”: “bum glue.”

Darby Berryhill grew up in Texas, where she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.  Berryhill obtained a graduate degree in social work at the University of Maryland. After careers in social work and management in higher education, she retired to New Mexico.

Berryhill is a newly published author, as her book, “7th Heaven It Was Not; A Memoir Of A Preacher's Kid,” was published in May 2021. Her book tells the story of the often-misunderstood life of preachers’ kids, Berryhill said. Her father was an Episcopal priest.

In the book, Berryhill “tells funny stories of playing church with her brothers at home in front of parishioners.”

She takes the reader down the road of the challenging and sometimes painful lives of preacher's kids, and “gives you glimpses of the experiences of famous and non-famous adult children of pastors.” Berryhill said the book also “shares her healing process and suggestions for pastors in training and current pastors.” She also reveals some resources for preacher's kids.

Berryhill began writing funny skits and humorous stories for storytelling after retiring. She found them to be a creative outlet and began thinking about writing her first book. The isolation of Covid-19 motivated her to start the book, Berryhill said.

Berryhill suggests that new writers join a writing group. She has been in two groups in the Las Cruces area. Berryhill said that the encouragement and feedback are invaluable for new writers.

Sara Hernandez is a native of Wilcox, Arizona, who now lives in Las Cruces. Hernandez studied nursing for three years and became a certified nursing assistant working in oncology. She has been writing for the past three years.

“I enjoy it so much, watching the grandkids light up when I share my books with them,” Hernandez said. She has even promoted book writing to children.

“I think that they all need to be encouraged to be writers, so hopefully they are following my footsteps,” Hernandez said

“I have had lots of different experiences that life has given me,” she said. “It seems like the more you hear or see, the more you want to write.”

Hernandez has written “Jacob and His Big Adventure” and had it translated into Spanish by Josh Galvez. “Jacob and His Next Big Adventure” was published in 2021. Both books were illustrated by artist Penny Duncklee of Las Cruces. Hernandez is also the author of “Anna.”

For more information, contact Joy Miller at joyemmamiller@gmail.com and Alice Davenport at 575-527-1411 and adavenport@totacc.com, or visit her at Moonbow’s Book Nook, 225 E. Idaho Ave.,  No. 32.