Residents of the City of Newburgh and the surrounding area are invited to the Newburgh Free Library on Sunday, April 14 between 2 to 4 p.m. to meet local authors and browse their original works as part of the library’s Local Author Fair. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Newburgh Library.

This event features authors from Newburgh and around the Hudson Valley area where guests can chat with the authors and purchase their books. Guests will also be able to receive a raffle ticket for each book they buy and enter a drawing for prizes. Free children’s books will be available while supplies last.

Each of the writer’s bios are available on the Newburgh Free Library website and this event will showcase their original written work for the greater public to enjoy. Several of the authors shared in preparation for the upcoming event that they are excited to share their work with the public and to meet members of their greater community.

Genie Abrams - Abrams was born and raised in Newburgh and currently serves as the city’s Poet Laureate. She is the author of three novels published by Outskirts Press: “Louey Levy’s Greatest Catch,” “Louey Levy’s Perfect Pitch” and “Louey Levy’s Heading Home.” All are available at BN.com and Amazon.com. “I’m looking forward to participating in this great event,” she said.

Joss Brooks - Brooks is a nurse, mom, writer and publisher with a passion for writing. She went from writing for fun to believing that she could write for other people to learn from and enjoy her stories. She is the CEO of Fervent Glow Publishing Company, which supports authors, offering expertise, resources, and infrastructure to bring books to market successfully.

Raven Howell - Howell is an award-winning author of children’s books, and writes for magazines including Highlights, Cricket, Humpty Dumpty and The School Magazine. She writes The Book Bug column for Story Monsters Ink, and enjoys visiting schools and libraries to share the joy of reading and literature with students. She’s a contributing author for Reading is Fundamental So Cal, and aims for every child’s opportunity to blossom. Some of her published titles include: Pinkies Up, Mattison Mouse Counts, Loved, A Colorful Beginning, Seasons, The 20 Little Poems for 20 Little Gnomes, Friends Come in All Sizes, and My Community.

Chris DiLeo - DiLeo is the author of numerous novels, an AuthorCon Gross-Out Champion, and a high school English teacher in New York. His work is visceral and emotional, engaging and thought-provoking. He has gathered praise from bestselling authors, including Michael Marshall and Michael Koryta. DiLeo will be showcasing his upcoming book, What Ever Happened to Jo Rose? from Grindhouse Press, which will be published June 7.

Daniel Guilfoyle - Guilfoyle is a five-time USA National Memory Championship competitor, as well as a highly ranked online Memory League competitor. His books From Detect to Intellect and From Shrink to Think will teach you memory improvement techniques to help you recall information easier and faster than you ever thought possible. Daniel is a licensed clinical social worker, who lives and works in Middletown, where he resides with his wife Erin and their cats.

Danielle Cancel - With a B.A. in Creative Writing and a Masters in Library & Information Science, Cancel knew at a young age that she wanted to be surrounded by books. Her romantasy novels Blood & Sunlight and Shadows & Secrets are the first two books in her five-part Twisted Fates series. She will be releasing the first novel in her duology, Shifted, on June 18, 2024. When Cancel isn’t writing, she’s spending time with her husband, two kids, and two German Shepherds.

Seth C. Martel - Martel has his BFA in Graphic Design from SUNY New Paltz. He’s been working in design and illustration for over 20 years. From crisp and clean layouts to Halloween haunted house set painting, he loves collaborative, diverse, and creative projects.

Euwarnii Hughes - Hughes is the CEO of Great Gale LLC, Afrofuturist mangaka (author and illustrator) of BOLDSAGA: Brave Onwards Limit Destroyer, self-publishing coach and motivational speaker. Books helped save his life. From reading during childhood to countless hours enjoying books in his second home, the public library. Euwarnii empowers kings and queens to seize greatness through books, apparel and coaching. His manga series celebrates African Culture and the Diaspora. He is passionate about helping people through his manga series, coloring books/educational books and business books; like 7 Steps To Creating Your Dream Manga Series. A book helping anyone become the author of their dreams.

Eleanor Kuhns - Kuhns is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition. She is a librarian by trade and received her master’s in Library Science from Columbia University. She worked as the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York.

Cate McKoy - McKoy is a lifelong Newburgh native, the youngest of six siblings, mother of five and Nana Cate to four. Writing has been a passion of hers since she was 9 or 10 years old and for the upcoming local author fair, she will be showcasing three of her 17 published books. “I’ve always loved writing ever since I was a little girl and I used to just write all kinds of things all the time,” she said. “I’ve done book signings, but not anything local.”

Jennifer Probst - Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of more than 50 books in contemporary romance fiction. Her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies. She was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at.jenniferprobst.com.

Daniel Mendoza - After years spent globetrotting, local Hudson Valley author Mendoza has returned to his hometown with a suitcase full of stories and a heart brimming with newfound appreciation for the world’s rich tapestry. Inspired by his upbringing, travels and growing family, Mendoza has penned a heartwarming children’s book that celebrates multiculturalism and the beautiful complexities of identity. Drawing on his own experiences, he promises an adventure that will spark curiosity and acceptance in young readers, reminding them that we can embrace parts of our identity while not diminishing other parts, and that the world is a richer place because of its differences.

Dana Muwwakkil - Muwwakkil is a mental health advocate and writer. She likes her chocolate dark and her coffee strong. You won’t catch her outside the house without a book or a journal. The Anxiety Diaries is her first book.

Janell Santana-Sims - Santana-Sims is the founder of the JS Self-Care LLC & Self~Care JS Inc. nonprofit organization and the author of “The Hard Truths about Self~Care” that will be showcased at the fair.

She said her book was written following the passing of her mother in October 2018 and her father in May 2021. Santana-Sims took those experiences and continued writing before coming to a completed work that she wanted to publish for others to read and relate to.

“I’m actually excited to be able to be able to share my experiences with self-care,” she said. “The goal of the book is just to enlighten people and give people a tool they can refer back to and say, you know what, I got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, you know, because at the uncomfortability level, I grow, I don’t grow at the comfortable level.”

She is a social worker, a certified life coach, an advocate for the effects of parental substance abuse on children, Narcan Trainer, Peer Advocate and a certified addiction recovery coach. JS Self-Care LLC provides services to victims of abuse, as well as victimizers to help them to refrain from victimizing again. Her business, which also provides self-care workshops, was recently acknowledged as a community philanthropist. She enjoys giving back to those in need, especially to children in foster care and people who struggle with substance abuse, mental health issues, homelessness and more.