Award winning authors Deoul and Jacobs join Dec. 8 holiday market

Artists and authors will hold forth with a holiday market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 8, at 37 Baltimore Ave. in downtown Rehoboth Beach.

Along with sales of fine art, pottery, jewelry and more, the event will host Rehoboth authors Stefani Deoul and Fay Jacobs of A&M Books.

Deoul, author of the Independent Publishers Bronze IPPY Award for fiction for her book "The Carousel," has just returned to town from half a year in Nova Scotia, as producer for the acclaimed SyFy television series "Haven." While away filming for parts of the past two years, Deoul received reports of her novel winning the Independent Publishers Award, The National Federation of Press Women 3rd Place for Fiction Book of the Year, the Delaware Press Association Fiction Book of the Year and slot as a finalist in the ForeWord Reviews Contest for Book of the Year.

Maribeth Fischer, well-known novelist and director of the Rehoboth Writer’s Guild, says of the novel, “It’s the writing - the gorgeous, heartbreaking, lyrical writing. If I hadn’t been so caught up in the story, I would have stopped - again and again - just to reread the resonant, detailed, surprising and beautiful paragraphs.”

“The characters will sweep you up in their enthusiasm until you find yourself cheering them on,” says Jerry Wheeler of Out in Print.

In "The Carousel," a mysterious stranger shows up in a northeast town, drawn to a pile of discarded carousel horses at a junkyard. Her find begins a ripple of gossip, intrigue, and a restorative journey for the horses, herself, and the curious collection of townspeople taking the tumultuous ride with her.

The author has been thrilled by the experience of having her first novel create such a stir. “It’s been an amazing personal journey, with a parallel, an irony, which isn’t lost on me,” says Deoul. “I set out to write a small story about a small town, the people who live there and the impact relationships have. This ultimately became my story - moving to Rehoboth Beach and finding the people and the friendships which led me to this still unbelievable moment. As different as my novel and my life are, it is, at its core, life imitating art and I am truly grateful.”

Joining Deoul at the event will be local humorist and author Fay Jacobs, whose three books of essays "As I Lay Frying," "Fried and True," and "For Frying Out Loud" are winners of a handful of national awards, including National Federation of Press Women Non-Fiction Book of the Year and honorable mention for ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year for Humor. Locally, Jacobs writes columns for Delaware Beach Life and Letters from CAMP.

Both authors will be meeting and greeting readers and signing books, discounted for the holiday market.  Jacobs will be reading some of her recent essays.  For more information, go to www.aandmbooks.com.