As of today, more than 30 authors have signed up to participate in Author Day 2024.
The event will take place at Art Circle Public Library, 3 East St., Crossville, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. April 13.
Admission is free. The public is encouraged to stop in and meet their new favorite authors who will be available to sign and sell their books.
Authors retain proceeds from their sales. This is an excellent opportunity to promote new and talented authors, such as:
Valerie Caramella
Valerie Caramella writes paranormal romance. She is the author of Jaylon-Rose of Rolling Brook, Vol. I and II. Caramella began writing in 2008, fueled by a lifelong love for writing poems and storytelling.
David Cordrey
Cordrey believes that as an author he has lived an unreasonably rich, full life, which is the well from which he draws for the books he now writes.
Cordrey had a long career in law enforcement and graduated with a master’s degree in Theology in 2019. Those points of his life allowed him to write from his base as a Christ-follower and simultaneously see life from the perspective of someone who has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly.
Cordrey lives in Crossville with Maggie, his wife of 12 years.
Joyce Crouch
Joyce Crouch was born Christmas Day, 1925, in Fentress County. At 16, she worked as a clerk in the office of the County Agent.
She went on to study at Tennessee Tech, completing the baccalaureate and master’s degrees. She taught at the elementary and high school levels, then went on to complete a doctorate degree at the University of Tennessee, later teaching at Appalachian State University for 23 years.
After retiring she opened a private practice in psychology, Following the closing of her practice she moved on to writing articles for the Fentress Courier and began self-publishing historical works.
During her teaching career at Appalachian, Crouch became involved in women’s rights and in 2019 began research for her books on women and equal rights, published in 2023.
Crouch was married and had two children.
Beth Durham
Beth Durham is a native of Fentress County. She believes we are a people of strong faith and determination and loves sharing stories of her people.
Durham believes these qualities have led to people of Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau not only survive, but to thrive, through hard times and in conditions that many people of today would not.
Loyd Elmore Jr.
Loyd Elmore, Jr. was born in Forth Worth, TX. When he was 1 year old, his family moved to Middle Tennessee.
He was raised on “everything nerdy” (comic books, Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Indiana Jones, and Stephen King). These are the things he has always loved and decided that writing books as well as reading them was his destination.
Kasey Riley
Kasey Riley has been a transplant to Tennessee since 2016. She arrived with her husband, three dogs, two cats and two horses in the middle of winter and has enjoyed living here since then.
Riley’s knowledge of rural living and horsemanship shows in many of her books. The fictional town of Riverview, CO, is a ranching community where neighbors are friends and things happen that show the resilience of those who live in rural America.
She has ventured out of the romantic suspense/mystery genre a few times. In her young adult novels, her characters are growing up and experiencing life in rural settings. Adventures on horses and in the wilds are the trademarks of those novels.
In her DNA trilogy…she poses a “what if” question and answers it with a character who researches her heritage only to find she wants to escape it.
Jeff LaFerney
Jeff LaFerney is a former English teacher and coach from Michigan who moved to Tennessee with his wife six years ago. He enjoys sports, reading and writing. He manages a blog called The Red Pen, and edits books for other independent authors.
His eight novels incorporate action, mystery, suspense, humor, and adventure. His books sell on Amazon in both printed and e-book versions.
Linnhe McCarron
Linnhe McCarron is the pen name for Leslie Helm, who lives in an equestrian community in Jamestown, TN. She grew up in New England and has served both stateside and abroad as an Air Force officer.
McCarron writes contemporary women’s fiction. The six-book Riverwood Series is set in Tennessee’s spectacularly beautiful and rugged Big South For, often referred to as “The Trail Riding Capital of the Southeast.”
McCarron’s latest book, The Green Mountain Trilogy, is set in Vermont. Her main characters are riders and each book is filled with genuine details of horse ownership.
McCarron’s books are for horse lovers who love to read books about horses.
Michael C. McCormick
Michael C. McCormick is enthusiastic about reading almost anything that piques his interest. He grew up in a rural environment and loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing. He feels that times are much different now and thought it would be a good idea to put those times in a book.
Terry Mitchell
Terry Mitchell graduated from Bowling Green State University and later earned a master’s degree in public administration from Marist College. His first published work appeared in an anthology by the Syracuse (NY) Veterans Writing Group, The Weight of My Armor.
Mitchell has won awards for piano solos at the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival. He and his wife Nancy perform together.
Kay Monk
Kay Monk spent her early years in the West and loves the memories of her childhood. She began researching her family’s history and realized her memories were somewhat shaded.
After moving East, her father died. Many meager years followed.
After graduating from high school, Monk joined the Air Force and worked for the WAF Squadron at Randolph Field in Texas.
