Meet the Authors
Stanza is a bookstore. It’s also a press. This volume is one of our first efforts. It’s a labor of love, meant to introduce readers to the rich literary scene in Beacon. It’s also meant to celebrate local writers and use Stanza’s position as tourist stop and literary destination to get more eyes on their work. This is a unique privilege of a bookshop in a popular town. We feature local writers prominently, right at the front of our shop, and we really hope, once you read the works herein, you’ll be enticed to return and purchase these writers’ books.
This book is not only for readers, but writers too.
We hope readers enjoy the great work, of course. We hope they get a good sense of literary culture in Beacon. That culture is richer than we expected when we opened Stanza in 2023. This volume houses poetry, scholarly essays, literature, mystery, horror, and science fiction.
If you’re a writer, We hope you can find some community in these pages. Every writer struggles with life/career balance, isolation, and fear that their work will never find a place in the world. The writers in this book make themselves quite vulnerable through artist statements accompanying their works. We hope this vulnerability helps you know you’re not alone.
Welcome to Beacon’s literary scene.
We’re donating profits from this anthology to the Howland Public Library.
Join us for a special salon with the authors. We’ll have copies of the anthology for sale and signing at the event, and of course, any time at Stanza Books, 508 Main, Beacon.
Literature book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Grief & Mourning Book Club (Copy)
We are grateful to Rachel for bringing us this Grief & Mourning Book Club. Read her bio below to see what inspired her to propose it. Then, come grab the book at Stanza, give it a read, and be ready for a great discussion.
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Rachel Tayler
I am a parent, clinical psychologist and lover of all things Beacon. A few years ago, while going through a significant loss, I found a lot of comfort in books. Whether it was memoir or fiction, I felt that reading stories of others going through this universal experience brought me comfort. It was an antidote to the loneliness that so often accompanies grief and mourning. This book club is for anyone who has gone through, or is going through a loss in their life. In other words, it is for everyone. It is my hope that through this book club we can build community and move gently towards acceptance.
Please note that this book club is not therapy nor a therapeutic group, and that no client/therapist relationship is formed by your participation.
THE BIG BREEZE
Steven Fechter
Steven Fechter is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. His first published novel, titled The Big Breeze (Encyclopocalypse Publications), part baseball novel, part noir thriller, will be released in February 2026. He recently finished a new novel titled Kid Katz, P.I. As a playwright and screenwriter, he co-wrote the screenplay for the award-winning film The Woodsman (based on his play) starring Kevin Bacon. His plays have been staged throughout North America and Europe. In 2022 his play, The Memory Exam, premiered at 59E59 Theatres in New York where it had a sold-out run. The New York Times called it a “dystopian thriller.” Fechter and his wife are residents of Beacon, NY.
Julia Dahl
Julia Dahl was born and raised in Fresno, California. In 1994, she stumbled onto the staff of her high school newspaper and has been chasing stories ever since.
Her first novel, Invisible City, is the story of a New York City tabloid reporter investigating the murder of an Hasidic woman from Borough Park. Invisible City was a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was named one of the Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2014. Invisible City also won the Barry, the Shamus, and the Macavity Awards for Best First Novel, and has been translated into eight languages.
The sequel, Run You Down, was published in June 2015, and Conviction, the third book in the Rebekah Roberts series, was published in 2017. New York Magazine called Conviction “a murder mystery for our tumultuous times,” and it was named one of the best books of 2017 by the Boston Globe and LitHub.
Her fourth novel, a stand-alone called The Missing Hours, was published in September 2021. The New York Times called it “a great reckoning with the moment we find ourselves in,” and the book was the September 2021 Oxygen Book Club pick.
Her fifth novel, a stand-alone called I Dreamed of Falling, received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal, which named it their Mystery Pick of the Month. The book was also selected as the Strand Bookstore’s 2024 October Mystery Pick and one of the Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Best Books of 2024.
Fantasy book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
DEMON LOVER WITCH
Friday the 13th, and the day before Valentine’s day.
What better day to gather and celebrate the launch of Stanza’s new novella, DEMON LOVER WITCH, a dark fantasy set right here in Beacon.
We’ll talk magic systems and the first ten spells HEKATE ever taught her kind.
We’ll contemplate the deep and distant realms accessible to our truest and innermost selves.
Then, Mark will partner with musician Tamalyn Miller to lead us on inner Journeys through the book’s ancient landscapes. Powered by words and sound.
About the book:
DEMON LOVER WITCH
Two demons seduce a Witch, and reveal a mortal enemy.
Present-day. Beacon, NY. Carmilla and Vladimir are Gallu demons. Together for eons, their love eternal, they’ve been persecuted, hanged, beaten, and burned. Finally, they learn to live among humans. But human life is so, so boring. The spark is gone. So they prey on small Hudson Valley towns, seducing sexy couples, and devouring them after. It’s simple fun and it works. Their romance is rekindled.
