The Charlottesville Book Fair takes place on Saturday, November 18th, at City Space on the Downtown Mall, located at 100 5th Street NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902. City Space is near the Charlottesville City Hall and the Sprint Pavilion. Parking available at East Market Street garage.
The Charlottesville Book Fair is the second local author book fair I’ve coordinated. Last year the fair had 12 authors and was held at Writer House. This year the Book Fair is sponsored by the Blue Ridge chapter of the Virginia Writers Club and has 40 authors, 4 Virginia-based publishers, and hundreds of book! We needed a larger venue. That’s why this year, the Charlottesville Book Fair will be held at City Space on the downtown mall.
The list of authors is impressive. Best selling, award winning, passionate revolutionaries in thought and style. And the range of books is wide enough to entice every reader: Historical fiction, romance, science fiction, biography, horror, self-help, parenting manuals, children’s picture books, religious, spiritual, and young adult. Books just in time for holiday shopping!
Includes Story Time for preschoolers!
Take a look at some of the books!
KINGSLEY by Carolyn O’Neal. After colony collapse disorder finishes off the bees, a mysterious pandemic emerges attacking everyone with a Y-Chromosome. Fourteen year old Kingsley has more to lose than video games and the attention of the girl he loves. His mother believes millions of dollars in research can save him and she’ll lie, steal and worse to get it. Can an unscrupulous mother and a spirited girl save the last boy on earth? Fans of dystopian fiction and eco-thrillers (The Hunger Games, The MaddAddam Trilogy) will love KINGSLEY.
Ultimate Obsession by Milton Jones. In the aftermath of World War Two, college student Elizabeth Brewer is well aware of the devastation the war had on the available young men. When she meets volatile poet James Campbell, their relationship is passionate yet disturbing. James alternates between tenderness and cruelty to the point of mental illness. Together and apart, Elizabeth and James explore whether beauty and goodness can exist in this post-war world, or will the lust for power destroy all.
A M Carley’s book, FLOAT • Becoming Unstuck for Writers, is a writer’s handbook and reference guide. A useful source of inspiration – and intervention – when the creative juices aren’t flowing, FLOAT provides writers with numerous tools, plus the steps of the FLOAT Approach to becoming unstuck. In one reviewer’s words, FLOAT is “a must have for authors of all varieties. Actually for all artists, as well. Practical yet fun with real world steps to figuring out the next step in your project.”
TERRY AND THE MONSTER-BEATERS, written by Carolyn O’Neal, Illustrated by Pamela Evans. 
When Terry’s sunshine isn’t as bright as usual, she seeks the advice of a Blue Wizard, A Magic Scope, and a Green Sage (because it’s always good to get a second opinion.) From them, Terry learns that an invisible monster is nibbling on her. They tell her to go to the Monster-Beaters to drive away the monster. Terry travels to a castle and through a mysterious maze to find the masked Monster-Beaters. Terry is afraid but she discovers that even though the Monster-Beaters look scary, they are smart, helpful, and kind.
Finally…Practical advice and resources for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers of preschool age children. The Preschool Parent Primer is a trusted guide of best practices and resources for those who care for preschoolers. Pamela Evans, author of the Preschool Parent Primer, is a veteran teacher of over 30 years. Beyond her preschool classroom, she has developed curricula for various schools and run numerous Children’s programs. The Preschool Parent Primer is a easy to access, “go to” guide, dealing with the many issues and concerns that arise in the preschool years, including: What is normal behavior for a specific age; What to look for in a preschool; The parent-teacher relationship; Socialization; The importance of routine; Potty-training; and much more.
Sometimes the Little Town – Poetry by Sara M. Robinson Sara Robinson’s father, Hobby Robinson, was one of the most important photographers of the 20th century to be so little well-known, at least outside the Shenandoah Valley of central Virginia. He chronicled over three generations of Elkton townsfolk, compiling and self-publishing nine books. Using his vast collection of photographs, his own and those he obtained, he gave us a people and a place. SOMETIMES THE LITTLE TOWN is Sara’s gift of ekphrastic poetry inspired by the portraits in her father’s collection. And like her father’s work as a photographer, Sara’s poetry is a tribute to little towns everywhere.
Patsy Asuncion’s Cut on the Bias (Laughing Fire Press) is an adult poetry collection about her world slant as a bi-racial child raised by an immigrant father and American WWII vet. Powerful debut collection… with passionate imagery and deft rhythms…an American story, the story of immigrants all over the world, says Pamela Uschuk, American Book Award winner. She…blends culture survival with political awareness… accessible to readers of all ages and all backgrounds, says poet Nicole Yurcaba. Spell-binding…stories that grasp much of humankind, writes Author Angela Carter. Post WWII immigrants to today’s world drama, Cut on the Bias, considers universal issues.
