A Magical Book Fair Enchants Fiction Writers

For the second year in a row, fiction writers hoping for a book contract, tips on manuscripts, or just to spend time communing with fellow writers gathered at the Renaissance Woodbridge to attend the Liberty States Fiction Writers festival.

This year's conference, entitled "Create Something Magical", encouraged authors and would-be authors to dream big. Each writer situated at his own table had something new and different to offer conference-goers. The genres included, but were not limited to, romance, action, mystery, and horror. The authors provided their own insight and perspective into the novels that they had written while offering to sign books and answer questions.

J. Hali Steele, an author who has been a member of Liberty States Fiction Writers for the past two years, had her new book, "Hope in Love" on display at the book fair. Her inspiration for writing was quite an interesting story: she was simply dissatisfied of what she was finding on the shelves.

"I wasn't finding the spicy stories that I liked. If I found one, it was an eBook. Finally I found a press that published spicy stories and I got a contract with my first two books," she said. Interestingly enough, Steele writes erotic romance novels, but her main characters are all angels.

"People think of angels as being holy and pure, but you know, angels need love too," she said. Steele knows that such a contradiction might cause problems and a little bit of an uproar, but that's the power of fiction. "I want to go against the religious reputation of angels. It has caused quite a bit of a stir, but they are my angels and they could do what I want them to do," she said with a smile.

Other authors offered different and refreshing genres with a new appeal. John-Richard Thompson had a few books on display that he co-wrote with Anne Ford, Henry Ford's granddaughter. These books, "Laughing Allegra," "On Their Own," and "A Special Mother" focused on raising a child with learning disabilities.

His personal book, "The Christmas Mink," was a fun collection of short and creative Christmas stories. The story of how the book was conceived was interesting. "Instead of writing out a Christmas card every year, I would write a new Christmas story every year and send it out to family and friends," Thompson said. "One day a publisher happened to get hold of one of my stories and he approached me. He asked me if I had any more stories, and you bet I did!"

Author Veronica Lynch writes romantic suspense and focuses on social justice and change through her writing. Her occupation as a nurse greatly influenced her writing and novels, she said. The main characters of her novels are often heros and heroines in their 40s.

Two of the four books that she had on display included "Out of the Dark" and "Try Just Once More." Lynch wrote "Try Just Once More" under her author personality name, Kat Henry Doran. In this off-the-edge romantic suspense novel, a woman is accused of her husband's murder while someone is after her children. Lynch said she used a lot of her personal experiences and incorporated them into her novels.

These experiences not only enrich her novels, she said, but give readers a taste of her background, allowing them to connect with her."There is a lot of medical information and terminology in it," said Lynch, as a result of her occupation as a nurse. The novel is set in Northern New York State, which is where she is originally from.

The magic and bewilderment is always ever-present in fiction, and the case was no different in these books.