You don’t need to travel far to find a good book — or a good author. Princeton Public Library hosts its annual Local Author Day author fair on Saturday, April 27, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. in the library’s community room. The authors of fiction and nonfiction works from children’s picture books to novels and memoirs will be on hand to sell and sign copies of the book. The event is free to attend.
In addition to the author fair, Local Author Day features several events to help and inspire aspiring writers. Check the library website, www.princetonlibrary.org/local-author-day, for event details and registration.
“Social Media for Authors” for authors takes place Tuesday, April 23, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. This interactive workshop led by David Schuchman explores the social media platforms and digital marketing strategies that can help authors sell their books. More details and registration.
Publicity expert Leah Paulos shares strategies to help authors position books effectively, find targeted media outlets and event venues and build the all-important author platform on Friday, Friday, April 26, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. via Zoom.
A revision and editing workshop led by librarian and author Gabrielle Esposito takes place Saturday, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., also on Zoom.
On Sunday, April 28, from 12:30 to 2 p.m., writers in grades 5 to 8 are invited to bring a work in progress of up to 2,500 words to workshop as a group and prepare to pitch for publication in youth literary journals.
Following are the authors scheduled to participate in the author fair and the new books they’ll be sharing.
Shikha Bajaj, “Own Your Color: How to Unleash Your Limitless Potential with One Secret Tool: M.E.N.T.O.R.” Bajaj emigrated from the New Delhi suburbs and started her career in software engineering before moving into sales and leadership. She is a mentor to others looking to succeed against the odds and is the founder of “Own Your Color,” a community that empower women. In her book, she chronicles her path through corporate America and the steps she recommends for finding fulfillment.
James Betz, “A Party on Redd Street.” Betz, a native of Pennington, returned to New Jersey in 2014 after earning a bachelor’s in geography from the University of Oregon, and pursued his passion for creative writing. He published his first book, “Ralston Heights,” in 2020. His second novel, “A Party on Redd Street,” is a blend of history and fiction set during the final years of the Cold War.
For more on Betz, see “Hopewell’s Stranger-Than-Fiction Castle Inspires a Novel,” U.S. 1, September 16, 2020; and “Off the Presses: ‘A Party on Redd Street,’” U.S. 1, September 20, 2023.
Sarahlyn Bruck, “Light of the Fire.” Bruck writes contemporary, book club fiction and is the award-winning author of three novels: “Light of the Fire” (2024), “Daytime Drama” (2021), and “Designer You” (2018). The Philadelphia resident also teaches writing and literature professor at a local community college.
Her latest novel, “Light of the Fire,” is described as a “heartrending story about healing from past mistakes” in which “two estranged friends face the twenty-year-old accident that forced them apart — and the consequences of the secret that still haunts them.”
Jen Carson, “Pie for my Birthday.” The former elementary school teacher and owner/head baker of award-winning LiLLiPiES Bakery lives in Princeton and also teaches for Mercer County Community College’s Hospitality Program. “Pie for my Birthday” is an illustrated children’s book telling the story of how her signature “LiLLiPiE” came to be.
For more on Carson and her book, see “Pies and Pictures Tell a Story of Sweet Success,” U.S. 1, February 21, 2024.
Kevin G. Chapman, “The Other Murder.” Chapman, a West Windsor resident, is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law and an independent author of mysteries and thrillers. His previous works include the Mike Stoneman Thriller series and the CLUE Award-winning “Dead Winner.”
His most recent book, “The Other Murder,” is a mystery and a twisted look at how the modern media covers the news and looks for the truth it wants to find.
Aaryan Chowdhury, “Episodes of Dylan White, Vol. 2.” Chowdhury a current high school junior, has an interest in engineering that he blends with creative writing. He wrote his first book during the COVID-19 pandemic and published it in 2021. The sequel was published in September, 2023.
Fitzroy Dawkins, “Fighting for Survival: Conquering Cancer and the African American Patient.” Dawkins is a Black medical oncologist with more than three decades of experience including a clinical oncology practice, clinical research, and training the next generation of Black physicians at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He now works for biotech companies as a research and development physician. He lives in the Princeton area.
His book, “Fighting for Survival,” is his call for Black patients — who tend to distrust the medical industry for reasons rooted in historic injustices — to embrace what modern medicine and the healing it can offer, particularly in the context of curing cancer.
Nick DeRosa, “The Lost and the Loyal.” DeRosa is a high school history teacher and track and field coach in Pennington. He previously worked as an operations manager for a private security and investigations firm. His novel is a work of historical fiction about a family living in the rural hills of Naples during the German siege during the final years of the Italian campaign of World War II.
Daniel A. Dickholtz, “Wavelengths: Covering Sci Fi in EVERY Reality.” Dickholtz, a New Jersey resident, has worked for publications covering the science fiction and fantasy genres since graduating from college in the mid-1980s. He has served as managing editor of both Starlog Magazine and Comics Scene. Dickholtz’s book, “Wavelengths,” bring the Starlog concept into an alternate realities, for example one where “Star Wars” was not a huge success.
