Literary Event

Dallas Woman’s Forum Members

You are invited to join us for

DWF Literary Salon

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Saturday, March 16, 2024

2:00 – 5:00 PM

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Alexander Mansion
4607 Ross Ave, Dallas, TX

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Please join us for the first Author’s Panel

and Book Signing with Six Local Authors

We are thrilled to invite you to our first ever local authors’ panel and book signing event on March 16th from 2:00 – 5:00 PM. This exciting event will feature six fantastic, local authors from various genres. Join us for a moderated panel where you can learn about their unique writing styles, their current books, and their inspiring publishing stories.

The event will kick off with the panel discussion, which will take place in the ballroom upstairs. Our esteemed authors will share insights into their writing process and answer questions from the audience. Following the panel, each author will have their books available for purchase, signing, and will be happy to spend some time chatting with our guests.

We have carefully selected these six authors for their exceptional talent and diverse range of genres. Whether you’re a fan of romance, mystery, fantasy, or non-fiction, there will be something for everyone. Get to know our authors and discover your next favorite book!

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to engage with local authors and support their work. Mark your calendars for March 16th and join us for an afternoon of literary delight. We can’t wait to see you there!

See below to meet our authors!

Step 1:  RSVP

Please RSVP to Tamara Harrison at 214-674-8292 or by email.
This will help the authors how many attendees
to expect and how many books to bring.

Step 2:  Purchase Your Ticket

Reserve your seat for this special event. You may change the quantity of tickets in the cart to purchase more than 1 ticket.

$10 per person

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Important Notes about Tickets

You will NOT receive tickets in the mail.

Your confirmation of purchase will be your PayPal receipt delivered to your email address.

Please make sure your phone and email address are correct upon check out.

Check your spam/junk email folder if you do not see a confirmation email in your inbox.

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Reservation Cancellations and Ticket Refund Policy

All purchases are final. No refunds will be issued.

Your ticket is transferable to another person. Please contact us to change the name on the reservation. Email us at [email protected].

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Accessibility Notice

Please note, the Literary Salon panel discussion will take place upstairs on the 2nd level. Due to the historic status of the Alexander Mansion, we do not have an elevator. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The Authors will be on the main level for a Meet & Greet and book signings following the panel discussion. There is an accessible ramp on the right hand side of the front porch. If you or your guest uses a wheelchair or other mobility assistive device, please email [email protected] to let us know.

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Meet Our Panel of Authors

Joe B. Parr

We are thrilled to announce Joe B. Parr, a talented and captivating mystery suspense writer hailing from North Texas. With his deep-rooted connection to the Fort Worth area, Parr brings a unique perspective to his crime dramas, which are set in and around the bustling cities of the DFW metroplex. Prepare to be on the edge of your seat as you dive into Parr’s thrilling novels, filled with gripping suspense, intricate plots, and unforgettable characters.

Whether you’re a fan of the genre or a newcomer seeking an exhilarating reading experience, Joe B. Parr is sure to leave you craving for more. Stay tuned for his upcoming releases and get ready to embark on a thrilling journey through the dark and mysterious world of North Texas crime.

Kimberly Packard

Kimberly Packard is an award-winning author of edgy women’s fiction. She began visiting her spot on the shelves at libraries and bookstores at a young age, gazing between the Os and the Qs. Kimberly received a degree in journalism from the University of North Texas, and has worked in public relations and communications for nearly 20 years.

When she isn’t writing, she can be found running, planning her next trip, doing a poor imitation of yoga, asking her dog what’s in his mouth or curled up with a book. She resides in Texas with her husband Colby, a clever cat named Oliver and a precocious black lab puppy named Tully.

Her debut novel, Phoenix, was awarded as Best General Fiction of 2013 by the Texas Association of Authors. Other published works by Kimberly includes a Christmas novella, The Crazy Yates, and the sequels to Phoenix, Pardon Falls and Prospera Pass, and her stand-alone titles, Vortex and Dire’s Club. She was honored as one of the Top 10 Haute Young Authors by Southern Methodist University in 2019 (she was most excited about the young part).

Jeanne Skartsiaris

Award winning author, Jeanne Skartsiaris, spins stories about life, digging into the soul her characters while they deal with real life challenges. Many readers identify with her stories, making them laugh as well as cry.

