Each year, the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum hosts several regional authors for their annual Lew Wallace Hoosier Author Fair. The event takes place on the second floor of the Montgomery County Community Foundation, which is located at 119 E. Main St., Crawfordsville. We are planning the 2027 Hoosier Author Fair for the evening of Saturday, November 27, 2026, from 5 – 8 p.m.
The Hoosier Author Fair is free and open to the public. Authors will have books and book-related merchandise for sale and are happy to sign copies and chat with readers. Attending authors represent several genres of writing.
Attend the Hoosier Author Fair
As an author
Authors should email volunteer organizer Stephanie Cain with questions. Completed author applications can be emailed to Stephanie, or mailed to her at PO Box 202, Crawfordsville, IN 47933. Applications can also be submitted online.
Final day for registration is October 1, 2027.
This year marks the 9th annual Lew Wallace Hoosier Author Fair. The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum sponsors this event as part of Crawfordsville’s Downtown Party Night Shop Small event. It’s a fun evening with a 6 p.m. tree lighting, carriage rides, food trucks, shopping, and more.
Authors must currently live in Indiana or have spent formative years in Indiana.
There is no fee to participate. We provide tables and chairs. Banners and table decorations are allowed, subject to space availability. Please note, you may be sharing a 12-foot table. We will try to accommodate authors who need an entire table, but space is limited.
This year, we are employing a fairly simple rubric to determine eligibility. This rubric will be applied more strictly once we reach 30+ applications, due to space considerations. Please note that the team applying the rubric will also give special consideration to authors of intense local interest.
Authors are welcome to bring products that tie in to their writing. In the past, authors have brought t-shirts, stickers, journals, maps, and other items for sale or to give away.
Please keep in mind that the author fair takes place during the dinner hour. Authors are welcome to bring meals or order meal delivery and should plan accordingly. Coffee, water, and light refreshments will be provided.
You are responsible for taking payments, so consider how you will handle credit cards, checks, cash, and other forms of payment.
A small parking lot is located west of the Fusion54 building. Street parking is also available. An elevator is located in the lobby.
As a reader
Each author is responsible for taking payments, so readers should bring cash as well as credit cards.
2026 Authors
The following authors attended the 2026 Hoosier Author Fair.
Carlotta Berry is a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and owner of NoireSTEMinist Educational Consulting. She has authored children’s STEM books, academic textbooks, and adult romance novels under the pseudonym Carlotta Ardell.
Agata Izabela Brewer was born and raised in Poland. A teacher, mother, and activist for immigrant rights, she is Professor of English at Wabash College. Her creative writing has appeared in Guernica and Entropy. The Hunger Book is her first book of creative nonfiction set in communist Poland and contemporary Montgomery County, Indiana.
Josh A. Brewer teaches creative writing and literature at Purdue University. His work appears in Harvard Review, Southeast Review, Bluestem, Existere, and Poets Against War. His books include Writers Resist: Hoosier Writers Unite (2017) and When is a Will (2022). He has taught English at the University of Miami, University of South Carolina, and Tennessee State University.
Stephanie A. Cain writes epic & urban fantasy novels. She grew up in Indiana, where much of her urban fantasy is set. She works at a small liberal arts college and dreams of living somewhere without winter.
Christopher Clouser is an accountant by day, and a prolific author by night. He has written eighteen books, novels, and novellas and one play in the fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, and sports history genres while contributing to several compilations, along with multiple articles in national publications.
Kristina Cook is the author of more than a dozen books ranging from historical and NASCAR romance to paranormal and contemporary young adult fiction.
Kate Ellison-Nixon a lifelong Hoosier, has been writing for over a decade. Her latest book, In the Company of Pets, features stories from her childhood and her mother’s writings. After inheriting a garnet brooch that had been passed down through generations, Kate discovered it was fake. This inspired her to write The Heirloom Brooch, discovering a passion as deep as her love of genealogy. This story became the foundation for her Heirloom Series, written with book club readers in mind.
