2026's roll call of exhibitors will feature some exciting new talent as well as more established authors and of course a few local writers groups who just love coming back to us.
Here's who we have signed up so far...
Andy Mullaney
In 2021, Andy fulfilled a lifelong ambition with the release of his first book, Didn’t Anyone Ever Tell You? It’s All A Game!. Praised for its warmth, honesty and practical insights, the book shares personal stories and hard-earned lessons to help readers navigate life’s twists and turns, with 50% of all income donated to charity.
Life, however, had more lessons in store. A bowel cancer diagnosis in 2024 transformed his perspective and strengthened his commitment to helping others face adversity with courage and hope. His second book, Didn’t Anyone Ever Tell You? Never Trust a Fart! Surviving and Beating Bowel Cancer, to be published in 2026, tells his story openly, with humour too, encouraging early diagnosis, resilience and positivity in the face of life’s toughest challenges.
Life has a way of testing you—and teaching you—when you least expect it. Born and raised in the Black Country, Andrew (known to all as Andy) spent 35 years at Lloyds Bank, leading teams and supporting clients across Retail, Commercial, Corporate and Private Banking. When he stepped away, it wasn’t to slow down but to step into a new chapter focused on sharing what he had learned and helping others grow.
A defining moment came during a secondment to Business in the Community, one of the Prince of Wales’s charities, where he worked as a Business Connector for Dudley. That experience revealed the power of connection, the joy of giving back, and the impact of creating opportunities for others. Since then, Andy has continued mentoring young people and business leaders, supporting growth across both business and education, and volunteering widely, including as an Author Ambassador for Troubador. He is also a qualified Mental Health First Aider.
At his core, Andy believes in connection, contribution and community. Through mentoring, writing, speaking, consultancy and volunteering, he is passionate about helping people and organisations unlock their potential and leave a lasting, positive impact on the world around them.
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-mullaney-b6259693
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@blackcountrymull?_r=1&_t=ZN-96u5dJqJmBa
JA Bowler - The Ice Cooper Trilogy
Socially awkward Ice Cooper doesn’t want to be a hero. She just wants to keep her head down in a new town. But when she begins seeing strange creatures tied to ancient myths, she’s drawn into a battle where environmental catastrophe, buried secrets, and primordial forces collide.
Through flooded towns and raging wildfires to oil rig explosions and poisoned springs, Ice and her friends uncover the hidden hand of Konnara, a powerful energy company willing to gamble with the planet’s future.
Blending mystery, adventure and eco-thriller, the trilogy follows Ice’s journey from an awkward outsider to the girl who might hold the power and the burden to change everything.
J A Bowler was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in Warwickshire, which is often the inspiration for her stories. Her fiction blends contemporary themes with threads of myth, mystery, and environmental change, drawing readers into worlds where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.
J A Bowler likes animals and these always feature in her stories. She plays both the double bass and the saxophone and shares her life with a lovely rescue boxer dog named Blue.
website: www.jabowler.co.uk
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JABowler/
bluesky: @jabowler.bsky.social
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jabowlerauthor/
Jacci Gooding
A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories; Leave the Light On
If you've ever glimpsed something out of the corner of your eye or felt your skin prickle with fear, then these stories are for you. Fully revised and updated, with an extra story just for the chill of it, this is a delicious collection of the macabre and the creepy, the gruesome and the ghostly.
Beware the tempting Cornish countryside, shudder at ghostly whispers, and when darkness falls,
be sure to leave the light on...
This collection contains the winning entry of Writing Magazine's horror competition 2012, plus a story shortlisted for the Dark Fantasy Anthology 2018.
A graduate of Oxford University’s Undergraduate Diploma Course in Creative Writing, Jacci has recently been Commended in the Marlowe and Christie first novel competition 2026, as well as for her short stories which can be found in The Parracoombe Prize anthologies 2024 and 2025, online at New Writers.Org and The Bedford International Writing Competition amongst others. As well as being self-published Jacci has also written several non-fiction articles for magazines including Mayhem!, Town and City, Warwickshire Life, Kitchen Garden, Allotment & Leisure Gardener and Four Shires. Jacci is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2021 she launched the South Warwickshire Literary Festival which ran for four years promoting local authors, writers and the incumbent Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate. Jacci lives and writes in south Warwickshire and is a member of writers’ group, Banbury Writers’ Café.
https://jaccigoodingauthor.co.uk/
BS jaccigooding.bsky.social
James Carrac
Professor Shultz, working at a London hybridisation zoology centre, has achieved the unachievable by artificial fertilisation, creating the monster of all snakes. He successfully crossbred the largest venomous snake, the King Cobra, with the largest constricting snake, the Anaconda, producing an exceedingly large, very aggressive, and extremely dangerous snake he called The Kingaconda. This huge serpent can kill either by constriction or a venomous bite.