Marcus Eaddy, “The Jack Squad II: The Fitness League.” Eaddy, born and raised in Trenton, is a personal trainer and co-owner of Nonstop Fitness with his partner, David Milligan. His “Jack Squad” books are intended to inspire health and wellness in youth audiences.
Huck Fairman, “A Garden of Poems.” Fairman grew up in Princeton before attending Middlebury College in Vermont. He worked in various capacities in the film industry in New York before returning to writing. In addition to writing an environmental column in the Princeton Packet for 12 years, he was also written five novels, two collections of poems, and one of short stories.
Danielle Gasalberti, “Love Your Selfie.” Gasalberti, a school psychologist, uses her background in helping children develop social skills in her first children’s book, which teaches the power of being kind both to yourself and to others.
Tracey Gates, “The Power of A Few Kind Words: Create a More Meaningful Life One Letter at a Time.” Gates is a life and wellness coach who lives in Pennington. She has presented her workshop, “A Few Kind Words, The Power of Writing Unexpected Letters of Appreciation,” to audiences across the country.
Brittany Fasulo Gianfagna, “Vinny Goes to Therapy.” The author, a licensed professional therapist, invites readers to join her Bernese Mountain Dog, Vinny, as he explores therapy, learning emotions and coping skills along the way.
Lina Girgis, “Her Thoughts Past Midnight.” Girgis, a 23 year old Drexel alumna and licensed engineer working as a project manager in construction. Her first book, “Her Thoughts Past Midnight,” published in 2021, is a collection of more that 200 poems about four major life phenomena: love idealization, betrayal, pain, and survival. She is currently working on a second series, “Her Thoughts of You Never End.”
Geeta Gwalani, “For the Greater Gur: 150 Delectable Desserts.” The author is trained in interior design, practices yoga, and studies the sitar, an Indian string instrument, and kathak, Indian dance. Her first cookbook, “Aromas of Sindh: 100 recipes from the heart,” explored the rich heritage of the world’s oldest culture from the Indus Valley. “For the Greater Gur” features dessert recipes that use jaggery, or gur, instead of sugar.
Andrea Harrison, “The Selfish Shellfish and the Sick Sea.” Harrison is a retired elementary school teacher and current content marketing writer. Her first children’s book shares her love for the ocean and concern for the planet and the impact on the younger generation.
Tracey Wilson Heisler, “The Shadow in our Lives: One family’s recovery from child sexual abuse.” Heisler navigated child sexual abuse recovery for her children and shares those experiences with other families in crisis.
Nick Hilton, “A Tailor-Made Man.” The long-time Princeton-based clothier was born to a Jewish-Irish men’s clothing manufacturing/retailing family in Newark, and after what he terms a “rebellious youth,” accepted a job in the clothing industry in Italy. He notes, “The men’s clothing industry disintegrated in the late 20th century and the story of one individual’s passage through that maelstrom is the subject of ‘A Tailor-Made Man.’”
Caryl Janis, “Research Can Be Murder.” Janis is a freelance musician and nonfiction writer who has been a lifelong fan of mysteries. In “Research Can Be Murder,” a deep dive into family archives reveals a sinister past that takes a turn when a fellow researcher is murdered.
Tom Julian, “Timberwolf.” Julian, a Trenton native, works enrolling patients in clinical trials and writes, travels, and cycles in his free time. His first novel, “Timberwolf,” is a military science fiction story originally envisioned as a film.
Mary Lundquist, “The Little Forest Keepers.” Lundquist is an artist and children’s book illustrator. She has illustrated nine picture books, two of which she also wrote, for publishers such as HarperCollins, Random House, and Bloomsbury. She lives in Princeton. “The Little Forest Keepers” is a picture book about being kind to both friends and strangers.
Sherri Lynn, “Unraveled: From Sibling Abuse to Sacred Self.” Lynn is a retired information technology professional living in New Jersey who now spends her time as a minister for weddings, Reiki and integrated energy therapy master, and in various roles working with animals.
Wiebke Martens & Jennifer Jang, “Discovering Princeton: A Photographic Guide With Five Walking Tours, 2nd edition.” Martens, a professional photographer with a focus on architectural photography, and Jang, who has designed educational programs for the Historical Society of Princeton and Morven Museum & Garden. Their compilation illustrated, guided tours, first published in 2017, was updated and re-published in 2023.
Bridget McGowan, “The Long Road Back.” McGowan has published 15 books, from children’s picture books to general fiction and fantasy. She is also an occupational therapist working in schools.
“The Long Road Back,” a sequel to “We Have Your Son,” follows the high school adventures of Jeremy Miles and his girlfriend, Emma, as they finish their senior year. Their lives take a frightening turn when someone from Jeremy’s past surfaces and threatens everything the two have built together.
