Events Calendar

We are so excited to spend an evening with Catherine talking over her latest book Please Join Us. What better way to do it than over a couple of cocktails??

“Catherine McKenzie knows how to write a twisty ending, and this one certainly delivers. Please Join Us has all the hallmarks of a great suspense novel—a secretive group, a woman at a crossroads, and a crime that might not be all it seems to be. The shocking conclusion pulls together all the pieces while leaving the reader guessing.”—Kaitlin O., Editor, on Please Join Us.

Please join us (ha!) Thursday, August 25th at 7:30 pm! Your ticket includes admission, a cocktail, and a copy of the book.

Join us for a book-inspired wine tasting! We pair the qualities of each wine with a book that shares the same spirit. Your ticket to the tasting, apart from the tastes, includes your choice of one of the featured books. Bottles of the featured wines will be for sale at great prices, too. This event is a crowd favorite, serving as a great date, a perfect girls night out, or treat to yourself. Buy your ticket now and join us on Tuesday, August 30th!

Time for your poems or stories or essays to be heard? Join us for something new… Open Mic Night!

Work up a 5 minute sample of your literary arts, then come sign up for a slot! The sign-up sheet will be available at 5:45 pm at M. Judson. Readings will start at 6pm. Get here early. Reading slots are limited!

If you aren’t one for sharing, come by for a listen. Grab a coffee, cookie, or glass of wine from Camilla Kitchen and prepare to be impressed!

* This is a free event sponsored by our friends at SCGSAH. As such, please keep the content of your readings family friendly.

Join us at the Launch Party for Landra Jenning’s debut: The Whispering Fog!

In this spooky and atmospheric debut contemporary fantasy (Middle Grade), Snow White and Rose Red meets the modern world after sisters Neve and Rose’s lives are upended when a swamp witch kidnaps Rose. This is perfect for fans of Jodi Lynn Anderson and Katherine Arden!

For twelve-year-old Neve, it’s always been she and her older sister against the world, their lives entwined just like sisters in a fairy tale. So, if Rose loves tennis, Neve will play it too—even if secretly she’d rather be home turning cardboard boxes into offbeat art projects. Not even being moved to the piney woods outside Etters, South Carolina, can change what they are to each other—until a mysterious fog seems to swallow up Rose before Neve’s eyes.

Naturally, the adults don’t believe that something supernatural is at play. So, with the help of Piper, a classmate with a tomato fixation; Sammy, a boy with memories of an otherworldly stranger; and a stray dog that seems to belong to the woods, Neve discovers that her sister has been taken by a swamp-dwelling witch with a terribly wicked plan. It will be up to Neve to save her sister. Otherwise, she’ll be separated from Rose . . . forever

A gorgeous, haunting debut about sisterhood and finding your voice.

Reviews:

‘With a dose of creepiness and a dash of delight, Landra Jennings brews a bewitching tale of sisterly love, finding your voice, and the value of a good tomato. I love this book.’ — Anne Ursu, author of The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy

‘The Whispering Fog is a dark and twisty retelling of Snow White and Rose Red, with a delicious page-turner of an ending. But underneath the magic, it’s a refreshingly honest story about imperfect families, about how sometimes we care best for others by being real with ourselves. I loved it.’ — Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island and My Jasper June

This is a FREE EVENT, perfect family event, fun for all ages!

Join us for a book-inspired wine tasting! We pair the qualities of each wine with a book that shares the same spirit. Your ticket to the tasting, apart from the tastes, includes your choice of one of the featured books. Bottles of the featured wines will be for sale at great prices, too. This event is a crowd favorite, serving as a great date, a perfect girls night out, or treat to yourself. Buy your ticket now and join us on Tuesday, September 20th!

The Jump Off: The Importance of the Inciting Incident will help writers craft exciting openings to hook an audience. “If you don’t grab an audience in the opening moments of a speech, play, novel, or even television series, they’re lost forever. Learn how to identify a compelling inciting incident and make it riveting.”

Raegan Payne is a published, award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced from Los Angeles to Lagos. She studied Shakespeare at the British American Drama Academy and improv/sketch writing at The Groundlings in Los Angeles and has just finished a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge in Writing for Performance. She is a member of Ammunition Theatre Company’s Writers Group, the Dramatist Guild, Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative. She unwinds by fostering kittens and practicing Aikido. For more info go to: raeganpayne.com

Hub City Bookshop is excited to welcome author and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson to the Converse University Twichell Auditorium at Zimmerli Performance Center on Tuesday, September 27th for an evening celebrating the release of his new book, “Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization.” Bringing his signature insight to some of the most crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—Tyson’s book provides an antidote to the earth-bound point-of-view that so often divides us in contemporary times. The author will be joined in conversation by Dr. Will Case, Converse University Associate Professor of Chemistry.