Then, they meet the mysterious bookseller, Sahira. They seduce her like the rest, but the very act reveals her to be a mortal enemy. For Sahira’s veins run with the blood of the Witch. Most people think of Witch as an occupation. But Witches are powerful beings, created by the goddess Hekate at the dawn of time, for one purpose: destroying Gallu demons.
Unaware of her heritage, Sahira seeks enlightenment, power, something she feels deep inside, but cannot express. Until her new lovers show her a world of magic and myth, and awaken the Witch inside.
Carmilla’s lust turns to obsession. Vladimir’s fear turns to terror. A tragic threesome unfolds across space and time, from the modern-day Hudson Valley, to the primordial shores of their forebears.
I wrote this book in 2024, and it was edited and designed in 2025. I’m quite proud of how it came out and excited to share it with the world. Whether you’re a writer in our community, a book club member, or just someone who buys books with us, I’d love to see you at this event.
We’re working on evolving our events in 2026. We started this in 2025 with Sam Rebelein’s turn as conspiracy-board-obsessed professor at Cirque du Creep, then with Matthew Mercier’s one-man POE show, accented by immersive audio by Harlan Guthrie.
So I’m excited to partner with musician Tamalyn Miller for this launch, and take y’all on some magical inner Journeys, that will underline the book’s themes, and help place you in the characters’ shoes. If you know Tamalyn, you know she’s no stranger to making magic with sound.
Mark Harris
Mark is a writer, experience designer, and co-owner of Stanza Books. As a writer, Mark has written plays, interactive stories, audio dramas, and one novel. As an experience designer and creative technologist, Mark has worked on immersive installations, museums, and corporate environments around the world.
Tamalyn Miller
Words are immaterial, yet they have a primal capacity to conjure, to call into existence. I play with this paradox, creating objects, installations and performances that arise from and inform numinous original texts. Drawing upon diverse cultural sources and periods, I blend residues of ancient systems with contemporary perspectives and forms. Through observation and research, often with a focus on the natural world, I distill complex phenomena into otherworldly texts, objects, and music that suggest recovered artifacts or rites charged with mysterious powers and functions. My work hovers at junctures: the threshold between spirit and materiality for instance, or the emergence of meaning from transrationality.
https://www.tamalynmiller.com/
Some of you read my first novel, Hekate’s Return. I wanted to mention, Demon Lover Witch is set in the same universe.
One story world. Two books. 20,000 years apart.
Hekate’s Return is an page-turner epic fantasy about a matriarchal race of Witches clashing with the first human civilization.
The first human civilization is advancing quickly. Too quickly. From a band of wild hunters, to a great city in only decades. What’s their secret? The blood of Witch children, stolen and sacrificed to their hungry god, Moloch. Every year, King Baltezaar leads a raucous celebration and long march up the mountain, to Moloch’s cave. Every year, one child given, one technology gained.
The Witches are a far older race, created by Hekate at the dawn of time, and bound to the god realm, whence all magic comes. But Hekate has been silent for so long, leaving the Witches lost, wandering, vulnerable. But they are coming back for their stolen children. Led by “The Immortal Twins,” primordial daughters of Diana, the Witch race will wield Hekate’s magic and clash with humanity in an epic conflict that will alter the course of both peoples’ histories forever.
-Mark
Sci-fi book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Next up in the sci-fi book club, another book I would call cyberpunk-adjacent. Not the main plot, but it lives in that world. Some amazing facts about octopi: They do not live long. They so not raise their young, but rather toss them out into the world on their own from day one. They do not normally organize into societies. Though quite intelligent, these facts will prevent them from ever forming societies, passing on knowledge, and evolving to take over the world ( which they probably deserve ).
Until now...
Come grab this book at Stanza, and let its thoughtful narrator and big ideas warm you into the Winter. Then JOIN the sci-fi book club Jan 20th, and talk about it with the smartest group of nerds this side the tree of life.
Spanish / English book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
This unique book club gives you the chance to read the book in either Spanish OR English ( both if you’re ambitious! ), then show up and have a great discussion, led by an experienced author and teacher. See how nuances in translation may alter your perception of the book! Wow, what a great idea for a book club. Thanks to Celia for proposing it!
Dark Fiction book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Mystery book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
In Comparison
How to join:
Buy the books at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the books from your local library
Get your audio books from Libro.fm, and select Stanza as your bookstore
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Dark Fiction book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Mystery book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Dark Fiction book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Mystery book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Sci-fi book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Next up in the sci-fi book club, another book I would call cyberpunk-adjacent. Not the main plot, but it lives in that world. Some amazing facts about octopi: They do not live long. They so not raise their young, but rather toss them out into the world on their own from day one. They do not normally organize into societies. Though quite intelligent, these facts will prevent them from ever forming societies, passing on knowledge, and evolving to take over the world ( which they probably deserve ).
