Local Author Fair 2022

Local Author Fair

Saturday, November 12, 2022

2 - 4 p.m.

William H. Jervey Jr. Venice Public Library

300 Nokomis Ave. S.

Venice, FL 34285

Featuring

The Suncoast Writers Guild

&

The Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Sisters in Crime

The Barnes Bridge by Harry T Barnes

It was 1919, and the death of their infant son drove Ida Barnes nearly mad, resulting in an avalanche of events that she and her husband, Jim, were totally unprepared for. He had lived in Baltimore City all his life, and could not imagine moving to the “wilderness” of Appalachia as Ida’s condition demanded. The Barnes Bridge, the second book in the Over the Barnes Bridge series, is a true story about the hardships Ida and Jim Barnes endured and how they created a new life for themselves and their five children in the mountains of Western Maryland.

Harry T. Barnes is the author of three historical fiction books, She Called Him Jim, The Barnes Bridge, and Dark Days on Bear Creek about his grandparent’s and their children’s tragic and challenging lives in the early 1900s. The stories take place in the Appalachian Mountains of Western Maryland and Baltimore City.

Barnes also published a collection of mystery stories titled “Condo Capers,” inspired by his experiences in a Florida condominium community. Other short stories and poems have been published in anthologies including, Stories and Sketches from a Small Village, by Illume Writers and Artists, Gilbertsville, New York, and Inklings, an annual publication of the Suncoast Writers Guild Inc., Englewood, Florida.

Barnes’s books and these anthologies are available online at Amazon.com or by email request at brckbns@yahoo.com. For more information visit - https://bearcreekbarnes.com/ He and his wife divide their time between the Catskill Mountains of New York and the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida.

20/20 by B. Shawn Clark

A man living in a future world beset by environmental challenges tells the story, set in the past, of what life was like for him as a boy who, along with his mom and little sister, struggles to survive, with the help of a mysterious hermit, an Amazon Princess Warrior, and the remnants of a lost tribe of indigenous peoples, in what was then, in the 2020s, a changing world beset by violent storms, economic collapse and families being torn apart at the seams.


B Shawn Clark is an author based in Englewood, Florida who recently lived through a devastating hurricane striking a Florida coastal community as foretold in his Cli-Fi novel 20/20. Watch episodes about the book on YOU TUBE and find out more about the author by visiting his WEBSITE.


Toxic Cruise by Wendy Dingwall

During a Halloween-themed cruise to exotic Caribbean ports, Yvonne Suarez wonders whether to take her relationship with close friend, David, to the next level. Distracted by disturbing vibes from a Jamaican psychic, a women poisoned at the nearby Captain’s table, and the discovery of a dead body, Yvonne is drawn into an investigation, that puts her and her loved ones in jeopardy.

Wendy Dingwall writes the award-winning Yvonne Suarez Travel Mysteries, featuring unusual travel agent protagonist, Yvonne. Having been raised in Miami Florida, the daughter of a cool collected British mother and a hot-blooded Cuban father, the blending of cultural differences emanates in her unique personality.

What reviewers like about her mysteries; “they allow readers to experience the legends, lore, sights, and culture of the locations woven into each mystery, as if they are right there on the journey with her characters, watching the mystery unfold.”

Figure Eight by Cynthia Fabian

Set in New Jersey, the novel Figure Eight centers on a group of middle school friends who meet to help each other solve their individual problems.


Max has dyscalculia, a brain condition that makes solving math problems difficult. His friend Eric has dyslexia, so he mixes up his words. Dyslexia causes learning difficulties in reading or interpreting words or letters properly. Tori is a neighborhood girl who comes around to ask Max’s mom for help with her problems. And Pecos the Parrot has trouble expressing herself with words. She says, “oh boy” for just about everything.


Cynthia Fabian was born in Los Angeles but grew up in New York City. Now retired from teaching, she resides in Venice, Florida, where she is an ecological volunteer and an inventor. This is her sixth book.


A Family Legacy by Iuliana Foos

A Family Legacy is a romantic science fiction adventure family saga that might be rated PG-13 for science fiction violence and mild profanity. Perfect for fans of Lindsay Buroker, Kenley Davidson, Jessie Mihalik, or T. A. White!


Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, Iuliana Foos currently lives with her husband in Venice, Florida. When she doesn’t daydream or write, she enjoys drinking copious amounts of coffee and playing online multi-player games, hoping one day to have a white sanded beach as her backyard. Becoming a traditionally published author has been a life-long dream turned reality.

The Last Known Survivor by Tanya Goodwin

Seventeen-year-old Kaylee Jasinski is bright, and college bound. She has everything to look forward to. Joanna Stemple is a seventeen-year-old runaway struggling to survive. The only thing they have in common is that they are dead ringers for one another.

But then a car accident leaves Kaylee the last known survivor. Or is she?