This is a ticketed event, with each ticket including a signed copy of the book. Tickets are available through the Converse University website.

The event will begin at 7pm, with doors opening at 6:15. Can’t wait to see you there!

Time for your poems or stories or essays to be heard? Join us for something new… Open Mic Night!

Work up a 5 minute sample of your literary arts, then come sign up for a slot! The sign-up sheet will be available at 5:45 pm at M. Judson. Readings will start at 6pm. Get here early. Reading slots are limited!

If you aren’t one for sharing, come by for a listen. Grab a coffee, cookie, or glass of wine from Camilla Kitchen and prepare to be impressed!

* This is a free event sponsored by our friends at SCGSAH. As such, please keep the content of your readings family friendly.

Stop by Saturday, October 22nd to meet Author, TEDx speaker & captain, US Coast Guard (ret) Martha LaGuardia-Kotite. She’s bringing her three of her five award winning books: Changing the Rules of Engagement, So Others May Live, and My Name is Old Glory.

Using her own “sea stories” and profiles of top leaders to inspire others, Martha’s leadership and inspirational presentations and books are influenced by her 30-year career serving at sea and ashore. She believes that no matter your age or experience, you can be bold, you can achieve your daring dreams and you can enjoy the journey of life!

Come meet her, hear more about her books and life, and get a signed copy!

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Captain Martha LaGuardia-Kotite’s bold leadership style empowered her to be one of the first female officers to serve aboard two Coast Guard cutters with all male crews. Patrolling the Pacific, Atlantic Oceans, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, Martha remained true to herself while changing the rules of engagement.

Martha is qualified as a USCG Master of Vessels less than 100-tons. She drives Seabourn’s Zodiac MK6’s and MK5’s in Alaska, British Columbia, Norway and soon around the globe while also sharing stories from her career and award-winning books for Seabourn cruise guests on center stage.

Martha is an experienced TEDx speaker, TEDx coach and keynote speaker, making a difference using her own “sea stories” and profiles of top leaders to inspire others, her leadership and inspirational presentations are influenced by her 30-year career serving at sea and ashore. She believes that no matter your age or experience, you can be bold, you can achieve your daring dreams and you can enjoy the journey of life!

A graduate of the Coast Guard Academy with a masters from Harvard University, Martha rose to the senior rank of captain in the US Coast Guard, earned numerous personal and team awards for her mobilizations during national disasters, missions saving lives at sea and work as a public relations spokesperson for the Service. Hand- picked to serve as the Commandant’s Press Secretary she also worked in New York City for a public relations firm as account director for IBM.

She is an award-winning author of five books including the award-winning So Others May Live – Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers Saving Lives, Defying Death which was used by Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher for their roles in the movie The Guardian.

An avid sailor, paddle boarder, mother of two sons, Martha lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida with her husband.

Join us for a book-inspired wine tasting! We pair the qualities of each wine with a book that shares the same spirit. Your ticket to the tasting, apart from the tastes, includes your choice of one of the featured books. Bottles of the featured wines will be for sale at great prices, too. This event is a crowd favorite, serving as a great date, a perfect girls night out, or treat to yourself. Buy your ticket now and join us on Tuesday, October 25th!

Stop by Saturday, October 29th to meet author T.J. Champitto and hear about his novel The Shadowmaker!

A local author, Champitto has been given the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, the Maxy Award for Best Thriller, and was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award. In this new novel, Henry Sirola is one of the world’s greatest art and jewelry thieves, and an upcoming star in the Croatian mob. But Henry has a secret. He’s also an FBI informant, known only as The Shadowmaker. When a priceless treasure, seemingly lost to history, is plucked from the ocean floor, Henry’s two worlds are put on a deadly collision course…

Come meet Champitto, hear more about his novel, and get a signed copy! This is a free event.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

T.J. Champitto is the Amazon bestselling author of The Medina Device and The Shadowmaker. In 2020, Champitto was given the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, the Maxy Award for Best Thriller, and was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award. He currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina with his wife and two dogs.