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Inspired by her family’s experiences, Amy Lee-Tai has crafted an award-winning picture book, A PLACE WHERE SUNFLOWERS GROW. Mari wonders if anything can bloom at Topaz, where she’s interned along with thousands of other Japanese Americans during World War II. The summer sun is blazingly hot, and Mari’s art class has begun. But it’s hard to think of anything to draw in a place where nothing beautiful grows. Somehow, glimmers of hope begin to surface under the harsh sun – in the eyes of a kindly art teacher, in the tender words of Mari’s parents, and in the smile of a new friend. To learn more about the book and author, please visit www.amyleetai.com. According to U.S. Congressman Mike Honda, Amy’s book “shines a light on what we are capable of penetrating on our fellow citizens, and what we are capable of rising above.”
Tiger Pelt, a historical novel for adult readers, was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2015 and awarded the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Award’s bronze medal for historical fiction. “Korea serves as a perfect crucible for Kim’s expansive and impressive historical fiction debut, in which the characters must struggle against overwhelming odds… her vision is powerfully executed, taking readers through all the important landmarks of 20th-century Korean history, including the end of Japanese occupation and the division of Korea.” – Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)
Clare Sullivan De Lune relives her earlier years and reunites with her family when she goes back to her roots in the South. After an adventurous but unsuccessful campaign for Governor of California her life takes a new turn when she and her heartthrob Henry resettle on the East Coast. Secure in a love that had a risky beginning, they both plunge into challenging new careers. With talent and determination Clare achieves stardom as she turns over a new leaf on the road to happiness. “A very enjoyable read by a novelist who mixes romance, family scenes, workplace scenes, humor, sightseeing info, restaurant meal descriptions and plenty of insight into human nature.” – David Astor, On Literature blog.
The New York Times bestseller, A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons, is the story of a courageous man of color who was “enamoured with freedom” and determined to rise. Paul Jennings, born into slavery at Montpelier, was President James Madison’s manservant, and, once free, the author of the first White House memoir. This book sheds new light on Jennings’s complicated relationships with James Madison, the widowed Dolley Madison who broke her promise to free him, and Senator Daniel Webster who lent Jennings his purchase price. It details Jennings’s part in rescuing the portrait of George Washington from British torches, and his later efforts to help 77 men, women, and children reach freedom in the greatest-scale-ever-attempted slave escape.
Heart of a Dragon The Andrachen royal line rests uneasily. King Sebastian’s notorious lust for control spreads trepidation throughout Lismaria as power struggles monger hostility. Kinna’s irrepressible draw to the Dragons seems harmless until a discovery turns her life upside-down. Her search for answers morphs into a movement to overcome repression. But following her heart means danger and death for nearly everyone she loves. Will she choose safety or justice? As Sebastian’s power grows and darkness blankets Kinna’s hopes, her doubts overwhelm. Can she unveil her own heart of a dragon in time to face Sebastian for the ultimate showdown?
Guardian of the Vale Alayne Worth, a seventeen-year-old Water-Wielder, enters Clayborne Training Institute along with a host of Elementals her age to hone her abilities. When she discovers that her abilities extend far beyond only Water-Wielding, her fears increase as those who thirst for power seek to strip her of the Vale, the source of her talents.Tension blights Clayborne as the Elemental Alliance comes into power, and a clash between Natural Humans and Elementals threatens to destroy all those Alayne loves. Homework, friendship, and romance turn dark as enemies close ranks on Alayne. Will she survive the struggle that eventually shadows all of CommonEarth?
For six hundred years, Fenear, a land where humans can take wolf form, has warred with Maenor, its neighboring kingdom ruled by a ruthless dynasty. The possibility of peace emerges when the Maenoren Overlord, Rhael, enters negotiations with Fenearen leaders Bayne and Silver, but their niece, Rayna, is skeptical. Yet, when Rhael proposes to her, she agrees for the sake of her country, despite her family’s objections and a blossoming romance with her best friend. Suspicion changes Rayna’s decision, but before she can annul the agreement, powerful forces subdue her with a sinister hex. With Fenear and everyone she loves in danger, Rayna must escape and break the hex to save her best friend and homeland.