Sex trafficker Dr. Gerald Newell, has a problem. He promised Joanna, who’s presumed dead, to a multibillionaire Greek man, and he’s desperate to find a replacement.

A treacherous game of mistaken identity is the answer to his dilemma. It has to work.

Enter Clearwater Deputy Sheriff Lou Ann Jasinski, who just wanted a peaceful vacation from her duties and from her annoying ex, FBI Special Agent Harry Boxer. That is until she’s notified she’s the sole guardian of Kaylee, who she hasn’t seen since her niece was a toddler. Sadly, she couldn’t pick her out from a line up.

But when Lou Ann discovers that the girl she brought home isn’t her niece, and worse, that the girl is the victim of Newell’s ring, Lou Ann fears her real niece was sex trafficked by the same perpetrators.

Now Harry’s back in Lou Ann’s life when he joins her from Miami to Greece to find Kaylee before it’s too late.


Tanya Goodwin writes suspense, police procedurals, and crime fiction.. Her experiences as a physician are reflected in her characters and in her stories, and her life as a doctor allows her to switch from stethoscope to keyboard. A former New Yorker, she now resides in Florida. Tanya is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. You can visit her at her website http://www.tanyagoodwin.com

Outlands Trilogy by Bruce Haedrich

The United States finds itself in the midst of an economic collapse and associated domestic chaos. As the government struggles to avoid another civil war, they learn that an insurgent army has embedded itself in two-person cells all over the country. The insurgent army threatens the U.S. with war if their demands are not met. The government ignores the threats and war breaks out.


Bruce Haedrich is a former U.S. Air Force and commercial pilot. He holds a B.A. degree from Grove City College and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire. Upon retirement, he took up his lifelong interest in writing and has published seventeen books, including novels, short stories, essays, poetry, and flash fiction.

Jane in St. Pete by Cynthia Harrison

Widowed art lecturer Jane Chasen is not an impulsive woman. Why, then, does the formerly methodical workaholic quit her job, sell her house, and move from Detroit to Florida? Instead of pondering her atypical behavior, she takes a closer look at a neighbor's intriguing outdoor art installation. Days later, Detective Jesse Singer discovers the murdered artist in his studio. With Jane's help, Singer finds the victim's bloody shirt, inexplicably located within Jane's gated community. Singer knows nothing about art, and as he closely questions Jane, she offers to help with the art angle of the case. Singer soon takes Jane up on her offer. Then, Jane begins to receive anonymous threats. Singer, determined to protect Jane, keeps her closer to his side than ever--she's not complaining.

Cynthia Harrison taught creative writing to college freshmen but couldn't find a great textbook for them to use, so she wrote one herself, her first published and only non-fiction book. Since then she's published a dozen books, most available on Amazon and other e-retail stores in print and e-book. Her latest book Jane in St. Pete was published in 2020. She has three grandchildren, two sons, and one great husband. They live in Florida.

Loving Gia to Death by Rena Koontz

Blake Matthews is caught in a deadly Catch-22 predicament. In order to save his daughter, he must prove his wife is a monster. He’ll divorce her and move out, but that leaves five-year-old Gia alone in the house with the very person he suspects is hurting her. But proving his ex-wife is deliberately harming Gia is next to impossible. Few police agencies are familiar with Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. It doesn't help that his ex points an accusatory finger at him.


I'm a lifelong journalist and an award-winning author. My writing career has taken me into the sports arena, politics, feature writing, editorial writing, and my favorite, cops and courts. I've chased fire trucks and police cars, covered all sorts of crimes, including murders, and reported criminal, civil, high profile, and ordinary trials.

And that's what I write about. In my books, cops are the good guys and the good guys always win.

My books are based on real incidents. Plus, I'm married to a retired FBI agent whose stellar career fuels my ideas and whose technical advice is invaluable. He also takes credit for the steamy scenes!

Redemption in Mariposa Beach by Teresa Michael

Welcome back to Mariposa Beach for the fourth book in the Mariposa Café Mystery Series, where it’s all about fun Florida mysteries featuring fearless, female sleuths.It appears that dead bodies continue to be following Libby Marshall all through the otherwise quiet little beach town of Mariposa Beach, Florida. And this 4th of July is no exception. The problem is that the recently deceased was someone who had very important information for Libby regarding the man who had kidnapped her not so long ago – Max Holden.


Teresa Michael is the award-winning author of the Mariposa Café Mystery Series and enjoys reading, writing, great food and wine, and traveling with friends and family. She has visited 49 states and many foreign countries. She is a member of Florida Writers Association, Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, Women Fiction Writers Association, and the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Teresa lives in Sarasota, FL with her husband and two cats and hopes to someday make it to that 50th state.

Love Power by Martha Reed

Disgraced ex-police detective Jane Byrne is on the run. After surviving a brutal excessive force civil lawsuit that scarred her with PTSD she blows into New Orleans on her Ducati motorcycle looking for a fresh start, never expecting to uncover a hate crime serial killer targeting NOLA’s inclusive LGBTQ community.


