J.R. Matheson and Lee Bice-Matheson at The Bookshelf book fair in Newmarket. We are ready for the day to begin.
J.R. and I were delighted to be invited to the inaugural book fair held on Saturday, June 25th, in the Newmarket Community Centre and Lions Hall, next to the Farmer’s Market. We’d never been to Newmarket and what a booming place it has become. 
Through-out the day, we took turns navigating our way through the farmer market vendors and bought some of their goodies. We loved the live music. Thank you to the band. Awesome guys! And there were other entertainers too. 🙂
Juggler and animal balloon artist. He worked very hard in the heat entertaining the kids and the adults. Thank you kindly!
Set-up began for us at 8:10 am. Our drive from Orillia took over an hour but an easy drive it was. After setting up our Table B6, I noticed the author directly across from us. It was none other than the supernatural thriller author, Dr. Lawrence Segel.
Dr. Lawrence Segel, author of supernatural thrillers. Medical doctor too. He supports animal charity through the writing of his books. Incredible Dr. Segel. Great to meet you .
After a nice chat, I asked him if he would like to take a photo with me, and our ghost, and he gave an enthusiastic yes! Here we are pictured with his four novels. Dr. Segel expects nothing but a small donation to animal charity in return for buying one of his books. Admirable to say the least!! We cannot wait to read them ourselves.
I noticed a rather tall gentleman next to us, his table angled adjacent to us on the next aisle. I rounded his display and introduced myself. I was surprised to discover it was Dr. John Moss, author of the Quin and Morgan mystery novels. He is also a university professor at the University of Ottawa. Kevin’s scooped two of these novels we picked up for his ‘to read’ shelf. We had a great time chatting with Dr. Moss about writing, his novels, & quickly found out we have mutual friends, too.
Lee is pictured with Dr. John Moss. Author of the Quin and Morgan novels.
Startled by the time, I walked around the room trying to meet as many authors as I could before the 9 am opening of the book fair. First up was Clair McIntyre, author of the Halsin Chronicles. Did you know she began
Author Clair McIntyre of the Halsin Chronicles. Based on the Four Horsemen
writing her first novel at the age of 13? How fantastic is that? Her display and the passion for her series was awesome. Next up was an author I am familiar with, Allison Cosgrove. She is the author of the Stan Brookshire novels. So happy to meet her. I also met Rivka Ringlestein, coauthor of a non-fiction book that her husband started, and after his death, Rivka finished writing Together Forever: Being a Hero to Your Family. It is a heart-wrenching, intriguing, personal account. I also met one of Rivka’s friends, Lina Savio, author of My Life: Then and Now, a book on her life in Italy and in Canada. Soulful works, indeed.
Pictured here is Mags Storey, author of Dead Girls Don’t.
Winner of the jelly belly bean contest. Congratulations again! Great to meet you and your sister too.
Okay, time to get to work. We had decided to hold a jelly belly bean guessing contest. Our neighbours were Silly Dolls Canada and they guessed a few times. Thank you for starting the ball rolling, guys! Then a teacher dropped by our table with his two young daughters and when they saw the jelly belly beans contained in the light bulb, they began guessing. Interestingly enough, our series is for Ages 11+ The young lady who won is 11 and soon-to-be 12 in three short days. She won the limited edition posters of both books: Wake Me Up Inside + Destiny’s Gate, paperback copies, and the jelly belly beans. That was the highlight of our day. Exactly our target audience, who we write for in other words, won the contest. Honestly, I could have packed up and returned home, happy that this very excited girl won our prizes. She skipped away…it really was the cutest thing and several authors commented ‘now that was a moment’.
Wonderful to have J.R., my coauthor, with us as sometimes he is working in his lab and cannot get away on the weekends. We had interested readers drop by through-out the day. Many took our pamphlets or cards for later exploration. We also had a newspaper reporter stop by and take our card. His father owns a Toronto magazine and he said my dad will be very interested in the two of you – Mom-Son supernatural fiction series writing team. That’s great because J.R. lives in Toronto.
Elyse Kishimoto author of YA series The Dining and Social Club for Time Travellers: Divine Intervention, Book One. See you at WOTS.
We met Deborah of Campo Studio Arts and Gallery with her beautiful artwork; James Forrest of a sci-fi series with his latest work soon to be released in August entitled Orion Surfacing; Cameron S. Currie, author of Shiv released in February this year; and Elyse Kishimoto of Divine Intervention, a new YA series. Every author has fascinating works and what an honour to meet them. Lucky for us, we attend our book signings with my husband, Kevin, J.R.’s Dad, and he stays at our table while we are networking and texts us when we are needed. Thank you a million times over Kevin!
It’s a family affair in our world. Coauthors J.R. Matheson and Lee Bice-Matheson with husband, dad, manager, Kevin. Thank you so much Dear. Another great day…at The Bookshelf book fair.
Overall, it was a highly successful day. We love to meet book lovers and other authors. It was wonderful to meet the winner of our contest. Happy early Birthday. Thank you to author MJ Moores for the highly organized day and wonderful, air-conditioned venue. There were also author readings and a silent auction going on through the day. We were delighted the Paige Maddison Series was annointed as a clue on the scavenger hunt. Everything went smoothly without a hitch. Thank you from J.R. and I to the Writers’ Community of York Region. It was wonderful to connect with many of you. Sorry we didn’t get to meet everyone. Next year! 🙂 #grateful
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