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A man with supernatural powers seeking vengeance. An FBI agent investigating the death of a Munchkin in the Land of Oz. A girl who vanishes from a birthday party only to re-appear six years later. One man's investigation into the death of America as he knew it. A female psychic detective.
And those were just some of the books for sale.
The Almost Famous Author's Faire was on Saturday, November 7th at the Galt House. The event, free to the public, featured authors from the regional area. Being of the writer-variety myself I decided to check it out.
The ballroom was surrounded by tables, each one having two authors. Old, young, male, or female the styles and genres varied from table to table. Larry Baker, an actor, singer and writer, published “Bury Me, I'm Dead,” his dissertation on America. His book was written as an explanation to future generations about what went wrong on this country. “We were number two in education when I was growing up. Now we are number twenty...”
I went over to Jayme Evans, an author of whose themes include time-travel, vampires, and futuristic romance. She's currently on her tenth novel. A few tables away from her sat D.C. McEntire whose paranormal romance “Watchers” series has vampires running around River City. Next to DC sat Lynn Romaine, another romance novelist with a twist: her latest novel is about environmental romance suspense. Lynn decides to tackle environmental issues and features eco-terrorists but refuses “to paint them as the bad guys.”
If non-fiction is your preference Dr. Kenneth Tucker offered up “A Wilderness of Tigers,” an account of the Harpe Brothers who marauded the region in the 19th century. Tucker is a former Murray State professor and does fiction as well citing his Mark Twain-inspired novel, “A Kentucky Colonel in King Arthur's Court.”
“Albrim's Curse,” by Trevis Powell is a story of a young bowman who wanted to be like his dad. His life trajectory is slightly altered when a werewolf kills his family and takes his arm, but not before passing the curse onto him. Sitting to Trevis's left was Ian “Lizard” Harac, local sci-fi/fantasy writer (and head of a sci-fi writing group) whose novel “The Rainbow Connection” has more to do with Munchkins than Muppets when an FBI agent has to travel to the Land of Oz to solve the death of one.
Lynn Tincher is working on her “Mind Bending” series of books about a female psychic detective. “Afterthoughts,” the first of two, is currently getting screenplay treatment. Jack DuArte, a writer of historical fiction, has his historical fiction novel “The Resistance” used as a question on “Jeopardy!” Gary M. Yeagle's book, “Little Big Men: The Road to Williamsport,” about the Louisville minor-league kids baseball team is the basis for a new documentary movie.
And there were Christian authors. Mike Deeb's “The Journey That Made a Difference,” relates his Christian witnessing through stories of redemption and faith. Not to be the only one fellow author Wade Hurt has “Unveiled Faith.”
Sherry Lee didn't just publish “Cooking is Fun,” she also brought samples which included chocolate cake and cookies. Next to her was 8-year-old writing wunderkind Vendela Morris.
The real character of the faire had to be Robert Preston Walker, author of “Mr. Smoke.” Smooth and confident his novel, “Mr. Smoke,” occupied most of his table. Besides the usual business cards and post cars his display included “Mr. Smoke” buttons, a giant electronic e-book reader and the “Mr. Smoke” mask.
While the authors came from various backgrounds and situations they shared a common goal: to be full-time novelists. Walker, while a technical writer, wrote “Mr. Smoke,” for creative purposes. Tincher is an accountant. Most everyone had day jobs completely different from their works and their characters. They self-publish to get their work out there and try to get readership.
Overall the faire was nice. Not great, but not bad either. At least 50 authors were featured. At some point a trio of performers (two guys and a girl in “renaissance faire” clothing) walked around singing and playing songs. Some of the ones I knew attending had hoped that the writers were going to be more established than their world of self-publishing. Unfortunately I think some of those writers were at the Kentucky Book Fair that was held in Frankfort.
For more information of the Almost Famous Author's Fair, check out their website at:
Almost Famous Authors Faire
Here's to best of luck to the “almost famous” authors and potential gathering next year.
-Chas Andrews/Film Guy
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