Events Calendar

Here’s your chance for a personal moment with author David Baldacci! For one hour only, David will be signing copies of his latest book Simply Lies. Purchase your ticket below to claim your time slot and a copy of the book. We’ll email you a few days before the event to let you know you which time slot is yours.

**PLEASE NOTE**

This ticket is for a signing line only. This ticket does not include the following Books Over Drinks event. If you have a ticket to Books Over Drinks, you will receive a copy of the book and have an opportunity to have it signed, so do not need this ticket also.

BOOK SUMMARY

Mickey Gibson, single mother and former detective, leads a hectic life similar to that of many moms: juggling the demands of her two small children with the tasks of her job working remotely for ProEye, a global investigation company that hunts down wealthy tax and credit cheats.

When Mickey gets a call from a colleague named Arlene Robinson, she thinks nothing of Arlene’s unusual request for her to go inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer who cheated ProEye’s clients and fled. That is, until she arrives at the mansion to discover a dead body in a secret room—and that nothing is as it seems.

Not only does the arms dealer not exist but the murder victim turns out to be Harry Langhorne, a man with mob ties who used to be in Witness Protection. What’s more, no one named Arlene Robinson works at ProEye.

In the blink of an eye, Gibson has become a prime suspect in a murder investigation—and now her job is also on the line until she proves that she was set up. Before long, Gibson is locked in a battle of wits with a brilliant woman with no name, a hidden past, and unknown motives—whose end game is as mysterious as it is deadly.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

All the best resources for homeschooling in the Upstate in one place,
on one night! And, this year we have more space, and more time!

Gather resources for your homeschool. Get answers. Find your tribe!

Co-ops, associations, sports, community groups, field trips, arts, & more all in one fun place for the whole family.

NEW THIS YEAR: Learn about homeschooling in breakout sessions, & experience educational, & fun, mini-field trips as a family.

COST
$6.75 per adult.
Children are free.

Expo admission includes breakout sessions, & one tote bag per family.

Dinner, drinks, & snacks, are available for purchase in the cafe downstairs,
& snow cones will be just outside.

Join us for an evening with New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams! We’re excited to celebrate the next installment of her charming Secret, Book, and Scone Society series hailed as “a love letter to reading” (Entertainment Weekly) and starring bookshop owner, bibliotherapist, and occasional sleuth Nora Pennington.

Miracle Springs, North Carolina—the fictional picturesque setting of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society series—is famed for its healing springs, and has thousands of people that flock to the town each year. But bookstore owner and bibliotherapist Nora Pennington tends to land in a different kind of hot water. When she isn’t prescribing the perfect book to cure her customers’ maladies, she’s solving local crimes with the help of her Secret, Book, and Scone Society members—Hester, June, and Estella. Just a touch of magical realism and strong, female-driven stories are winning this series raves from readers and fans of Kate Carlisle, Lorna Barrett, and Adams’s Book Retreat Mysteries.

It couldn’t be a more bookish night between the stories and cocktails.

Your ticket includes admission, a cocktail, and a copy of the book.

BOOK SUMMARY

Nora escaped her past a decade ago. So it feels like a visit from another world when Kelly Walsh—the woman her ex-husband left her for—walks through the door of Miracle Books along with her son, a sweet, serious boy with a talent for origami. Kelly hasn’t come to gloat, though. As it turns out, she’s been dumped too. She’s also terribly ill, and all she wants from Nora is
forgiveness. Shockingly, however, this woman who’s been the victim of so much misfortune is about to become a murder victim. Who would do such a thing? Certainly not Nora, but that doesn’t stop the gossip and suspicion—especially after Kelly’s brother claims that he saw the two women arguing. In seeking justice for Kelly, The Secret, Book, and Scone Society joins forces with the sheriff’s department, but they’ve barely begun their probe when life throws another wrench. After serving a twenty-year sentence, Estella’s father returns to Miracle Springs. And when his past comes back to haunt him, it might be more than the four friends can handle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellery Adams is the New York Times bestselling author of two cookbooks and over thirty mysteries, including the Book Retreat Mysteries, The Secret, Book, & Scone Society series, the Books by the Bay Mysteries, and the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries. A native New Yorker, she has had a lifelong love affair with stories, food, rescue animals, and large bodies of water. When not working on her next novel, she reads, bakes, gardens, spoils her three cats, and rearranges her bookshelves. She lives with her husband and two children in Chapel Hill, NC.

