Authors: If your name isn’t up here yet, it should be soon, but please reach out to David Beaumier at DBeaumier@ChantiReviews.com

This year’s CAC25 Book Fair will be held at

Village Books Fairhaven, Bellingham!

Village Books Fairhaven, Bellingham

Sunday, April 6th, 11:00a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

A FREE and FUN FAMILY EVENT

Door Prizes and Raffles

Ongoing Activities

Plus more activities as authors join in! We invite you to check back! 

OR Meet Authors the Old Fashioned Way – stop by their tables and chat with them at the Book Fair.

Natalie Musgrave Dossett grew up in San Antonio, spending a great deal of time on family ranches in deep South Texas, a place her great-grandmother referred to as an acquired taste. A seventh-generation Texan, Natalie was raised on tales (most of them tall) of the Wild Horse Desert. Her love of history and writing was nurtured by wonderful high school teachers and strengthened while earning a BA in History at Vanderbilt University. She lives in Dallas and enjoys a large and growing family with her husband. 

Glen Dahlgren is the award-winning author of the acclaimed book series, the Chronicles of Chaos, dubbed “what fantasy fiction should be” by New York Times bestselling author and fantasy legend Piers Anthony.

Books in this now complete series won multiple Readers’ Favorite Gold Medals, American Fiction Awards, Independent Author Network Book of the Year awards, and the Dante Rossetti Award.

Glen has also written, designed, directed, and produced critically-acclaimed, narrative-driven computer games for the last three decades. What’s more, he had the honor of creating original fantasy and science-fiction storylines that took established, world-class literary properties into interactive experiences. He collaborated with celebrated authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (The Death Gate Cycle), Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time – now a TV series from Amazon), Frederik Pohl (Heechee saga), Terry Brooks (Shannara), and Piers Anthony (Xanth) to bring their creations to the small screens. In addition, he crafted licensor-approved fiction for the Star Trek franchise as well as Stan Sakai’s epic graphic novel series, Usagi Yojimbo.

Writing Coach, Manuscript Editor, and Award-winning Novelist John DeDakis is a former Senior Copy Editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of six novels in the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense-thriller series. In his most recent novel, Enemies Domestic, Lark is a pregnant White House press secretary forced to make an abort-or-not-to-abort decision in a highly toxic public fishbowl while dealing with an attack on the presidency. DeDakis, a former White House correspondent, regularly teaches novel writing at literary centers and writers’ conferences. He is also a podcaster and a rank amateur jazz drummer. www.johndedakis.com  

Strider S.R. Klusman is a retired firefighter/EMT, general contractor, big-game guide, entrepreneur, designer of everything from homes to clothes, speaker, and now author and podcaster. He also hosts Author in the Headlights where he interviews fellow authors, editors, and others in the writing industry, discussing their books, tools of the trade, and things that have and have-not worked for them in the writing industry.

Strider writes Young Adult Action Adventure stories as Old West-Sci-Fi, Light Steampunk-Gaslamp Era, and Dystopian. Be careful; you might just like it.

Gail Noble-Sanderson and husband Terry love to travel the world including two trips to France during the research and writing of her first three award-winning historical fiction novels, The Lavender House in Meuse, The Passage Home to Meuse, and The Lavender Bees of Meuse. They traveled to Wales in 2023 to continue research for her Drew Davies Railway Mystery series that takes place in Wales. The first book, The Book of Rules, won first place in the Mystery and Mayhem category with Chanticleer Books in 2022. A Cup of Revenge, the next book in the series came out in the fall of 2024.

History nerd and garden enthusiast, award-winning author J.L. Oakley writes historical fiction spanning the mid-19th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. Her writing has been recognized with a 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award, the Chanticleer Grand Prize for Tree Soldier and Goethe Grand Prize for The Jøssing Affair, the 2018 Will Rogers Silver Medallion and 2018 WILLA Silver Awards for Mist-chi-mas: A Novel of Captivity. The Quisling Factor won the 2020 Hemingway Grand Prize. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th century folkways and weaves.

Erika Shepard is a transgender woman and retired minerals exploration geologist. Abomination Child is her second book, the first being her memoir titled Trans-Formations: From Field Boots to Sensible Heels, published in 2020. In a very personal way, both her memoir and Abomination Child explore the relationship of societal prejudice and the often painful process of coming out as transgender. Her message in both books is this: Despite the difficulties, the people who really love you will stand by you and love you even more when you can be your authentic self. She wants you to know it is worth it, and it does get better.