The Kingaconda escapes from the facility, going on a killing spree and viciously killing anything and everything that crosses its path.
Detective Inspectors Brett Webb and Brandon Walker are deployed to track down and kill the monster before the death count continues to rise.
James Carrac, an ex-lecturer of thirty seven years, lives in Warwickshire, UK, with his wife and family. James enjoyed many sports, now playing golf and snooker, and most genres of music, playing guitar and drums. Carrac has written three thriller novels: Red Light, Shanghai Calling and The Kingaconda, plus a short comical story - Skimp & Skarpa. Since retiring, James works as a TV and film extra, appearing in films, dramas, adverts and soap operas. Carrac also enjoys globetrotting, travelling to many parts of the world, his favourite places being New Zealand and South Africa. James’ other main interests are motorcycles and keeping Koi.
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Karen Storey
**Shortlisted for the prestigious Joan Hessayon Award and now being adapted for film**
Gordon Slee fears he was never meant to be born. Anxious since childhood after hearing he was an accident, the forty-two-year-old is still struggling to escape the shadow of his high-achieving family.
But a glimmer of hope is on the horizon - a huge promotion within his hotel group is up for grabs, and he is sure that his time has come to make a mark on the world.
However, within his own department, redundancies are afoot. He may lose his job before he gets the chance. Until he learns of a historic covenant that preserves the right for sheep to run through the company's top London hotel. Could he convince his boss that he's the man to save the hotel from catastrophe?
Up in Bryn Nefyn, North Wales, live the descendants of the covenant owner. The elderly sheep farmer and his aging hippy brother could use the money the hotel might offer. But along with their strong-willed American shepherdess, they laugh at Gordon's attempts to negotiate a deal. Surely, they couldn't use a covenant that's been forgotten about for over a hundred
Years. Or could they?
For lovers of upmarket commercial fiction with a touch of romance and comedy, The Approval of Sheep is an uplifting story about family and love, overcoming adversity and discovering our reason for our place in this world.
“Accomplished, funny, touching and clever' - bestselling author Stephanie Butland
“This idea is brilliant. I can see this as a movie.” Sophie Hannah, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author.
“Parts of it made me laugh out loud.” Mark Stay, bestselling author and presenter of the Bestseller Experiment podcasts.
'This book is sooo amazing. I can't put it down!' - bestselling author Helga Jensen
Karen Storey is an award-winning fiction writer, featured on the acclaimed book podcast The Bestseller Experiment. Her short stories have won and been placed in several international competitions, and her memoir pieces published within The New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
Originally from New York, Karen lives in Warwickshire and has written articles for American in Britain magazine. She lives with her husband, whose surname Storey was the perfect wedding gift. They share their home with a snarky cat who writes Karen’s monthly author newsletters and a crazy dog who barks at the wind.
The Approval of Sheep is her first novel. You can find Karen on www.karenstoreyauthor.com
David G. Bailey
Dave Daze, as I would christen years later entries in Diary, mentioned for that night of 1 December 1978 only ‘a nice looking Wendy’. Cookface was struck by my exact, bolder words in the car: ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’
The author’s attempts to make good on those words take us through the next four years from that first meeting at two companies’ Christmas parties. Wendy is a separated single mum committed to raising her son and a full-time job in Rugby. David is a single man, committed more to drinking than developing a career in insurance.
This compelling memoir picks up eight years on from The Sunny Side of the House (‘a whirlwind of humour, heartache, and childhood revelations’), which covered David’s East Anglian boyhood to age fifteen. You can take the boy out of the country…
Was the meeting in 1978 pure chance or secret harmony? Degrees of separation occur as David’s job takes him from Northampton to London. Career horizons broaden as far as Africa and South America, but will he pursue them within or without his developing small family unit? Follow this grown-up and growing-up story to see who will be boarding an intercontinental flight in February 1983.
