Doylestown: Local Author Expo

Join us on Saturday, October 24th, 2026, from 1:00-3:00 PM for the Doylestown Bookshop's Local Author Expo, where we will showcase a variety of authors from our community.

Participating Authors: Jim Zervanos, Janice Nissen, Matthew Glasgow, Chaz Holesworth, John Fileppo, Dalton LeV, Jay Nachman, and Nelianne Genner

About the Local Author Expo:This event began as the Local Author Spotlight at the Doylestown Bookshop and hosts authors from several genres for a large group book signing event in our store. The Doylestown Bookshop believes everyone’s voice should be heard, whether with a small publisher, self-published, or with larger or more traditional publishers. We have re-branded this event as the Doylestown Bookshop's Local Author Expo because it has grown in quality and quantity over the years. Interested in participating in a future Local Author Expo? Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/J48DCjVmzg6JSud39 or email events@doylestownbookshop.com with your name, book title, ISBN, and publisher as applicable, to be added to the waitlist.

Please note: The Doylestown and Lahaska Bookshops are committed to celebrating work that reflects human creativity, knowledge, and expertise. In keeping with that commitment, our Local Author Expo events will not sell or promote books or art created by artificial intelligence (AI), either partially or wholly. The Doylestown and Lahaska Bookshops reserve the right to reject any work suspected of utilizing AI in its creation at any time before or during the day of the event.

About the Books:
That Time I Got Cancer
One minute, Jim Zervanos was carrying his one-year-old son to a baseball game. The next, he was in the ER, fighting for breath, his body turning against him, doctors unable to explain why. His condition worsened. Then came the words no one is prepared to hear: there was nothing they could do. At forty-one, with a wife and young son, Jim began saying goodbye. Everything changed when a daring surgeon performed a radical operation that revealed the truth—lymphoma. What followed was a brutal confrontation with mortality: chemotherapy, uncertainty, and a long, disorienting road back to life. That Time I Got Cancer: A Love Story is not just a story of illness. It's a story of presence in the face of fear, of love reshaped under pressure, and of the fragile, extraordinary bonds that hold us steady when everything else falls away. A deeply human account of loss, resilience, and awakening, this is the story of a man who came back-and learned, finally, how to be fully alive.

American Gyro
Johnny Demos knows he must leave behind his close-knit family and their small-town restaurant if he wants to pursue his dream of becoming an actor in New York. With the passing of his Greek-immigrant grandfather, the weight of family responsibility looms heavier than ever. Just as the future of the restaurant threatens to pull him back, a surprising family connection lands Johnny a dream role opposite his Hollywood idol—his one chance to break into the movies. But a sudden tragedy forces Johnny to confront a life-altering decision—one that will define who he truly is and what he values most. American Gyro is a modern reimagining of the American Dream, once embodied by Johnny's grandfather, and now left for Johnny to redefine on his own terms.

Lizbeth the Little Lost Golf Ball
Discover the heartwarming journey of a golf ball who finds more than just the fairway-she finds friendship, courage, and her way back home.

When Lizbeth, a bright pink golf ball bursting with curiosity, wakes up in the pro shop, she's ready for her very first adventure. Chosen by junior golfer JoJo, Lizbeth rolls into an exciting new world filled with quirky characters like Putter Pete, Frida Flag, and Claude Cup, all eager to teach her about the game of golf.But when Lizbeth accidentally lands in a pond, her optimism fades-until she meets Teddy, a golf ball who loves his peaceful pond life, and his hilarious sidekick Genji Gator. With their help, Lizbeth discovers that being lost doesn't mean being alone, and that hope, perseverance, and teamwork can lead you home.Perfect for children ages 3-8, Lizbeth, the Little Lost Golf Ball is a delightful story that introduces kids to golf while teaching timeless life lessons about resilience, curiosity, and friendship. With whimsical characters, gentle humor, and a heartwarming message, this picture book is a hole-in-one for young readers and parents alike and will likely spark a child's interest in the game of golf.

Johanna's Not Here
Her sister is dead. So why does she keep finding her?

After Johanna’s mysterious death, her twin is left searching through memories, dreams, stories, and strange messages for an answer.

But the deeper she looks, the less certain she becomes about what happened—and where her sister really is.

Somewhere between life and death, Johanna is still here.

The Bright Hollow
What if the story you were reading…was reading you?

A mysterious encounter sets off a journey into belief, obsession, ancient mysteries, and the unsettling space between fiction and reality.

