Local Author Collection at the Joliet Public Library

It's been thirteen years since Kristina Skaggs asked me to form WriteOn Joliet with her, a nurturing and supportive critique group for writers over age eighteen and of any genre.

Since that time, my present co-leader Tom and Hernandez and I have worked together to ensure members receive valuable feedback on their works AND find the audience who wants to read them.

To that end, we've partnered with other resources in the community with the goal of making positive impacts for all, especially readers.

One of those projects we helped start shortly before the pandemic was the local author collection at the Joliet Public Library, a collection that is available at both branches, Black Road and Ottawa Street.

Although the library began with the donations of books from WriteOn Joliet authors (because we had the authors and the books to start a well-rounded collection), the project didn't end with WriteOn. This local author collection includes books from other local authors, too.

Last week I met with a member of the library's staff to discuss possible collaborative projects for 2023. Afterwards, Rebekah gave me a mini tour of the current local author collection at the library.

I was delighted to see books I had previously reviewed for the LocalLit newsletter.

LocalLit was a newsletter published by The Herald-News (of which I am the features editor) that featured reviews by me of books local authors had written.

As I refer to some of these books, I'm hyperlinking to descriptions of books I've read, reviewed, and written. This way, if something catches your eyes, you can click on the link for more information.

I was also delighted to see the tattered cover of R. Michael Markley's Necessary Death, as this suggests many happy readers have enjoyed this book.

Next to it is an ABC book for economics that I really enjoyed.

Directly below that is WriteOn Joliet's first anthology and one of the poetry books by WriteOn Joliet author Holly Coop.

Inching along, I saw Bryony, the first book in the BryonySeries "drop of blood" trilogy.

Next to that is Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, an anthology with contributions by WriteOn Joliet member Colleen H. Robbins.

Directly below that is The Legacy, one of the books in WriteOn Joliet member Sue Midlock's Rosewood series.

And to its right is Denise Unland's Irish Genealogy by Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara.

Below The Legacy is the first book in Kenneth Lee McGee's "Emmy" series. Ken is a prolific writer and self-publisher as you can see for yourself.

And right next to "Emmy" is the first installment in the BryonySeries Before The Blood prequel.

And waaaay to the far right is another book by Robbins: Stories of a Sheltered Suburbanite.

We had to ask where books in two of the BryonySeries subseries "The Adventures of Cornell Dyer" and "Bertrand The Mouse were located.

These books are actually among other books in the juvenile fiction section.

You will find several "Cornell Dyer" books here, including Cornell Dyer and the Missing Tombstone.

And you will also find several "Bertrand" books, too, such as Bertrand's Silly ABC Book.

The Joliet Public Library also has other BryonySeries titles, too, not just this one.

To read descriptions of other BryonySeries books, visit bryonyseries.com/pages and Denise M. Baran-Unland on Amazon.

For more information about WriteOn Joliet and the Joliet Public Library's commitment to local authors, visit writeonjoliet.com and jolietlibrary.org/en/special-interest/local-authors.