David's latest non-fiction work Wendy: When Life Gives You Strawberries is another engrossing and emotionally charged instalment in his series Memories of a Fenland Boy, following The Sunny Side of the House (2024), his clear-eyed account of a 1960s boyhood in East Anglia. In 1979 David’s first job as a graduate takes him to the Midlands, where he begins an insurance career and a relationship with the titular Wendy. A richly textured, pacy narrative of an eventful courtship, professional development and personal loss features the gritty realism and caustic humour praised in his fiction.
The most recent (2025) of David’s three contemporary novels, The Tuesday-Thursday Tontine, set largely during the COVID-19 pandemic, explores relationships of baby boomers with each other, their previous and subsequent generations, and what it takes to be a man in the modern world.
Them Roper Girls (2022) traces in their own voices the lives of four sisters from their 1950s childhood, while Them Feltwell Boys (2023) follows a Roper-girl husband’s crude attempts at teenage love in counterpoint to his cynical womanising as an adult.
David debuted in 2021 with Seventeen, a football fantasy adventure novel aimed at and beyond young adults. He currently lives in the Midlands.
To read more of and about David’s work, including a quarterly newsletter and new content daily comprising extracts from diaries and other writing over more than fifty years.
Visit his website www.davidgbailey.com.
Madalyn Morgan
Ena Dudley and Artie Mallory at Dudley Green Associates are running three investigations simultaneously.
One investigation is to find Ena’s friend Charles Galbraith's half-brother. Charles didn’t know his brother Anthony existed until he read his late mother’s journal. Anthony Galbraith, brought up in Paris, escaped to England when the Germans marched into France at the beginning of WW2 and joined the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. When the war ended and Anthony was demobbed, he went missing.
The second investigation, to find the missing brother of Soviet Prima ballerina, Katerina Kaplinski, who defected to England to marry Commander Benedict Howard, Henry’s boss at GCHQ. Mrs Howard’s brother, Sergei, brought students to England as part of a Cultural Exchange. After landing at Heathrow airport, Sergei Kaplinski disappeared.
The third investigation, stamped Code Red, is to identify the person leaking top-secret information to the Kremlin in Moscow.
Madalyn Morgan was brought up in Lutterworth, where she has returned after living in London for thirty-six years. She had a hairdressing salon in Rugby before going to drama college. Madalyn was an actress for thirty years, working in television, the West End, and Repertory Theatre. She has been a rock DJ, a radio journalist, and has written articles for music magazines, women’s magazines, and newspapers. She has twelve published novels – a wartime saga, a post-war spy series, and four detective novels. She has written a collection of short stories, poems, and nonfiction titled Scenes of My Life and is currently working on a memoir and a spy thriller for publication in the summer of 2026. Madalyn’s books are available on Amazon in Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and paperback formats. The first four are audiobooks and in large print.
Website with Book links: http://www.madalynmorgan.com/
Jonas Lane
Dragon Chasers: The Knight School
A group of gifted and talented youngsters who are presented with the chance of a lifetime after being offered the opportunity of a free scholarship and a place at one of England’s finest and most exclusive - but reclusive - of school academies…
A primeval order who hide amongst us, studying us, watching our every move, waiting for the perfect opportunity to reveal themselves and strike terror into our hearts when we least expect it…
A secret society, tasked with defending all of humankind, protecting the Earth from an enemy who quietly lurk in the shadows, determined to stop them from rising again to reclaim a world they believe to rightfully be theirs once more…
An ancient text, supposedly written by the devil himself, one which could threaten all of our futures as well as our very existence…
And a legendary and epic war, one which has been waged for thousands of years, protecting all of humanity from a terrible truth of mythical proportions…
Here be dragons...
Jonas Lane is an acclaimed author and educator who is never happier than when he’s telling a tall tale, whether it’s to his readers or the children he visits in schools or teaches.
Jonas’ books appeal to readers of all ages and genres, his audience being those who are still young at heart and hungry for both excitement and adventure.
Every novel Jonas has published has been rated as 5-star by reviewers across all platforms. Not only that, but he has been published nationally alongside the likes of Dame Floella Benjamin, Brian Moses and Andrew Jennings and performed live reading sessions with other renowned authors such as Julia Jarman, Michelle Robinson, Lou Treleaven and Olaf Falafel.
Jonas looks forward to meeting readers - old and new = to chat about all things fantastical and thrilling at the Southam Book Festival!