Some stories don’t end when you close the book.

Life and How to Live It Vol. 1: Begin the Begin
In a city built on survival, one young boy learns the cost of staying alive—and what it takes to finally start living.

Philadelphia in the 1980s was no place for the soft-hearted. For Chaz Holesworth, childhood meant dodging gangs, addiction, and silence after slammed doors. His father’s world ran on heroin, his mother’s on holy fear. Caught between two extremes, sin and salvation, Chaz learned early on how to disappear: keep your head down, don’t ask questions, and pray someone notices you anyway.

But everything changed the day he discovered music. In R.E.M., Tori Amos, and Nirvana, he hears something no sermon ever offered: truth, raw and imperfect. As his home life spiraled and his faith fractured, those lyrics became lifelines, every note pulling him closer to the one thing he never had: his own identity.What happens when the noise outside becomes louder than the voice inside? Or when loyalty to broken people starts to break you too?

Life and How to Live It Vol. 2: Near Wild Heaven
At first, the silence was salvation. Then the music started.

In this haunting and deeply human continuation of his memoir, Chaz Holesworth leaves the wreckage of his Philadelphia childhood behind only to face a new kind of war: unraveling the aftermath of a world where faith meant fear, and obedience meant survival. As a teenager, he’s told that emotions are weakness and questions are sin. But when first love cracks open the cage, it ignites a longing that no sermon can silence.

Amid passion, heartbreak, and the lingering echoes of trauma, Chaz is thrust into freefall. Movement becomes his only escape. Music becomes his only prayer. And with every mile, every lyric, he begins piecing together a voice he thought was lost forever.

For years, he followed every rule. Years later, heartbreak taught him what obedience never could: how to feel alive.

The Ghosts of Presidents Past
The Ghosts of Presidents Past tells the story of a middle school boy who wrestles with the relevance of history lessons. Just when he is on the verge of giving up on American history, he finds himself on an extraordinary adventure led by the ghosts of presidents who have passed. As he encounters the spirits of former leaders, he starts to see things from a different perspective. Each spectral president shares with him their hardships, their triumphs, and their pivotal roles in shaping the nation. Through these encounters, our hero begins to comprehend the importance of understanding our past. The story combines education with entertainment, transforming the subject of history into a thrilling adventure. The Ghosts of Presidents Past not only teaches historical facts but also instills a sense of gratitude and respect for the giants on whose shoulders we now stand. The young reader will learn about American history but also understand its value. The Ghosts of Presidents Past is more than a book; it's a doorway to appreciating the richness and relevance of our past and its influence on our present.

This title will be available in both hardcover and paperback.

Tonight! Heaps of Hapless Hoopla at the Big Top!
TONIGHT! Heaps of Hapless Hoopla at the Big Top! is a story about Hee HaHoo the clown, a clown who no longer wishes to be laughed at. While the other circus performers’ acts incite eruptive applause, Hee’s proud efforts only garner laughter from the audience. For once he would like to receive that same sort of cheer. The main plot of the story revolves around one night’s circus performance, in front of the largest audience they’ve ever encountered. While Hee is dreading the gigantic laughs ahead, the Fire Breather, Acrobats, Lion Tamer, and Strong Man are preparing to outdo their regular routines. When the big night gets underway, the acts start to falter as they go too far in their attempts to impress. Hee HaHoo rushes to the rescue using his clown talents to save his friends and the night’s performance. Will Hee HaHoo finally get the applause he was seeking?

Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind In the Village Voice’s year-end 1976 Pazz & Jop Critics’ Poll, Graham Parker’s Howlin’ Wind placed fourth. In second place was his sophomore album, Heat Treatment. Number one was Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, and in third place was Jackson Browne’s The Pretender. Among that titanic company, it’s fair to say Parker more than held his own.

The book, “Graham Parker’s Howlin’ Wind,” is the captivating story of how the critically acclaimed album came together. The book illuminates Parker’s musical influences and those of the members of his backup band, The Rumour, against a backdrop of the British music scenes of the 1960s and 1970s. The magazine The Big Takeover said about the book, “If not just Parker’s music, but pub rock, the roots of UK punk, and great stories about ’70s rock and roll are up your alley, I highly recommend this book.”

