Join Indy Reads on Saturday, October 17th, from 12pm-2pm to meet local authors, buy books, and support Indy Reads’ vision of 100% Literacy For All!

This free community event brings together local authors and readers for an engaging afternoon of conversation, connection, and book signings. Attendees will have the chance to meet the authors in person, learn more about their work, and purchase signed copies during the two-hour expo.

Come support local writers and celebrate storytelling in our community!

Meet Our Featured Authors!

Jeana Jorgensen

Dr. Jeana Jorgensen, author of Folklore 101 and Fairy Tales 101 among other books, has degrees in folklore from the University of California, Berkeley and Indiana University. She has taught at these universities along with Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis and Butler University, where she currently teaches in the Department of History, Anthropology, and Classics. Dr. Jorgensen serves on the editorial board of the academic journal Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy Tale Studies and is a member of the American Folklore Society, the International Society for Folk Narrative Research, the International Society for the Fantastic in the Arts, and other scholarly organizations.
In her research, Dr. Jorgensen focuses on how folkloric and fantastical storytelling genres reveal deeply human anxieties around identity, especially gender, sexuality, and disability. She is also a creative writer, having recently released her debut poetry collection “The Thorn Key: Fairy Tales in Verse.” Whatever mode she writes in, she seeks to explore the links between individuals, communities, and the stories they tell.

Follow Jeana online:

Facebook: Foxyfolklorist

Instagram: Jeanadances

Bluesky: Foxyfolklorist

Folklore 101

When’s the last time you got to pick a folklorist’s brain?
Did you know memes count as folklore?
Or that folklorists assign numbers to fairy tales to keep track of them all?
The field of folklore studies is over two centuries old, and it’s full of amazing insights about human behavior, creativity, and community. Folklore studies is as interdisciplinary as it gets, squished somewhere between anthropology and linguistics and religious studies and comparative literature and more. It’s all about the informal human interactions, the million tiny acts and stories and beliefs and arts that function as social glue even if they seem beneath notice. Do traditional holiday foods have a deeper meaning? Yep. Same with folk music, ballads, proverbs, jokes, urban legends, body art, and a ton more genres covered in this book.
Is the whole book as easy to read and irreverent as this description? Yep! This fun, accessible guide to the academic study of folklore packs in a college class’s worth of material, from basic concepts and major folklore genres to special topics based on identity, fancy theories, and more.
If you’ve always wanted to take a folklore class, or you’re a writer or artist using folklore in your work, or you’re just generally interested in the topic, this is the book for you!

Robin Lovelace

Robin Lee Lovelace is a mixed-race African American author who usually writes short fiction in the magical realism genre. Robin’s novella, Savonne, Not Vonny won numerous awards including the Etchings Press Novella of the Year in 2019 and the CIBA in 2021. Her short story “Uncle” won the Marguerite McGlinn Short Fiction Award in 2021. Robin was listed as an honoree in 2020 and 2024 by Indiana Humanities for her work in fiction. In 2025, Robin won the Tusculum Chapbook Competition for her story “Snakebite.” When Robin is not obsessively revising her most recent story, she is working in her flower garden, cooking Italian dishes, or walking her rowdy dog, Lucy.

Follow Robin online

www.robinleelovelace.com

Facebook: RobinLeeLovelace

Savonne, Not Vonny

From her Indianapolis home, upstairs from the brothel where her mother works, young Savonne is taken deep into the bayous of New Orleans. There she learns about Voodoo magic from her great-grandfather and meets the dangerous Diamond John who is out to steal her family’s powerful conjure book. With its mix of urban realism and rural magic, Savonne, Not Vonny invites readers to reimagine the cultural traditions of New Orleans, pushing the boundaries of reality and redefining home.

Shannon Morrigan

Shannon Morrigan is an Indianapolis-based fantasy author and lifelong lover of stories filled with magic, mystery, and adventure. She enjoys creating imaginative worlds, memorable characters, and tales that explore friendship, courage, and the search for where we truly belong.

When she isn’t writing, Shannon can usually be found reading fantasy novels, spending time with her family, or dreaming up new corners of Havacani. Havacani and the Mark of the Arcanum is her debut novel and the first book in the Havacani series.

