Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library

Follow the Lemon Racing Dynasty Take a ride through the raucous racing circuits and strip malls of South Georgia in the new novel, Can't Shake the Dust, by St. Augustine author C.H. Hooks. Throughout the year, we offer programs like Lit Chat Author Talks and Writer's Lab workshops to spotlight our local author community and inspire others to follow in their literary footsteps. "Can't Shake the Dust is a singular addition to the South's raucous storytelling tradition. As much about aging as coming of age, Can't Shake the Dust takes you beyond-the-track and into the blue-collar lives of those who can't quit this beautiful, DIY sport. At once hilarious, strange, and tender—this brilliant novel you won't soon forget..."—Caleb Johnson, author of Treeborne Q11 Lit Chat Interview with C.H. Hooks C.H. Hooks was in conversation with Shep Shepard on Monday, July 28, 2025, at the Willow Branch Library. C.H. Hooks is the author of the novels Can't Shake the Dust and Alligator Zoo-Park Magic. His work has appeared in print and online publications including: The Los Angeles Review, American Short Fiction, Four Way Review, The Tampa Review, The Bitter Southerner, and Burrow Press. He has been a Tennessee Williams Scholar and Contributor at Sewanee Writers' Conference, and attended DISQUIET: Dzanc Books International Literary Program. He teaches at Flagler College, and lives in St. Augustine. C.H. Hooks was also one of the many talented local authors who contributed a short story or essay to 15 Views of Jacksonville : Short Stories from a Bold City. The full list includes Sohrab Homi Fracis, Laura Lee Smith, Mark Ari, Teri Youmans Grimm, Tim Gilmore, Marcus Pactor, Michael Wiley, Hurley Winkler, Solon Timothy Woodward, Duncan Barlow, Tiffany Melanson, Jackie Hutchins, Nan Kavanaugh, Alex Ender and Shane Hinton. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Exploring and Collecting African American History Harriet Tubman is, if surveys are to be trusted, one of the ten most famous Americans ever born. Yet often she's a figure more out of myth than history, often rightly celebrated but seldom understood. Tiya Miles's Night Flyer changes all that, probing the ecological reality of Tubman's surroundings and examining her kinship with other enslaved women who similarly passed through a spiritual wilderness and recorded those travels in profound and moving memoirs. Tiya Miles is the author of eight books, including four prizewinning histories about race and slavery. She is a two-time winner of Yale's Frederick Douglass Prize and a two-time winner of the National Council on Public History Book Award. Her 2021 National Book Award winner, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, was a New York Times bestseller that won eleven historical and literary prizes, including the Cundill History Prize. All That She Carried was named A Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, NPR, Publisher's Weekly, The Atlantic, Time, and more. Her latest work, Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith and Dreams of a Free People, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography. Her other nonfiction works include Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, The Dawn of Detroit, Tales from the Haunted South, The House on Diamond Hill, and Ties That Bind. Miles publishes essays and reviews in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, and other media outlets. Miles is also the author of the novel, The Cherokee Rose, a ghost story set in the Native American plantation South. Check out more books by this author at your library. Miles has consulted with colleagues at historic sites and museums on representations of slavery, African American material culture, and the Black-Indigenous intertwined past, including, most recently, the Fabric of a Nation quilt exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her work has been supported by a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Award, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Miles was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and she is currently the Michael Garvey Professor of History and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at Harvard University. You can find her online at https://tiyamiles.com/ or on Facebook and Instagram @TiyaMiles. Interviewer Tammy Cherry has taught at FSCJ as an English professor for 22 years. Along with composition classes, Tammy teaches African American literature and honors classes. She is a lifelong Jacksonville resident and recently served as co-host for the WJCT podcast Bygone Jax. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Osa Atoe is an artist, teacher, and ceramicist operating Pottery by Osa, producing small-batch handmade ceramics. Currently residing in Sarasota, Florida, Osa previously lived in Portland, Oregon, and New Orleans, Louisiana. It was these two cities where she primarily made her punk zine, Shotgun Seamstress. Osa is also a punk musician who performed in numerous bands including VHS, New Bloods, and Firebrand. Read the Book Place a hold on Shotgun Seamstress in the Library's online catalog. Did you know that any book by a featured Lit Chat author counts toward the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge? Join in on the fun! Find out what authors we're hosting in the next few months. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Are you a fan of Southern Gothic, ghost stories, speculative fiction, or horror? Do you love supporting local authors? Are you hoping to follow in their footsteps and publish your own short stories or novel? This summer, we brought two Jacksonville authors together for a "spirited" discussion at the Library. They'll talked about Daniel's writing process, what inspires him, and what he's working on next. Daniel Powell teaches a variety of writing courses at Florida State College at Jacksonville. He enjoys reading and writing stories across a broad spectrum of genres, but he has an affinity for horror, science fiction, and fantasy. He lives with his wife and children near the Timucuan Preserve, where you can frequently find him jogging those haunted trails. Some of his works include Down in the Sawgrass Boneyard, These Strange Worlds: Fourteen Dark Tales, and In the Walls and Other Stories. Read Daniel's Work Place a hold on Daniel's books the Library's online catalog. Note: If you don't like waiting on holds, you can also find several of his e-books on BiblioBoard Library. Several of his books were given a "Select Award"—meaning his books don't just appear in the Indie Florida collection, they are available and recommended to readers nationwide. Did you know that any book by a featured Lit Chat author counts toward the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge? Join in on the fun! Find out what authors we're hosting in the next few months. Interviewer Tim Gilmore is a prolific local history author who has written extensively about Jacksonville. As the writer and creator of www.jaxpsychogeo.com, a project that explores place and catalogs the Southern Gothic, he has told more than 700 stories of strange and historic locations in and around Jacksonville, Florida. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Few people beyond South Carolina's Lowcountry knew of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston—Mother Emanuel—before the tragic events on the night of June 17, 2015. Although the shooter had targeted Mother Emanuel to agitate racial strife, he could not have anticipated the aftermath or the out­pouring of forgiveness from victims' families. Kevin Sack is a veteran journalist and Jacksonville native who has written about national affairs for more than four decades and has been part of three Pulitzer Prize–winning teams. His debut book, Mother Emanuel, is a sweeping history of the first AME church in the South and a profound story of courage and grace amid the fight for racial justice. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, and a graduate of Duke University, Kevin Sack spent thirty years on the staff of The New York Times, where he specialized in writing long-form narrative and investigative reports, often related to race. He also has written for the Los Angeles Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and his work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine. He was a 2019 Emerson Collective Fellow at New America. Interviewer Isaiah Oliver is the third president of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, Florida's oldest and one of its largest community foundations, established in 1964. He leads a seasoned 30-person team that manages more than $700 million in assets and distributed over $85 million in grants in 2024. Isaiah's commitment to community leadership is evident through his service on the Jacksonville Civic Council and as Co-Chair of the Jacksonville Transformation Coalition. Nationally, he serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for CFLeads and holds board or advisory roles with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, ABFE (Association of Black Foundation Executives), Independent Sector, and the Council on Foundations Public Policy Advisory Committee. A Fellow of the inaugural class of the Civil Society Fellowship—a partnership of the AntiDefamation League and The Aspen Institute—Isaiah is also a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Are you a fan of Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, or epic fantasy worlds? In this Lit Chat, local author Michael Regina interviews celebrated fantasy author Django Wexler, the featured guest at this year's Jax Pop Con. Django shares insights into his writing process, his love for tabletop games, and the inspiration behind his latest novel, "How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying." Check out Django's books from the library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=django%20wexler&searchType=agent&pageSize=10 Learn more about Django Wexler on his website: djangowexler.com Learn more about Michael Regina on his website: michaeleregina.com --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