Erika lives with her dog Finn (who is a Good Boy) in Bellingham, Washington. She continues to travel to geologically interesting places around the world and loves expounding on the wonders of geology to anyone who will listen. You can learn more by visiting her website at www.ejshepardwrites.com.

PJ Devlin tells stories about relationships. Her characters meet at the intersection of acceptance and rejection, and their choices impel them to understand what it means to be human. Whether writing about a witch, a dwarf, an old woman, a black indentured servant, or teenagers, Devlin’s characters exist in the Philadelphia of her birth and share her love of the Wissahickon Creek. Her writing is known for its rich detail and compelling characters. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including several writing awards.

Devlin is the author of three award-winning novels: Wissahickon Souls, published 2014, revised 2020; Becoming Jonika, published 2015, revised 2020; and The Chamber, published 2020. Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek, published 2016, revised 2020 is her award-winning short stories collection. Other short stories have appeared in anthologies and online publications.

Leslie Liautaud is an American playwright and novelist. Her award-winning immersive play, SOUTHERN GOTHIC (2018), premiered at Windy City Playhouse in Chicago, IL. Her plays MIDNIGHT WALTZES (2006), HE IS US (2008), THE WRECK (2009), THE MANSION (2012), and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: THE MILLENNIAL EDITION (2012) have been produced throughout the United States. She is also the author of the literary fiction novel, BLACK BEAR LAKE (First Place, Chanticleer Somerset Award 2023) and working on her second novel now.

Leslie is originally from Kansas City, MO, and has worked in the performing arts for over 30 years. Currently, she divides her time between Nashville, TN, and Key Largo, FL with her husband, Jimmy John Liautaud, their three children, and a menagerie of animals.

Julie’s recent work includes the enchanting JuJu short story series, which emphasizes the values of safety, self-discovery, and service, catering to young minds. She believes in instilling these essential qualities from an early age. Among her notable publications are the animated children’s books “Melissa Moo Moo’s Special Lesson,” “Melissa Moo Moo’s Lessons with Friends,” and “The Adventures of Boomer and Echo.” Currently, Julie is diligently working on a series titled “The Thing About Imaginary Friends…” centered around an ant and his companions. Her young adult novella, “The Costly Wish,” has been well-received, with a follow-up of the series, “The Teedle Doll,” released this year. She also released a sci-fi, with her son, Grant Bramlett this year; “Solara” is out now on Amazon. See more at her website: www.JuJu.agency

Sandy Lawrence began writing in 2019, based on years of lectures on energy systems, the climate system, and the electric grid. His actual background was in academic medicine, where he focused mainly on infectious disease and obstetrics. And He and his wife ran a bed & breakfast for eight years in the Pacific Northwest, has driven an electric vehicle for ten years, and for the last four years has lived in a comfortable, PassivHaus-certified home. They also raise goats and chickens. Not to mention blueberries and more. And spending time with their grandchildren.

Charlie Robinson is Professor Emeritus in the Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. He served 30+ years in U.S. VA Medical Centers helping Veterans with disabilities, retiring as a GS15 Senior Rehabilitation Research Career Scientist. He has written over 200 scientific articles and traveled to 53 countries and all 50 states. He is an internationally recognized biomedical engineering expert. His debut novel Hybrid Hysteria – a Novel of Corporate Intrigue Both Holy and Diabolical – won Chanticleer’s 2022 Global Thriller Grand Prize. Charlie lives in northern New York near the St. Lawrence River.

Ruth Amanda is a book-a-holic. She once joined a twelve-step program which involved reading only twelve books (one a month)… she failed miserably and so far 2024 also looks like a marathon of reading…

Ruth lives in Barbados with her husband, David, who she met while she was living in the Arctic and he was living in Vancouver. They are the unofficial parents of Oscar the cat who showed up one day and insists on owning a certain place on the couch and being fed the finest of cat foods.

Ruth has also named every bird at the birdfeeder—and, of course, several geckos! Her favourite gecko is Stumpy, who likes to live dangerously and is often seen regrowing his tail. (There may be more than one Stumpy, it’s rather hard to tell the geckos apart when they are vanishing at high speed!)