Richard Moody, “Flying Through Life: From Fighter Pilot to Peace Activist.” The memoirist is a retired naval officer who later became a peace activist with the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action and a Quaker.
Shari Nichols, “After Midnight.” Nichols, a New Jersey resident and member of New Jersey Romance Writers, holds a Masters in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. She specializes in paranormal romances. “After Midnight,” the story of a woman running away from a generational love curse, is part of her Raven’s Hollow Coven urban fantasy series.
Aarav and Arsh Parekh, “The Blueprint to Winning: Advice from the Pros on How to Overcome Adversity.” The siblings, lifelong athletes, diverged as teens, with one going for lacrosse and the other for rowing. They co-host a weekly podcast, “Two Brothers and Their Sports,” from which they have compiled life advice and lessons into a motivational book.
Rich Polk, “Burgess Falls.” A Monroe resident, Polk has worked in law enforcement, risk management, accounting, teaching, and consulting. His two previous novels are “The Boarder on Monroe Street” and “Mantis Prayers.” He lived near Burgess Falls in Cookeville, Tennessee, for two of the formative years of his youth, and in “Burgess Falls,” he writes, he “adds specific historical perspectives to his literary romance constructions.”
Rodney Richards, “Chester Says Be Your Own Boss: Starting, Running, and Growing a Services Business.” Richards, originally from Princeton, turned to writing after a career in public service. His first memoir, “Episodes,” was about riding life’s bipolar rollercoasters. He also formed a weekly writers’ critique group and his own editing and publishing business and has published two poetry anthologies. “Chester Says Be Your Own Boss” is part of a two-volume set on starting and growing a service business.
Chrystal Schivell, “Baffled by Black and White: Teaching in an Urban School and Unlearning Assumptions about Race.” Schivell was raised in wealthy Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended and taught at all-white schools before she moved to Princeton with her family. She then spent 23 years teaching at Trenton Central High School and unlearning her previous assumptions about race. This memoir is based on the first 10 years of that experience.
Mimi Schwartz, “Good Neighbors, Bad Times Revisited: New Echoes of My Father’s German Village.” Schwartz, a Princeton resident and professor emerita of writing at Stockton University, is the author of seven books. Her most recent, “Good Neighbors, Bad Times Revisited,” is an update to a past recounting of her Jewish father’s childhood in a tiny German village 30 years before Hitler in conversation with a memoir by Max Sayer, who grew up Catholic in a different German village but moved five houses down from Schwartz’ father a few months after he had fled.
Carol Selick, “Play for Me, Peter.” Selick is a music educator and a singer-songwriter. Her children’s picture book is meant to inspire children to learn to play the piano.
Sarah Seung-McFarland, “Where the Lost Things Go: According to a Big Girl.” Seung-McFarland is a licensed psychologist who specializes in child trauma and fashion/design psychology. She also runs a fashion/design psychology consulting service, Trulery, that helps teens and adults create emotionally supportive wardrobes and spaces.
Her first book, “Where the Lost Things Go: According to a Big Girl,” centered on the loss of a gold sparkly shoe, blends her expertise in child development and passion for fashion. She lives in New Jersey.
Linda Jacobs Snyder, “She Chef.” Snyder graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked in kitchens of all kinds, culminating as the chef/owner of Soup to Nuts Caterers. This memoir shares her varied and unique experiences.
Nikki Stern, “Judge Not.” Stern, a Plainsboro resident, is the author of seven books, including four in the award-winning Sam Tate mystery series. “Judge Not” is another installment in that series, featuring a serial killer investigation.
Emelia Timpo, “Perseverance: A Memoir. One Woman’s Journey from Ghana to the United Nations and Beyond.” Timpo is a development expert with specialization in agriculture, HIV/AIDS, gender, and educational policy and significant experience in project management, monitoring and evaluation, education, policy development, and mainstreaming the needs of persons with disabilities. She held leadership positions for 17 years within the United Nations with UNAIDS and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The current East Windsor resident was born and raised in Ghana and earned a PhD from Rutgers in botany and plant physiology.
Aarna Vachhrajani, “Udaya: Rise of the Sun.” Vachhrajani is a 15-year-old Princeton resident. Her debut novel, “Udaya Rise of the Sun,” is a young adult fantasy novel about Dawn’s journey to understand her past.
Bill Waldorf, “Ways of Love.” Waldorf’s poetry is included in several anthology, and his previous book, “Sonnets and More,” explored love’s relationships. His current works focus on daily life. “Ways of Love” is about how powerful words can touch people.
J. L. Willow, “The Ainsworth Killings of 1879.” Willow, who holds an engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, works in engineering during the day and writes thrillers by night. “The Ainsworth Killings of 1879” is set in small town Missouri, where two brothers have their lives uprooted when one of their classmates is brutally killed.