A Haunting Southern Story Set in the Wild Mississippi Delta Four years after Kelly Mustian's USA Today bestselling debut novel, The Girls in the Stilt House, started appearing on "must-read" lists and earning starred reviews, the author is set to release her much-anticipated second novel on April 1, 2025. Like her first, The River Knows Your Name is already gathering buzz as a tumultuous and "well-woven mystery." Emily Matchar, author of In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, wrote, "You won't be able to put the book down until the last puzzle piece of their dual-timeline family mystery clicks into place." Attend the Author Interview & Book Signing Kelly Mustian was in conversation with interviewer Jane Wood on Monday, April 7, 2025 at the Beaches Branch Library. This program was made possible by the support of the Friends of the Beaches Branch Library. The River Knows Your Name For nearly thirty years, Nell has kept a childhood promise to never reveal what she and Evie found tucked inside a copy of Jane Eyre in their mother's bookcase—a record of Evie's birth listing a stranger as her mother. But lately, Nell has been haunted by hazy memories of their early life in Mississippi, years their reclusive mother, Hazel, has kept shrouded in secrecy. In dual storylines decades apart, Nell, forty-two in 1971, reaches into the past to uncover dangerous, long-buried secrets, and Becca, a young mother in the early 1930s, presses ahead, each moving toward 1934, the catastrophic year that would forever link them. From a windswept ghost town long forgotten to a river house in notorious Natchez Under-the-Hill to a moody nightclub stage, Evie's other mother emerges from the shadows of Depression-era Mississippi in a story of hardship and perseverance, of betrayal and trust, and of unexpected redemption in a world in which the lines between heroes and culprits are not always clearly drawn. Kelly Mustian is the USA Today bestselling author of The Girls in the Stilt House and The River Knows Your Name. She is the recipient of the Mississippi Library Association's 2023 Author Award for Fiction, and The Girls in the Stilt House was shortlisted for the 2022 Crook's Corner Book Prize for best debut novel set in the American South. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and commercial magazines. Originally from Mississippi, she currently lives in North Carolina. Read Her Work Check out Kelly's books from the Library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=Kelly%20Mustian&searchType=agent&pageSize=10 Did you know that all of our Lit Chat authors' books count toward your Jax Stacks Reading Challenge completion? Find out what authors we're hosting this month and join in on the fun: https://jaxpubliclibrary.libnet.info/events?term=lit+chat&n=180&r=days Interviewer Jane R. Wood is the author of six award-winning juvenile fiction books where she weaves history and science into stories filled with mystery, adventure, and humor for young readers ages 8-14. She has also written a nonfiction how-to book for authors called Schools: A Niche Market for Authors. Note: All of her books are available at Jacksonville Public Library. You May Also Like... Read-Alikes for Kelly Mustian The Women by Kristin Hannah The Briar Club by Kate Quinn None of This is True by Lisa Jewell Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner Find Me by Alafair Burke --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

A Tale of Resistance... Based on a Real Story Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now, she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with other young resistance members, they vow to disrupt the filming and derail the increasingly frequent deportations to death camps in the east. From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale about resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda, based on the real story of the Nazi "show camp" Theresienstadt. Jennifer Coburn is a celebrated historical fiction author. Her latest book, The Girls of the Glimmer Factory, is an illuminating tale of resistance and the dangers of propaganda. Her other novel, Cradles of the Reich, is a historical novel about three very different women living at a Nazi Lebensborn at the start of World War ll. She has also published a mother-daughter travel memoir, We'll Always Have Paris, as well as six contemporary women's novels. She has also contributed to five literary anthologies, including A Paris All Your Own. Jennifer lives in San Diego. When Jennifer is not going down historical research rabbit holes, she volunteers with So Say We All, a live storytelling organization, where she is a performer, producer, and performance coach. She is also an active volunteer with Reality Changers, a nonprofit that supports low-income high school students in becoming the first in their families to attend college. Interviewer Jane R. Wood is the author of six award-winning juvenile fiction books where she weaves history and science into stories filled with mystery, adventure, and humor for young readers ages 8-14. She has also written a nonfiction How-To book for authors called Schools: A Niche Market for Authors. (All of her books are available at Jacksonville Public Library.) Wood is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and television producer, who often speaks at book festivals, conferences for writers and publishers, podcasts, webinars, and at education conferences. Wood has a BA from the University of Florida and an M.Ed from the University of North Florida. She is the past-president of the Florida Authors and Publishers Association and lives in Jacksonville. Her website is www.janewoodbooks.com. Read her books Check out Jennifer's books from the Library! For more books about the Holocaust, read our blog. Did you know that all of our Lit Chat authors' books count toward your Jax Stacks Reading Challenge completion? Find out what authors we're hosting this month and join in on the fun! --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Interview