Edward Elkins has served in ministry for over forty-three years whose book The Archko Volume attempts to bring people closer to discovering truth regarding Christian belief.
Gary Gilliam, aka The Karate Bum, is a poet who loves travel. He is a U.S. Army veteran who writes of grit, love, and the long search for grace and providence.
Megan Hammond is the author of Diamonds in Auschwitz, a poignant novel exploring human connection and resilience during one of history’s darkest times.
Jane Hartsock is a Bioethicist and Medical Humanities professor at Indiana University. She publishes regularly in academic literature, and has two novels, Load Bearing and Fan Base. In late 2026, she will publish a biography on the first English language translators of the Ebers Papyrus.
Erin Hayden writes fiction with heart, humor, and a hint of advocacy. With mystery-savvy service dogs and inclusive, relatable characters, Erin’s stories celebrate everyday courage in the face of life’s messier moments.
Christy Heitger-Ewing is an award-winning Indiana author known for blending humor, heart, and mystery-savvy service dogs and inclusive, relatable characters. Erin’s stories celebrate everyday courage in the face of life’s messier moments.
Juan Manuel Cuevas Herrera was born and raised in the historic Andalusian city of Córdoba. Multifaceted in his own self-discovery as a human being, he has experimented with the photographic arts and a sense of justice. Awarded a decoration for a courageous intervention, he left everything amid the orange blossoms of the Jewish quarter to travel to the other side of the Atlantic.
Todd Hosea is an award-winning author and veteran of the United States Air Force. He served at the headquarters for NORAD, USAF Space Command, and NAS Keflavik, Iceland. Combining his military experience with a love of science fiction and technothrillers, Todd has found his niche creating high octane action adventures. His debut novel, Steal the Reaper, was recognized in 2024 by the Military Writers Society of America.
Garret Hutson writes historical fiction featuring realistic LGBT characters. You can often find him reading about history, and day-dreaming about being there. This is where his stories are born, and he hopes they transport you the way his imagination transports him.
Chris Jensen is a nationally recognized baseball writer and novelist whose books Baseball State by State and Baseball’s Two-Way Greats display his passion for America’s pasttime.
Courtney Leach has twenty years of journalism experience writing for magazines, E-Commerce, and Social Media. Her two self-published books Blazin’ and He Answers to Grief, share he adventures parenting three daughters, section hiking the Appalachian Trail, and traversing the peaks and valleys of life.
Krystina K. Leganza has B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from Miami University (Ohio) and the University of Notre Dame, respectively. She has taught at the university level in Indiana for more than thirty years. Her childrens books include M is for Math.
Robin Lee Lovelace is an award-winning writer of short fiction. In 2017 she won the one-act play contest present by the 30XNinety theatre near New Orleans. In 2019 she won the Etchings Press annual novella competition. Robin’s latest book A Wild Region is a collection of short stories.
Michael Dabney is an award-winning journalist whose debut novel An Untidy Affair is a murder mystery worthy of this seasoned writer. Dabney has published several short-story mysteries and is the co-editor of Decades of Dirt and Murder 20/20, both anthologies of the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Maggie Marton is author of the book For the Love of Dog that celebrates the epic love story between humans and dogs through the lens of an award-winning pet writer and blogger.
Jim Meeks-Johnson likes to blend the elements of two science fiction subgenres that are often seen as incompatible: hard science and fiction. His hit series Entangled Galaxy imagines what happens when we make scientific breakthorughs in space opera, driven by action and adventure.
Daniel Newman is the author of two books, inclduing the Amazon best-seller The Millenial CEO, and his bew release The New Rules of Customer Engagement. His work has been recognized by the Huffington Post.
Bill Oakes spent a decade in journalism as a broadcast and newspaper reporter as well as a political columnist. Bill has channeled his experiences into fiction with his debut novel Chasing Evil.
