Southern New Mexico Book Festival

Charmayne Samuelson

Mata Ortiz Poetry of the Clay: Pottery, Poems, Artists, is a bilingual photo book featuring the pottery of 24 contemporary Mata Ortiz potters paired with original poetry by the author.

Charmayne Samuelson is an Award-Winning Author and a member of the prestigious Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She writes in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, biography, children's books, photography and self-help, and has published 11 titles.

Steve Mclary

Tales of the Killala Clan consists of four novellas about people with special abilities. One of them sees the ghosts of dead dogs. The book features four dead dogs and one live one.

Steve Mclary is a mostly retired attorney, who lives in Las Cruces with his wife.

Eva Nevarez St. John

When Tough Cookies Crumble: A True Story of Friendship, Murder, and Healing is about Eva Nevarez St. John’s friendship with a fellow soldier in the late 1970s and early 1980s. When her friend Janice Starr disappeared in the fall of 1981, Eva initiated an investigation with a female detective. Together they fought for justice for Janice. Forty years after Janice’s death, they reconnected to tell her story.

Eva was an Army brat, soldier, lawyer, and nonprofit manager. She continues to be a nonprofit consultant, social activist, writer, genealogist, mother and grandmother. This is her first memoir.

Frank Lopez

Colores, Sabores y Dichos: 100 Ways to Say I Love You to Friends, Family and Community presents art, culture and love by using colorful photographs, delicious recipes and fun dichos in English and Spanish. It is a heartfelt collection of over 50 colorful photographs that invite the reader to imagine 50 different stories. The essays by Rosa Guerrero and Frank Rene Lopez take the reader into the experiential world of culture and art. The book serves as a gentle reminder that love can be found in small and meaningful gestures in any given day.

Frank Rene López is a leadership coach, capacity builder, writer and artist.

Rosemary Matos

Promises from Cuba is the true story of one family trying to keep order and love in their lives amid difficult circumstances during the quickly changing period of the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s and 1960s.

Rosemary Matos writes poetry, non-fiction, children’s stories and memoirs. She has visited Cuba many times with her Cuban born husband.

Shelley Armitage

From a Sandstone Ledge is a book of poetry that takes the reader from the backyard to the boderlands, the living room roockers to the 32,000 acre Llano Estacado, reminding us that we are part of, not separate from, the natural world.

Shelley Armitage is an award-winning author of ten books. She received her PhD in American Studies from the University of New Mexico. She has taught at the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Warsaw, and in Portugal and Finland. She manages the family grasslands near Vega Texas.

Desiree Bustamantes

Tell Me All About You is the first in a series of books for children (Pre-K to 2nd grade) that follows a charming little girl named Rosie along a journey of emotion recognition and identifying the root cause associated with the feelings she is experiencing.

Desiree Bustamantes is a school psychologist who serves students from Pe-K to 12th grade. She grew up in the quaint little town of Mesilla.

Jan Thomas

Mesilla Traveler: In Search of Peace is a historical romance novel about a soldier who fought in the Mexican-American war who finds himself in Mesilla, where an unfortunate incident leads him to find love.

Jan Thomas is a retired prison warden, artist and writer who volunteers in prison ministry. He is a native New Mexican who has lived most of his life in southern and southwestern New Mexico.

George Pintar

Suppose Trees Could Talk by George Pintar and Jan Thomas is an exploration of the quiet wisdom and enduring strength of older people through the metaphor of trees.

George Pintar is a prolific writer who has published thirty-one fictional short stories and four nonfiction books. He is best known for his fictional character Chile Charlie. You can see Jan Thomas’ bio above.

Abbey Carpenter

In The Tortilla Star, Bette finds love with Marco, an undocumented immigrant who introduces her to a new culture, customs, fiestas, family, poverty and racism.

Abbey Carpenter has worked, taught and volunteered in the areas of social justice and environmental sustainability. She is co-author of Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain with Dora Rodriguez, which was released in July 2025.

Carlos Melendrez

I Know Where the Bodies Are Buried: There Are Stories to Tell, Questions to Ask, True Exciting Tales of The Founding Family of Las Cruces describes the good, the bad and the ugly of southern New Mexico.

Carlos Melendrez is the great, great grandson of Pablo Melendres, who founded Las Cruces in 1849. He is a life-long civil rights advocate and author of America Don’t You Know Me, I’m Your Native Son Geronimo: The Controversial Campaign To Repatriate The Remains of America’s Most Famous Warrior to His Homeland.

Tanya Dawson

Anderson Light: A Meta-Normal Novel is a young adult coming-of-age, superhero, fantasy, and science fiction adventure. A bullying incident catapults Georgie Jones’ life into a fantastical new world. Her life changes forever when she learns from Luther Andersen, a family friend, mystic and professor, that she is meta-normal.

Dawson finds writing bright, beyond-normal fiction for YA readers is “way more fun” than her previous work writing cybersecurity policies and documentation. She is currently working on a book tentatively titled Winter Soulstice: A Meta-Normal Novel.

Carlota Caulfield

Aligrafías/Wingraphies is a bilingual poetry book about twenty-one New Mexican birds, with illustrations. The poems communicate the personalities of each bird, letting the reader get to know each of them and what they want to tell us.

Carlota Caulfield is a poet, translator, scholar and literary critic. She is the author of several other books and has received numerous prestigious awards.

Diego Salazar

Bellmaker is a fairy tale that aims to enchant readers young and old. A moon jealous of a princess’ beauty. A moon slave controlled by his master. A trained hero defending what he loves. A war-weary bellmaker looking for peace. Adventure calls those who least desire it in Bellmaker.

