Recent booksigning brought together amazing authors

Celeste
and Matthew Goodwin

            Booksignings are not my favorite thing to do.

            I love meeting readers, bookstores remain the ideal place to sit and relax (don't you love being surrounded by books?) and I always indulge in those delicious caffeinated drinks.
            But for those of us who are more introverted, hawking books to strangers can be intimidating.

            Recently, I was part of an “Author Expo” at the Lafayette (Louisiana) Barnes & Noble so I enjoyed company. And what impressive company it was!

Ed Reed, left,
and Dianne Alexander, right,

            University of Louisiana at Lafayette history professor Michael Martin, who heads up the Center for Louisiana Studies, was signing “Russell Long: A Life in Politics” next to Alan Gautreaux, author of “Italian Louisiana: History, Heritage and Tradition,” a fascinating look at one of the largest ethnic groups of the Big Easy.

            Edward Reed has just released his insightful memoir, “I Remember When” and Donna McGee Onebane had her family and friends on hand for her launch of “The House the Sugarcane Built: The Louisiana Burguieres.”

Donna McGee Onebane
with family and friends.

            Rosemary Smith has penned several children books starring an adorable lizard named Lizzy, while Dr. David J. Barczyk, a Lafayette chiropractor and CEO of All !N Wellness, hoped to spread his health gospel with “Wellness Wake Up Call.”

Chere Coen

            I had the pleasure of sitting net to Diane Alexander, the only survivor of the Derrick Todd Lee mass murders. This spiritual woman chalks up her miraculous rescue (her son arrived home in time to save her) to God in “Divine Justice: The Dianne Alexander Story.” Likewise, Celeste Goodwin recounts her son’s miraculous recovery from a tragic episode due to high blood pressure in “A Boy Back from Heaven.” Her son Matthew returned from a near-death experience with a new perspective on life and told his parents, at a very young age, what they believed to be heaven. And Angela Cortello published her inspirational book in an effort to help others, titled “Angel: The True Story of an Underserved Chance.”
             What impressive company! I take it back, I love booksignings.

             If you're in Lafayette this weekend, I'll be at the Lafayette Barnes and Noble from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, dressed in Halloween gear (I'm being brave) in honor of my "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" book and my latest titled, "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History." Please come out and say hi.
            Note: Celeste Goodwin is the founder of the Baton Rouge based nonprofit, National Pediatric Blood Pressure Awareness Foundation, which advocates educating the need for blood pressure screening in children.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest  Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.