A Manual for Developing Humans is the third book PMH Atwater was told to write during her third near-death experience. Based entirely on threes, each section covers the conscious, subconscious, and superconscious aspects of the topic – every topic – for the Manual contains the basics for becoming fully human. Being more spiritual is backwards thinking. The real goal of life is to become who we already are. “Hu” was the ancient sound of God. “Hu-Man” meant “God-Man.” Literally, we are each gods in the making. Twenty-eight thoughtform drawings illustrate this unusual Manual. Aliveness jumps from every page.
Treason in the Secret City “The secret World War II-era nuclear experiments carried on at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, provide ample incentives for spying—and ample opportunities for amateur sleuths. The pressure cooker of suspicion that permeates the facility makes it nearly impossible to know whom to trust. This sequel to Scandal in the Secret City (2014), which has some basis in fact, is faster-paced than Fanning’s debut while maintaining the 1940s atmosphere and emphasizing the difficulties of wartime life, especially for educated women.” Kirkus Reviews
Eyes Without A Face is a first-person account from a female serial killer. While her sorority sisters were engaged in sex, drugs, and rock and roll, she finds her true calling when she kills her first victim. She doesn’t have a neon sign stating, “Warning! Serial Killer!” following her around, yet she moves through life carrying a secret: She is a killer and no one suspects her. For her first premeditated kill, she selects a distracted victim, stalks her, and chokes her “to see what it looks and feels like to cause someone to die.”
Beyond the cemetery gates, rows upon rows of headstones are lined up in military precision. Each is inscribed with a soldier’s name and regiment and each of them has a story to tell. Stories Beneath the Stones: Richmond National Cemetery by Joann Meaker, newly published by American History Press, Staunton, VA, is the result of years of extensive research utilizing a multitude of documents and a variety of source materials exploring the lives of the Civil War soldiers who were buried in the Richmond National Cemetery when it opened 150 years ago. This one-of-a-kind book details information that will be appreciated and valued by descendants, historians, genealogists, as well as those interested in the Civil War and historic cemeteries. For more details of each book check out my website: www.joannmeaker.com
F.A.C.T.S. (Faith and Commitment Through Scripture) A New Testament Bible Study Series, Book 1: Journey through the New Testament, exploring the period and setting in which the letters were written, as well as the circumstances of the authors when they wrote them. This uncomplicated and easy-to-follow series of studies begins with the earliest written letters, following the writers through their travels and trials until the last book was composed. Each verse is explained in context with the times in an attempt to stay true to the author’s intent. The series is intended for both personal study and group studies. Other books by Joanne Liggan include her romantic suspense family saga trilogy spanning a 30 year period beginning in the 1970’s and ending in 2030; Heir of Deception, Air of Truth, and Err at Sea.
Linda Palacios, an undocumented college student, crossed the border at age three with her mother, Juanita, to escape their traumatic life in Mexico and to pursue the American dream. Tim Draker, a long-unemployed businessman, decides to take his own life. Before he can carry out his plan, he finds a job as a mechanic in the barrio. While Juanita deals with nightmares of her traumatic past, la migra raids her workplace and she loses her job. Will the three of them allow God to guide them, or will their own desires and goals get in the way of His path?
A lost lamb, a cross, and a conversation with Jesus are the components in this touching, poetic message of forgiveness, mercy, love, and the Savior’s ultimate act of sacrifice. LAMB OF GOD:INSPIRATIONAL STORY AND JOURNAL FOR CHILDREN, by author Christine Maria Jahn, is geared towards ages seven through nine, or second through fourth grades, and includes Bible verses to learn, as well as journal pages for young ones to write their thoughts and prayers. The sketches are black and white to purposely have children concentrate on the story itself and the important message contained within it. However, children can color the sketches if they so choose. There is also plenty of space on the story pages for doodling. A great way to introduce children to the art of journaling without it being overwhelming.
Tabby House presents Virginia-based books for all ages, including Linda Salisbury’s award-winning Bailey Fish Adventure children’s series that combine fiction with Virginia history. She’s also the author of The Sword and the Broom: The Exceptional Career and Accomplishments of John Mercer Langston, which won a silver award in the Young Adult category of Foreword magazine’s national Indies contest in 2017. Langston, Virginia’s first African American Congressman (1888), was born in Louisa County to a white plantation owner and his former slave. It’s a stunning and inspirational story that’s largely unknown today. Jim Salisbury will sell his popular cookbook, Roadkill Roundup, (with samples)—a perfect holiday gift for cooks of all ages.