To find out more about the wide range of titles the author has published, click here www.jonaslaneauthor.com/extracts
Brian Pollitt - Bookbinder & Book Artist.
Brian's passion is to breathe new life into books that are of personal value and have precious memories associated with them, as well as creating new books to capture new memories.
What books do you treasure? -Typically they are family bibles, granny's cook book, children's books, photo Albums.
Such well-loved books are often damaged from use over the generations or just by accident. You may be afraid to use such books for fear of further damage but worry not - most can be returned to at least a safe-to-use functional condition and many can be restored to their former glory.
If your book is too delicate or valuable to repair, then it can be protected by a made-to-measure box to protect it, be it a simple phase box or full on clam-shell box.
For books you want to keep in good condition, slip cases are great way to protect them.
You may have a collection of papers, photos or memorabilia that need collating into a dedicated binding to keep them together and protecting, or maybe a story you wrote as a child and would like it binding into a book – pretty much anything is possible if you have the imagination.
Bring your books along and Brian will examine the damage and explain what can be done to bring them back to life, whether it is a repair or designing a completely new binding to your requirements. He can also provide a guide to its value.
Brian will also be exhibiting his more innovative designer bindings that explore non-traditional book structures
Brian is a book repairer and restorer who focuses on books of personal value, rather than conservation of books with historical significance and high commercial value. This started off as a hobby some years ago after having some old family books passed to him. Having worked with a number of bookbinders to develop his skills, word of mouth has got around and now has enough work coming in to keep him out of mischief.
http://www.artisancrafts.co.uk/
The artistic side Brian's work can be found on Facebook at The Book Works, which is intended as a celebration of the art and craft of bookbinding, fusing traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design and innovation to bring book structures that delight as well as deliver function.
Suzy Edney
Capulet Close - We all know someone who lives in this street.
Read the poignant, funny and sometimes surprising stories of the residents of Capulet Close. Julia receives unwelcome news from her ex-husband which prompts her to move on and change her career. Dave has always been secretive but goes to even greater lengths to guard his privacy. What might he be hiding? Meet lonely Freda as she dips her toe into the exciting, and unknown world of internet dating. James and Gary the young professionals from number 6 and generous, affectionate Valerie and her family from number 10. All come together along with the newest members of the close; Anne and Henry to raise money for a children's charity. Friendships are forged, secrets revealed and misunderstandings occur. No one really knows what goes on behind closed doors.
Bikini Briefs
Some are happy, some are sad.
Some are funny, some are mad.
A collection of short stories for the beach
(or the train, or In the airport or on the plane!)
Introducing widowed Felicity who is getting back into the dating game after four years of widowhood.
Meet Louise who has found some letters hidden in a drawer proving to her that her husband is a cheat and a liar. Will she ever be able to forgive him?
Read about the couple who are reluctant guests at a Murder Mystery weekend. What surprises are in store for them?.
Suzy Edney is a retired teacher, an avid reader and has always loved to write. She used to write stories for her children when they were small and has always enjoyed writing rhymes and poems for family and friends to celebrate special occasions.
She joined The Rugby Café Writer’s last year which inspired her to blow the dust from the pages of her stories and turn them into a novel. Capulet Close is available on Amazon.
Recently she published ‘Bikini Briefs’ a collection of short stories marketed as ‘a holiday read.’
Suzy has a website.
Sue Williams
Sue's latest anthology, Golden Threads: Women’s Shared Wisdom from the Tapestry of Life, brings together powerful stories from women who have gained wisdom through life’s twists and turns. It is also available as an audiobook and podcast. Find out more at: www.goldenthreadsbook.co.uk
This builds on the Believe You Can collaborative book series, which includes Believe You Can Live a Life You Love at 50+. Contributors to these anthologies share personal stories alongside practical exercises to build confidence and self-belief. Sue also created the inspirational Believe Oracle Cards which complement the books, and can be used for daily inspiration.
Sue Williams hails from Leicester, but has enjoyed many years living in the historic cities of York and Lincoln during her career. She is now based in Coventry. Since taking retirement from the Civil Service, she enjoys using her National Trust membership to the full. She has also published books to inspire women navigating life changes to rediscover their voice, confidence, and inner sparkle.
Her poetry collection I Am Unique won a Janey Loves award, and “takes the reader on a journey of personal discovery of inherent power, wisdom and creative energy”.
To explore Sue’s books and creative work, visit:
Lynda Thrift
A story of secrets, sacrifice and the search for freedom.