Mike Murphey is a native of eastern New Mexico and spent almost thirty years as an award-winning newspaper journalist in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. Following his retirement from the newspaper business, he and his wife Nancy entered into a seventeen-year partnership with the late Dave Henderson, all-star centerfielder for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners. Their company produces the A’s and Mariners adult baseball fantasy camps. They also have a partnership with the Roy Hobbs adult baseball organization to provide clubhouse services for major adult tournaments in Fort Myers, Florida. They live in Spokane, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona. Mike enjoys life as a writer and old-man baseball player. His Short Story, Old Man Baseball won the 2022 Shorts Awards Grand Prize.

David Fitz-Gerald writes westerns and historical fiction. He is the author of twelve books, including the series Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail set in 1850.

Alpine landscapes and flashy horses always turn Dave’s head. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked to the summit of the range’s highest peaks. As a mountaineer, he’s happiest at an elevation of over 4000 feet above sea level.

Dave is a lifelong fan of western fiction, landscapes, movies, and music. It should be no surprise that Dave delights in placing memorable characters on treacherous trails, mountain tops, and wild horses.

Anthony Horton is an accomplished executive and writer whose life intertwines success in business with an enduring love of writing. He is a seasoned wilderness trekker and has canoed, kayaked and backpacked across four continents. His off-the-grid explorations ignited a passion for writing as he sought to immortalize the natural wonders he encountered.  His writing explores the interconnections and interplay surrounding our relationships, challenges and psyche. 

Seán has been a writer since he discovered that people strung words together to tell stories. He is also a polyglot and has written creatively in Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Latin, and Irish. Sean has finished three novel projects and published stories in several journals, anthologies, and Chanticleer Magazine. A native of Gary, Indiana, and Dwyer teaches Spanish, German, and Portuguese at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. The author of over 100 songs, Dwyer is also an active member of Red Wheelbarrow Writers, Whatcom Writers and Publishers, and Upstart Crows.

Lynne Spriggs O’Connor spent ten summers on Montana’s Blackfeet Indian Reservation while doing fieldwork for her Ph.D. in Native American Art History from Columbia University. After moving to Montana in her early forties, she curated Bison: American Icon, a permanent exhibition of Native American art for the C.M. Russell Museum on bison in the Northern Plains. O’Connor previously curated exhibitions of folk and self-taught art at the High Museum in Atlanta. For the past fifteen years, she and her husband have lived on a cattle ranch in northeastern Montana, where her life centers on writing, animals, and family. Elk Love is her first memoir.

The writer of six plays including the critically acclaimed Out Late, as well as High Time, Chicken and Fish and Prairie Fire, TIM TURNER has written full-time since the early 1980s. He has also written an original screenplay, a libretto, adapted two of his plays into screenplays, and written many short plays. As Executive Director of The Playwrights Group in Los Angeles, he produced Seven Playwrights Exposing Themselves, an evening of short plays, and the next year, Tales from Hollywood Boulevard. He has three photographs in the permanent collection of The New Orleans Museum of Art.

T.O. Paine is an award-winning author of fast-paced thriller suspense novels. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and holds a master’s degree in computer information systems. When he is not writing, you can find him outside, exercising in the Rocky Mountains. T.O. has run fifty marathons in fifty states, ridden his road bike hundreds of miles over 10,000-foot mountains, and completed an IRONMAN. A father of two, he resides with his wife in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

Reenita Malhotra Hora is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist and audio producer.

Native to Mumbai, she has many years of experience growing organizations from startups to medium-sized businesses through storytelling, creative marketing and business strategy. Reenita has written eight books (both fiction and non-fiction), two podcast series, a pilot and two feature screenplays.

As a writer she has contributed to Bloomberg, Reuters, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Asian Investor, Times of India, Rolling Stone,  Economic Times, National Geographic Kids, Cartoon Network Asia, Disney and more.

As an on-air news reporter, writer, and producer,  she has contributed to Bloomberg, RTHK Radio 3, Monocle Radio and the BBC.

Her female-driven comedy, ‘Operation Mom’ is a Santa Barbara Screenplay Awards winner, a three category finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards (Dante Rosetti YA, Humor/Satire, Chatelaine – Romance) and an Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize finalist. Her YA fantasy screenplay, ‘Shadow Realm’ is a Script2Comic and Launchpad Prose finalist, a Screencraft, Vail Film Festival and LA Intl Screenplay Awards quarterfinalist, and a selected nominee for the New Media Film Festival.

Passionate about the Indian narrative, her stories reflect the South Asian experience. Learn more about her projects at: http://www.reenita.com.

