Boise Book Faire
Boise Book Faire 2023
Join us Saturday, November 4, from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the Main Library to connect with talented local authors, explore a wide array of captivating titles available for purchase, and immerse yourself in a literary wonderland.
The faire will provide an opportunity for attendees to increase their access to materials, elevate literacy and lifelong learning, strengthen connections with community organizations as well as local authors.
But that's not all! We've got some fantastic workshops lined up, presented by our brilliant library staff.
Boise Public Library Staff Hot Books of 2023
Kids | Teens | Adults
Schedule
1st Floor - William F. Hayes Auditorium
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Author Alley. Over 20 authors will be joining us from across the Treasure Valley for our Author Alley. This is a great opportunity to meet some of our wonderful local writers, learn about them and their work, and add some new books to your collection. Plus, the holidays are coming up and books make great gifts!
3rd Floor – Marion Bingham Room
10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. How to Find Appropriate Materials for your Family. Want to find the books that are right for you? Join us as we talk about some tools and resources you can use at home to find the next great read for you and your family!
11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Graphic Novels as Literacy Tools. Discover the power of visual storytelling in boosting literacy! Graphic novels are often misunderstood and underutilized as a tool for literacy. Learn why graphic novels are great for all readers.
12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. 5 Hidden Gems on the Library Website that will Change your Life! Want to learn about Personalized Picks, NoveList, LinkedIn Learning, and other amazing Library offerings? Join us to uncover digital treasures that will help you make the most of your library resources!
Authors
Learn more about the great local authors that will be sharing their work in Author Alley.
Taylor Van Arsdale
Taylor Van Arsdale received her B.A. in Screenwriting magna cum laude from Loyola Marymount University while working concurrently in film development at HBO, Los Angeles. She then served two seasons as a script consultant for NBC Universal’s Writers on the Verge Diversity Workshop before devoting 10 years to the field of journalism (for local and national outlets including: Santa Monica Daily Press, The Malibu Times, Creative Screenwriting Magazine and Cheapism.com).
She has penned original screen works and adaptations, including a commission of the New York Times Bestseller, A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss. Her debut, narrative non-fiction, Cocaine to Bain: Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll and the Inside Story of the Hollywood Guitar Center, was a First Place Finalist in the 6th Annual Beverly Hills Book Awards Memoir category and won Second Place in the American Book Fest for Nonfiction Narrative, and a Quarterfinalist in the 2023 Screencraft Cinematic Book Competition. Her short story “The Dining Needle” was shortlisted in Onyx Publications Fall Edition Contest 2022, longlisted in the Pigeon Review, and Highly Recommended in the Letter Review. She recently wrote and produced Midtown Mixup (a quirky comedy short) currently on the festival circuit. Her original Sci-fi thriller, The Rift was a Reader’s Choice in the LA Reads competition and winner of two screenplay awards.
A Long Island, New York native, and California transplant, she now resides in Meridian, Idaho with her fiancé and their wily feline rescue, Mr. Snugs.
Website
LL (Laurie) Bower, PhD
After two careers, one in business and one in academia, Laurel retired from teaching college literature, humanities, and writing in 2015 to pursue her lifelong passion for writing. While she's been published in other genres, fantasy and science fiction have always been her favorites. She wanted to write the kind of fantasy and science fiction she likes to read, with twists and turns and lots of quirky characters, supernatural abilities and some magic along the way. She has written six books, four fantasy and two science fiction.
Website
E. N. Crane
A fiction author under 2 pen names, Noelle lives in the treasure valley guzzling coffee and writing about the bond between plus-sized women and their dogs.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Dena Parker Duke
Dena Parker Duke is an Idaho writer, poet, and content creator. She is a retired Boise School District teacher who has devoted herself solely to writing over the last 4 years. She has been fortunate to have published three collections of her poetry, all written to inspire enlightened living, and she just published a fourth book for children. She has donated over 100 books to benefit women and children and plans to continue to do so. She has participated in book events at Rediscovered Books, has offered poetry classes using her books, has had Tiny Lights used in the Women's Prison in small group sessions, and recently has all four books being used as resources in a Montana conference on childhood suicide prevention.
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Matt Edwards
Matt Edwards, author of Ways and Truths and Lives, was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, formerly the Northwest’s best kept secret, where he developed an affinity for literature: both the challenge of understanding it and the potential to be understood through it. This propelled Matt to study English at Boise State University and devote himself to teaching high school English in the Boise area since 2006. Matt now enjoys sharing his life of passions with his wife and their one and only son. In his free time, if Matt’s not training for marathons, he’s writing fiction and poetry, mostly about gods and fathers and good, strong drinks. Icarus Never Flew 'Round Here, named one of the best books of 2023 by Independent Book Review, is his second novel.