with a Debut Author This January, we spoke with the author of Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany. Released on January 21, 2025, this new book is a fascinating portrait of the progressive female trailblazer and US Secretary for Labor who navigated the foreboding rise of Nazism in her battle to make America a safer place for refugees. As Hitler rose to power, thousands of German-Jewish refugees and their loved ones reached out to the Immigration and Naturalization Service—then part of the Department of Labor—applying for immigration to the United States, writing letters that began "Dear Miss Perkins . . ." This outstanding, inspiring new narrative of the first woman to serve in a president's cabinet reveals the full, never-before-told story of her role in saving Jewish refugees during the Nazi regime. As Secretary of Labor, she wrestled widespread antisemitism and isolationism, finding creative ways to work around quotas and restrictive immigration laws. Diligent, resilient, empathetic, yet steadfast, she persisted on behalf of the desperate when others refused to act. Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham is a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University who has a PhD in history from American University. She previously taught at the Madeira School and American University. In 2023, she was awarded a Cokie Roberts Fellowship from the National Archives Foundation and a Rubenstein Center Research Fellowship from the White House Historical Association. Her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Time, Slate, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. Interviewer Jennie B. Ziegler, Assistant Chair of English at the University of North Florida, completed her M.F.A. in Nonfiction at the University of Arizona. Her work has been published in the University of Texas' Bat City Review, New York University's The Washington Square Review, Bending Genres, Roanoke Review, Squawk Back, MAYDAY Magazine, The Normal School, Essay Daily, and the Appalachian Review, among other outlets. She often focuses on history, the body, folklore, region, science, and identity in her lyric essays. Currently, she is working on Still-Wilds, a collaborative collection of photography and essays that document the preserved areas of Northeast Florida. Find more of her work at jennieziegler.com. Read the book Check out Rebecca's debut novel from the Library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=Rebecca%20Brenner%20Graham&searchType=agent&pageSize=10 Did you know that all of our Lit Chat authors' books count toward your Jax Stacks Reading Challenge completion? Find out what authors we're hosting this month and join in on the fun! Rebecca Recommends Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar Red Comet by Heather Clark Dolls of Our Lives by Mary Mahoney and Allison Horrocks --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Black and Brilliant Local Author As the sixteen-year-old President of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, he was one of the leaders of the 1960 sit-in demonstrations that culminated in the infamous and violent Ax Handle Saturday. Hurst's first book, the award-winning It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke®!, tells that story. Hurst's fourth book, Black and Brilliant (written for 12-18 year-olds), dives deeper into bigotry, segregation and racism he experienced as a pre-teen and a teenager in Jacksonville. The book also reflects on the legacy of Black America and the many influences on his life that made him proud of his Blackness and piqued his interest in Black History. About our Guest Speakers Rodney Lawrence Hurst Sr., is a civil rights activist, a Black historian, a veteran of the United States Air Force and the award-winning author of four books. Hurst is a native of Jacksonville, Florida, and a 1960 high school graduate of segregated Northwestern Junior-Senior High School in Jacksonville. He was the sixteen-year-old President of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP and was one of the leaders of the 1960 sit-in demonstrations. Rodney has won countless awards for his books and his civil rights work. In addition to his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, Hurst served two four-year terms on the Jacksonville City Council. He is responsible for numerous "firsts" in the Jacksonville Community. Some being Hurst was one of the thirteen original national recipients of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Television Fellowships and he co-hosted a television talk show as the first Black person in Jacksonville on PBS Channel WJCT. Read more on his website. Interviewer TiLena Robinson worked as a middle and high school social studies teacher with Duval County Public Schools for nine years. In her current role as grant specialist she focuses on improving school climate by supporting schools with the implementation of programs that focus on reducing bullying incidents in schools and help students build healthy relationships. She is a member of DCPS's African American History Task Force and works to bring equity, inclusion, and diversity to education. She believes that "You can't teach world history without talking about Africa and how African peoples have impacted society; And you can't teach U.S. history without talking about how African Americans have contributed to the history of the United States." Featured Book: Black and Brilliant Rodney believes, "Black and Brilliant young people need to know their Black and Brilliant history and the Black and Brilliant stalwarts who engineered that history. It is never too early, nor are you too young, to understand the plight of those who look like you and what they achieved from the founding days of this country." This book, he says, "Is more than a historical account, it is a call to action..." He hopes that young people "learn from the courage and resilience of those who fought for civil rights, gaining a deeper appreciation for the remaining challenges." Hurst's leadership as a teenager during the Civil Rights Movement is also the subject of a chapter in the Scholastic book, Ten True Tales: Young Civil Rights Heroes, written for Third Graders to Seventh Graders and ages 8 to 12. Check out all of Rodney's work from the Library! https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=Rodney%20Hurst&searchType=agent&pageSize=10 Rodney Recommends The JaxNext100 award-winning mini documentary, "Unless We Tell: Ax Handle Saturday" features Hurst describing the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP 1960 sit-ins and Ax Handle Saturday. The title was inspired by Hurst's second book, Unless We Tell It... It Never Gets Told! The film took First Place at the Jacksonville LOL (Loving Our Locals) Film Festival in 2022. It was a collaboration between Hurst, his grandson-in-law, Kyle Dorrell, and his granddaughter Marquiette (Mark-Kita) D. Dorrell and their company, Weighted Sailor. Note: The 2028 documentary "Ax Handle Saturday: 50 Years Later" is also based on his book. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

A First Coast Romance Sheila Athens writes smart contemporary fiction set where the South meets the Sunshine state. Her stories are about women seeking to find the peace we all deserve. Readers are drawn to her work because they believe that everyday heroes can make a difference in our world. Featured Book: Mae Van Dorn's Perfect Storm All thirty-four-year-old Mae Van Dorn wants is to live alone. But she soon finds herself living with her estranged brother in a town she's never been to and working for the founder of the local megachurch, though she's as misanthropic as they come. An added benefit of the job: Ezra Watts, the handsome construction company owner who's remodeling the deck at the pastor's waterfront mansion. Between her brother's mysterious past, the pastor's potentially illicit dealings and Ezra's on-again-off-again flirtations, Mae's life spins out of control…and that's all BEFORE Hurricane Carly makes landfall in Jacksonville Beach. Check out Sheila's work from the Library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?pageSize=20&pageNum=0&sorting=relevance&sortOrder=asc&searchType=everything&query=sheila%20athens&universalLimiterIds=&materialTypeIds=&collectionIds=&intendedAudienceIds=&literaryFormIds=&agentIds=&conceptIds=&language= After growing up in the Ozarks, Sheila Athens moved to Florida—sight unseen—with the man who would become her husband. Thirty-five years later, she's still on the shores of the Atlantic, grateful that her two grown sons and their families live nearby. After many years as a vice president of human resources, she now spends her time ensconced in her quiet little lair, where she reads, writes and communes with the ducks who live on the lake right off her back porch. She loves quiet spaces, eccentric people and the little band of writer hikers who walk at sunrise on a regular basis. To sign up for her newsletter or to schedule a book club visit (either in-person or virtual), go to SheilaAthens.com. Interviewer Jessica Hatch has a passion for writing genre-blind, character-first fiction. Her work has appeared in such publications as Writer's Digest, The Millions, Fast Company, Neutral Spaces, and Surely Magazine, among others, and her freshman and sophomore novels were published by Hachette UK's Bookouture imprint. Before becoming an author, Jessica worked and interned in New York trade publishing institutions Writers House and St. Martin's Press. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Find her at jessicahatch.com. More Recommended Reading SHEILA RECOMMENDS Looking for other authors of Southern fiction? Sheila recommends Karen White, Sarah Addison Allen, Mary Kay Andrews, and Kristy Woodson Harvey. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots New York Times bestselling and National Magazine Award-winning author Morgan Jerkins will be at the Main Library this October to discuss Wandering in Strange Lands, the powerful story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration, and the displacement of black people across America. She will be the first featured Lit Chat author in the Library's new African American History series of community programs. The project, in part, seeks to expand the Library's African American History Collection and the associated Digital Community Archive and to make customers aware of all the FREE family research and local history resources available to them in the Special Collections Department at the Main Library, including the newly-expanded Memory Lab. For more information about how you can contribute materials to Special Collections or use these publicly-available resources to trace your family roots, research the history of your home or neighborhood and more, please click on this link. Morgan Jerkins's most recent book is the novel Caul Baby, an Amazon Best Book of 2021. Her other books are Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots, one of Time's must-read books of 2020, and This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America, a New York Times Bestseller. As a journalist, she's written about the internet, intersecting social issues and popular media through celebrity profiles and interviews, reportage, commentary, and personal essays. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, among others. She's won two National Magazine Awards and was a Forbes 30 Under 30 Leader in Media. Jerkins is also a filmmaker. Her debut short film, Black Madonna, which she wrote and co-directed, was selected at the Big Apple Film Festival, Pan African Film & Arts Festival, and NewFilmmakers Los Angeles. She teaches Creative Writing at Princeton University, where she also holds a Bachelor's in Comparative Literature. She has an MFA from Bennington College, and has taught at Columbia University, Pacific University, The New School, and Leipzig University, where she was the Guest Picador Professor. Based in New York City, she was born and raised in New Jersey. Interviewer Prof. Tammy Cherry has taught at Florida State College at Jacksonville as an English professor for 22 years. Along with composition classes, Tammy teaches African American literature and honors classes. She is a lifelong Jacksonville resident and recently served as co-host for the WJCT podcast Bygone Jax. Praise for Morgan Jerkins's Books "In Morgan Jerkins's remarkable debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, she is a deft cartographer of black girlhood and womanhood. From one essay to the next, Jerkins weaves the personal with the public and political in compelling, challenging ways... With this collection, she shows us that she is unforgettably here, a writer to be reckoned with." — Roxanne Gay "[A] forthright and informative account. . . . Jerkins's careful research and revelatory conversations with historians, activists, and genealogists result in a disturbing yet ultimately empowering chronicle of the African-American experience. Readers will be moved by this brave and inquisitive book." — Publishers Weekly on Wandering in Strange Lands "Morgan Jerkins' fantastic, expansive novel of mothers and daughters and Harlem, Caul Baby, is a meditation on the limits of inheritance and legacy. It's also a love letter to a rapidly changing neighborhood."— Kaitlyn Greenidge Check out Morgan's works from the library! Continue Reading MORGAN RECOMMENDS Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado FEM by Magda Carneci THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS Dear Ijeawele, or, A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories From Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust by Chloe Dulce Louvouezo A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining by Rachel E Cargle Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine The Love Song of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers These Ghost are Family by Maisy Card Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Mexican Gothic Author Comes to Jacksonville Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic, is coming to Jacksonville for Hispanic Heritage Month. Her latest novel is a historical drama set in Hollywood, following three different point of view characters all tied to the production of a movie inspired by the Biblical story of Salome. FEATURED BOOK: The Seventh Veil of Salome 1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times. So when the film's mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves. Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including Gods of Jade and Shadow (Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, Ignyte Award), Mexican Gothic (Locus Award, British Fantasy Award, Pacific Northwest Book Award, Aurora Award, Goodreads Award), Velvet Was the Night (finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Macavity Award), and her newest book, The Seventh Veil of Salome, which was a Good Morning America Book Club pick for August 2024. Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination. Cachanilla and Canuck, originally from Baja California, Silvia now resides in Vancouver. She has an MA in Science and Technology Studies from the University of British Columbia. Interviewer Michelle Lizet Flores is a graduate of the FSU and NYU creative writing programs. She currently works as a Creative Writing Instructor at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and co-hosts the What's in a Verse Poetry Open Mic at Rain Dogs. Publications include The NCTE English Journal, Salt Hill Journal, and The Talon Review. A finalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Award for Poetry, she wrote the chapbooks Cuentos from the Swamp and Memoria, and the picture book, Carlito the Bat Learns to Trick or Treat. Her short fiction is in the anthology, Places We Build in the Universe. Invasive Species, her first full-length collection of poetry, is currently available from Finishing Line Press. READ Check out Silvia's work from the Library! THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzales James The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones Piñata by Leopoldo