By day, Jeanne Skartsiaris works as a sonographer in an Ob/Gyn’s office. Working in sonography helped her get her BA degree in photography, with a goal to get a Masters in Medical Illustration. After graduation, she was offered a job as a medical/legal photographer for a plaintiff’s law firm. Instead of completing the graduate program, she worked as a photographer and art director for seventeen years in the legal community.

She attended creative writing courses at Southern Methodist University. Her novel, Dance Like You Mean It is a coming-of-middle-age story. Skartsiaris is also the author of YA novels, Surviving Life and Snow Globe. The Magdalenes (due for release August 15 2023) speaks of shedding the past and reinventing oneself after a trauma.

The Magdalenes won first place in the San Antonio’s Writer’s Guild in 2019 and received a five-star review with Reader’s Favorites in 2019. Dance Like You Mean It was a finalist in the humor category in the 2017 Best Book Awards by American Book Fest and and received five stars at Reader’s Favorites Awards.

Reavis Z. Wortham

As a boy, award-winning writer, Reavis Z. Wortham hunted and fished the river bottoms near Chicota, Texas, the inspiration for the fictional setting for The Rock Hole and The Red River Mystery Series. He was born in Paris, Texas, but lived in Dallas. “We grew up in the city and went to school there, but every Friday evening my parents put us in the car and made the 120-mile drive to Chicota, where we truly lived at my grandparents’ place in the country until Sunday evening, when we came back to the city. Our real home was that little scratch farm in Lamar County.”

Author Reavis Z. Wortham’s first novel, The Rock Hole, is described by Kirkus Reviews as “an unpretentious gem written to the hilt and harrowing in its unpredictability.” Kirkus also listed it as one of the “Top 12 Mysteries of 2011.”

Burrows, the second Red River Mystery, received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly, “Wortham’s outstanding sequel to The Rock Hole (2011)… combines the gonzo sensibility of Joe R. Lansdale and the elegiac mood of To Kill a Mockingbird to strike just the right balance between childhood innocence and adult horror.”

Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson is a 7th-generation Texan and a 3rd-generation wordsmith who writes in mystery, romance, horror, children’s, scholarly, Egyptology and non-fiction. Janis and her husband live in Texas with an assortment of rescued furbabies.

Like her idol, the legendary Auntie Mame, Janis Susan May believes in trying a little bit of everything. She has held a variety of jobs, from actress and singer to jewelry designer, from travel agent to new home sales, from editor in chief of two multi-magazine publishing groups to supervisor of accessioning for a bio-genetic DNA testing lab. Above all, no matter what else she was doing, Janis Susan was writing.

Her websites are www.JanisSusanMayAuthor.com and www.JanisPattersonMysteries.com.

Rusty Williams

About Texas Loud, Proud, and Brash:
“We don’t look down on everybody else,” a Texan bragged recently. “We just don’t look up to anyone.”

If you’ve ever wondered how Texans gained a reputation for being oversized, cocky, self-promotional, sports-crazy, and too rich for their own damn good, Rusty William‘s new book, Texas Loud, Proud, and Brash — How Ten Mavericks Created the Twentieth-Century Lone Star State (new from Rowman & Littlefield) has the answers. In 1925, most non-Texans wrote off the state as little more than cactus, cattle, and cowboys; by 1950, Life Magazine (among others) was dedicating multi-page spreads to Texas sports teams, Texas women, Texas oil millionaires, and the locals who bragged about everything Texan.

Ten unique Texans, people who — through their accomplishments, actions, and words — gained national attention between 1925 and 1950. Those individuals painted an indelible picture of the Lone Star State that continues to percolate throughout the nation’s popular culture today.

In Texas Loud, Proud, and Brash you’ll meet a seventeen-year-old Beaumont secretary who took up track and field in 1930 and became an internationally-known phenom at the Olympics two years later. You’ll read about a small-town West Texas newspaper editor who captured the nation’s attention with his dispatches about a unique type of Texas wildlife. And there’s the shy Hunt County cotton-picker who became the boyish face of every GI returning from WWII.

Even if you’re not a Texan, you’ll be fascinated with the stories of these mavericks and how they branded the Lone Star State with its lasting reputation for being loud, proud, and brash. Author Rusty Williams shares the only-in-Texas stories of those mavericks whose words and accomplishments defined Texas in the mid-twentieth century.