BOOK SUMMARY

Henry Sirola, a world-renowned art and jewel thief, is given a new assignment by the Croatian mob to retrieve a priceless artifact previously lost to history. He knows it could be the biggest score of his life, but he has a secret. He’s also an FBI informant.

Henry and his associates are tasked with securing the artifact in Brazil where their mission spirals out of control, and when they return home, an assassin strikes at the heart of their team.

With his former girlfriend, Isabell, Henry now must hunt down a cold-blooded killer. A series of clues lead to a mysterious farmhouse in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and a laptop that just might hold the answers to his troubled past.

Meanwhile, an NSA agent seeks information about the man known only as The Shadowmaker. Henry fights to keep his identity hidden, but he and his team are summoned to Europe to finish the mission and find a buyer for the mob’s priceless new treasure. His battle for survival has only begun as his quest for the truth will take him from the bistros and castles of Italy to the back alleys of Zürich, and he will be forced to choose between the safety of the FBI and a life of boundless wealth.

The Shadowmaker hurtles through the dark underworld of organized crime into a pursuit of self-discovery as the battle between good and evil turns personal.

We couldn’t be more excited to have Kardea Brown and her new cookbook, The Way Home, in our store!! We know you’re excited too, so we wanted you to have the chance to not only get her cookbook, but have it signed by her, for you, in person!

Your ticket covers the cost of your book and we’ll email you after you place your order with your time slot for the signing line. Claim yours now!

SUMMARY

In April 2015, Kardea Brown made a leap of faith, quitting her job as a social worker in New Jersey to pursue a career in the food industry. She opened the New Gullah Supper Club, a restaurant and social destination centered around the food she grew up eating at her grandmother’s house on South Carolina’s Wadmalaw Island.

After an appearance on Food Network, Kardea caught the attention of executives at the cooking channel and over the course of nearly four hardworking years became a star–sparring with chefs on hit shows like Beat Bobby Flay and hosting Cupcake Championship. Viewers fell in love with her Southern warmth, love of family, and awe-inspiring New Gullah meals, and Kardea quickly landed her own show, the top-rated Delicious Miss Brown.

In this, her first cookbook, Kardea shares her multi-generational “passed down” recipes and innovative takes on Gullah classics with home cooks everywhere. “Gullah” and “GeeChee” refer to a distinct group of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia who have preserved much of their West African language, culture, and cuisine. The Way Home is an unabashed love letter to her family’s roots, packed with dishes that combine West African herbs, spices, and grains with traditional Southern cooking. “Gullah people laid the foundation for Southern cooking. Before farm-to-table was a fad, it was what Gullah people did,” Kardea explains. “I want to show the world that soul food is not monolithic. It’s so much more than fried chicken and vegetables cooked in pork. It’s seasonal, fresh and delicious! “

Filled with more than 100 mouth-watering recipes for starters, main courses, sides, desserts, and more, The Way Home brings a taste of the Lowcountry South home, offering flavor-packed dishes everyone will enjoy such as: She-Crab Soup, Seafood Potato Salad, Crabcake Benedict, Smoked Pasta Salad, Savory Bread Pudding, Peach Dump Cake, Blood Orange Salmon, Smothered Chicken, Low Country Spaghetti, Sweet Potato Cheesecake…

Kardea flavors her recipes with cherished family anecdotes, memories, and helpful tips. A perfect blend of the modern and the traditional, The Way Home honors her proud heritage and shows off her own signature class and sass. The result is a marvelous, big-hearted collection of recipes and stories that will nourish you, body and soul.

Time for your poems or stories or essays to be heard? Join us for something new… Open Mic Night!

Work up a 5 minute sample of your literary arts, then come sign up for a slot! The sign-up sheet will be available at 5:45 pm at M. Judson. Readings will start at 6pm. Get here early. Reading slots are limited!

If you aren’t one for sharing, come by for a listen. Grab a coffee, cookie, or glass of wine from Camilla Kitchen and prepare to be impressed!

* This is a free event sponsored by our friends at SCGSAH. As such, please keep the content of your readings family friendly.

Bring your laptop or pen and paper and work toward your writing goal. Registration required.  Email [email protected] or call 864-963-9031 to register

Join us on Wednesday, November 16th at 5:30 pm for an In Conversation event with Brian O’Hare, winner of the 2021 Veterans Writing Award!