Website | Instagram | Twitter
Rebecca Evans
Evans is a memoirist, poet, and essayist. She’s a military veteran, a serious gardener, and often engages in self-hand-to-hand combat. You can find her struggling with a phrase in her hammock, under the stairwell, or stuck in a fluffy chair. She teaches. A lot. Her poems and essays are published in some lovely lit journals, like The Rumpus and Narratively. You can also read her work in a few anthologies. She co-hosts a radio show, Writer to Writer, on Radio Boise and lives in Idaho with sons and Newfoundlands and a squawky Calico cat. Her recent book, Tangled by Blood, a memoir in verse (Moon Tide Press, 2023), is available wherever fine books are sold.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Taylor R. Gray
I am a software engineer turned author, with a deep-rooted interest in sci-fi, fantasy, and superheroes from childhood. I first began writing in high school when my friends and I would pass around a notebook to write our own sci-fi fantasy story. Since 2019, I've been transforming my daydreams into written novels.
Amazon | Facebook
J. Guzman
J. Guzmán was born on January 14th, 1991, at 8:42 a.m., in Lewiston, ID, USA. She is the creator of On Being, a self-referential, metaphysical, diary case history where she psychoanalyzes her consciousness throughout time, uses tools like astrology to facilitate the investigation, and documents the entire process. J is building a life-long, narrative, archival data set of her life for astrologers and other researchers to use to show exactly how their respective theories, methods, techniques, and practices function. J. is the ultimate research test subject.
Website | Instagram
Merri Halma
Merri Halma grew up in a small town in Washington State. Words always filled her mind from her earliest memories. She created stories to entertain herself. Growing up with a speech impediment, though, made it difficult to share her stories. But her imagination grew, and her family urged her to tame it. As she grew older, writing became her voice. She is the author of the fantasy with metaphysical/ visionary elements series the Indigo Travelers (four books so far) and Haunting of Powell Hall. Her newest book, Luca Treyton and the Mystical Darkness Shining (the second of the Indigo Travelers Companion book) will be out next year.
Facebook | Instagram
S.F. Harris
Father, teacher, poet, and writer. Enjoys building worlds and realized that he just needed to write them down to spark them into existence. Loves the rain and watching clouds.
Website | Instagram
Margaret Koger
Margaret Koger is a retired educator with a writing habit. She was raised on an acreage near the Snake River after electricity came to rural Idaho but before her parents could afford to buy her a pony. She survived and moved to Boise, where she attended Boise State University and later taught English with an emphasis on Creative Writing and served briefly as a Poet in the Schools—always encouraging students to write as if a friend were listening in. Her works appear in numerous publications, including Tiny Seed Literary Journal, The Limberlost Review, and the Writers in the Attic anthologies Animal, Game, and Apple. Most recently, one of her Winnie stories has been featured in The Whistle Pig Literary Journal. Margaret's first collection of poetry—What These Hands Remember (Kelsay, 2022)—celebrates the joys of irises, robin eggs, Ceylon tea, and the love infused in the peppery scent of Grandma’s carnations in the garden. A second collection—If Seasons Were Kingdoms (Fernwood Press, 2023, forthcoming)—shares the richness of the outdoor world in Idaho and beyond.
Amazon | Facebook | Instagram
James T. Lambert
James T. Lambert writes from his office/land yacht ‘Bertrude’. He’s been polishing his craft since his first NaNoWriMo in 2011, working on his overnight success. He breaks things for a living (software testing), enjoys writing, reading, movies, comics, theater, boardgames, Scotch, craft beer, hot air ballooning, and having too many hobbies.
Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
J. Brandon Lowry
J. Brandon Lowry is an author who isn't afraid to take chances in pursuit of his dreams. In 2017, he left behind his job as an academic scientist to travel the world and write full time. He has since traveled to 23 countries across six continents, writing two novels and dozens of short stories along the way. An Idaho native, he now resides in Boise, which serves as his home base when he's not out on the road. His debut novel, The Glass Frog, is a fairy tale for adults that also serves as a testament to the transformative power of travel.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Patricia Marcantonio
Patricia Marcantonio is the author of the Felicity Carrol Victorian mystery series; the courtroom drama Verdict in the Desert, published by Arte Público Press, the largest US publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Hispanic authors; and the horror mystery Under the Blood Moon. Her YA novel Best Amigas will be released Nov. 14, and her women’s fiction novel, Misbehaving at Cactus Lanes will be published in January by One More Chapter. She received Alexa Rose Foundation Grants to produce two of her plays. Her new play, Roja Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Tales, based on her award-winning book, Red Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Cuentos, has been published by Pioneer Drama Service. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and has won awards for her screenplays and journalism.
Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon
Brad Mathews
Brad Mathews bends genre rules by creating dynamic, unorthodox characters thrust into criminal investigations. He is known to use abstract imagery to construct striking realities that build into suspenseful mystery tales. Mathews is Certified in Plumbing design, and his extensive Building Information Modeling experience gives him a unique ability to detail mechanical and industrial settings in his novels. Mathews resides in Boise, Idaho with his family.