Foisted onto an unwilling aunt as a refugee from the French Revolution, Elisabeth’s life is only made bearable by her cousin Lucy. Despite being given all the advantages of an only child, Lucy cares for Elisabeth like a sister. They enjoy a carefree childhood in the Scottish Highlands with their good friend Billy from the local village. But everything changes on Elisabeth’s eighteenth birthday. She is given a letter which changes her life. Elisabeth discovers she has a twin brother and wants to look for him. Her aunt has other ideas. She has high expectations of Lucy, but the best Elisabeth can hope for is to become a governess. At the eleventh hour, a suitor appears on the horizon, which resolves Elisabeth’s immediate problem. But it is then that Elisabeth’s life takes an unexpected turn. Lucy falls ill and is sent to Switzerland for treatment in a sanatorium close to Elisabeth and Felix’s honeymoon chalet. Lucy’s
suitor is called to her bedside, despite being in the middle of covert negotiations with Britain’s enemy, France.
Lynda writes in several genres, and her books are accessible to a variety of audiences. Books for younger readers are illustrated.
The Waggy Tales series is whimsical. It focuses on the adventures of a failed guide dog, Amble, and his hyperactive best friend, border collie Badger. The books are beautifully illustrated.
Other books for children include Metro Mice and Kitty Alone.
The Saga of the Sword, comprises five books, with another due out shortly. The books centre around a mystical Sword and it’s keeper, whose task is to keep history on track. Involving time travel and imaginative interpretations of real events, this fantasy series should appeal to lovers of sci-fi, mystery, and adventure of all ages.
Lynda is a Yorkshire lass, hailing from a quaint mill town. Despite humble beginnings, she was fortunate to pursue her passion for Chemistry at university.
Along the way, she crossed paths with her husband and embarked on an adventure that took them to the Land Down Under for five memorable years.
After a busy career both in the UK and overseas, Lynda is now happily retired in the West Midlands.
She is Nonna to her grandchildren and loves nothing more than spending time with them, playing and telling tales.
Alongside her gorgeous grandchildren, she has two dogs and four cats to keep her occupied.
When not on grandma or pet watching duties, she is a local magistrate.
John Horton
John's parents, Alan and Peggy Horton were married in 1940. Within a few weeks Alan was on a ship bound by a circuitous route for Egypt, a journey of two months from Glasgow. From Egypt, Alan and his men were shipped to Crete where they suffered a catastrophic defeat; many on both sides were killed. Alan, with countless others, was taken as prisoner of war by cattle truck to Germany, and imprisoned until hostilities ceased. John has collated their letters from when in captivity into a book.
They recount the story of life in wartime Britain, highlighting the pain and separation of war but enlivened by love and hope for a lonely young bride. They also outline the frustrations and boredom for fighting men, forced to sit idly as the war raged with only occasional snippets of news.
This correspondence has been described by The Imperial War Museum as one of the most complete sets of letters they have ever been written between husband and wife.
The complete letters are now with the Imperial War Museum and several were recently included in their ‘Letters to loved ones’ produced for VE Day 80 earlier this year.
On leaving school, John worked in agriculture. He later spent a year at agricultural college studying farm management before spending twelve years in Northern Nigeria working with the Anglican Church as an agriculturalist. Returning to this country, he studied development at Reading University and then joined Tearfund, a Christian relief and development organisation. He was Africa Manager for fourteen years and later helped to manage the response to the Boxing Day Tsunami. After a course in theology he was ordained in Coventry Cathedral in 2007. He served initially in a busy urban parish on the edge of
Coventry before working with a group of six rural parishes in South Warwickshire. He retired towards the end of 2019 and now lives in Warwickshire helping, part time, in another rural benefice. Retirement has provided a long awaited opportunity to turn his parents’ wartime letters into a book.
Chris Burleigh
Reflections – reflecting life, love, nature, people, circumstances
Reflections - showing the poet’s response to the world he observes and experiences
Reflections – mirroring the reader’s own experiences, and giving expression to them
Beercott Books published this third collection of Chris M L Burleigh’s poetry, in September 2025.
This collection continues his thesis that ‘life is serious, but is not to be lived too seriously’, as in his previous collections (Intersecting Lines, Beercott Books, 2021, and Particles of Light, 2017, revised edition 2025).
