Indie Authors

Meet Speculative Fiction Author Jen Frankel

MJ Moores

Hello York Region! So excited to attend The Bookshelf and meet you all. I write speculative fiction of all sorts. From my flagship supernatural thriller series Blood & Magic to a YA sci-fi fantasy Leia of Earth–stop by and I’ll match you up with a good book!

Originally from London ON, I’ve lived all over this great country and love meeting new readers. I’ve worked in film, television, and theatre including backstage at the Stratford Festival, running my own screenwriting series, and performing at Fringes. I’ve also done a million odd jobs before turning to writing full time, from delivery driver to artists’ model to assistant parrot breeder. I’m also doing a new podcast called “Jen Frankel Reads Random S#it!” and co-host the Liquid Lunch talk show on ThatChannel.com.

Come by the table and tell me your crazy story. You can take home a novel, or stock up on eBooks delivered right to your inbox for under $3 each. And don’t forget to ask me about the original Vegan Zombie, aka the Undead Redhead.

Follow me on Twitter @jenfrankel and Instagram @jenfrankelauthor or find out more online at www.jenfrankel.com.

Meet Mystery Author Cynthia St-Pierre

MJ Moores

Newmarket mystery author Cynthia St-Pierre is looking forward to meeting readers from across the GTA and beyond at The Bookshelf 2017 on Saturday May 13th from 9am-2pm.

A member of Crime Writers of Canada, International Thriller Writers, and Short Mystery Fiction Society, Cynthia’s recipes and short stories appear in magazines and collections, including Harmoni, Feastie, Finding Vegan, Over My Dead Body!, Mystery Weekly and Flash Bang Mysteries. Awarded for fiction, she has also been a writing contest judge.

Best of all for a mystery writer, Cynthia has received a York Regional Police Citizens Awareness Program certificate, presented and signed by Julian Fantino, former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Cynthia grows fruit and vegetables in her backyard, speaks English-accented French with her husband, Yves, and writes mystery novels with her friend Melodie Campbell. Come to The Bookshelf to pick up A Purse to Die For and A Killer Necklace!

Connect with Cynthia online:

@stpierrecynthia

Author Central

Crime Writers of Canada

Meet Political Satire Author Willie Handler

MJ Moores

The Bookshelf is an all genre reader’s event which focuses on showcasing new authors and reading-related vendors. One of our newest author/vendors for 2017 is Willie Handler.

willie-handler-media-blast-pic-author-picWILLIE HANDLER grew up in Toronto and did his undergraduate work at the University of Toronto. He also has graduate degrees from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto and the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent over thirty years in various positions in the Ontario public service, before leaving in 2011. He currently lives in Thornhill with his wife and blogs at www.williehandler.com. Follow @WillieHandler on Twitter. Willie is looking forward to participating in The Bookshelf 2017.

 THE ROAD AHEAD is a political satire and Willie’s first novel. The story is about Rick Tompkins, a suburban Toronto insurance broker, who never considered a career in willie-handler-media-blast-pic-bookspolitics until a good friend, who happens to be the leader of the Conservative party, asks him to run for office. He accepts the offer, with the understanding that he would probably not win, but can use the opportunity to gain some visibility for himself and his business. Jerry Switzer, a veteran party worker, is sent in to guide Rick through a campaign in a riding that hasn’t elected a Conservative in years.

Rick fumbles his way through the election campaign and manages a surprise win but at the expense of saddling his party with an impossible commitment. What makes matters worse, Rick is anything but politically correct. He offends everyone in his path and stumbles from one political scandal to another.

Join us at The Bookshelf on Saturday May 13, 2017 from 9am – 2pm and meet your next favourite author!

Putting the “Fun” Back into Politics!

MJ Moores

Isobel Warren in the Reading Room

MJ Moores

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIsobel Warren is one of our local indie talents who will be reading at The Bookshelf on Saturday, June 25 at 10:45 am.

I first met Isobel after I found her creative writing class listed in the Month Ahead. Her gentle but firm encouragement helped me recover my writing voice and I am forever grateful for her fierce commitment to the written word and what it stands for in each individual.
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Isobel was a journalism student at Ryerson who wanted to write about music, but was discouraged to do so by the all-male faculty because there were no female music critics. Although she regrets this decision, she gets her classical music “fix” from her soon-to-be 59 years of marriage to Milan, a life-long musician who is principal percussionist with the Markham Concert Band, as well as their Juno-nominated, violin-wielding (among myriad instruments), vocalist daughter, Annabelle Chvostek.
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Isobel came to travel writing at mid-life while serving as editor to CARP news. Having visited upwards of 60 countries (“I’m never sure whether some of those South Seas islands are countries or merely volcanic eruptions of unknown ownership”), she now only travels to carefully chosen, familiar destinations although she hasn’t lost her sense of adventure, with Canada’s far north high on her wish list.
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Isobel entered the teaching profession three decades ago after being begged to fill in for a friend. She was delightedly surprised to find she both loved and excelled at it. She has taught at the University of Toronto, Seneca College, Humber College and the University of Guelph prior to her Newmarket Public Library classes. Many of her students are now published writers but that’s not her purpose; so many more are simply enjoying the therapeutic benefits of writing. “Being published should not be the goal,” she adamantly insists.
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Co-owner and operator of Cedar Cave Books, she is the author of five books: two novels and three travel guides, and editor/publisher of WORDPLAY. Isobel currently has two books under wraps, too early to share any tidbits as of yet. She will be reading an excerpt from her latest novel, In Them Days.
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWORDPLAY Cover

Author Rob Brunet – Stinking Rich

Nanci Pattenden

Featured Author Rob Brunet @ The Bookshelf June 25.

stinking_richJoin us at The Bookshelf @ The Market at 10:30a.m. in The Reading Room to hear Rob speak, and meet one of Ontario’s rising authors –  http://23.111.69.102/~wcyr/bookshelf/guest-readers/rob-brunet/.

Rob’s novel, Stinking Rich, is one of the top 6 debut novels of 2014. The novel takes place in the Kawartha region, north-east of Toronto. In his novel, Rob answers the question, “What could possibly go wrong when a backwoods biker group decides to hire high school dropout to tend a barn full of high-grade marijuana?” Apparently just about everything.

Stinking Rich is a solid first novel for Brunet, who is already working on two other books that bring us up-to-date on life in the Kawarthas and reintroduces some of the characters in this book.Rob Brunet

After numerous rejections, Rob found himself at a conference, seated beside Eric Campbell of Down & Out Books, one of the publishers he had sent his manuscript to. He introduced himself and admitted he couldn’t remember if that publisher had already said no to his books. By the end of their conversation, Rob had sold Eric on his book.

Rob is a member of Crime Writers of Canada as well as the Director for the Toronto and Southern Ontario Region. He is also a creative writing instructor at George Brown College and co-host of Noir at the Bar Toronto.