Authors Connect with Readers

FARMER'S MARKET BOOK FAIR...
Local authors set up shop on Saturday at the New Bern Farmers Market to sell their books to lovers of the written word.

The sixth annual Book Lovers Fair held at 421 S. Front St. this weekend was started after the wife of one of the market’s former managers, who was a “real booklover,” came up with the idea to sell books during the winter months, said fair organizer Julie McKeon.

There were local authors present as well as vendors selling used and new books, crafts, bread, soaps and other products. There is no shortage of local authors to draw from in the area, McKeon said, estimating that there are around 65 within driving distance of New Bern.

Fairfield Harbour resident and author Karen Dodd, who typically writes murder mysteries that involve the local history and landscape, said she has come to the fair each year to sell her books.

She enjoys meeting her readers, and talking to them about her books, such as her latest, “Spirit of Union Point.” The book is about a woman who uncovers a murder in the process of doing historical research.

“This way, people get to meet us, and that’s the fun part,” Dodd said.

She wore what she calls her “killer hat” at the event that was designed to match the murder-mystery plotlines that pervade many of her books.

The hat was covered with plastic toy weapons that a reader might find in the pages of her works such as a hat pin, a dagger, a poisonous snake or a spider.

“This is a great event,” she said of the fair. “It promotes local writers, and this way people can come by and talk to us.”

Eddie Ellis, a local author who has released several new works including “New Bern History 101,” set up a booth at the fair so he could get exposure for his latest works.

Ellis said many of the people who came by his booth said they had purchased his book already and had finished it or were in the process of reading it.

“That’s always a good thing – good, positive feedback,” he said.

Fairfield Harbour resident Ben Watford also had a booth set up in which he was giving away pieces of his homemade pottery to customers who purchased one of his three books.

Watford most recently has co-authored a book called “You Can’t Fall Off the Floor” that is about the life and characters in the small town of Winton where he grew up.

“It’s so small, if you go 5 mph, you pass through it in one minute,” he said.

The book features characters such as his former second grade teacher who is now 105 years old, and the sheriff that “treated everybody with respect and dignity.”

Watford said he also has attended the fair each year that it has been held.

“They have this book fair every year, and I really do very well,” he said.


SUN JOURNAL
Laura Oleniacz can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at loleniacz@freedomenc.com.