At the Local Author Fair
Why should I write about a Local Author Fair? The Kansas City Metro area may not seem like a literary hub to people from other parts of the world, but this town is just crawling with writers. I encountered that fact again when I attended the Mid-Continent Public Library’s Story Center Local Author Fair, on November 15, 2025. I’ve tried to offer a glimpse of it in this post.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in the United States recently there’s a growing trend of “going local.” During the Pandemic, when we had massive backups at the ports, I noticed a definite bias to “buy local.” During the run-up to the 2021 winter holiday season it was a self-defense effort. We especially pivoted toward supporting small local businesses, in the tradition of Small Business Saturday.
Maybe the president’s tariffs have inspired this latest wave of “buy local.” And once again, there’s an element of self-defense. Whatever the reason, here in the Kansas City Metro, “buy local” is back in the zeitgeist – at least for now. So, in the spirit of boosting local small creative businesses, I want to share information about some of the local authors I met at the fair.
Fantasy and SF Authors
Dividing up the “genre” territory was a bit of a challenge when it came to which local authors to profile in which category. You’ll notice that some of the “Romance, Women’s, and Historical Fiction” authors in the next section are fantasy crossovers. I appear to have been one of the few “mostly SF” authors at the Local Author Fair.
Kat Giles is another science fiction writer, although her at-show presentation was what one might call graphically challenged to the point that I almost overlooked her. Her debut novel Planet Sickness follows the increasingly suspenseful story of a young archivist who seeks to figure out what’s so deadly about Planet Tereus . . . before it kills her. The book explores themes of disability, corporate coverups, and environmental toxicity.
Dillon M. Wallace has near-future alt-history book The Hunt Initiative occupies similar dystopian territory as the Fellowship Dystopia of my friend Lynette M. Burrows. She, unfortunately, wasn’t able to attend the event. She’d been accepted, and we were planning to set up shop next to each other. I thought she should be represented, so here’s a look at her books.
Walking on the Fantasy Side
Other than Kat, Dillon and me, however, we pretty much had fantasy offerings in our genre group. I’m including writers in both the “adult readers” room and writers for “Teens.” Some of the distinctions seem pretty fuzzy. A couple of my fellow local authors are notable for their epic fantasy focus, however. JR Boles has recently pivoted into romance territory, but most of her books fit better in the fantasy category, especially her Bringer Trilogy. Another local, James F. Hopper, has recently released the first of a planned Fianna Chronicles series.
The rest of our genre niche was firmly occupied by horror authors. Squall Charlson has staked out what you might call “R. L. Stine territory” for younger readers, but his Terror Valley books form a strong and growing catalog. Scott Eveloff, MD had an interesting approach. He’s a practicing physician. Night shifts at hospitals offered inspiration for his paranormal novels, such as Do Not Resuscitate. And Dan B. Fierce also has a growing catalog of scary stories with creepy vibes.
I also have to give these guys extra points for their presentations! All three brought interesting elements to support their theme. Charlson had books, but also stickers, signs, and a hot pink skull in sunglasses. Eveloff hung a blood bag (fake blood) and IV tubing across the front of his table. And Fierce had a cool little “Cabin 187” model with interior lights and spooky touches.
Romance, Mystery, and Historical Fiction
As I noted above, some of the folks at the Local Author Fair, such as JR Boles, cross genre boundaries (with her recent foray into romance). Annette Alex is one who notably does. Her display and presentation emphasize the romance “identity,” but her stories include characters who are vampires or lycans (“not werewolf, lycan,” she stressed), and science fictional settings. There are definite fantasy vibes in Hannah Jodene Breault’s debut Cinnamon & Clove, too.
Staying with romance for one more, Mary Rudder’s debut novel Love on the Ropes features an unusual female lead – a professional boxer – and was partially inspired by Korean dramas. Leavened with humor, it’s a cross-cultural romance that rises from the ashes of mourning.
Mystery and History and Happily Ever Afters
Stacy Walsh has explored varied themes in her books. They include shared traumatic experiences, toxic relationships, a reversal of gender roles in society, and a grisly murder mystery as seen through layers of time and urban legend.