Elizabeth Van Zandt – Ashes of The Stars: The Stars Series Book 1: Aili Renault doesn’t care that the modern world and billions of people died 200 years ago. She doesn’t care that extremist factions rose up and created another war, but she does care that the war controls her entire life. In a world of kill or be killed, Aili fought back to survive and became what everyone knows as the Reaper. She is feared everywhere she goes, even in her own mind. When Aili meets Kieran, Kai, and Whitestrand, the ghosts of her ruthless, bloody past start fighting back. She is haunted by the memories of those lives she’s destroyed and a dream that never made sense to her before. Now, with eyes wide open, will Aili be able to pull herself out of her crumbling world or will she become ashes of the stars?
Cat Viggolone just can’t get a break. She’d gotten married, but that ended when the husband left her for his younger secretary. She’d wanted children. That flew out the window along with the cheating husband. There’s the career, but working a window at the Virginia DMV can’t really be classified as a great career choice. At thirty-three, her life had become positively dull. Then the vortex opened. Cat’s life is definitely no longer humdrum and ordinary.
Judith D. Howell’s SWAMP RITES is a supernatural/horror/romance novel about werewolves. It’s about a reunion weekend for four childhood friends, with love, obsession, secrets, and murder, in a little Louisiana swamp town. SWAMP LEGACY, Book II in the SWAMP SERIES trilogy, is recently published and also available. “Desiring a werewolf might not be so hard, especially when voodoo is involved, but learning to love him could be a lot more difficult.” It is adult reading, scene and language specific.
CAIRNAERIE By M.K.B. Graham Geneva Snow commits the unpardonable Southern sin, forcing her devastated yet steadfast father to cloister her at Cairnaerie, his Virginia mountain estate. After years alone—and desperate to leave a legacy worthy of the father she loved and lost—Geneva engages an unwitting young history professor to help her to leave Cairnaerie long enough to witness the wedding of her granddaughter—a girl dangerously unaware of their shared lineage. But when an accusation of impropriety, a mail clerk’s malevolence, and a colleague’s revenge converge, the long-kept secret is exposed. And for a second time, Geneva faces a calamity of her own making. Only this time, there is no place to hide.
Freedom Riders by Jean Young Kilby is a middle-school mystery that brings an era of explosive social change up close and personal through the eyes of two girls. Growing up in the racially segregated South doesn’t bother 12-year-old Jan. She’s pretty clueless, always burying her nose in mystery books. Thelma, however, is a girl with a dream. Someday she wants to be a Freedom Rider like her dad so she can make Mississippi a better place. When Jan meets Thelma, they quickly become entangled in a real-life mystery more complicated than they expected. They are thwarted at every turn in their pursuit of truth. But once they learn friends can come in all colors—once they learn dreams can be shared—amazing discoveries follow.
Alone in the tapestry of a shimmering green forest, standing on a mist covered mountain top, or crossing a rippling creek, we find her majesty. In that place of serenity, nature sends her emissaries. If only we are willing to see and hear her sometimes subtle yet powerful ways. Mystical Animals of Ancient Oak is a series of true stories that chronicles the journey that Cynthia Fain took after her mother nearly died. Along that unchartered emotional path, nature sent Cynthia her finest healers, including a flightless duck, a cat that served as community ambassador and an aging squirrel.
Rain Makes the Rocks Sing, Inspirations from Nature By Louise M. Mitchell, louise-mitchell@comcast.net A great gift for nature lovers, spiritual seekers, and anyone wanting the relief that humor and wisdom bring. Ever pick up a little stone that catches your attention and put it in your pocket? This collection of inspirations is for you. Captured in a deck of cards with explanatory book (sold as a set), the voice of wisdom that awakens the light within. “While electronic media are common sources for daily information,” the author says, “so too, is the web of timeless knowledge woven through nature.”
Retired U.N. spy Mai Fisher leaves a diplomatic reception on a cold, rainy night and dashes for the first cab she sees. The driver’s Serbian tattoo makes her suspicious, and she forces him to admit he was waiting for her—to deliver her to the Russian Mafiya. Alexei Bukharin left the life of a spy behind to spend time with his wife, Mai Fisher, and finish raising his college-student granddaughter, Natalia. When he brings Mai dry clothes after her encounter, he discovers she’s suffered something that can mean death: Someone knows her true identity. A raid on the Russian thugs’ apartment uncovers something more devastating, a photograph of Natalia at her university. Who burned Mai? Why is the Russian underworld interested in Natalia? When Alexei discovers the answers, he realizes a decision he made in 1974 has come back to haunt him.
Banished as a boy, Damon Blackbourne vowed never to return to his family’s estate, much less London. However, when his father and brother die unexpectedly, Damon must assume the Malford dukedom and introduce his sisters to society–his worst nightmare. He never planned on Lady Grace Mattersley. The debutante stirs him body and soul. Until she discovers his secret. Grace prefers solitude and reading to social anything. Her family may be pressuring her to marry, but she has other plans. And they don’t include the notorious new Duke of Malford. Will she betray him? Or will she be his saving Grace
His love made her strong, her love saved him. Rebellion brews inside Milenda’s heart as the date for the Trials approaches. As the heiress to the throne of Natale, she is forced to choose a consort from the survivors of the grueling quest across the desert. Milenda’s heart belongs to Jaali and wants no part in the ancient and cruel ritual, but the Elders—the true rulers of Natale—will not back down. Jaali was brought from the far North as a child slave. His only chance to be with the woman he loves is to volunteer for the Trials, no matter how dangerous or how much Milenda objects.
Revolutionary new way to look at relationships and marriage that offers a 4-step program for achieving a profoundly fulfilling and lasting bond with a partner. In a culture of individualism that focuses on the behavior of each individual in a partnership, this book brings in a third entity, “Couple” that is greater than the sum of its parts and is the key to creating and maintaining lifelong love. Couple is part of a process that is facilitated by completing the 4 tasks of Lifelong Love in the following order: Commitment to a common vision for the relationship, Cooperation to achieve that committed vision, Communication that serves the common vision, not only the needs of the individuals, and a Community of other couples who support and nurture the relationship. Filled with examples based on the authors’ experience as clinical psychologists and co-founders of Couples Coaching Couples, Inc., as well as their 40-year marriage, this book provides the tools you need to have the profoundly satisfying and lasting relationship of your dreams
Meghan and Kyle head off to spend some quality mother-son time at a resort along the idyllic Lake Oleander. The picturesque and secluded escape promises a nearly perfect summer vacation. The seemingly placid lake also holds a dark secret; the bodies of those sacrificed to the local deity. Their arrival sets the gears of an ancient prophecy in motion. They find themselves suddenly set against unimaginable forces, ancient and evil, hoping to either forestall or accelerate the prophecy’s fruition. Deep beneath the bedrock of the town of Riapoke, an evil lay festering for hundreds of years. It waits patiently for the inevitable day it will taste freedom and claim what its rightful heritage.
Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, from drafting the Declaration of Independence until his death, but little was known about our iconic founding father’s first 31 years of life: his adolescence, friends, boarding schools, family deaths, college years, courting Martha, law practice, Shadwell house fire, earthquakes, flood, and more! The 2017 Pacific Book Review “First Place” Award winning biography, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man is a biographical and historical account of Jefferson’s journey to manhood. Written in journal format and supplemented with background text, it includes 65 photos to enhance the reader’s imagination. Now you can listen to Thomas Jefferson reminisce about his youth in the new audio book, which was just awarded “Finalist” in the Multi-Voice Acting category by the Audio Publishers Association! To understand the man, it is important to learn about the boy!
What About Me? by Marc Boston is the story of a little girl, the youngest of three, who desperately seeks the attention of her two older sisters. They go about the business of having fun, blithely unaware of their littlest sister’s attempts to join in the play. This story touches on how discovering our own gifts makes us more self-empowered.
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS Zachary Tamer has published three children’s books, The Story of the Snugglefink, The Return of Foggitytree and The City of Paws2Care. All of the stories follow the same characters and deal with themes such as environmental protection, volunteerism, and seeing more than ourselves in the mirror! The City of Paws2Care can only be purchased online and all proceeds go to the therapy dog company Paws2Care. All stories are for children ages 5-9. Most recently Zachary and his father collaborated on a poetry book, Fleeting Moments, which reflects their life experiences and their unique writing styles
Exciting Adult Science Fiction Adventure in a Universe of Uncanny Aliens — the Forlani Saga novels by J. M. R. Gaines
Life Sentence — Convicted of three murders, whistle-blower Willie Klein finds himself transported to a penal colony on Domremy where his unlikely job is to kill fellow colonists before they fall into the clutches of insectoid Locals. His gruesome task is only relieved by the growing affection of Entara, an alien pleasure worker from a matriarchal world. Until their brief happiness is destroyed by an arranged marriage and sinister conspirators. Spy Station — When Forlani delegate Entara and her eldest daughter Ayan’we are summoned to the Interzonal Peace Conference, they find themselves in a web of deceit. Preventing an apocalyptic war between the belligerent Song Pai and the mysterious Blynthians seems nearly impossible.
BACCA Literary 