A Snapshot of Hope
Sophia James is a passionate photographer trying to make a name for herself, while also being in love with her best friend's brother. After developing a carpe diem attitude on life, Sophia becomes more attuned to the influence and consequences of her own choices. She begins to discover the importance of family, love, and holding onto hope when times get most difficult. This Is Hope Ever since Sophia and Owen ignited their romance and launched their new photography studio, her life has been going great. Or at least, it seemed that way. Her overwhelming anxiety won't let her shake the feeling that everything could fall apart in an instant. Sophia finds solace in her younger brother when he seeks her help in navigating his own insecurities and self-identity.

About the Authors:
Jim Zervanos is the author of two novels, American Gyro, winner of the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Best Novel, and LOVE Park, and two memoirs, The English Teacher: A Year on the Brink with Generation Z, winner of the 2024 Indies Today Best Memoir Award, and That Time I Got Cancer: A Love Story. His award-winning essays and short stories have been published in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. He is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and Bucknell University. He teaches at a high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he lives with his wife and two sons.

Janice Nissen loves two things: a good round of golf and a good story — especially when they come together!After a long, successful career as a nurse and biopharmaceutical executive, Janice has traded boardrooms for fairways, and emails for imaginative tales. These days, you'll often find her chasing golf balls, improving her swing, and dreaming up adventures for her newest creation — Lizbeth, the Little Lost Golf Ball.Inspired by her own experiences as a self-described “higher handicap golfer” (translation: she lost plenty of golf balls in some very creative places), Janice wrote her first children's book to capture the magic, resilience, and life lessons found both on and off the course. Through Lizbeth’s whimsical adventures, she hopes to teach kids about perseverance, patience, and the joy of trying something new — all while sparking a love for the game of golf.Janice is now writing, hitting the links, or volunteering for the Greater Philly First Tee, she stays busy reading with her book club, practicing piano, traveling the world, and keeping up with her two sons and two adorable grandchildren. A lifelong learner, a big believer in outdoor adventure, and a champion of lifelong sports like golf, Janice is living proof that every day is a chance for a new story — or maybe a new birdie.

Matthew Glasgow is the author of 11 novels. He also hosts an audio series review and reading of his novels (Matthew Glasgow Novel Review) that can be found on Podcast platforms. He also enjoys painting, running, and gardening. He lives in North Wales, Pennsylvania.

Chaz Holesworth is the author of the memoir series Life and How to Live It. A Philadelphia native who grew up in Kensington, Holesworth writes about addiction, poverty, family dysfunction, religious control, identity, survival, and the music that helped him find a voice of his own. His first volume, Life and How to Live It: Begin the Begin, was independently published in 2024 and has sold more than 5,000 copies. It was subsequently selected for Amazon’s Prime Reading program in 2026 and received multiple literary honors, including a 2026 Manhattan Book Awards Gold and the 2026 Independent Author Awards Northeast Non-Fiction Winner. His second volume, Life and How to Live It: Near Wild Heaven, was released in January 2026 and has sold more than 800 copies, while receiving additional book-award recognition, including a BookFest Silver Medal. His debut poetry collection, When the Light Is Mine: Poetry for the People, was recognized as a 2026 International Book Awards winner in Poetry: General and received a Literary Titan Book Award. Holesworth is currently continuing work on the planned seven-volume memoir series.

John Fileppo, author of the Ghosts of Presidents Past, is a father to three boys and a loving husband to his wife, Kelly. As a former intelligence officer, John spent many years overseas. Now retired, he enjoys a quiet life in the Philadelphia area, where he spends time with his friends, family, and Archie, his poorly trained, uncooperative beagle.

Dalton “LeV” LeVasseur began his author and illustrator career back in elementary school, winning second place two years in a row at the Upper Merion Library’s Young Author Competition, for his books The Adventures of Super BooBoo and The Return of Super BooBoo. His current book, TONIGHT! Heaps of Hapless Hoopla at the Big Top!, is the first he has written and illustrated as an adult. Dalton has a penchant for drawing, and he decided to put his efforts into a project, which served as a bit of a catharsis for him at the time. A gardener by day, Dalton loves the outdoors and spending time with his wife and two kids, whom he hopes one day will become Hee HaHoo superfans.

Jay Nachman (pictured above with musician Graham Parker) is a public relations specialist and writer in Philadelphia. “Graham Parker’s Howlin’ Wind” is his first book.

Nelianne Genner: I am a realistic fiction writer, located in Doylestown, PA. I've written the hope series, which is a trilogy and set locally in Bucks County, and I write poetry as well. My current WIP is a mystery novel. When I'm not writing, I teach high school literature and spend time with my husband and two beautiful dogs.