The Northwest Summer Book Tour is coming to Bainbridge Island this weekend.
The tour will be visiting Eagle Harbor Books from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3. The Bainbridge stop includes nine young adult and new adult authors from around the Pacific Northwest who banded together to advance the standing and reach of their genre.
“It’s difficult to get your book noticed, so [the tour’s] primary goal was to meet new readers and kind of get exposure in the marketplace,” said author T.M. Franklin. “I’d met a lot of the authors through other events and … it was common among all of us that sometimes it’s hard to get noticed when you’re a new author.”
The panel will discuss the writers’ styles and touch on how the publishing system works, particularly for authors who lack the resources to associate with major publishers.
Bainbridge resident S.L. Whyte said she hopes to see local readers connect and enjoy her debut fantasy novel, “Stelladaur: Finding Tir Na Nog,” which is set on a fictionalized Bainbridge Island.
“The character lives on Bainbridge Island,” explained Whyte. “There are so many places that Islanders are familiar with.”
Whyte believes her fellow Bainbridge residents “will feel very connected with their own neighborhood in my story.”
The book tour also hopes to help the young adult genre gain wider acceptance and recognition by readers of all ages.
“The issues we address are broad and don’t just appeal to kids,” Franklin said. “I would like to see more appreciation that young adult literature is literature.”
“We’re going to be talking about how young adult literature isn’t just for kids, it’s actually for adults as well,” Whyte said. “There’s going to be something for everybody there.”
The tour runs through Aug. 18 at locations across Washington; check http://YANABookTour.wix.com/info for details. A second stop in Kitsap County is 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9 at the Barnes & Noble in the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale.
Tour authors include:
Nina Foxx, an award-winning filmmaker, playwright and author of 15 novels, including “Catfish,” which will be used by Homeland Security as part of the iGuardian Program;
Holli Anderson, author of the critically acclaimed “Five: Out of the Dark” and “Five: Out of the Pit”;
A.O. Peart, the Amazon best-selling author of the “Forged” series and the multiple award-nominated “Almost Bad Boys” series;
S.L. Whyte, president of The Stelladaur Academy, where young adult fantasy transforms education, and author of “Stelladaur: Finding Tir Na Nog”;
Fabio Bueno, a 2012 Sandy Literary Contest winner and author of “Wicked Sense” and “Broken Spell”;
T.M. Franklin, the Amazon best-selling author of the “MORE” trilogy and “How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You”;
Martina Dalton, author of “The Third Eye of Jenny Crumb” and its new sequel, “The Sixth Sense of Jenny Crumb”;
Edward Averett, the award-winning author of “Cameron and the Girls” and “The Rhyming Season”; and
Ava O’Shay, the Amazon best-selling author of “Entrusted.”