We are so excited to welcome Kristin Harmel back to M. Judson for a Lunch & Lit event for her new book The Paris Daughter.

Bestselling author of the “heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism” (People) The Book of Lost Names, Kristin’s latest book is a gripping historical novel about two mothers who must make unthinkable choices in the face of the Nazi occupation.

Kristin will be on hand to talk, answer questions, and sign books, as we enjoy an incredible lunch at Soby’s! Get your ticket today!

BOOK SUMMARY

Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.

When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.

More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate search leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.

An “exquisite and gut-wrenching novel” (Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author) you won’t soon forget, The Paris Daughter is also a sweeping celebration of resilience, motherhood, and love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels including The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. She is published in more than thirty languages and is the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series, Friends & Fiction. She lives in Orlando, Florida.

Join us for a Pop-Up with author Kaitlyn Fiedler and her book What Now?

Kaitlyn Odom Fiedler was eight years old when she woke up alone in a hospital room, the victim of a horrible car accident that claimed the lives of six of her family members as they traveled on their way to vacation at the beach. Left with only one living brother, young Kaitlyn was left with the question, what now?

How do you find hope after loss? Twenty years later, Kaitlyn has found her hope and wants to encourage others as they struggle with their own trials.

What Now?: Finding Renewed Life in Christ After Loss brings a refreshing perspective of hope and will help answer the questions of how to move forward, not just move on, when it seems there is nothing left on which to cling. Readers will discover how Kaitlyn moved from questioning to trusting God in times of sorrow, and they will find hope and healing in their own grief journey along the way.

About Kaitlyn Fiedler:

Kaitlyn Odom Fiedler lives near Greenville, SC, with her husband and children. She is currently pursuing her MA in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She actively volunteers with her church in a grief ministry to help kids process and heal after the loss of a loved one. She brings biblical inspiration to women through her blog abeautifulbelonging.com. She is happiest when traveling and adventuring with family and friends.

Come meet Kaitlyn and get a signed copy!

Join us for an evening with Katherine Reay! We’re excited to celebrate Katherine’s latest book with a book-inspired cocktail and conversation about the inspiration and writing of A Shadow in Moscow. When a betrayal at the highest level risks the lives of two courageous female spies: MI6’s best Soviet spy and the CIA’s newest Moscow recruit, a compromise must be struck if either woman hopes to survive as the KGB closes in.

Your ticket includes admission, a cocktail, and a copy of the book.

BOOK SUMMARY

Vienna, 1954.
After losing everyone she loves in the final days of World War II, Ingrid Bauer agrees to a hasty marriage with a gentle Soviet embassy worker, following him home to Moscow. But nothing deep within the Soviet Union’s totalitarian regime is what it seems, including her new husband, whom Ingrid suspects works for the KGB. Upon her daughter’s birth, Ingrid risks everything and reaches out in hope to the one country she understands and trusts — Britain, the country of her mother’s birth — and starts passing along intelligence to MI6, navigating a world of secrets and lies, and light and shadow.

Washington DC. 1980.
Part of the Foreign Studies Initiative, Anya Kadinova finishes her degree at Georgetown University and boards her flight home to Moscow, leaving behind the man she loves and a country she’s grown to respect. Though raised by dedicated and loyal Soviet parents, Anya soon questions an increasingly oppressive and paranoid Soviet regime at the height of the Cold War. When the KGB murders her best friend, Anya picks sides and contacts the CIA. Working in a military research lab, Anya passes along Soviet military plans and schematics in an effort to end the 1980s arms race.

Alternating between points of view, the past catches up to the present when an unprecedented act of treachery in 1985 threatens all undercover agents operating within the Soviet Union and both women find themselves in a race against time and the KGB.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels. She has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books and history, and brings that love to her stories. Katherine has also written one full-length nonfiction work.

She holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and has lived across the country with a few years in England and Ireland as well. A full-time author and mother of three children, Katherine and her husband currently live outside Chicago, IL.

Remember how great it was, a little money from mom and dad jingling in your pocket, when you waltzed into the school library to buy a Gremlins poster and a new Goosebumps book? Nothing was as captivating as the book you picked out for yourself, and that pencil with the fluffy top on it. Oh, to be a kid again.
We’re bringing that book fair feeling back: and this time, it’s for everyone! Join us from Thursday June 15 through Sunday June 18 in The Gallery at M. Judson on the 4th floor for Book Fair For All. We’ll have books you and your kids really want to read this summer, from their first chapter book to the latest DogMan, as well as great recommendations for beach reads, summer romcoms, thrillers you can’t put down, and a few goodies that will rival that Gremlins poster. (If you’re a school media specialist, be sure to stop by and see what we can do for your school!)

Best of all, this event is free! Register through the RSVP below.

Join Hub City Bookshop for a writing workshop with author Mickey Dubrow! Perfect for budding writers and those with experience. Open to all ages.

Please bring your own writing materials.

About the Workshop

Time travel doesn’t exist…yet. Until it does, it’s up to writers to explore how and why people travel through time. In this 90 minute hands-on workshop, participants will explore the elements of writing compelling time travel fiction for young adults.

Participants will:

-Learn the basic rules of time travel (there really are some)

-Generate new material

-Craft engaging scenes

-Engage in teamwork exercises

No prior writing experience required.

About the Author

Mickey Dubrow is the author of Always Agnes and American Judas. For over thirty years, he wrote television promos, marketing presentations, and scripts for various clients including Cartoon Network, TNT Latin America, and HGTV. His short stories and essays have appeared in Prime Number Magazine, The Good Men Project, The Signal Mountain Review, Full Grown People, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. His first novel, American Judas, was a Finalist for the 2020 Georgia Author of the Year Award in the category of First Novel. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, author Jessica Handler.

Join us on Thursday, June 22nd at 5:30 pm for an In Conversation event with poet Len Lawson. He’ll be chatting about his latest poetry collection Negro Asylum for the Lunatic Insane. We’re excited to have Len in store with us and can’t wait to hear all about his writing processes and inspirations. So don’t miss out on this free event!

ABOUT THE POETRY COLLECTION

Negro Asylum for the Lunatic Insane enters the maelstrom of institutionalized racism and cruelty to aim an unflinching gaze at the violence, neglect, and delusions borne of Southern race ritual. These poems wield knives against slavery’s tumultuous afterlife, cutting us free, guiding us through thickets of scar tissue and nightmare till we glean the brutal clarity of American sin and bear witness to the wondrous power of Len Lawson’s artistic and historical imagination. ~Herman Beavers

Len Lawson is, above all, a talented lyricist whose candid chronicles of working in the field of mental illness—the patients’ trauma caused largely by the institutions supposed to treat and protect them—provides an insight into a realm plagued by racism and abuse, one often ignored and silenced by the world at the large. We come to learn of Lawson’s speaker’s interactions with Brock Bridges who “loved butterflies” and often too tried to escape the establishment, “thinking like the statue/chewing petals off that flower.” Though the speaker tries to keep a line between him and his patients, dealing with his own issues concerning his own happiness and the weight of family memory and present circumstances, all their lives are intertwined even in times of doubt: “I didn’t trust those butterflies like Brock did…Matter of fact I hate butterflies//They give people false hope//Everything can’t have wings/Everybody wasn’t made to fly//Ask all them Africans that didn’t/grow wings still on the plantation.” Lawson explores the larger implications of historical violence and survival, never flinching away (” If you show me this box/hovering up and down/heaven and earth,/I will show you/a casket/lowered into/a world’s eye”) through a variety of many (often experimental) free verse possibilities, and I too can be candid, this is one of the best collections of poetry I’ve ever read. Get it now. Lawson is going places. ~Rose Ben-Oni

Lawson’s Negro Asylum for the Lunatic Insane constructs a fictional institution based on actual 20th century mental asylums for Black people. This haunting, stark series of vignettes of people who occupy such spaces traverse through surprising and dangerous spaces in the mind. History starts surrounding us as an eerie specter seeping into the present, where mental health is now a demand as part of freedom in America. ~Tara Betts, author of Refuse to Disappear

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Len Lawson is author of Chime (Get Fresh Books, 2019) and co-editor of The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry (Blair Press, 2021). He received a 2022 Fresh Voices in the Humanities Governor’s Award from South Carolina Humanities. Len has earned fellowships from Tin House, Palm Beach Poetry Festival, Callaloo, Vermont Studio Center, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts among others. His poetry appears in African American Review, Mississippi Review, Ninth Letter, Verse Daily, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere. A South Carolina native, Len earned a PhD in English Literature and Criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Join us for a Pop-Up with author Kate Miller and her book Annie Duck Just Can’t Land?

Annie and her best friend Grace can’t wait to migrate to the warmer southern ponds with their families and friends, but they both have a big problem that may make them unable to fly with the others. Despite all of their hard work in flight school, Grace can’t take off and Annie can’t land. Can these dear friends help each other and do this hard thing together?

A beautiful story of friendship and overcoming challenges that children (and the adults who read to them) will enjoy!

Come here more about it from the author Kate Saturday morning from 10am to noon!

Join us for an evening of cocktails and conversation with New York Times bestselling author Ashley Poston! In this witty and wise new novel, an overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past.

Your ticket includes admission, a cocktail in the spirit of the story, and a copy of the book, as well as an after-hours bookstore evening with Ashley.

BOOK SUMMARY

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.
And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.
Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.
Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.
After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashley Poston writes stories about love and friendship and ever afters. A native to South Carolina, she now lives in a small grey house with her sassy cat and too many books. You can find her on the internet, somewhere, watching cat videos and reading fan-fiction.

Join us for an evening of cocktails and conversation with New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams talking about her ravishing summer read, The Beach at Summerly, taking readers back to a mid-century New England rich with secrets and Cold War intrigue.

Your ticket includes admission, a cocktail in the spirit of the story, and a copy of the book, as well as an after-hours bookstore evening with Ashley.

BOOK SUMMARY

June 1946. As the residents of Winthrop Island prepare for the first summer season after the sacrifice of war, a glamorous new figure moves into the guest cottage at Summerly, the idyllic seaside estate of the wealthy Peabody family. To Emilia Winthrop, daughter of Summerly’s year-round caretaker and a descendant of the island’s settlers, Olive Rainsford opens a window into a world of shining possibility. While Emilia spent the war years caring for her incapacitated mother, Olive traveled the world, married fascinating men, and involved herself in political causes. She’s also the beloved aunt of the two surviving Peabody sons, Amory and Shep, with whom Emilia has a tangled romantic history.As the summer wears on, Emilia develops a deep rapport with Olive, who urges her to leave the island for a life of adventure, while romance blossoms with the sturdy and honorable Shep. But the heady promise of Peabody patronage is blown apart by the arrival of Sumner Fox, an FBI agent who demands Emilia’s help to capture a Soviet agent who’s transmitting vital intelligence on the West’s atomic weapon program from somewhere inside the Summerly estate.
April 1954. Eight years later, Summerly is boarded up and Emilia has rebuilt her shattered life as a professor at Wellesley College, when shocking news arrives from Washington—the traitor she helped convict is about to be swapped for an American spy imprisoned in the Soviet Union, but with a mysterious condition only Emilia can fulfill. A reluctant Emilia is summoned to CIA headquarters, where she’s forced to confront the harrowing consequences of her actions that fateful summer, and a choice that could destroy the Peabody family—and Emilia’s chance for redemption—all over again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, including Her Last Flight, The Summer Wives, and The Golden Hour, as well as All the Ways We Said Goodbye, cowritten with Lauren Willig and Karen White. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

Join us for a Pop-Up with author Martha LaGuardia-Kotite and her book Changing the Rules of Engagement!

Changing the Rules of Engagement brings to life the authentic, vivid stories of leadership from inspiring and adventurous women who achieved the extraordinary by serving their country in the U.S. military. These women shattered the glass ceiling and performed extraordinary feats by refusing to take “no” for an answer and learning how to lead in traditionally male-dominated environments. Martha LaGuardia-Kotite skillfully captures their leadership lessons, struggles, and successes—showing how courageous and tenacious women can achieve their goals and help change policy, insights also applicable to today’s leaders in corporate and business boardrooms.

Whether soaring into outer space with the second woman to command a space shuttle or plunging to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean with a combat veteran special operations diver, these profiles in leadership highlight a range of powerful examples: from Vivien Crea, a vice commandant of the Coast Guard, who rose to the highest position of any woman in the history of the U.S. military, to Tammy Duckworth, who demonstrated her resilience after being shot down while piloting a helicopter in Iraq and went on to serve as a U.S. senator. Also included are the inspirational stories of women Marines and the first women members of the military service academies’ gender-integrated classes, who recall the highs and lows of their trailblazing journey.

Representative of a widely diverse group of enlisted women and officers of different races and cultures, these women have succeeded since the mid-1970s at combating prejudices and aiding change in the military culture with grit, intelligence, leadership, and honor.

Come here more about it from the author Martha Saturday morning from 10am to noon!

Join us for an informal writing workshop. Registration required. Email [email protected] or call 864-963-9031.

Join us on Wednesday, August 9th at 5:30 pm for a special In Conversation event with playwright and author Vichet Chum! He’ll be chatting about his play Kween, which will be included in the South Carolina New Play Festival, and about the novel version of Kween coming out in October.

Kween is a searing, joyful play about a queer Cambodian American teen’s journey to find her voice and step into her legacy. Following her Dad’s deportation, everything has changed for Soma. Her Mom is away, helping her husband adjust to his new life, while her older sister, Dahvy, is preparing for her quickly unravelling wedding. Through poetry, Soma finds the words to not only save the day, but more importantly, to express exactly what she’s feeling.

Find out more and don’t miss this free event!

SC NEW PLAY FESTIVAL

The second SC New Play Festival will celebrate engaging and dynamic new plays and musicals from across the United States. This year’s festival will feature a variety presentation, 2 staged readings of new plays, a staged reading of a show for young audiences, a staged reading of a new musical, and a cabaret featuring a Broadway star. Learn more here: https://www.southcarolinanewplayfestival.org.

BOOK SUMMARY

Soma Kear’s verses have gone viral. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think her slam poetry video through. All she knew was that her rhymes were urgent. On fire. An expression of where she was, and that place…was a hot mess.
Following her Ba’s deportation back to Cambodia, everything’s changed. Her Ma is away trying to help Ba adjust to his new life, and her older sister has taken charge with a new authoritarian tone. Meanwhile, Soma’s trending video pushes her to ask if it’s time to level up. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, Soma must decide: Is she brave enough to put herself out there? To publicly reveal her fears of Ba not returning? To admit that things may never be the same?

With every line she spits, Soma searches for a way to make sense of the world around her. The answers are at the mic.

From debut author Vichet Chum comes a celebration of Khmer identity, queerness, and embracing the complicated histories that shape who we are and want to be.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

VICHET CHUM (he/him) is a Cambodian American writer originally from Carrollton, TX. He graduated from the University of Evansville and received an MFA from Brown University. He currently lives in New York City. Kween is his debut novel, and you can visit Vichet at vichetchum.com.

Join us for a Pop-Up with YA author Kailey Bright! UNRAVEL—Book #2 in the UN Series—is a story of conflicting identity, forged in deception, and perfect for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

Come meet Kailey, hear more about her book, and get a copy Saturday morning from 10am to noon!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nora is her country’s first Unfortunate soldier—born without any powers and the only one of her kind still serving the Gifted elite. At the hem of a hesitant princess-turned-queen, Nora struggles to keep her fallen lover’s promise with the country’s growing instability.