Martha Reed is a multi-award-winning crime fiction author. Her short story, “The Honor Thief,” was included in the Bouchercon 2022 Anthony Award-winning anthology, “This Time For Sure,” edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Martha’s Crescent City NOLA Mystery, “Love Power” won a 2021 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award and features Gigi Pascoe, a transgender sleuth. She is the author of the IPPY Book Award-winning John and Sarah Jarad Nantucket Mystery series. Visit her website www.reedmenow.com for more.

Wisdom From the Wealthy Dead by Shirl Smolko

Acquiring wealth is not selfish, nor is it evil. Wealth allows us the resources to experience growth intellectually, socially, and spiritually. You should have all the wealth you need to live a full and happy life with an abundance of every good thing to enjoy. Join Shirley Smolko—The Venetian Medium—as she interviews the souls of three American Tycoons—Hetty Green, Cornelius Vanderbilt, & John D. Rockefeller. Through her psychic impressions and analysis of the thoughts and behaviors of these wealthy dead tycoons, you’ll understand the mindset required to become rich. This wisdom is as applicable today as it was when they were alive.


Shirley Smolko is a natural Psychic Medium, which means she was born with the ability to perceive psychic information and communicate with the souls of people who have passed away. In addition to being a Psychic Medium, she is an author, publisher, and lecturer. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master’s in Business Administration, and another Master's in the Science of Accounting. She enjoys writing books based on spirituality, business, and wealth creation. She lives in Venice, Florida with her husband, Joe, and two cats—Zoey and Cecilia.

A Nice Place to Die by J. Wollcott

The body of a young woman is found by a river outside Belfast and Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride makes a heart-wrenching discovery at the scene, a discovery he chooses to hide even though it could cost him the investigation – and his career. The victim was a loner but well-liked. Why would someone want to harm her? And is her murder connected to a rapist who’s stalking the local pubs? As Ryan untangles a web of deception and lies, his suspects die one by one, leading him to a dangerous family secret and a murderer who will stop at nothing to keep it.

And still he harbors his secret ...


J. Woollcott is a Canadian writer born in Northern Ireland. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers in Toronto. A Nice Place to Die won the RWA Unpublished Mystery/Suspense Daphne du Maurier Award in 2019 in New York, and was short-listed in the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in 2021. A Nice Place To Die is published by Level Best Books.

She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Suncoast Writers Guild.

Dear Father, Your Daughter Wants a Word With You by Teri Tuers

This book delves into the importance of fathers and how our relationship with God the Father can be distorted, based on our relationship with our earthly father. Life’s circumstances often lead us to sever our relationship with God. Read Terri’s powerful testimony of how her relationship with the Father was broken and then healed. See how He revealed His very nature by allowing her to become the adoptive mother of two daughters. This moving account of her intimate conversations with the Father is truly prophetic. You will begin to hear the voice of God and understand His love for each human ever made. Allow this book to be a stethoscope to hear the heart of your Father.

Terri is an accomplished writer and business owner. This is her third published book. Terri’s heart is in service. She is active in ministry, currently helping two projects in Mexico. In the 80s, she raised seeing eye dog puppies and performed in a Christian clown touring ministry. In the 90s, she traveled to war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina to see the need first-hand. She started Hands Across the World, a group that brought humanitarian relief to Bosnia for five years. This is the subject of her next book. She has been active in evangelization with Time to Revive and has looked for ways to serve after disasters. Post Hurricane Irma, she partnered with The Giving Circle to bring a tractor trailer full of supplies to Immokalee, FL to help the migrant farm community. She and her husband, Rick, have also volunteered with Mercy Chefs, another disaster relief organization. She has been to almost 50 states, and enjoys hiking in the national parks, camping, and meeting new people. Terri and Rick have called Venice their home since 2013. They have three children and six grandchildren, who live in New York and Connecticut.

Florida Lighthouses by Rick Tuers

Discover the maritime and human history of Florida’s 30 awe-inspiring lighthouses along the East Coast, through the Keys, and up the west coast to the Panhandle. Both modern color and historical black-and-white photographs, as well as postcards and diagrams, illustrate their role in the settlement of not only Florida, but all of America. Florida's shores have been witness to over five centuries of maritime history, including battles in the Revolutionary War, the Seminole Wars, the Civil War, and World War II. Diving into the lives of the keepers of these beacons, the Tuerses describe how the lighthouse keepers navigated not only these political conflicts, but nature's wrath, braving hurricanes and wild storms to keep the lights burning. This meticulously researched book covers the technical—such as the engineering behind the design of the towers and lenses—as well as the personal, including stories of widowed women balancing raising a family with tending the lighthouse.

Rick, a formal coastal engineer, and Terri, a writer and artist, are lovers of the outdoors who have combined their talents of writing and photography to produce this book. Besides snorkeling, biking, and kayaking, they travel extensively photographing God’s creation.