Follow Shannon online:

Instagram: shannon.morrigan
TikTok: shannon.morrigan

Havacani and the Mark of the Arcanum

Avery Sterling has never had many friends, and she has never had a good explanation for the strange things that happen around her. Lights flicker when she cries. Objects break when she is upset. And for years, she has been followed by Grey, a storm-colored cat her parents insist does not exist.

On her first day of college, Grey leads her to four strangers who tell her what he really is: her familiar. Avery is pulled through a portal into Havacani, a hidden realm of magic, where she learns that she is an Arcanum, the first of her kind to appear in centuries.

Her arrival should be impossible. To the leaders of Havacani, it is a miracle. To Avery, it is overwhelming, especially when demons begin appearing soon after she enters their world. When disaster strikes, she is left with little choice but to remain in Havacani and learn the magic everyone seems to expect her to know.

With the help of Salem, Joss, and Lark, Avery begins searching for answers about herself, her powers, and the darkness that seems to have found her in a world she barely knows.

Kim Peters

Kim Peters is a former Registered Nurse and Board-Certified Health Coach and the author of Josie’s Closet, a novel about finding strength and resilience. Kim draws on her deep knowledge of the human condition and the challenges we all encounter to build characters who are both deep and relatable.
Kim is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and the Indiana Writers Circle. She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she now lives with her husband of many years.
Full-time writing is Kim’s passion, but she also takes time to travel and read, of course. Large, noisy, and fun extended-family gatherings are a favorite of hers, as well as spending time with her four children and six grandchildren.

Follow Kim online:

http://www.kimpetersauthor.com

Facebook: kimpetersauthor

Instagram: kimpetersauthor

Josie’s Closet

Character-driven, women’s contemporary fiction about overcoming denial and past trauma. The story follows Josie Lambert as she separates from her narcissistic husband and her prestigious career as a Hollywood costume designer for the small town in Georgia where she lived as a child. Unexpected memories, secrets, and surprising betrayals challenge her ability to cope, threatening to destroy her sense of self and her very sanity. She falls down the slippery slope of denial and obsession that forces her to find the strength and resilience to start over.

Thomas Ramseyer

Thomas Ramseyer is a retired high school English teacher whose passion for travel inspires much of his work. In his writing, he loves to explore how culture and nature interact to influence our viewpoints. His influences are varied, but he is especially drawn to early twentieth century literature. When not writing, he can be found hiking in the vineyards of France or simply enjoying time with his friends, family, and dog.

Follow Thomas online:

Instagram: @ramseyertom
Facebook: @tom.ramseyer

With a View of the Vineyards

When single parent Daniel Perring’s daughter Jewel graduates from college, he grants her longtime wish of a vacation to France. What he intends to be simply a reward for her hard work at school turns out to be an eye-opening and life-changing adventure for both of these Chicagoans. In a time of transition for each, they encounter challenges as well as opportunities on their trek across the landscapes of France — from Paris to Provence to Burgundy. Though Jewel navigates the changes with relative ease, Daniel has some emotional baggage and professional conflicts that stand in his way of a new chance at love and happiness. With a View of the Vineyards follows his journey toward self-awareness as he deals with his past and considers what the path of his life will now become.

More on Author Expos:

Author Expos are free seasonal events for local authors. We host four a year for Autum, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Those interested in participating in an Author Expo must be willing to have their books sold on consignment through Indy Reads. If you are interested in being a featured author during an Author Expo, please visit www.indyreads.org/submit-an-event to learn more.

Our next Author Expo is in just a few months!

This event is Pay-What-You-Can. Here’s what your suggested donation can do for the Indy Reads community:

FREE – This ticket is for attendees that would like to attend this event and are unable to purchase a ticket. Indy Reads values our community and facilitators. We are proud to provide programming to all. Thank you for being a part of our community!

$10 – This donation covers the cost of one attendee to this event. Indy Reads strives to bring the very best programming to Fountain Square and all Hoosiers. Thank you for helping us to keep our quality programs accessible for all!

$20 – This donation covers the cost of two attendees to this event. If you are attending as an individual, your ticket at this level makes it possible for another who cannot afford a ticket to attend. It is only through the generosity of our community that we are able to support programs that enrich the lives of all Hoosiers. Thank you for your support!

Other – “Pay-What-You-Can” really does mean pay what you can. Indy Reads appreciates that every one of our community members is able to support our vision of 100% literacy for all in different ways. Whether you can pay $5 or $50, we are so excited to see you – and thank you for your support!