Mesa Book Crawl: 2023

A.M. Ladd is a chocolate- addicted, margarita lovin' mama bent on sharing passion and pleasure one fantasy romance at a time. She writes sassy and sweet love stories with provocative sex scenes that will leave you panting for more.

Beth Lewis is a dietitian author who writes humorous children's books to inspire eating well and moving more. Her writing is inspired by life experiences and a family who loves to laugh and play. She knows the search for balance in food and movement is a journey, not a destination.

K. A. Bledsoe’s writing journey began at the age of six with a short story about kids growing up on a space station. Even through other jobs like scooping ice cream, shoe salesman, pharmacy tech, band director, and parenting, writing has been a constant.

Born, raised and still residing in Arizona, the author continues to pen stories in all genres despite the distraction of house cats underfoot and the occasional bobcat or roadrunner strolling through the backyard.

Brie. Lajada is a High Fantasy, Scifi, and Romance author who's passion is writing and sharing stories she obsesses over. Now in Arizona she is an Oklahoma native just enjoying life, books, and writing.

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Author Bruce Davis (Glowgems for Profit, Silver Magic) writes with a hint of the classic detective and a hint of noir across his Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Influenced by the hard-boiled detective works of Mickey Spillane and similar authors, Bruce brings them thematically into the present day (and future) with skill and storytelling prowess.

Bruce is a Mesa AZ based general and trauma surgeon.

Bruce Nelson grew up in a small black community where he pitched watermelons, picked cotton, swam in the neighborhood canals, and attended the segregated Booker T. Washington School, in Mesa, AZ. The neighborhood was known as North Town. In 1994 Bruce stumbled into Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center located in Venice Beach, California. The eclectic atmosphere nudged him into attending their weekly writing workshops and performances. He was always eager to share his poetry and short stories with classes. So, when Nelson secured the position as Artistic Director for Saban Free Clinic’s Project ABLE (An educational theater troupe) he was primed to write one-act plays. During his six years as Artistic Director he received three LA Cultural Affairs grants to write a series of one act plays that were performed in Los Angeles County for adolescents in alternative schools, youth hostels, prisons, homeless shelters, middle schools, high schools, and youth conferences. His one act play Anansi and the Sky God was accepted into the Play Lab at Last Frontier Theater Conference in Valdez, Alaska. Porch Short Stories is Bruce Nelson’s second book.

Cory Mortensen is an award winning and best selling author of the Buddha and the Bee series.

After designing a website to showcase her diverse photography, Cynthia Anne Finefrock decided to edit her dog Winston into her travel landscapes. What started as a comical exchange between friends has transpired into an award-winning children's book series.

Darci Cole is an author, narrator, and podcaster. Her YA Fantasy Fairytale Retellings, TARGET and SUMMON, are available anywhere online. She also co-hosts the Pineapple P Podcast with Gina Denny. Darci and her husband run Colevanders: a wand shop catering to lovers of magic and cosplay.  Darci currently lives in Arizona with her husband and four children.

I have been a social studies teacher, principal, and founding owner of the Grand Canyon College Preparatory Academy in Tempe, Arizona. I grew up reading and watching science and historical fiction. I am also a big baseball fan.

Erin Evans has led a life full of left-hand turns. She has competed as an international level athlete, served as a nuclear electrician’s mate in the Navy, and trained as a massage therapist. Currently living in Phoenix, she is a stay-at-home mom to a beautiful son and a creator of fantasy worlds.

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Emily Cooper became a published author at age seventeen. She has written eight manuscripts, published seven, and is in the process of publishing another; she has many more novels to follow. Born in Dahm, Germany, Emily grew up as a military brat, traveling all across the United States of America. In 2010, she wrote a poem called, "Emily Cooper?". It was chosen and published in the Arizona Teen Zine magazine. She graduated from Queen Creek High School in 2011 and enlisted in the USAR.

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George Moakley started his career studying biology, with dreams of ecosystem modeling. He took a data entry job that became a tech career. George remains fascinated by the hard sciences. He feeds his passion for nature through photography while hiking and scuba diving, and writing about alien worlds

Howard lives in Arizona, though he hails from New York City. A Graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, he moved to Phoenix in 1981 to become a financial advisor. He enjoys volunteering in the community, traveling with his wife, Lisa, and watching his two grandchildren give

James Kenneth Rogers earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, a Masters of Law in International Law from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. in International Relations, with honors, from BYU. A sixth-generation Arizonan, he has lived on four continents. He has four children.

Jes Pan (they/them) has always loved of stories and words. They even founded a pretend publishing company as a child called Lolo Press, based on their nickname. They have spent the last 6 years as a public librarian and now are finally revisiting their love of writing. Sonder is their first novel.

Joanne Gull was raised in Chicago, received her higher education and degrees in Ohio, dedicated her life to teaching, and boasts that her higher education was bested by all that her students taught her about life.

Joseph D. Newcomer is a speculative fiction and social commentary writer and the Founder of Dead Star Press. His works include Diminishing Return, El Camino Blue, Thought & Other Absurdities the blog, book, and podcast, and two children’s books, Let’s Make S’mores and Ari and The Armpit Mouse.

Kathie McMahon is the author of the humorous, award-winning chapter book series, Mortimer and Me, about eight-year-old Jimmy and a moose named Mortimer. She has collaborated on many youth theater musicals, receiving four ariZoni awards for Original Music Composition.Kathie lives in Gilbert, Arizona.

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Katrina Shawver is an author, history geek, and passionate about finding unknown stories. Her book, Henry: A Polish Swimmer's True Story of Friendship from Auschwitz to America, about a Polish survivor of WWII concentration camps, garnered many awards and is available in English, Polish, and Czech.