KEESEVILLE — Self-published author Tony Olson organized the Keeseville Book Festival, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Keeseville Civic Center, 1790 Main St.
“There are not a lot of opportunities for self-published authors out there. You have to market yourself. I know of a couple of other self-published authors in the area, so I put my feelers out and I was surprised. I think I got like seven or eight people in the area that are coming by. I wanted to to organize an event where everyone could self-promote, and it would be cost-free for the author,” he said.
Authors include: Emery Arden (epic fantasy), J. H. Mull (psychological crime thriller), Samuel Groshans (dark fantasy), Maryann Proper (historical romance), Brittany E. Allen (rhyming children’s books, ages 6 and under), Maryann Barto (murder mystery steampunk), Jennie King (UFO-ology), Jabez Flint (elfin-canine fantasy), Nancy Rumney (children and quilting books), and Hales Passino (poetry).
By day, Olson runs a company in the industrial park. He writes when he can. He has published 12 books and is working on the next one.
The 53 year-old doesn’t have a set genre. One book is a traditional horror. A four-book series taps into the zombie genre. A six-book series is murder mystery.
“And 90% of my books take place in Keeseville or the surrounding area. Initially, I started writing way back in 1990. I had to put that dream on hold because life took me in a different direction and six years ago I started back up,” he said.
Olson did not study writing formally, but honed his skills over the years. His most popular series is “The Sarah Barney Chronicles.”
“The first book in the series is called ‘Mountaintop Murder.’ In it, Sarah is a Plattsburgh homicide detective. There is a body that’s found up on Poke-O-Moonshine, and she gets involved with that case, which leads her on the case of a serial killer. Sarah is highly observant. She is emotionally driven. She is an avid hiker, which kind of plays into the theme of the book. She knows when to seek help and when to rely on her own instinct,” he said.
Olson decided not to go the conventional publishing route so far.
“Just because I saw self-publishing through Amazon as a way to get my books out there faster. There’s not a lot of red tape to it. Not with Amazon. You just publish it. and no royalty structure was also attractive as well. The main challenge is getting yourself out there and well-known enough to sell copies of your book,” he said.
His influences include Dean Koontz, Lincoln Child, Dante Alighieri, Herman Melville, and J. R. R. Tolkien.
“The first rule of writing I found out is to write what you know. My first book takes place 99% in Vermont because that’s where I was living when I started writing it. When I moved over here, it just made logical sense to write about the area I’m living in. It comes across as more real when you write about what you know. Everyone that has read my books have told me that I’ve captured the area so well that they can close their eyes and picture it was they read it. They they know exactly what I’m talking about,” he said.
Olson has been told his writing practice is strange.
“I start with a premise. My wife asked me to write a murder mystery because she wanted to read my books, but she doesn’t do horror. I started with a premise. The main character is partially named after my wife. My wife’s name is Sarah, and she likes to hike. So I said well, what would happen to a police detective who likes to hike? What would be their arch nemesis kind of thing? So I started with that. In the first couple of chapters of the new series, I developed the characters and then they take on a life of their own and the book ends up where I didn’t think it was going to go if that make any sense at all. I’m jut like the vessel, basically,” he said.
How does Olson define success as a writer?
“I would love to be a household name like Steven King or any of those people that are remembered long after they’re gone. I want to leave a legacy behind for my family, my kids, my grand kids,” he said.