Diego has been making stories since we was a child. Creating entire worlds to keep his younger siblings entertained. This blossomed over the years into a genuine love of story-telling, and a desire to enthrall audiences of all ages with fun, interesting stories and characters. You can learn more about his books at his website.

Amy Bennett

No Lifeguard on Duty is A Black Horse Cozy Mystery. Corrie Black, owner of the Black Horse Campground in Bonney County, New Mexico, finds the body of a young woman in her campground pool. She is determined to find who murdered her and is using the campground as a base for illegal activities, despite resistance from Bonney County Sheriff Rick Sutton and former police lieutenant J.D. Wilder.

Amy Bennett is the author of the Black Horse Cozy Mystery series. She has written a total of nine books and is working on her tenth. She is also a vino slinger at Noisy Water Winery in Ruidoso, New Mexico and lives in Bent, New Mexico with her husband and son.

Bailey Herrington

Bailey Herrington is the author of the David Elliott Mystery Series. All of his books are based on real crimes, including the 1950 Brinks robbery, the co-opting of Nazi rocket scientists to work at White Sands after World War II, and the killing of CIA biochemist Frank Olson. He will be reading from The Girl in the Orange Maillot. You can learn more about Bailey’s books at his website.

Eide Nevets

Eide Nevets has published eight books on science fiction, alternate history and time travel. The Knot in Time Travel is the first of her three book time travel series set in the old west, which also includes A Handle in Time Travel and The Elevator of Time Travel. You can learn more about Eide’s books at her website.

Eide holds a Master’s degree from California coast University. The Knot in Time Travel has been recognized by American Book Fest and International Impact Book Awards. Eide and her husband reside in Roswell, New Mexico.

Sandra Aguirre-Magaña

Xóchitl y Papalotl is an early middle grade picture book about 10-year-old Xóchitl’s adventure through the Forbidden Forest. Remembering the legend that helping a butterfly grants a wish from the goddess Xochitlquétzal, she helps a monarch butterfly to its sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico. On her journey, she faces El Cucuy, a tricky boogeyman. Can she outsmart him and return home safely?

Sandra Aguirre-Magaña is an international bilingual storyteller, educator, and author. Her stories stem from a proud Tepehuan storytelling culture and tradition inspired by her grandmothers. Recently, her short story, Dancing with the Devil, was selected to represent the State of Texas in the Anthology The Haunted States of America.

Fenton Kay

In Dear Jennifer: The Jenny Princess Letters, Jennifer’s dad writers her letters about how she became Jenny Princess. Other letters talk about her teddy bear Bear, her talking dog Scruffy and a parakeet named Clarence.

Fenton Kay is a biologist and author. He has published novels in the O’Flaithearta Biological Consultants Mystery Series, young adult stories and poetry.

Kathy Armstrong Pudil

Serengeti Pals on the Serengeti Plain is a children’s book about three animal friends who learn to play nicely with one another. The book introduces plants, animals and locations on the Serengeti Plain.

Kathy Armstrong Pudil is a teacher who wrote this book when she was teaching Geography to middle schoolers as an example of a research project that could serve a purpose. The students read these learning stories to Kindergarteners. Kathy has been writing stories for a long time and has published two other children’s books.

Juanita Quiñones Gándara

The Magical Journey of Little Raquel “La Churros” is the story of a child moving from Juarez, Mexico to the U.S. With the love and encouragement of her family, she overcomes the struggle to fit in, while embracing her heritage. It is a story of resilience, family, and the beauty of diversity.

Juanita Quiñones Gándara was born in Juarez, Mexico and raised in El Paso, Texas. She is a retired bilingual teacher/school counselor, educational consultant, founder of the Social Emotional Learning System, author, storyteller, and migrant advocate.

Donnell Bell

Donnell Bell is the author of award-winning romantic suspense novels, including The Past Came Hunting, Deadly Recall, Betrayed, Buried Agendas, Black Pearl, and Until Dead. You can learn more about Donnell’s books at her website.

Sara Hernandez

Sara Hernandez is the author of several books. Anna is about an intelligent independent young woman who goes to college far away and finds herself caught up in a world of drugs, alcohol, sex, gangs and an unplanned pregnancy. Her children’s books include two books about Jacob and His Big Adventures and his loving grandfather, and Bling Bling and Dinosaurs about a little girl with a big imagination who loves jewelry.

Lauren Teffeau

Lauren Teffeau is an award winning author of science fiction fantasy novels. The protagonist in Implanted carries data in her blood that can save a city on the brink or destroy it. Her latest book, A Hunger With No Name, is a powerful story of personal, ecological, and cultural survival in the presence of overwhelming technological power.

Amy Briggs

Amy Briggs is the author of contemporary and romantic suspense mysteries, including the Cedarwood Hollow Mystery series. Amy also offers Sugar and Spice Journals that include writing prompts. You can learn more about Amy’s books at her website.

Kay Leyda

Kay Leyda writes young adult fantasies. Kay’s inspiration came from her time working at Walt Disney World in Orlando, where her love for fairytales, princesses and stories of true love grew. Working on the Little Mermad ride was a dream come true. You can learn more about Kay’s books at her website.

Dita Dow

Dita Dow is an award-winning author, artist, and songwriter who writes powerful stories filled with mystery, emotion, and a touch of the supernatural. In addition to her books Sins in Black, 27 Elmwood Drive and Winter Horrorland Anthology, she will be selling notecards and 5 x 7 prints of her artwork. For more information about Dita and her books, go to her website.