Don Festge's First Poster Signing of the Night of the Witches posters.
Limited Edition Prints. 9/11/02

The following article appeared in The Miami Herald, 12/20/98:

High School coach Don Festge had lots of help editing his new novel, Stopped by Time--from his students in indoor suspension class at Barbara Goleman High.

While Festge was supervising the students, who had often skipped class, he brought in rough drafts of his book, and after awhile he began letting the students help with the editing. Soon he was naming characters after them. The book is the story of men and women who find themselves facing their pasts and the decisions they have made at one moment in time.

When the author was teaching at an elementary school, he wrote his first fifty pages. "What I tried to get the kids to do was to come up with as many ideas as they could and get them down on paper, so as a motivational thing for them I started the story," Festge says.

Later he transferred to Goleman High to teach English and to coach wrestling and football. After his book was completed, Festge searched the Internet for publishing companies and found Falcon Books, in San Ramon, California. With the help of the staff, he created his own company, Quinn Michael Publishing, named for his first son.

After Festge started his publishing venture, one of his students, who had written a children's book in the fifth grade, decided to publish his work too. "This shows kids that if they have a goal that they want to reach or a dream they hope to achieve, they can go ahead and do it if they just put forth the effort," Festge said.

Last weekend, he held a book signing at Waldenbooks at Aventura Mall. It was a great success, and the store invited him back for a return engagement. "He had a good turnout," said senior bookseller Jason Woodworth of Waldenbooks.

Festge is currently writing his second novel. Night of the Witches, about a little girl born in the 1600's who becomes a witch. He offers this advice to students: "You just have to stay on track, do what your heart leads you to do and you can accomplish your goals."

For more information or to purchase Stopped by Time or Night of the Witches
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