Catriona McPherson

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Excitement is growing throughout the regional reading community about the May 31 inaugural Sacramento Book Festival presented by the California Writers Club-Sacramento Branch.

More than 130 local authors will tempt readers with their books for adults and children from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 31 at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center adjacent to McKinley Park, 3330 McKinley Blvd., East Sacramento. Authors from every neighborhood in the Sacramento area will meet readers.

In addition, popular authors of mystery, thriller, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, historical fiction and Black women’s literature will participate in panel talks throughout the day.

The Kids Zone will host activities and readings with children’s authors.

The schedule and information about the attending authors, as well as on the festival’s other activities, can be found online at SacramentoBookFestival.com.

Festival volunteers briefly interviewed three attending authors to whet reader appetites: James Rollins, Sharon Johnson-Fujimoto and Catriona McPherson.

Rollins, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers and high fantasy, has sold more than 20-million books.

One of the first authors on board with the festival, Rollins shared his enthusiasm about the event.

“While I’ve not ventured far from the Sacramento Valley, having only moved up to Tahoe, I look forward to returning to my roots. My veterinary practice was in the Greenhaven/Pocket area, so an event at McKinley Park is like coming home,” Rollins said. “At the festival, I’m glad to share how a local veterinarian became an author. And not just the author of one genre of fiction but of two: action thrillers and high fantasy. I still continue to write in both fields, with ‘Arkangel’ being my latest Sigma thriller and ‘A Dragon of Black Glass’ continuing a four-book fantasy series. Hopefully, I’ll also have further news about Sigma being picked up by Amazon MGM for a streaming series.”

Starting off the day in the Kids Zone will be children’s author Fujimoto-Johnson. Fujimoto-Johnson is a Japanese American author-illustrator of two children’s picture books, “The Mochi Makers” and “Shell-Song: Based on a True Family Story.”

“The Mochi Makers” celebrates the joy of a girl and her grandmother spending the day making mochi together. “Shell-Song: Based on a True Family Story” also focuses on family and tradition by drawing on the experiences of the author’s grandfather.

“When I was a young girl, I inherited my grandfather’s seashell collection. He had collected these shells in a Japanese American incarceration camp in Hawaii during World War II. My grandfather’s shells carried his story across generations to me,” Fujimoto-Johnson said. “It is such an honor to share his story in my new book, ‘Shell-Song,’ the first children’s book to address the incarceration camps in Hawaii. Digitally collaged into the artwork for this book are my grandfather's actual shells (and) texture from my grandmother's wedding kimono.”

Sacramento gained one of its most well-known authors, McPherson, when she emigrated from Scotland.

"I write all over the mystery map: pre- and post-WWII detective fiction and modern psychological thrillers, all set in Scotland. It was a concern when I immigrated to California, let me tell you,” McPherson said. “Turns out you lovely American readers have voracious appetites for both. Thank you, Masterpiece Theater, I reckon; between the period drama and the Nordic Noir, I fit right in. That said, I also write comic mysteries about a Scot who's moved to a ‘fictional’ college town in NorCal (it's Davis) and nothing makes me happier than sharing them with local readers who get all the references. I say it with love ... but I still say it."

McPherson will be part of the historical fiction panel and signing.

The 130-plus authors will be seated at tables, ready for visiting with readers of all ages and sharing their tales.

Food will be available from the Ju-Ju Burgers and ShakesFood Truck.

The Sacramento Book Festival’s host, the California Writers Club-Sacramento Branch, is celebrating its centennial year this year. The California Writers Club-Sacramento Branch has 175 members, aged 17 to the 90s. For more information about the California Writers Club-Sacramento Branch, go online to cwcsacramentowriters.org.