Saturday, November 22 | 1 – 4 p.m.
Charlotte Hall Library
Learn from local writers and meet new ones! Learn about getting started writing, publishing, and more. The St. Mary’s County Library Author Fair provides an opportunity to meet local authors and browse their works. Authors will give a quick presentation on their works, and have an opportunity to promote and sell their work.
Schedule
1 p.m.: Welcome and introduction
1:10 p.m.: Authors will speak for approximately five minutes each about their writing experiences
2 p.m.: Authors will sit at their respective tables and event attendees can browse the books and get to know the authors.
3 p.m.: Write What You Know with Amy Schisler
Writing Workshop: Write What You Know
Bestselling author Amy Schisler will demonstrate how to turn personal experiences, observations, and exploration into memorable characters, settings, and stories.
Amy Schisler, author of inspirational fiction, spiritual speaker, and catechist, has published numerous books, including the award-winning Chincoteague Island Trilogy. A former librarian, Amy enjoys a busy life on the Shore where she volunteers at her Church, runs a Girl Scout Camp every summer, and always makes time to be with her grandchildren. The recipient of numerous national literary awards, including the Independent Publisher, Oklahoma RWA, Indies, and Golden Quill Awards, as well as honors from the Eric Hoffer Book Award, Amy’s writing has been hailed “a verbal masterpiece of art” and “Everything you want in a book.” Visit Amy’s website and blog. Find Amy on Facebook. Find Amy on Goodreads. Find Amy on Instagram
2025 Authors
The Witch Chronicles: Unravled, 2024
My name is Giesa, but my pen name is Maggie Frost, so you can call me Maggie. I am a 19-year-old indie author who published last year in October. I’ve been writing for at least 10 years now, and I want to make it apart of my full time career. My main goal with writing is to spread God’s word, and teach kids lessons that will stick with them for life— hopefully making the world a better place in the process. I am a practicing Roman Catholic and very passionate about my faith. Find Maggie on Instagram.
Laura A. Hill
Andrew Sees Clearly, 2025
Laura A. Hill is a children’s book author, mother, and advocate based in Maryland. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Laura draws inspiration from her personal experiences—most notably her journey with her son Andrew, who began wearing glasses at the age of two. This heartfelt chapter of their lives led her to write Andrew Sees Clearly, a gentle rhyming story that helps families navigate the emotional and practical aspects of early childhood vision challenges. Through her writing, Laura aims to uplift children who “see the world a little differently,” offering comfort, encouragement, and representation. Her work blends empathy with education, creating space for young readers and their caregivers to feel seen and supported.
Follow her journey on Instagram @authorlauraahill or connect via email at authorlauraahill@gmail.com.
Amari aka Love Lee
Lovely Truths and Metaphorical Violence, 2023
Love Lee thee Poet is a Jersey native from East Orange/Newark. She uses she/they pronouns. She studied psychology at Penn State and served as president of their nationally ranked spoken word club. She has been working as an educator and with youth in the non profit realm for over 8 years. Her future goals include starting an art therapy non profit for youth in New Jersey to give back to the community that raised her. Find Love Lee on Instagram.
It’s a NICU World, 2024; It’s a NICU World: Your Guide During Your Baby’s NICU Stay, 2025
Ashley O’Neil, CRNP, is a nurse practitioner, writer, and speaker whose advocacy is rooted in lived experience. As a NICU/preemie mother, a widow, and a bereaved parent, Ashley brings a deeply personal perspective to maternal and neonatal health. With over a decade in nursing and five years as a family nurse practitioner, she now uses her voice to elevate the needs of NICU families, offering practical resources, compassionate support, and hope. She is the author of It’s a NICU World, a children’s book, and It’s a NICU World: Your Guide During Your Baby’s NICU Stay, a resource designed to support and empower NICU parents. Ashley also hosts the Ask a NICU Mama podcast, where she candidly explores the emotional and medical complexities of life in and after the NICU. Through her work, Ashley is committed to ensuring families feel seen, supported, and empowered, even in their most vulnerable moments. Visit Ashley’s website. Find Ashley on Instagram.
Hoplite Ridge, 2025; Conrad Scott, 2014; Black Meridian: Piracy & Empire, Feb 2026
Sean Patrick Sayers is an acclaimed science fiction author, new build consultant for endurance yachts, educator, and former emergency management and defense professional. His work blends storytelling, service, and advocacy, drawing on history, mythology, and philosophy to explore themes of conflict, survival, and resilience. Sayers is the author of Conrad Scott, a post-apocalyptic novella examining survival and human endurance, and Hoplite Ridge, a science fiction epic praised as a masterpiece of the genre. Hoplite Ridge is a gripping tale of loyalty, power, and destiny, where ancient mythology collides with futuristic warfare in a battle for survival across the stars. His next book, Black Meridian: Piracy & Empire, is a sweeping narrative history of the Golden Age of Piracy and its role in shaping the modern world. Drawing on meticulous research and told with the pacing of an epic drama, Black Meridian reveals how outlaws, privateers, and empires fought for dominance on the high seas and how those battles changed the course of global power. With a background in emergency management, defense, and maritime consulting, Sayers brings realism and complexity to his storytelling. Beyond writing, he has served in leadership roles, advocating for resources, policy improvements, and community support.
In 2022, Sayers’ daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, a life-changing event that reshaped his priorities. He stepped away from other responsibilities to become her full-time caregiver and has since been an advocate for pediatric cancer awareness. In addition to pledging 100% of his royalties for the first 90 days of Hoplite Ridge sales to the Clements Cuties Foundation, Sayers continues to donate 20% of ongoing royalties from the novel to organizations that support families facing pediatric cancer. He has also donated most royalties from Conrad Scott to hospice programs, helping provide dignity and care for those facing the end of life. Through his books, advocacy, and service, Sean Patrick Sayers continues to share stories that inspire, engage, and connect, bridging literature, history, and real-world experience to offer readers narratives that are as immersive as they are meaningful. Visit Sean’s website.
Darah Schillinger
When the Daffodils Die, 2022; “An elegy for the Pompeii woman the Internet wants to ****,” 2024; Become and Unbecome, Unveil and Recover (July 2025, Yellow Arrow Publishing guest editor journal announcement)
Darah Schillinger (she/her) is a writer based in Lexington Park, Maryland. Her poems have appeared in AVATAR Literary Magazine, Yellow Arrow Journal, Maryland Bards Poetry Review, Empyrean Magazine, Grub Street Magazine, The Eunoia Review, and on the Spillwords Press website. In October 2024, her poem, “An elegy for the Pompeii woman the Internet wants to ****,” was named a finalist for the Montreal International Poetry Prize. Her first poetry chapbook, when the daffodils die, was released in July 2022 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. Her second collection, Still Warm, is a work in progress. Visit Darah’s website. Find Darah on Instagram.
Shipwreck on the Potomac: Disaster in Pursuit of Lincoln’s Killer, 2025
Karen Stone was born and raised in Connecticut and that is where she got her first museum job – while still in middle school. She has been the Museum Division Manager for St. Mary’s County, MD, where this event took place, since 2017. She did her undergraduate work at Gettysburg College and obtained her master’s degree at Penn State University and has been working in the museum field ever since. She has been a Lincoln fan and student of his assassination since childhood, so was fascinated when she first heard this story with its connection to Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. And she was surprised to find it had been overlooked by history. Stone lives in Fredericksburg, VA with her husband, and they have one adult son who is married and living in Alexandria, VA. In her spare time, Karen sings with the Chamber Chorale of Fredericksburg and at as many Fredericksburg Nationals baseball games as she can.