Until now...
Come grab this book at Stanza, and let its thoughtful narrator and big ideas warm you into the Winter. Then JOIN the sci-fi book club Jan 20th, and talk about it with the smartest group of nerds this side the tree of life.
In Comparison book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Fantasy book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Lit book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Book club holiday social
We’ll release more details soon, but we wanted y’all to put this one on the calendar. We’re pausing a lot of book clubs in December, due to lotsa holiday stuff. But we didn’t want to go a whole month without seeing you! So we’re throwing a little book club holiday party.
Come celebrate this fantastic community you’ve created! Spot one of those mythic Mystery book club members in the wild. Meet a sci-fi book clubber and learn about space elevators. But most of all, come hang with us. We’ll have some food and drink, and lots of fun.
Fantasy book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Spanish / English book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
This unique book club gives you the chance to read the book in either Spanish OR English ( both if you’re ambitious! ), then show up and have a great discussion, led by an experienced author and teacher. See how nuances in translation may alter your perception of the book! Wow, what a great idea for a book club. Thanks to Celia for proposing it!
Dark Fiction book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Grief & Mourning Book Club
We are grateful to Rachel for bringing us this Grief & Mourning Book Club. Read her bio below to see what inspired her to propose it. Then, come grab the book at Stanza, give it a read, and be ready for a great discussion.
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Rachel Tayler
I am a parent, clinical psychologist and lover of all things Beacon. A few years ago, while going through a significant loss, I found a lot of comfort in books. Whether it was memoir or fiction, I felt that reading stories of others going through this universal experience brought me comfort. It was an antidote to the loneliness that so often accompanies grief and mourning. This book club is for anyone who has gone through, or is going through a loss in their life. In other words, it is for everyone. It is my hope that through this book club we can build community and move gently towards acceptance.
Please note that this book club is not therapy nor a therapeutic group, and that no client/therapist relationship is formed by your participation.
Sci-fi book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
In Comparison book club
Buy the books at stanza
RSVP
Show up ready for a great discussion!
Spanish / English book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
This unique book club gives you the chance to read the book in either Spanish OR English ( both if you’re ambitious! ), then show up and have a great discussion, led by an experienced author and teacher. See how nuances in translation may alter your perception of the book! Wow, what a great idea for a book club. Thanks to Celia for proposing it!
JACKSON BRIGHT IN THE SPOTLIGHT
No RSVP, just show up! EVERYONE IS INVITED. It’ a party!
Friendly reminder: no outside books allowed at Stanza events. All books for signing must be purchased at Stanza.
Dan Poblocki
Dan Poblocki is an American author of mystery, horror, and adventure novels for young people. He is the co-author with Neil Patrick Harris of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Magic Misfits (writing under the pen-name Alec Azam). He's also the author of My Brother’s Butt is Haunted, Tales to Keep You Up at Night, More Tales to Keep You Up at Night, the Shadow House series and many more. Jackson Bright in the Spotlight, a joyful middle-grade collaboration with drag-superstar Eureka O’Hara (RuPaul’s Drag Race, HBO’s We’re Here) was given a starred review in Kirkus, whose editors called it: “A fierce and fabulous read . . .” Dan’s novels, The Ghost of Graylock and The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, were Junior Library Guild selections and made the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list. Other books have been honored with multiple state-reading awards. His work has been translated into French, Spanish, Greek, Russian, German, Polish, Czech, and Farsi.
Dan was born in Providence, Rhode Island. During his pre-teen years, his family moved to Basking Ridge, New Jersey, where he often looked for adventure with his best friends. Later, he graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in theater. Dan now writes in Saugerties, NY where he lives with two scaredy cats in a creaky old house. He's probably working on something new this very minute . . .
Angel Elektra
Drag artist Angel Elektra is the executive director of DSH-Westchester County Hudson Valley. Angel Elektra worked with Drag Story Hour NYC & Miami Florida appearing in and helping to organize many events - one of her many special gifts is being able to provide bilingual programming to Spanish-speaking audiences & children with special disabilities. Upon arrival back to New York, she immediately organized a core group of local queens and kings and began actively producing DSH events in the area. Her persistence and dedication to the craft of Drag Story Hour, combined with her experience in hosting DSH events, makes her a natural choice when considering local chapter leadership.
Lit book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Dark Fiction book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Mystery book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Sci-fi book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Fantasy Book Club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Lit book club
We got lotsa easy ways to join any Stanza book club!
Buy the book at Stanza(book club members get 10% off book club books!)
Get the book from your local library
Get your audio book from Libro.fm
Then just RSVP on our site and come ready for great discussion!
Echoes of Rylomi launch party
This is an open party. Come and go as you like, hang with creators, celebrate with Stanza’s community.
