Day 1 of AOTC Book Fest Begins Saturday at Johns Creek Arts Festival

For anyone who enjoys meeting authors, the Arts on the Creek Book Fest – which kicks off Saturday at the Johns Creek Arts Festival – is not to be missed.

Writers who will be on hand during the inaugural event’s first day include a variety of award winners as well as accomplished first-time authors. Some signed up for multiple slots, giving readers additional opportunities to get books personalized. Others will be appearing just once. And all will be happy to suggest books you – or anyone on your gift list – might enjoy. The AOTC Book Fest store will be open all weekend, with books by all 16 authors available to purchase.

Kicking off the festivities at 10 a.m. will be T.M. Brown and Bernard N. Lee Jr., both of whom have penned series that have been finalists for several awards. Brown’s books – “Sanctuary: A Legacy of Memories” and “Testament: An Unexpected Return” – are mysteries; Lee’s – “A Look Back In Time: Memoir of a Military Kid in the Fifties” volumes I and II – are memoirs.

At 11 a.m., Roger Johns, winner of the 2018 Georgia Author of the Year Award for “Dark River Rising,” a detective/mystery, arrives to sign copies of that novel as well as “River of Secrets.” Both are installments in his Wallace Hartman mysteries. Johns will be joined by Michael S. Pressman, author of “The Price of Freedom” and “The Genesis Project.”

Pressman will appear again at noon, alongside Cynthia D. Jones, who will be signing “The Melody of Marriage.”

Beverly Armento, whose “Seeing Eye Girl” was a 2022 Independent Publisher Book Award bronze winner for autobiography, will take a seat beside Jones at 1 p.m.

Then a blockbuster combination of two female authors writing about World War II is on tap at 2 p.m., when Rona Simmons and Jan Slimming take their places in the AOTC Book Fest tent. Simmons has won a pair of Military Writers Society Gold Medals in nonfiction and fiction, for “The Other Veterans of World War II” in 2020 and “A Gathering of Men” in 2022, respectively. And Slimming’s “Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park,” was a 2022 Georgia Author of the Year Award nominee in the history category.

Lee returns at 3 p.m., joined by Jon H. Costales, author of the science fiction work, “Visions of Redemption,” and again at 4 p.m., alongside Armento.

The Book Fest’s first day will close on a high note as 2022 Georgia Author of the Year Award nominee C. Matthew Smith arrives to meet and greet fans at 5 p.m. His debut crime novel “Twentymile” is also nominated for a National Outdoor Book Award. Smith will be joined by Lee.

The AOTC Book Fest, sponsored by Appen Media Group, the Atlanta Writers Club, A Novel Idea and Bookmiser, will be open again Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Check back tomorrow for details about each writer appearing on Day 2. For more information, go to ArtsOnTheCreek.org.

While there is no physical address for the festival, it will be located directly across Hwy. 141 from the Atlanta Athletic Club, 1930 Bobby Jones Dr., Johns Creek, GA 30097.

Saturday, Oct. 15 schedule

• 10 a.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

• 10 a.m.: T.M. Brown – “Sanctuary” and “Testament” / Mysteries

• 11 a.m.: Roger Johns – “Dark River Rising” and “River of Secrets” / Crime Fiction

• 11 a.m.: Michael S. Pressman – “The Price of Freedom” and “The Genesis Project”/ Military, Crime, Action, Adventure

• Noon: Cynthia D. Jones – “The Melody of Marriage” / Christian Marriage

• Noon: Michael S. Pressman – “The Price of Freedom” and “The Genesis Project” / Military, Crime, Action, Adventure

• 1 p.m.: Beverly Armento – “Seeing Eye Girl” / Memoir

• 1 p.m.: Cynthia D. Jones – “The Melody of Marriage” / Christian Marriage

• 2 p.m.: Rona Simmons – “The Other Veterans of World War II” and “A Gathering of Men” / Historical Fiction, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, Military Nonfiction

• 2 p.m.: Jan Slimming – “Codebreaker Girls” and “Captured At Singapore” / Nonfiction WWII History

• 3 p.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

• 3 p.m.: Jon H. Costales – “Visions of Redemption” / Science Fiction

• 4 p.m.: Beverly Armento – “Seeing Eye Girl” / Memoir

• 4 p.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

• 5 p.m.: C. Matthew Smith – “Twentymile” / Crime, Thriller

• 5 p.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

Sunday, Oct. 16 schedule

• 10 a.m.: Bob Dickinson – “Me, Jesus, a Beer and a Cigar” / Christian Progressive

• 10 a.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

• 11 a.m.: Cynthia D. Jones – “The Melody of Marriage” / Christian Marriage

• 11 a.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

• Noon: Beverly Armento – “Seeing Eye Girl” / Memoir

• Noon: Cynthia D. Jones – “The Melody of Marriage” / Christian Marriage

• 1 p.m.: Marilyn Baron – “The Romanov Legacy” / Romantic Suspense; and “The Case of the Missing Botticelli” / Cozy Mystery

• 1 p.m.: Jeremy Logan – “The Trigger Effect” and “Trinity” / Crime, Suspense, Mystery

• 2 p.m.: Robert Ratonyi – “From Darkness Into Light” / Memoir and Historic Narrative

• 2 p.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir

• 3 p.m.: Beverly Armento – “Seeing Eye Girl” / Memoir

• 3 p.m.: Robert Ratonyl – “From Darkness Into Light” / Memoir and Historic Narrative

• 4 p.m.: Mike Cobb – “The Devil You Knew” and “Dead Beckoning” / Historical Crime Fiction

• 4 p.m.: Bernard N. Lee Jr. – “A Look Back in Time” Volumes I and II / Memoir