The more serious poems are liberally interspersed with light-hearted, even playful, poems. Often, though, there is an underlying point to be made.
As with Chris’s previous collections, there is an entertaining final section of wry thoughts, wit, and puns.
‘Life is serious, but is not to be lived too seriously’. Serious or humorous, my poems are always good-natured.
I write when I have something to say, and I feel I have found the right way to say it. It’s about having fun with words and meaning, using words skillfully to say things differently, and saying the familiar in unfamiliar ways.
All three collections have been well received and have sold well in my local bookshops and at book fairs. The poems reflect my interest in people, love, the natural world, and the human condition.
There are poems to move you, to surprise you, and to make you laugh. I hope readers will enjoy reading my poems and will feel I am putting their own experiences and emotions into words. The humorous poems and one-liners are there for entertainment, to be enjoyed, though they often contain a 'sting in the tail'.
It’s such a great feeling when you get good feedback and review comments, or when somebody chooses to take home a copy of your words. That’s communication!
I read regularly at poetry ‘open mics’ and at local literary events, and I give talks about my poetry to community groups.
Visit my website https://chrismlburleigh.co.uk/
I’m @chrismlburleigh on Facebook, and Bluesky.
Rick Thompson
This book is a journey through the year, following the 230 miles of the Fosse Way that spears through the heart of England, telling the stories of the towns and cities that grew up along the way, and the key episodes that took place along the Roman road and changed English history.
It also describes the surprising wildlife to be found in nature reserves and green spaces along the route month by month as the seasons unfold. From the flatlands of Lincolnshire, through the East Midlands Wolds and Warwickshire, to the Cotswolds and the sumptuous West Country, this beautifully written book is full of fascinating information, folklore, bird identification and some unexpected tales.
After gaining an MA in English at Oxford University, Rick Thompson joined BBC News and over the next 27 years worked as a reporter, presenter, producer and senior editor at the regional, national and international levels. A lifelong birdwatcher, he now writes books blending wildlife with history and human stories, with observations about the threats to our natural world.
Other books in this series are 'Park Life' – the Wildlife of an Urban Park, and 'A River Avon Year' that follows the Warwickshire Avon along The Shakespeare Avon Way from the river's source in Northamptonshire to its confluence with the Severn at Tewkesbury.
Northants Authors
Northants Authors was started by five writers, all of whom had self-published books.
Although each was very different, they shared the same problem: how to promote and sell their work.
Without the backing of a traditional publisher, books could not be distributed to the wider audience they sought.
They decided to try to do it together. So Northants Authors, a co-operative of authors living in Northamptonshire, was born.
Carly Perkins-Turvey
Buttons: A heartwarming tale based on true events about a little giraffe called Buttons who was rescued from a supermarket and given a loving new life.
Follow Buttons on her journey from a lonely shelf to a loving home and becoming guardian of the front room!
Luna & Tiger: When Luna borrows a rubber tiger from nursery and brings it home to join her on many adventures with her family for the entire bank holiday weekend!
Based on the real adventures by my toddler Luna, Seeing through a toddlers eyes into a bright, fun and vibrant world, borrowing Tiger from Nursery to take along to the Supermarket, The Fish and Chip Shop, Ice Cream Parlour, The Park and a stately home belonging to one of Henry the 8th Wives.
Barty: Meet Barty the bear and some of his family and friends as he goes in search of the biscuits he loves!
A heart-warming family story depicting values such as sharing and forgiveness.
In the third book from the Bears Buddies series, follow Jam as he learns about asking for help.
Jam: Jam is a mischievous bear so when he is left home alone, he tries to do things on his own.
Lets find out what happens when he wants to make a yummy glass of Strawberry Milkshake.
A mother from Warwickshire of two young children with a huge love of teddy bears (and anything to do with bears) since a child, an avid gamer when the children allow and an animal lover that started her Children's Author journey based on what her daughter had gotten up to during a May bank holiday weekend at nursery.
From that true story the Bears Buddies series was born both from her imagination and real events with the fourth book of the series Bears Buddies - Greybeard out later this year.
Each story is written with meaning from the Bears Buddies Series such as sharing, safety, forgiveness and kindness to name a few!
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/carlyptauthor/
Sarah Whitton
I realised I’d made an even bigger mistake.
I’d made the wrong choice…
It’s her third wedding of the year, and 33-year-old Louise is tired of living vicariously through other people. She just wants to meet a man she connects with; someone who puts her first. But all her relationships seem doomed to fail from the beginning.