We’ll be chatting about his novel, Surrender. In the tradition of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Brian O’Hare’s Surrender is a rich collection of coming-of-age stories, a journey into the heart of the American hero myth, from the Friday night football fields of Western Pennsylvania to a battalion of Marines in the Persian Gulf and beyond. But what happens when the crowds stop cheering and the welcome home parades are over? Find out at this free event!

SUMMARY

Winner of the Syracuse University Press’ 2021 Veterans Writing Award chosen by National Book Award winner and Marine Phil Klay

In the tradition of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Brian O’Hare’s Surrender is a rich collection of coming-of-age stories, a journey into the heart of the American hero myth, from the Friday night football fields of Western Pennsylvania to a battalion of Marines in the Persian Gulf and beyond. But what happens when the crowds stop cheering and the welcome home parades are over? Guilt, fear, and brutality collide with love and acceptance as a diverse cast of characters struggle to reconcile mythology with reality, and to find meaning in a uniquely American chaos.

In bittersweet stories with surprising humor, the characters grapple with the choices they’ve made and a country they no longer understand. Written in spare and unsentimental prose, yet with a startling emotional punch, these stories, and the unforgettable characters who tell them, will live long in the reader’s imagination.

REVIEWS

“SURRENDER is written in delightful, incisive prose bursting with humanity. It is deeply observed and emotionally powerful, sharp on both the cultural mores of young men and on the deeper consequences of what happens when that mixes with American military power. And each story boasts richly imagined characters that live on in the mind long after you’ve finished reading”

— Phil Klay, author of Redeployment, winner of the National Book Award

“What does it mean to be a man? It’s a good (and complicated) question, but Brian O’Hare’s collection, SURRENDER, can stand with Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories and the work of Andre Dubus in those writers’ attempt to illuminate the cost and fragility of that answer. These stories are not long, but each is a jab to the heart.”

—Jim Krusoe, author of The Sleep Garden

“O’Hare’s SURRENDER crackles with not only the gunfire of combat but the livewire sparks of human emotions. His characters, led by the war-haunted Marine Lieutenant Francis Keane, are as authentic as they come: they ache and groan and break into pieces only to rebuild themselves, shard by shard. This fiction is the stuff of real life. These pages breathe, my friends.”

—David Abrams, author of Brave Deeds

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian O’Hare is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and former US Marine Corps officer. His career began in a Baltimore bar, the legendary Club Charles, where director John Waters cast him to appear in his film Cry Baby. Currently, he’s an award-winning writer and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in War, Literature and the Arts; Santa Fe Writers Project; Hobart; and other journals, and he has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. He was named a Writing Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and recently served as Visiting Writer at CUNY/Kingsborough (Brooklyn). This is his debut novel.

Join us for a book-inspired wine tasting! We pair the qualities of each wine with a book that shares the same spirit. Your ticket to the tasting, apart from the tastes, includes your choice of one of the featured books. Bottles of the featured wines will be for sale at great prices, too. This event is a crowd favorite, serving as a great date, a perfect girls night out, or treat to yourself. Buy your ticket now and join us on Tuesday, November 17th!

Program Room Bring your papers, essays, and writing assignments to this informal, drop-in setting. Staff will be available to read and provide feedback on academic writing materials and share helpful online Library System resources.

We are so excited to spend an evening with USA TODAY bestselling author Kimberly Belle talking about her newest novel The Personal Assistant! She’s returned with a deeply addictive thriller exploring the dark side of the digital world when a mommy-blogger’s assistant goes missing…

Meet Kimberly and hear more about the writing process as we enjoy a book-inspired cocktail! This is a ticketed event.

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

SUMMARY

When Alex first began posting unscripted family moments and motivational messages online, she had no intention of becoming an influencer. Overnight it seemed she’d amassed a huge following, and her hobby became a full-time job—one that was impossible to manage without her sharp-as-a-tack personal assistant, AC.

But all the good-will of her followers turns toxic when one controversial post goes viral in the worst possible way. Alex reaches out to AC for damage control, but her assistant has gone silent. This young woman Alex trusted with all her secrets, who had access to her personal information and front row seats to the pressure points in her marriage and family life, is now missing and the police are looking to Alex and her husband for answers. As Alex digs into AC’s identity – and a woman is found murdered – she’ll find the greatest threat isn’t online, but in her own living room.

Written in alternating perspectives between Alex, her husband, and the mysterious AC, this juicy cat and mouse story will keep you guessing till the very end.

