BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.0.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:4231@rockfishcc.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T180000 DTSTAMP:20260424T122628Z URL:https://rockfishcc.org/events/meet-your-local-authors-2/ SUMMARY:Meet Your Local Authors DESCRIPTION:Community Author Talk &\; Book Signing\n\nDate: Sunday\, Ju ne 6\nTime: 4:00 – 6:00 PM\nLocation: Rockfish Valley Community Center Auditorium\nAdmission: Free\n\nThe Rockfish Valley Community Center is l aunching a new community event series celebrating the stories and voices o f local writers.\n\nJoin us for Meet Your Local Authors\, an afternoon fe aturing authors who will share the inspiration behind their books and the journeys that led them to write and publish.\n\nThe program will begin wit h a moderated conversation led by Jean Shipman\, where each author will t alk about how and why they wrote their books\, lessons learned along the w ay\, and what it means to bring personal stories to life.\n\nFollowing the discussion\, guests will have the opportunity to meet the authors\, purc hase books\, and enjoy book signings.\n\nWine and light refreshments will be available during the reception.\n\nThis event is part of an ongoing RVC C series highlighting local authors.\n\nFeatured Authors\n\nSusan Burke\n\ nSusan Burke left the corporate world and moved to Charlottesville\, V irginia\, 25 years ago. It was her intention to spend her retirement years acting in the local theatres\, as she had done at night in Off-Off-Off Br oadway theatres in New York. Within three years she performed in seven sho ws. But then disaster struck! Diagnosed with a rare condition that causes imbalance\, she could no longer act. So\, she decided to try writing. It w as poetry at first\, but then she learned about the work done by The Divis ion of Perceptual Studies at UVA. Intrigued by the notion of one’s con sciousness living on after the death of the body\, she dove into further r esearch and came up with three books over the course of six years. Each ar e fiction\, but they incorporate factual information about the following s ubjects:  reincarnation\, out-of-body and near-death experiences\, and co mmunication between the living and the dead. They are available on Amazon  in both paperback and Kindle.\n\nBooks:\n\nhttps://www.amazon.com/stores /Susan-Burke/author/B0994RF2CD\n\nPatrick Kelly\n\nPatrick Kelly has writt en six books comprising the Wintergreen Mystery Series. He has deep roots in Virginia. His mother grew up in Crozet\, and he fondly remembers feedin g chickens and picking peaches on his grandparents’ farm. Later\, he gra duated from the University of Virginia. Patrick and his wife spend their s ummers in Wintergreen\, hiking mountain trails\, sampling local wines\, an d marveling at nature’s beauty. The Blue Ridge Mountains provide the per fect setting for retired detective Bill O'Shea to match wits with scheming murderers.\n\nBooks:\n\nhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/Patrick-Kelly/autho r/B00I1KAQN2\n\nBrent Kitching\n\nIronically in high school\, Brent Kitchi ng hated reading and writing. He attended Duke University on a basketball scholarship and gradually discovered a genuine love for learning. He taugh t high school English for forty-two years\, mostly enjoying the daily chal lenge of helping young people think more deeply about the world and their personal realities. Stimulated by the Dodge Poetry sessions in the ninetie s\, he helped establish “The Other Poets” and has embraced writing and sharing poetry as an important part of his life. He has written several b ooks\, including A Bicycle without a Chain and The Grendel Project.\n\nBoo ks:\n\nhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/Brent-Kitching/author/B00JBRM9H0\n\nM arta Anne Tice \n\nMarta Anne Tice was inspired to write her first histori cal romance\, Allegiance to Alsace\, when she discovered her ancestral vil lage of Leisel\, Germany in 2006. As a licensed interior design of ASID\, with a Degree in Decorative Arts\, she became fascinated with the styles a nd fashions of the Napoleonic era. Recalling a former trip to Germany with her parents when she was fourteen\, she experienced déjà vu feelings bo th in Alsace Lorraine and the Pfalz in Germany.\n\nThe author lives just o utside of Albemarle County and Charlottesville\, VA. Marta was influenced living in this area and the sequel\; From Alsace To America\, will have mu ch of Virginia's history highlighted during the War of 1812\, including in spiration drawn from the Adams side of her mother's lineage.\n\nBooks:\n\n https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marta-Anne-Tice/author/B09SQZMFQH\n\nJean Pu gh Shipman – Moderator and Author\n\nJean Pugh Shipman spent nearly 40 y ears as a medical librarian and scholar before turning to fiction. Her deb ut novel\, One Tragic June\, draws on authentic family letters and storie s from her mother’s family history.\n\nRaised in a small Pennsylvania to wn steeped in Plain religious traditions\, Jean now lives in the foothills of Virginia with her husband\, Mark\, and their cat.\n\nBooks:\nhttps://w ww.amazon.com/stores/Jean-Pugh-Shipman/author/B0FY4KRHGG\n\nGuests are wel come to purchase books in advance using the author links above. Limited co pies may be available at the event. CATEGORIES:Community Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR