Literary Fiction

Jill McCroskey Coupe
Author First & Last Name

Author of the novels Beginning with Cannonballs (2020) and True Stories at the Smoky View (2016), both about unlikely friendships. Grew up in Knoxville, TN, lived in the Baltimore/DC area for 40 years, and in 2021 moved to Poultney, VT, to be near family. MFA in Fiction, MLS (Library Science). Winner of two IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards), one silver, one gold.

Where my books are sold.
Order from any bookstore. Or from Amazon.

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" . . . tracks the ups and downs of an interracial friendship in the Jim Crow South." 4-star Foreward Clarion Review.

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"You've got to love a novel whose protagonist is an emotionally adrift art librarian turned kidnapper and detective." Story Circle Book Reviews
Louella Bryant
Author First & Last Name
Author Pseudonym
Ellie Bryant

Louella Bryant’s novel Cowboy Code is based on the true story of a Virginia mountain town. Other books include While In Darkness There Is Light, nonfiction about the Vietnam era, a story collection, and two Civil War novels for young adult readers. Her award-winning writing has appeared in magazines and anthologies. A graduate of George Washington University and Vermont College of Fine Arts, Louella works as an independent editor. Visit her website at https://louellabryant.com.

Author USPS Address - PO / Street - City / Town - State
Lincoln VT
05443
Where my books are sold.
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Black Rose Writing, Black Lawrence Press, Brown Fedora Books

A coming-of-age story set in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
A coming-of-age story set in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
ISBN-13: 9781684333004. COWBOY CODE ~ Crazy about cowboy movies, fourteen-year-old Bobbie Grey uses Gene Autry’s code of honor as her moral guide. When her father is killed in an explosion at the paper mill, her mother takes a job at the mill and becomes enamored with co-worker Phoenix. Bobbie yearns for her mother’s attention while secretly in love with Covey, a young boxer from the African settlement. Burr, a Navy man on leave, woos Maggie and when he ships out, Phoenix declares her love for Maggie and becomes Bobbie’s ally. When Bobbie takes forbidden walks to the African settlement, Covey’s family takes her in. During the night, Klansmen come for Covey and beat him, accusing him of prowling. Phoenix begs Maggie to leave Burr but she refuses until she discovers him with another woman. From Phoenix, Bobbie learns that love transcends race and gender and that it sometimes requires the ultimate sacrifice—letting go.

A Vietnam era story of adventure and tragedy in Australia
A Vietnam era story of adventure and tragedy in Australia
ISBN-13: 9781937854607. WHILE IN DARKNESS THERE IS LIGHT ~ A look at the lives of five young men who, during the Vietnam era, start a commune in Australia—and a look at how young men often look to the wild to find themselves and the consequences this sometimes yields. The Rosebud Farm project was born of idealism, commitment, and virtue, all deeply rooted in friendships that have transcended distance and time. The men in this story, insulated by wealth and innocent of heart, were trying to make sense of a tumultuous world and trying to find some peace in it. One of these five young men was Charlie Dean, the brother of Howard Dean (who has written the introduction).

A story of the Underground Railroad set in Burlington, Vermont
A story of the Underground Railroad set in Burlington, Vermont
ISBN-13: 9781881535225. THE BLACK BONNET ~ Gr 8 Up-Charity and her older sister, Bea, are near the end of their journey along the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Montreal. They settle in at a "station" in Burlington, Vermont, to recover their health and to prepare for the last leg of their trip. As readers are drawn into the story, it is revealed that Charity's father is a plantation owner and that Bea is expecting the child of another white farmer. The young women make friends among the conductors' families and their fellow runaways. Burlington is crawling with slave hunters, and danger is imminent. Charity, because she is so light-skinned, goes into town wearing a black bonnet that ostensibly provides enough protection to allow her to "pass" as white. Bryant cleverly weaves real-life railroad conductors, such as Lucius Bigelow and Edward Peck, into the narrative, as well as famous escaped slaves, such as Harriet Tubman. Although the novel is suspenseful, some youngsters may have difficulty with the graphic descriptions of violence, some of which seems forced; the unrealistic plot elements; and the tension that arises from Charity's unnecessary adventures into "white" society. It is disturbing and preposterous that a fair-skinned former slave would parade through the streets directly in front of mercenary slave catchers.-Lucinda Lockwood, Thomas Haney Secondary School, Maple Ridge, BC