REVIEWS

“Kimberly Belle’s latest features her usual ingredients for success: a chilling premise encompassing a worst fear, an imperfect heroine who rallies to save her children and herself, and a story that pulses with suspenseful twists propelling the reader to the explosive end. The Personal Assistant is Belle at her best. A chilling, fast-paced read. I loved it!” —Kaira Rouda, USA Today, Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Next Wife and The Widow

“A missing assistant to an Instagram influencer, a mysterious dead body, and a nesting box of family secrets drive this cat-and-mouse thriller to a deliciously unexpected finale. A great page-turning read!” —Wendy Walker, bestselling author of Don’t Look for Me

“Kimberly Belle has delivered another twisty, tense and terrifying tour de force! The Personal Assistant shows the consequences of living in an online world where nothing is as it seems, turning the glamor of an insta-worthy life into a nightmare. If you ever had dreams of being an Instagram influencer, this book will have you thinking again. Unputdownable and impossible to forget.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell

“The Personal Assistant has everything I look for in a book – an intriguing premise, a suspenseful plot and a theme that has me questioning my own choices and behaviour. Under the shifting sands of perspective, I never knew who to trust. A masterful novel that I read in an afternoon. I will be recommending to everyone.” —Sally Hepworth, New York Times bestselling author of The Younger Wife

“The Personal Assistant is a riveting view into the dark side of the social media influencer world. Alternating narratives, each more fascinating than the last, will keep you flipping pages in a race to the finish. Master storyteller Kimberly Belle weaves an unforgettable tale of subterfuge and betrayal that will leave you wanting more. I loved it!” —Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“A cautionary tale about what happens when you make an enemy in the social media age, The Personal Assistant is smart, timely, and humming with suspense. You won’t be able to stop reading this killer novel until you reach the final jaw-dropping page.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest

“Kimberly Belle has done it again! She’s written another gripping, propulsive page-turner packed with never-saw-that-coming shocks and surprises, with a plot that asks, How much is too much to give away about ourselves?” —Kate White, New York Times bestselling author of The Second Husband

Join us on Tuesday, December 6th at 5:30 pm for an In Conversation event with our dear friend, local author, and critically acclaimed Southern storyteller Scott Gould!

He’ll be chatting about his novel The Hammerhead Chronicles with Keith Lee Moore, a fellow local author and professor at Clemson. The Hammerhead Chronicles explores the effects of grief, racism, homophobia, revenge, love, and loss on an oddball cast of contemporary characters in a small, fictitious South Carolina town . . . oh, and it’s funny.

So don’t miss out on this free event!

SUMMARY

On the day Claude slaps down a credit card for an expensive racing bicycle, his soon-to-be-ex-wife passes away. As Claude begins a quest to pedal away from his marriage and his grief, we encounter the Southern eccentrics that orbit his world: his overly independent, rebellious teenage daughter; his foul-mouthed sister-in-law who deftly stalks her husband’s mistress; twin, gay bookstore owners who serve the profitable underground Confederacy market out of their “special” back room; the math professor possessing an attic full of rats and a penchant for revenge; a skinny bartender-named for a Marine base-who preaches a suck-it-up philosophy; and Claude’s recently deceased wife, observing it all from the Great Beyond, where she is annoyed by the lack of decent weather and by the troubled, tangled lives she left behind.

This ensemble of quirky, narrative voices dovetail for a fast-moving, comic story of longing and redemption, while flipping a number of Southern clichés on their ears.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Gould is the author of the story collection, Strangers to Temptation (Hub City Press), and the novels, Whereabouts (Koehler Books) and The Hammerhead Chronicles (University of North Georgia Press). His work has appeared in Kenyon Review, Black Warrior Review, New Ohio Review, Crazyhorse, Carolina Quarterly, New Stories from the South and others. He is a multiple winner of the Individual Artist Fellowship in Prose from the South Carolina Arts Commission, as well as the Fiction Fellowship from the South Carolina Academy of Authors. He lives in Sans Souci, South Carolina. More information is available at www.scottgouldwriter.com.

Brian O’Hare is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and former US Marine Corps officer. His career began in a Baltimore bar, the legendary Club Charles, where director John Waters cast him to appear in his film Cry Baby. Currently, he’s an award-winning writer and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in War, Literature and the Arts; Santa Fe Writers Project; Hobart; and other journals, and he has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. He was named a Writing Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and recently served as Visiting Writer at CUNY/Kingsborough (Brooklyn). This is his debut novel.