Website | Facebook
Bryan McBee
Bryan McBee is the author of Vector Zero and Afterworld from Atmosphere Press. After serving in the US Army, he attended Boise State University and graduated with a degree in Writing and Communication. He is an avid bookworm, cinephile, and gamer. He lives in Idaho with his wife and daughter.
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Christi Nogle
Christi Nogle writes psychological and supernatural horror, dark science fiction, and weird fiction. She is the author of the Shirley Jackson Award nominated and Bram Stoker Award® winning first novel Beulah (Cemetery Gates Media) and the collections The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future and Promise (Flame Tree Press). A third collection, One Eye Opened in That Other Place, is scheduled for March 2024. Her short stories have appeared in over fifty varied publications including Strange Horizons, PseudoPod, Three-Lobed Burning Eye, and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. Christi is also an Associate Editor at the popular horror podcast PseudoPod, coeditor with Willow Dawn Becker of the Bram Stoker Award® nominated anthology Mother: Tales of Love and Terror from Weird Little Worlds, and co-editor with Ai Jiang of Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia (Shortwave Publishing).
She enjoys sharing stories and critiques in various writing groups, mentoring and volunteering for writers’ organizations, and teaching creative writing workshops. Christi is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, and Codex Writers’ Group. She lives in Boise, Idaho with her partner Jim and their gorgeous dogs.
Website | Instagram | Twitter
Brock Poulsen
Brock Poulsen knows that real magic lives in words and stories. He tries to capture some of it from his home in Boise, Idaho, where he lives with his family. He writes fantasy, horror, science fiction, and anything else that calls to him.
Website | Facebook
Amy Maren Rice
Amy Maren Rice grew up on a dead-end street in the small town of Chubbuck, Idaho. Her childhood was filled with time to daydream, eat freshly shelled peas from her grandpa’s garden, and read for hours under her grandma’s shady apple tree in the back yard. She can still remember the first book she bought with her very own money. For ten cents she purchased the gateway to what would become a shelter from the storm of life, a companion during the hardest times, and a lifelong passion. She attended Idaho State University where she earned a dual bachelor’s degree in Fine Art, and Advertising and Public Relations. She has her mother and grandmother to thank for a life full of painting and creativity and her father for her unique sense of humor. While in college she met and married her husband, and they have three incredible boys together. Fuzzwiggs the Switcheroo is her first novel and was written for her boys.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Dawn R. Schuldenfrei
I’ve been writing all my life; when I was about ten years old I won third place in a national short story contest run by the Official Star Wars Fan Club (presumably in my age group, but forty years later I don’t remember the specifics; I did get some cool movie stills though). My first piece of paid writing was a horror poem I sold to Dreams of Decadence magazine, later republished in the anthology Best of Dreams of Decadence. I’ve also published an article on Muay Thai training in Masters magazine and a memoir piece in the San Jose Mercury News. I’m currently working on a five-book contemporary fantasy series, Rules of Chaos, full of faeries, unicorns, lake monsters, and the occasional human.
Website | Facebook | Mastodon
Nicole Sharp
Legend has it that Nicole Sharp was born to hippies during an ice storm in Stone Mountain, Georgia. While confirmation of said events cannot be agreed upon, one fact is for certain, it was a Tuesday. These days, Nicole swigs cappuccinos the way a dehydrated sailor with scurvy would whiskey, as she writes about Italy, love, coffee, and the quirky adventures of fearless women. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with no houseplants and three pink stovetop espresso makers.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Madi Vale
Madi Vale wrote and published her first book in February of this year. Now she is working on a science fiction romance series under the pen name Mattie B. Sloane. She loves all things bookish and romantic.
Website | Instagram
Cindi V. Walton
Cindi Walton took her first art class over thirty-eight years ago. She took her supplies list to the local art store with stars in her eyes. The owner of the store asked if he could help her. She said, “Yes, after I have touched everything in this store.” Since then, she graduated from BSU with a Bachelor of Fine Art and designed and marketed a line of a Christmas cards for 30 years. She has written and illustrated three children’s stories and illustrated three others for other authors. When not working in the studio, Cindi loves hiking through the sagebrush steppe being inspired for her paintings of the sagebrush landscape and all the birds, animals, and plants that call it home. She is a member of, and the Events Chairperson for, the board of Boise Open Studios Collective, a member of Treasure Valley Artists Alliance, and her work has been shown in many galleries and venues in southern Idaho. She paints with acrylics and gouache (an opaque watercolor) and her iPad and Apple Pencil. No matter what medium she uses, she usually starts out sketching with pen and ink or an old-fashioned pencil. She lives in Boise with her husband and her dog, Chet.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
More Information & Questions
If you have questions about Boise Book Faire, please reach out to Josh Shapel via email.