The story of John Brown's famous raid on Harper's Ferry
The story of John Brown's famous raid on Harper's Ferry
ISBN-13: 9781881535331. FATHER BY BLOOD ~ Gr 6-9-A straightforward portrayal of Annie, the young woman who followed her abolitionist father, John Brown, to Harper's Ferry to care for the men as they prepared to raid the United States Armory. Written from her perspective as an old woman, it is a daughter's attempt to come to peace with the memory of the stern, taciturn man who saw no disparity between his deep religious faith and his willingness to use violence. As far as he was concerned, God was on his side, and he went forth with his radical plan even if it divided his family or cost innocent lives. Many of the characters, especially Annie and her father, are less colorful or complex than those crafted by Ann Rinaldi in Mine Eyes Have Seen (Scholastic, 1997). Rinaldi's Annie accompanies her father, partly to gain approval from the distant family patriarch, whereas Bryant's goes because she cannot bear to be left behind by the young man she loves and her brother and his wife. Bryant's character is puzzled by her father, but Rinaldi's is in pain as she alternately loves, fears, obeys, and rebels against him. While this novel is competently written and the author shows promise, Rinaldi's is a far more gripping tale.-Peggy Morgan, The Library Network, Southgate, MI Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Meg Little Reilly
Author First & Last Name

Meg Little Reilly is the author of the novels THE MISFORTUNES OF FAMILY, EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS, and WE ARE UNPREPARED, which have been translated into several languages. She is a writer at Bennington College, an essayist, and outdoor enthusiast. Her work has appeared in McSweeney's, Literary Hub, Sojourners, Vermont Public Radio, Politico, and more. Prior to writing novels, Meg worked in national politics and the Obama White House. She holds a B.A. from the University of Vermont and an M.A. from the George Washington University. These days, she lives in Hinesburg, Vermont with her family.

Vermont authors are invited to join the Vermont Authors Fest Facebook group.


The Misfortunes of Family - Meg Little Reilly
The Misfortunes of Family - Meg Little Reilly

Everything That Follows - Meg Little Reilly
Everything That Follows - Meg Little Reilly

We Are Unprepared - Meg Little Reilly
We Are Unprepared - Meg Little Reilly
Richard Hawley
Author First & Last Name

Richard Hawley was born in 1945 in Chicago. He attended suburban
public schools in Arlington Heights, Illinois, before attending
Middlebury College, where he completed his B.A. in political science.
He went on to graduate studies at Case Western Reserve University,
where he earned an M.S. in Management Science and a Ph.D. in political
philosophy. He also studied theology for a year at St. John’s College,
Cambridge University, as an M.A. research student under the tutelage
of the theologian W. Norman Pittenger.

In the fall of 1968 he began teaching at Cleveland’s University
School, an independent college preparatory school for boys. He would
go on to teach history, economics, philosophy and English literature,
while also serving the school as history department chairman, dean of
students, director of the Upper School, and, from 1988 until his
retirement in 2005, Headmaster. In 1995 he was named the founding
president of the International Boys Schools Coalition.

A writer of fiction, poetry, and literary non-fiction, he has
published more than twenty books and several monographs. His essays,
articles and poems have appeared in dozens of literary, scholarly, and
commercial journals, including The New York Times, The Atlantic
Monthly, American Film, Commonweal, America, Orion, and The Christian
Science Monitor and is represented in many literary anthologies For
ten years he taught fiction and non-fiction writing at The Breadloaf
Writers Conference in Vermont, and he continues to teach developing
writers in a variety of settings. Recent work, including work in
progress, draws increasingly from depth psychology and classical
philosophy to illuminate contemporary problems.

He has lectured extensively at universities, schools, and conferences
in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia. He is
married to Mary Hawley, a painter and fabric artist. They live in
Ripton, Vermont.

Where my books are sold.
Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, independent book stores - Additional books: On My Way Out: A Meditation on Closure, The Source of Longing, Souls in Boxes, I Can Learn From You

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Sam Clark
Author First & Last Name

Sam Clark is a builder, designer, and cabinetmaker in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Plainfield, VT. He has written books on design and building, including The Motion-Minded Kitchen, and The Independent Builder. This is his first mystery. Learn more about Sam at his website, samclarkdesign.com.

Vermont authors are invited to join the Vermont Authors Fest Facebook group.

Author USPS Address - PO / Street - City / Town - State
Plainfield, VT

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Where my books are sold.
Everywhere (Amazon, Bookshop.org, local bookstores like Bear Pond Books, Bridgeside Books, Next Chapter Bookstore) and on the publisher's website.

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The Inland Sea by Sam Clark - ISBN 9781578690329