Bellbrook, Ohio—S.R. Staley will be joining authors from across the nation to discuss their work and sign copies of their books at Books By The Banks, the Cincinnati area’s first annual book festival. The event will be held at the Duke Energy Center on Saturday, 3 November 2007, from 10 am to 6 pm.

The day-long festival will feature more than 85 regional and national authors of fiction, history, mystery, biography, travel, non-fiction, children's literature, and more. Attendees to the festival can meet authors and to purchase signed copies of their books. In addition, activities will be held throughout the day such as author readings and panel presentations on such topics as baseball, cookbooks, cartoonists, local history, romance, and urban fiction.

“I’m very excited to part of this event and to be in the company of amazing writers like Sharon Draper,” said S.R. Staley. “Isabella and the other characters in The Pirate of Panther Bay are interesting and unique. This is a great opportunity to broaden their audience while learning from masters in the field.”

Copies of The Pirate of Panther Bay will be available from Borders, the official bookseller for Books By The Banks.

The Pirate of Panther Bay has received acclaim from reviewers since its publication in 2006:

· “The brilliant descriptive powers of author S.R. Staley allows the reader to feel the intense emotions as the sword fights and cannon fire fuel the imagination.” (youngadultromancewriters.com)

· “A swashbuckling tale of piracy, action, and romance, The Pirate of Panther Bay is a well-researched and entertaining trip into that same rum-soaked world which Disney has so recently popularized.” (Allbookreviews.com)

· “If you are looking for an expertly written, unique, and original pirate-themed book, then this is book for you.” (readerviewskids.com)

· “This adventurous tale takes a circuitous journey that remains true to the real world of pirates and Spain's desire to reign over the New World.” (Cindy Vallar, Pirates & Privateers)