A Celebration of Books,
Writers & LIterary Excellence

Save the Date


Gaithersburg
Book Festival

May 17, 2025

10am – 6pm

Bohrer Park


Author Archives: Jennie Cottrell

Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Fred Bowen

Fred Bowen, who writes the weekly KidsPost sports column in The Washington Post, is the author of 16 books of sports fiction (ages 8+) and a picture book biography of Red Sox legend Ted Williams titled “No Easy Way.” Bowen is not your… Continue Reading

A Funny Thing Happened While…

Last week we posted a funny story about an encounter in a Phoenix airport that involved the Gaithersburg Book Festival. We love stories like those. Another recently was shared with one of our Committee members. Pasted below with some information redacted.   “I only recently became aware of the festival from a librarian I met at the Public Library Association… Continue Reading

Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Caroline Adams Miller

Caroline Miller , an internationally known coach and motivational speaker, is the author of “Creating Your Best Life.”   The book is the outgrowth of her capstone project in the University of Pennsylvania’s Masters in Applied Positive Psychology program. It breaks new ground by giving the… Continue Reading

Goodbye Encyclopedia…

Yes. It’s true. According to CNN, after 244 years, Encyclopedia Britannica will cease production of its iconic multi-volume book sets.   For our younger readers, maybe you’re saying, “What’s an encyclopedia?” But many of us remember these tomes fondly. We had a set on the bottom shelf of our bookcase crowing up. (Yes, this was before the… Continue Reading

A funny thing happened on my way to…

There’s nothing better (for us and our authors) than a story about our growing popularity. From one of our Committee member’s Facebook friends:   “A funny thing happened when I checked my bag at the Phoenix airport yesterday… The agent… Continue Reading

Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Mary Downing Hahn

Mary Downing Hahn has been writing children’s books for more than 30 years and is a perennial favorite with readers. Her books have sold more than 2 million copies and consistently win state children’s choice awards. Mary’s work spans a variety of genres,… Continue Reading

Our Favorite Dr. Seuss Books. What’s Yours?

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday month, we asked our committee members to share their favorite Dr. Seuss titles and the reasons why they love them so much. The answers were varied and included some lesser-known titles… really, who other… Continue Reading

Q&A with 2012 Featured Author L.E. Modesitt, Jr

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. , is the New York Times best-selling author of 60 novels – primarily science fiction and fantasy, a number of short stories and numerous technical and economic articles. His novels have sold millions of copies all around the world. His… Continue Reading

Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Tom McNeal

Tom McNeal is the author of the novel “To Be Sung Underwater,” which was named one of the Best Books of 2011 by USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. His prize-winning short fiction has been widely anthologized, and his first novel, “Goodnight, Nebraska,” won the… Continue Reading

Help Us Convince Stephen Colbert He Should Speak at Our Festival

So we recently read that Stephen Colbert is jumping on the children’s book bandwagon and writing a book for kids. The title: “I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)”   We admit it. We got excited. Imagine having Stephen Colbert at our festival! And with his book launch date being in early May, the timing is PERFECT. Alas, our first attempt was  unsuccessful. His publicist simply said… Continue Reading