Father-of-two Dan is no exception. Sure, he’s funny, sexy, charming… but he’s married. Louise doesn’t want to be a homewrecker; she wants someone who can commit to her and their relationship. But she has always fallen hard and fast, and Dan… he feels like the one.
As Dan continues to shower her with affection, Louise becomes convinced that he is her only shot at true happiness. But her friends are not so sure – especially handsome best friend Flint, who has always been Louise’s shoulder to cry on – and with their support, Louise slowly begins to realise that love doesn’t need to be new and exciting to be real.
Sarah lives in Oxfordshire with her husband, two energetic boys, and cat Willow – who helps to balance out all the testosterone! Sarah is currently a Domestic Abuse Co-Ordinator and is writing her second novel. She thrives on writing about real-life situations, friendship, love and how it can all go spectacularly wrong.
When Sarah isn’t writing, she loves Boxercising to drum and bass , watching her boys play sport and stomping around her local fields listening to podcasts, or leaving very long voice notes for her friends to speed up.
https://cranthorpemillner.com/?s=sarah+whitton
Rugby Cafe Writers
The Rugby Cafe Writers are a group of new and experienced writers who meet at the popular 'Art at the Alex' venue in Rugby every fortnight. Over the past decade, the Writers have published seven anthologies of stories, memoir and poems and sold nearly a thousand books. This includes a set of four books, featuring a short story for every day of the year. They are currently working on a new book of autobiographies of members of the group and hope to have this ready for the Southam Book Festival. New members are always welcome. www.rugbycafewriters.com
The Write Club Leamington Spa
The Write Club aims to provide a supportive community to help nurture your writing talent.
Each two-hour session is centred on in-depth workshops, modelled on the system developed at universities in the US and UK for MFAs and MAs in Creative Writing. We are, however, open to writers at every stage in their writing development. We also hold termly Q&As with local established authors. Recent guests have included Leena Norms (Half Arse Human), Natalie Marlow (The Red Hollow) and Caroline Lea (Love, Sex & Frankenstein).
We meet at Oscar's French Bistro on Chandos Street on Monday evenings in term time. We will be represented at Southam Book Festival by the founder of the group, Patrick Kincaid (The Continuity Girl) and other members who will be happy to chat with you about what the group has meant for them.
You can find more details at www.writeclubleam.co.uk, on Instagram at @writeclubleam and on Facebook at Write Group Leam.
Southam Heritage Collection
Southam’s museum is in Tithe Place on the High Street, and publishes and sells books and booklets about aspects of the town’s history. We love attending Southam Book Festival to introduce our various publications to visitors from near and far.
Our most popular book at present is a “Southam: the Timeline of a Warwickshire Market Town” (price £8) which was first published in the summer of 2025 and has now sold nearly 200 copies. It provides a comprehensive record of the significant dates and eras in the town’s history from Roman times to the present day. It is a substantial illustrated book that will appeal to anyone interested in local history - especially those with a connection to Southam.
New this year is another publication by one of our volunteers, Dr Roland Raffell, titled “Southam Sisters 150th Anniversary” (price £3). It is a fascinating short history of the ten German Sisters who came to Southam in 1876 to establish an orphanage, convent and school. Their work and the Convent had a major impact on the town and its population, and the beautiful embroidery work of the sisters gained worldwide fame.
Also new this year is the “Southam Public House Heritage Trail” (price £3) which sheds light on the history of Southam’s many Public Houses, Taverns and Inns. There used to be over 20 of them in the town! The book is accompanied by an updated map of all the buildings around Southam that were once, or still are, Pubs.
We will have many more books available at the Festival, all selling at very reasonable prices. A detailed account of the life and pioneer work of one of Southam’s most famous sons, Henry Lilley Smith, is recounted in “A Prophet in His Own Country” (price £12), by former Southam GP, Alastair Robson. Other publications include the history of Southam’s Workhouse, two volumes about Law, Order and Policing in the town, the origins of Southam’s Fire Service, Southam Memories of WW2, the story of Southam Zoo, and the “Battle of Southam 1642” (£6), which provides an account the first major skirmish of the English Civil Wars at Southam.
All the proceeds from the sale of our books, cards and calendars are used to support the work of the museum, which is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers.
Follow us on social media for the latest Southam Heritage news, and do come and visit our stall at the Festival.
