Diverse array of books found at Local Author Fair

TROY — Community members had the opportunity to stop at the Troy Community Center on Nov. 16 to explore a wide variety of books at the Local Author Fair.

The Troy Public Library hosted this event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. With around 55 local authors signed up for this event, attendees of all ages with interests in many different literary genres could meet with the writers and potentially buy some new books.

“We have authors writing for children, teens, and adults,” TPL Head of Youth Services Keegan Sulecki said in an email.

“We have romance, mystery, thriller, nonfiction, poetry etc. The authors appreciate the opportunity to share their work with members of the public and also network with other authors. This is our second year and we had a great turnout last year.”

One of the writers present during the Local Author Fair was Shannon Waite, who teaches creative writing and English in the Detroit area on top of writing “Raising Women: An Interactive Novel.”

“Raising Women: An Interactive Novel” follows a similar structure to “Choose Your Own Adventure” novels. The plot contains some more mature elements as the main character, a girl on the “precipice of womanhood,” comes to meet an ex-convict named Roman who becomes a mentor for the main character. 

Throughout the story, the reader may find themselves in different potentially destructive situations that are meant to explore the different aspects of female experiences.

“A couple years ago, I was thinking it would be cool to reread the books I love in a different way and last year, I ran with it,” Waite said. 

“‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books are usually for kids but this book presents readers with gritty, questionable choices.”

Donovan M. Neal was one of the other authors in attendance at this event. Neal was previously a clergy member before retiring, and he currently helps financially insecure women with employment opportunities. Much of his fiction writing focuses on elements of fantasy, theology, and mythology.

His four-book Christian fantasy series “The Third Heaven” dives into the fall of Lucifer and the events that led up to this pivotal moment. 

“If you like ‘Lord of the Rings,’ ‘The Chosen,’ or ‘Avengers,’ you’ll like this style,” Neal said. “It’s not preachy and doesn’t bash other religions. It’s based on a flashback on how the brothers, Lucifer and Michael, got on different sides.”

It is considered a bestselling series on Amazon, and many readers have expressed an interest in seeing the books come to film. Neal has also been working on “Hutari,” which has elements of the biblical story of Joseph mixed with similar elements that could be found in “Gladiator” and “Game of Thrones.”

Another author present was Ron Brooks, a children’s author who lives in Michigan and created the “Dewey the Dragon” books.

“Dewey the Dragon” has four different books with this character that aim to empower young readers and encourage parents and leaders to take active roles with the children.

“The books have a set of questions for parents,” Brooks said. “It started with self-esteem and self-worth, which are personal messages for me and from there branched out.”

Brooks is currently working on a different book that ties into Dewey’s world with a different character and will be available at upcoming events in Westland and at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

Other authors included Glen Adams, Michelle Anderson, Heather Ashle, Hilary Ballentine, Tracy Bilen, Margaret L Brown, Will Canduri, Jana Chantel, Robert Cornwall, Sandra Cox, Vincent Culver-Young, Jon David, Brittney Davis, Besim Dervishi, Lisa Drummond, Lori Ellis, David Fleitz, Dr. Diane P. Fleming, Deborah-Lee Gollnitz, Darlene Grablowski, Kendal Grey, Rick Hagan, Erin Hodges, Terry Hojnacki, Linda Hunt, Tana Jenkins, Ted Jordan, Kathy Kalmar, Shweta Kapur, Jane Kolven, Ashley Kuruvilla, Amy Laessle-Morgan, Donald Levin, Carol Lomasney, Marcy Mangino, M.D. Missaiel, Kenya Moss-Dyne, Kelly Ohlert, Terry Oparka, Katherine Palmer, Treasure Perry, Ruthvika Rao, Nancy Roop, Vanessa Rose, Sandy Schachter, Christina Sheer, Angela Shinozaki, Naveen Singh, Katie Spina, Yvelette Stines, Wendy Sura Thomson, Eric Willis, and Cynthia Zingale.

During the Local Author Fair, attendees also had an opportunity to win prizes while they mingled with the different authors.

“Participants will receive passports to carry around to the different tables to have authors stamp them, and we will have a raffle drawing where participants can win bookish gift baskets,” TPL Head of Community Engagement Olivia Olson said in an email.

For more information, visit troypl.org.