The Groton Line

Fourteen local authors, half of them from Groton, are featured at the Groton Public Library’s first Local Author’s Fair from 2:00 -3:30 p.m. this Sunday, November 17. Several of the authors, and the library staff, point out that it’s going to be a great, fun event… and an opportunity to get a unique, really local gift, if you’re making a list for holiday shopping.

All the writers will present their recent books and be available to sign books, chat, and talk about writing.

According to a library press release, you can, “Drop in for a friendly afternoon of good conversation with recently published local authors. Enjoy hot beverages and refreshments, plus a chance to purchase a wide variety of books – they make great gifts! The event is free and open to all, thanks to the GPL Endowment Fund.

Groton authors taking part are Betsy Fitzgerald, Greg Fishbone, Chris Lindemer, Richard Meibers, Ellen Olson-Brown, Caroline Poser, and Marcia Synnott. Writers from nearby towns are Dale Phillips, David Brody, Frederick Goodwin, Stephen O’Connor, Cindy Reynolds, Joe Ross, and Vlad Vaslyn (formerly of Groton).”

Here’s the rundown on the Groton writers:

Betsy Fitzgerald

I am a former New York Times contributing writer whose fiction has been recognized in literary competitions. My suspense novel, October Run, was published in 2009. Since then, I co-authored and illustrated a children’s book that’s really close to my heart because it spans three generations of my family. The Edge of the River is being published in 2013. It was a real labor of love because the original story was written by my mother for my daughter — my mother has passed away, but she was a good writer and for years a reporter for the Springfield paper.

My second novel, Neelie’s Truth, will be released in March, 2014. I have been fortunate to have my fiction awarded several prizes–in the Santa Fe Writers Project competition, Laurinda Collins Whitney Short Story competition, and the Connecticut Writers’ Short Story competition. Anyone interested in my early work should check under Betsy Percoski.

I’ve lived in Groton for eight years, moving here from New Haven, Connecticut. I was born and raised in a small rural Connecticut town, so Groton felt very familiar to me. I’ve used both my urban years and country beginnings in my work. October Run features a Yale-educated business psychologist who tries to rescue a mother and child. In Neelie’s Truth, the farmland and stark country life of 1950s Connecticut form the backdrop for a coming-of-age story.

I love the company of other writers. I’m a founding member of the Island Writing Group, a unique group that gathers annually on an island off Cape Cod. I’m also a member of the Duxbury Group–women writers, poets and artists who spent a week or two together each year. When I’m not writing fiction, I work for a national non-profit as the vice president of communications. (Fitzgerald is Executive Editor of The Groton Line. –Ed.)

Greg Fishbone

I am an author of books for young readers including Galaxy Games, about a team of kids representing Earth in a galactic sports tournament, and The Penguins of Doom, about badly-disguised penguins, a mad scientist, and a mysteriously missing triplet. Aside from providing humor and entertainment, my books also promote cultural diversity and scientific literacy.

I have also created a number of story-start prompts that are used in classroom writing programs across the country. I am deeply involved in the writing community, having founded a promotional group for debut authors, established a local critique group, published articles in Children’s Writers and Illustrators Marketplace, and served for the past twelve years as an Assistant Regional Advisor for the New England region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Visit my website at www.gfishbone.com for more information.

Christine Lindemer

Ever since writing a haiku for a Mother’s Day booklet in the second grade, I’ve enjoyed creative writing. I’ve dabbled in various writing pursuits over the years and have had poetry, essays, and articles published. Much of my writing is based on my farming roots. I grew up on a Midwestern dairy farm and currently live on a historic farmstead in Groton.

My farming background was the inspiration for the anthology I edited: True Cow Tales: Literary Sketches and Stories by Farmers, Ranchers and Dairy Princesses. That book and my children’s picture books, including book trailers, are featured at www.crlindemer.com.

In addition to creative writing, I’ve worked as a technical writer/editor and as a reporter for The Groton Herald. I’m currently volunteering on the grant writing team for Loaves and Fishes food pantry in Devens www.loavesfishespantry.org

Richard Meibers

I moved to Groton from New York City 40 years ago, after I worked in New York as well as Massachusetts as a psychotherapist. Now I am mostly a book editor.

I have published four titles so far, one non-fiction and three novels. The non-fiction, The Fitchburg Watch, is about the history of the American watch-making industry in the 19th century. The first of the three novels is Steal Away Home, about a young mercenary caught up in the Cuban revolution in the late 1950s. The second novel, Tree Rings, is about the same man 20 years later, a single parent of two sons on the occasion of the youngest son’s graduation from high school. Third in the series, published in 2012, is Falling Off The Wind, finds the same man back in the Caribbean, the owner of an antique schooner which is wrecked by Hurricane Hugo.

Ellen Olson-Brown

I’m a children’s book author who lives in Groton center with my husband, two sons, a very happy dog, and a very large turtle. I’ve always worked with children, and making up stories and songs to motivate and entertain them was simply part of the fun. I eventually started writing my stories down and sending them off to publishers, and in the past 10 years, four of my books were published by Tricycle Press (eventually bought by Random House). Ten Stinky Babies, Hush Little Digger, Bake You a Pie, and Ooh La La, Polka Dot Boots are all fun, action-packed picture books chock full of playful, rhyming language. Although I love to make artwork, I’m not an illustrator, and one of the most exciting parts of having picture books published is watching an illustrator interpret my words and create delightful visuals to accompany my text.

I write as often as I can. In picture books, the rhythm and flow of the text from page to page is important, so I usually staple plain paper together into the standard 32-page format, and write with pencils (I like them super sharp!) so that I can easily erase and move words from page to page. I still write imaginative stories and rhymes, but right now I’m working with an illustrator friend on a picture book about Luke Howard, the 19th century scientist who invented the naming system that we still use to describe clouds. My most recent work with children is as a yoga instructor, and I’m also developing manuscripts that teach children yoga and meditation concepts in playful, approachable ways.

Caroline Poser

I am a technology marketing professional by day and author/columnist by night, as well as the mother of three energetic and wonderful boys: the muses of my columns and stories. My first book, MotherMorphosis® celebrates the joy and the job of new motherhood, and has been declared a “must read” by Mark Victor Hansen, Co-creator, #1 New York Times best-selling series Chicken Soup for the Soul®. It was also endorsed by Parenting Magazine editor Julie Tilsner, as well as Jane Swift, the first governor in U.S. history to give birth while in office.

My second book, What Would Mary Do? is a beautifully illustrated Christian book for mothers and children that depicts everyday children’s antics in a new light. Most recently, I published Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tales, a collection of humorous stories about raising boys and am currently at work on a fourth book, Boy to the World!.

I am also a contributing author to A Book is Born, a tell-all book about the highs and lows of the publishing journey, as well as several anthologies and literary magazines.

Marcia Synnott

Dr. Marcia Synnott has split her time between Groton and the University of South Carolina, where she is Professor of History Emerita, for many years. Living in Groton, where she has family ties, has given her the opportunity to conduct her research at Harvard University and other institutions in Boston.

Professor Synnott’s research has focused on two main areas: higher education and American women’s history. She has written extensively in journals and anthologies, and this year published Student Diversity at the Big Three: Changes at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Since the 1920s. Her previous book is The Half-Opened Door: Discrimination and Admissions at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, 1900-1970.