According to Monk, the Air Force “in their wisdom” made her a secretary, when her greatest talent was accounting. When her husband, a jet mechanic, was shipped overseas, she left the military and waited for his return.
Upon his return they moved to California where she attended a junior college. Eventually she returned to the East and worked in accounting.
Monk now spends her time writing.
Edwin E. Olson, Ph.D.
Edwin E. Olson, Ph.D. is a former professor of information service at the University of Maryland, College Park, and professor of management at Baldwin-Wallace College.
He is also a former organization development and diversity consultant to many companies and government agencies.
Olson currently teaches online MBA courses for the University of Maryland, Global Campus, the NTL Institute of Applied Behavioral Science, and the Chautauqua Institution of New York. He applies the theories and methods of the science of complexity, consciousness, quantum, applied behavioral science, and spirituality to the study of human, organization, and societal development.
His degrees include a BA in philosophy (St. Olaf College); MS in pastoral counseling (Loyola College); MA and Ph.D. in government (American University); graduate of the Science for Ministry Program, Princeton Theological Seminary.
Publications include Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity Science; Keep the Bathwater: Emergence of the Sacred in Science and Religion; Finding Reality: Four Ways of Knowing; And God Created Wholeness: A Spirituality of Catholicity; Become Conscious of Wholeness: Humanity’s Only Future; and Liminal Consciousness: Developing Leaders, Teams and Organizations for a Better World.
Barbara Buchanan Parsons
Barbara Parsons, formerly of Winter Park, FL has been a 56-year resident of Cumberland County. She writes a weekly column for the Crossville Chronicle and has published nine books.
She assisted in Editing Spoliations project to identify Jewish property stolen in the Holocaust.
Buchanan served 34 years in prison ministry at Bledsoe County State Prison. She served short term missions in John Laing II compound outside Lusaka, Zambia, Africa.
Other international travel includes a Christian tour of Jordan and Israel, and Monte Carlo, Monaco, for family business.
She is a past president of the local American Red Cross chapter during two major disasters.
She served in Southern Baptist Disaster Relief locally, in Slidell, LA, after Hurricane Katrina, and in Southwestern Kentucky in a major ice storm.
Parsons is a member of Fairfield Glade First Baptist Church, Sequatchie Valley DAR, Capt. Sally Tompkins UDC, Tennessee Division DCH and Scottish Clan Buchanan Society International.
A.G. Roberts
A.G. “Amanda” Roberts writes books for children, young adults and those young at heart. Her stories are imaginative, entertaining, and written with language and situations which are family friendly.
She lives in Crossville and works as an adjunct professor. She enjoys spending time with her flock of sheep.
Jesse Saunders
Jesse Saunders grew up an avid reader. Being home-schooled and raised by a father who thrived on adventure paved the way for a far-reaching imagination.
She has spent years cultivating worlds in her thoughts and is thrilled to finally be able to share those worlds.
D.R. Shoultz
D.R. “Donn” Shoultz began writing fiction in the fall of 2020 following a sales and marketing career that took him around the world.
After living 25 years in North Carolina, Donn and his wife Claudia recently moved to Crossville, where he continues writing.
Shoultz’s recent focus is his Mountain Mystery Series. With the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop, these novels feature big city crime and corruption invading fictitious mountain communities.
Each murder mystery stands on its own with compelling, hometown characters and twisting plots.
Border Town is the ninth in the series and planned for release later this year.
His books are available on Amazon com. Visit DRShoultz.com for more information.
David Shepard
David Shepard has been a teacher and coach for over 40 years. He has written 17 books, mostly about sports.
Shepard coached high school basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and tennis. He taught at K-4 and college levels.
He is a member of the Bethel University Sports Hall of Fame.
Gary Thomas Smith
Gary Thomas Smith’s interest began at an early age. His interests include travel, outdoor adventure, art, and literature.
He has traveled the Pacific Rim, visiting locales from Tokyo to Singapore, the Philippines and Hawaii – thanks to Uncle Sam.
His books include Caribbean Gauntlet/Vengeance Quest; Omni Genesis/The Polaris Singularity; and Poet of the Pack.
DeAnna Stephens
DeAnna Stephens is the author of the chapbook Heliotaxis (Main Street Rag), and her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Cherry Tree, Feminist Studies, and Louisiana Literature.
Her work has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and has won the George Scarbrough Prize for Poetry, the Sue Ellen Hudson Award from Tennessee Mountain Writers, the Tusculum Prize in Poetry, and the Tennessee Williams Festival Poetry Prize.
In 2022, she was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame.
Stephens teaches writing and literature at Roane State Community College in Crossville.