Cassius, the disregarded prince Nora came to love, has revealed himself as the most powerful Gifted in existence—capable of taking any Gifted’s power for himself. He’s now hailed as a dark messiah for the Unfortunate revolution. After taking what he believes rightfully belongs to him, Cassius haunts Nora in her mind and toys with her emotions and allegiance alike. While Nora seeks to stop his rising influence, it’s hard for her to ignore that they both seek the same result: equity for her people.

Caught between her status as an Unfortunate, her newfound title alongside Gifted friends, and an inner light that could be further deceit, Nora must decide where her loyalty lies and face the embedding consequences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kailey Bright is a contemporary YA fiction author and computer scientist, which means she writes code during daylight and writes about fantastical worlds under starlight.

Tired of YA stories where protagonists suddenly get secret, plot-helpful powers, Bright seeks to write powerful and ambitious stories about characters who persevere with and through disadvantages. Her books are meant to positively impact readers who struggle with challenging societal norms and cultivating inner growth.

When she’s not tanning under her computer screen’s glow, Kailey enjoys winning at mediocre bowling and drinking tea on cool mornings.

Join us on Tuesday, August 15th at 5:30 pm for an In Conversation event with author Meagan Lucas. She’ll be chatting about her collection of stories Here in the Dark. We’re excited to have Meagan in store with us and can’t wait to hear all about her writing processes and inspirations. So don’t miss out on this free event!

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

Here in the Dark, the first collection from award-winning author Meagan Lucas, is a gritty genre blending wallop of short stories, set mostly in Southern Appalachia, that explore the female experience of lawlessness. In the tradition of Dorothy Allison and Bonnie Jo Campbell, Lucas tackles, with unsettling honesty: poverty, addiction, motherhood, and social justice in an increasingly troubled cultural climate. These are character-driven stories about crime, but less a who-done-it mystery and more a meditation on how the vulnerable navigate a world devoid of true justice. Unflinching in its gaze, Here in the Dark is an ambitious collection from a bold and empathetic storyteller.

Perceptive, intimate, and brave, these sixteen stories encompass shame and forgiveness, loss and redemption, oppression and revolution, and signal a new way of thinking about power and trauma. In “Voluntary Action,” a sheriff’s deputy witnesses the overdose of a high school friend in her custody. In “Buttons,” a little girl, bullied by the neighbor boy, gets her revenge with a needle and thread. In “Sitting Ducks,” a hurricane bears down on mothers, daughters, and sisters in an un-evacuated women’s prison. In “Asylum” an immigrant woman, suffering a terrible loss, sees ghosts in the hotel and houses that she cleans. In “Hell, or High Water” a young woman with Stockholm syndrome is abandoned by her kidnapper deep in the woods of Western North Carolina. And in “Here in the Dark,” a newly clean addict is given the opportunity to start over with her son if only she’ll snitch on her former lover and pimp, but discovers, of course, it’s not that simple. Blending Lucas’ musical prose with high-tension stakes, and resonant characters, Here in the Dark is a collection not to be missed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meagan Lucas is the author of the award-winning novel, Songbirds and Stray Dogs (Main Street Rag Press, 2019) and the forthcoming collection Here in the Dark (Shotgun Honey, 2023). Meagan has published over 30 short stories and essays in journals like The Santa Fe Writers’ Project, Still: The Journal, MonkeyBicycle, Cowboy Jamboree, BULL, Pithead Chapel, and others. She is Pushcart, Best of the Net, Derringer, and Canadian Crime Writer’s Award of Excellence nominated and won the 2017 Scythe Prize for Fiction. Her novel Songbirds and Stray Dogs was chosen to represent North Carolina in the Library of Congress 2022 Route 1 Reads program. Meagan teaches in the Professional Writing Program at Robert Morris University. She is the Editor in Chief of Reckon Review. Born and raised on a small island in Northern Ontario, she now lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Meagan loves: pugs, bourbon, houseplants, and bookstores.