I’ll finish this general category with a couple of historical fiction authors. First, Deborah Dilks writes the “Miss Markham” mystery series, set in early-20th-century Kansas City. The first two were written under a pseudonym with a co-author. The third, Killing the Kansas City Shuffle, continues the series into the 1930s. Dilks has several other titles to her name as well, most also set in early 20th century Kansas City.
Lifelong historical romance enthusiast Marissa McQueen probably has the best tagline of the lot. “My mission is to bring happily ever afters to all of my ancestors.” This is a more daunting task than you might think: her trio of interconnected romances is set in the prosperous Black social scene of the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1920.
An Eclectic Collection of Others
A few of the authors who caught my interest at the Local Author Fair are less easy to categorize. For some, that’s because there was no “critical mass” of other authors in their genre. Sara Brunsvold is a Christian writer who favors multigenerational stories of “realistic people in realistic situations.” She currently has three books available.
I had the privilege of meeting not one, but two psychologists at the Local Author Fair. One, Dr. Sieglinde Othmer, wrote the only nonfiction book in today’s blog post: a slender, highly practical volume titled Joyous Longevity. No surprise: it’s written particularly for those of us in the latter half of our lives.
The Children’s Section
The other counselor is focused more specifically on the younger crowd. Tamicka Monson’s book, Where Daddy Lives, is written for the children of incarcerated parents, by someone who knows. Monson was a child of an incarcerated person. Then she went through school (two Masters Degrees) and now is a licensed psychological counselor, including for children and families of incarcerated persons, as well as others who have experienced trauma. I should note that Where Daddy Lives is illustrated quite ably and attractively by the multi-talented C. J. Love.
One of the final two “notable locals” on my list to mention from the Local Author Fair are Amanda Loeppke, whose display and costume echoed the theme and look of her children’s book The Ugly Christmas Sweater. It appears to only be available via her website. It was illustrated by Tenille Dowe, who is herself an author as well as an illustrator.
The other, Kathy J. Perry, is quite a publishing empire in her own right. She writes for several age groups with a Christian bent, and publishes them through her Chickadee Words company. Her two series for early readers are Bandana Acres and Oakwoods. She’s created Christianity-informed Guided Journals for somewhat older children and teens, while her historical fiction Emeline Series is targeted for teens and young adults. Many of her projects have been illustrated by Claudia Gadotti.
How did the Local Author Fair go for Me?
I got there early enough to choose a strategically excellent place to set up: at the back left, where the first thing people saw on arrival was my SPACE DOGS banner. I toured our area and the other two rooms before the show opened to the public. It was a chance to take pictures and meet lots of other local authors. It was a great opportunity for networking before the public arrived.
Once the public did arrive, we weren’t mobbed the way we were at Planet Comicon Kansas City or Boozy Book Fest, but we did have a steady stream of people the whole day – really no “dead” periods. It was about on par with Archon this year for traffic, except shorter.
The browsers were mostly looky-loos, but I handed out a lot of SWAG, unfurled my “Space Dogs” spiel repeatedly, and appeared to make an impression. I also got a new newsletter subscriber! And I sold some books! That’s money I otherwise wouldn’t have made. And who knows how many “impressions” I’ll build up if I just keep showing up at the Local Author Fair?
About the Author
Jan S. Gephardt is the author of the science fiction mystery XK9s saga. These books, which include the XK9 “Bones” Trilogy, tell stories of a pack of uplifted police dogs who live on a space station and solve crimes (among other things). Her most recent novel in the series is Bone of Contention, a Featured Review in the Kirkus Reviews Dec. 1, 2025 edition. She’s now hard at work on the next volume, Bones for the Children. She also is the Chief Cat-Herder and Art Director for Weird Sisters Publishing, and a creator of fine art paper sculpture.
IMAGE CREDITS
Many thanks to all the authors who supplied book cover images on their websites. Follow the hyperlinks in the text to see their sites. The cover for Planet Sickness is courtesy of Monstera’s Books. I had to resort to Amazon for a flat cover image of the Roadkill King cover.
The logos of the Mid-Continent Public Library and the Story Center came from their pages on the MCPL website. I supplied the photos of myself (author photo ©2017 by Colette Waters Photography) and my four current covers (Cover art © by Lucy A. Synk, Jody A. Lee, and Tom Kidd). The photo of the historic Woodneath Homestead came from its page on the MCPL website.