Judy Salamacha’s debut novel COLONEL BAKER’S FIELD: An American Pioneer Story (Bear State Books, 2013) was co-authored with Sandra Mittelsteadt and illustrated by Jody Salamacha Hollier. The narrative nonfiction is based on the research and family lore of California historian, Chris Brewer, who is the great-great grandson of Colonel Thomas Baker, the namesake of Bakersfield, CA where Salamacha was born and lived until moving to Morro Bay, CA. The 2015 second edition included a donation of 1,200 copies to Kern County Superintendent of Schools Middle Schools. Currently proceeds are donated to the Historical Society of Kern County. Salamacha directed the Central Coast Writers Conference at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA  from 2010-2014. She has been writing since 4th Grade, but didn’t consider herself a writer until moving to the Central Coast transitioning a marketing career to focus her writing as a journalist/columnist for numerous print publications, including the San Luis Obispo Tribune and currently an Estero Bay News column rotated among her four Bookshelf Writers members. Read Judy’s blog at www.judysalamacha.com

Robert Smith was raised in Chicago, enlisting in the Air Force in 1968. Following four years service as a Russian Linguist in Security Service Command, a branch of the NSA, Bob attended DePaul University and The John Marshall Law School. With over thirty years experience as a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago, Bob brings a lifetime of understanding and experience to his Frank Doherty series. The author now lives in Chicago with his wife. His book Running With Cannibals also won the 2022 Grand Prize in the Hemingway Award, and 1st Place in the 2022 Goethe Award.

Jacqui Clarke FCA, FTI, GAICD, JP, author of Stop Worrying About Money (Wiley), is a trusted advisor, board member, executor and veteran business executive. As a personal wealth and money management expert and over three decades of experience, 25 years at Deloitte and PWC helping high-net-worth families, individuals and business owners to build, manage and preserve their wealth. Her message is simple: with careful planning and effort, you can manage your money, so it doesn’t manage you. https://www.jacquiclarke.me/

LINKED IN https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquiclarke/

INSTAGRAM  https://www.instagram.com/jacquiclarke000/

David Stone writes love stories that melt your heart, leave you all rubbery at the knees, and always end at the bright beginning of something new and wonderful. He writes them because he believes that love is real and available to anyone brave enough to welcome it into their heart.

He believes that it’s never too late to invite the kind of love that dreams are made of into your life. In case you need proof, he married his high school sweetheart when he was sixty years young.

They are living their happily ever after in the grandeur of the Pacific Northwest with their border collie, Mr. Dickens.

Genét Simone, PhD, started her teaching career in Shishmaref, Alaska, and eventually went on to two graduate degrees, where she fell in love with teacher education. She taught at four major universities in Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington State, and retired in 2017, then returned once more to teaching high school. Her experiences in Shishmaref spearheaded a lifelong inquiry into the emotional and spiritual aspects of teaching: what calls people into the profession, and keeps them there? She created The B.E.S.T. Formula, a system for helping teachers be Brave, Effective, Self-Caring, and Transformative. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

FAQs about Books By the Bay Book Fair at Village Books

General Questions:

Q: When will the book room be open? 

The Book Room will open around 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Bellingham Yacht Club for Conference Attendees only! Books will be taken from the BYC to Village Books if they were checked in on Saturday. Other books can be dropped off at Village Books by 12pm at the earliest on Sunday April 6, 2025.

Q: Where will the Book Room be located?

The book room will be in the Marina Room at the Bellingham Yacht Club on Saturday, and move to Village Books on Sunday to best interact with the community.

Q: When will the Festival activities be (signings, readings, meet the author, drawings, and prizes)?

The Book Fair activities will be happening from 11a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday.

If you are a reader, we encourage you to follow your favorite author on social media and subscribee to their newsletter. Authors are delighted to connect with their readers!

Author Specific Questions:

Q: How will sales be handled?

Books will be available for purchase through Village Books according to the agreement signed by the author.

Q: How do I sign my book up for Books By the Bay at Village Books?

Authors must register for the full conference to be eligible to have their books in the book room, and we will send out instructions for how to sign up with Village Books by mid-February. You will be given explicit instructions on consigning your books with Village Books. Most authors will bring or ship their own books, for those who must go through a publisher, it is possible to have Village Books order them.

Q: Does this mean leftover books will go to Village Books to be sold after Books by the Bay at Village Books?

Village Books is in no way signing up to carry your books in their store–that is a separate process which they will gladly discuss with you. Those books left after Books by the Bay at Village Books are the author’s responsibility. If the author does not make arrangements to take them away, they will be disposed of with no compensation.