James Pauley Jr. spent a college semester in each Guadalajara, Mexico, and Heidelberg, Germany. The experience piqued his interest and lifelong love of international travel. A flight attendant for forty-four years, he is the award-winning author of Bumpy Rides and Soft Landings and the coauthor of An Unconditional Friendship with best-selling author Charlene Potterbaum.
Joseph S. Pete is an award-winning journalist and columnist for The Times of Northwest Indiana who was written three books about the Hoosier State. He is an Indiana University graduate, an Iraq War veteran, the Northwest Indiana Literary Journal editor-in-chief, a frequent contributor to Lakeshore Public Radio, and an executive board member of the Indiana Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Chicago Headline Club.
Purple Aardvark is a curated, hybrid publishing house and literary community based in Indiana that focuses on emotional, reflective personal writing, memoirs, and
regional anthologies.
Stevie Rector is a super-natural storyteller with a deep fascination for mythology, emotional transformation, and the eerie tension of the human psyche. She crafts immersive narratives exploring resilience, justice, and the shadowed places where monsters—both real and imagined—lurk. Her debut novel, Loki’s Lost Memory, conjures a world of forgotten gods and fractured souls, while her forthcoming book, Anja’s Awakening, sharpens vengeance into poetry. She brings her stories to life through layered dialogue, vivid imagery, and a haunting emotional undercurrent that leaves readers breathless.
Jennifer Huston Shaeffer is an author, editor, and the owner of White Dog Editorial Services. As a youth, she developed a love for reading, writing, and dogs. She is a member of the Independent Authors Network, the Indie Authors Association, the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, the Central Indiana Writers Association, and the Editorial Freelancers Association.
M.K. Scott is a husband and wife writing team behind the cozy mystery series, The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries, The Talking Dog Detective Agency, and Cupid’s Catering Company.
Carrie Steinweg is a freelance writer, food blogger, travel columnist, and author of nine books, including four children’s books, three local pictorial histories, and one on restaraunts in Indiana.
Phil Stephens is an Indiana native whose book The Altar Boy was named the 2016 gold medal winner in the international Publisher Awards for Best Contemporary Novel. His second novel, At the Edge of the Stairs, is a paranormal romance that tells of a love story of a woman who died in the arms of her fiancé.
Sarah Styf is a high school English teacher. When she isn’t working or chasing after busy teenagers, she enjoys writing, running, hiking, and camping with her family.
Elise Tegegne writes to encourage readers to cultivate their eyes for the divine during daily difficulties. Her first book is In Praise of Houseflies.
Dr. Ronda Wells is an award-winning author who writes “Heartfelt Stories from the Heartland.” An avid reader from a young age, her first dream job was a librarian. Her debut WW2 romance novella, The Christmas Cherub, released in July, 2025. A sweet nostalgic tale of lovers separated by war, they’re linked by a special cherub which
might hold the key for a Christmas miracle.
Why an Author Fair?
The Beginning of the Golden Age
Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, published in 1880, is generally credited with initiating the Golden Age of Indiana Literature. Ben-Hur sold more copies than any other printed work in the 19th century with the exception of the Bible.
All in all, the Golden Age lasted into the 1920s and spawned hundreds of titles. Two novels by Hoosier Booth Tarkington won the Pulitzer Prize. Writers like Meredith Nicholson, Gene Stratton-Porter, Maurice Thompson, James Whitcomb Riley, and Lew and Susan Wallace became defining voices of Midwestern culture to the rest of the world.
A Continued Legacy
Although the Golden Age began to wane in the years following World War I, Hoosier writers continued to have an impact in the publishing industry throughout the 20th century with writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Jessamyn West, John Green, and James Alexander Thom.
Today, dozens of authors make Indiana their home. Every Small Business Saturday, as part of Crawfordsville Main Street’s Downtown Party Night, we invite some of those authors to sell and sign books and visit with readers.