Gout Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova Malas by Marcela Fuentes The Death of Vivek Oji by Awkaeke Emezi Bad Fruit by Ella King Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown The Queen of the Cicadas by V Castro River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Zinester Talks Fanzines, Community Daryl Gussin is a writer and musician who has been awkwardly standing around at punk shows for the last twenty-something years. Thankfully at some point in his late teens, he decided to become a little more productive and has been working on zines, setting up shows, and playing in bands consecutively since then. He's been integrally involved in Razorcake fanzine for the last seventeen years. ABOUT THE AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER In 2006, Daryl Gussin became integrally involved in the Razorcake fanzine where he is currently the managing editor. His writing revolves around the honest, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant aspects of counterculture and its flavorful inhabitants: The heartbreaks, the implosions, and the defiant victories. Community over commercialism, create and destroy. Interviewer Lindsay Anderson is a prolific zine maker and self-publisher based in Jacksonville, FL. Since 2013, Lindsay has developed a long-running zine project, she has helped to organize the annual Duval Comic and Zine Fest (DCAZ) and recently launched a new quarterly zine Mischief on the River. She's passionate about creating from existing resources and making space for others to develop and showcase their own works. READ Check out issues of Razorcake from the library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=razorcake&searchType=everything&pageSize=10 DARYL RECOMMENDS "A quick list of contemporary LA poets I always enjoy seeing read": Ingrid M. Calderón @ingrid_de_lamatepec Iván Salinas @el_ivanooo Jennifer Vierge Baptiste @wheresmsb --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Chef Kenny Offers New Takes on Southern Cuisine Chef Kenny Gilbert is best known for his appearance on "Top Chef" Season seven, where he displayed a big personality and instantly became one of the most likable "cheftestants" to date. He is also the author of the new cookbook, Southern Cooking, Global Flavors (2023), which includes tips and techniques for making international variations of over 100 iconic Southern dishes. "My passion is food. Wherever I go, whatever I do, that's how I roll." - Chef Kenny Gilbert Throughout his career, Kenny has traveled the world, staging in some of the top restaurants in Japan, Spain, France and the Caribbean. He has cooked at the James Beard House, participated in wine & food festivals around the country, cooked for the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl party and appeared on the "Today Show," Jacksonville's FOX 30 and in the LA Times. MEET CELEBRITY CHEF KENNY GILBERT Kenny joined us for a Lit Chat Interview on Tuesday, August 27, at the Mandarin Branch Library. This program was sponsored by the Friends of the Mandarin Library. MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER An award-winning chef and restaurateur, Kenny Gilbert's career spans over two decades and has graced him with opportunities to travel around the world and learn the authentic techniques and flavors of global cuisines. He has always had a love of cooking. Growing up in Cleveland, but with roots in the South, his father was an avid BBQ man with his own rubs and sauces while his mother was a fantastic home cook. In April of 2023, Kenny released his very first cookbook, Southern Cooking, Global Flavors from Rizzoli. Interviewer Cindy Sutton and her husband are the parents of three children and are now first-time grandparents. Cindy is retired from the healthcare industry, where she worked for almost 30 years. She has lived in various places across the United States and is an avid traveler who enjoys great food and great wine (and cocktails). Living in different areas around the country and traveling around the world has afforded her the opportunity to eat at famous restaurants and experience the creativity and genius of a lot of chefs. Her husband, David, had the opportunity to experience Chef Kenny's creations in the late 90s when he was at the Ritz Carlton in Amelia Island, and since then they have both been big fans of Chef Kenny and have traveled to other cities just to experience his cuisine. --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Dean Butler is an actor, producer, and director best known for his role as Almanzo Wilder (the man Laura Ingalls married) in Little House on the Prairie, based on the beloved Little House book series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He appeared in the final four seasons of the show, the spin-off show Little House: A New Beginning, and the three post-series TV movies. He was also a producer for NBC Golf's Emmy-nominated series Feherty for over ten seasons. "The idea of being a cowboy and riding horses began for me at our family ranch in northern California," Dean Butler says. "In this picture, I'm holding our horse, Cricket, with my sister Meg in the saddle. Those beautiful summer days in the country with my family all around me shaped my entire life and prepared me for what was to come in the years ahead." Now, on the occasion of Little House on the Prairie's 50th Anniversary in 2024, he's sharing the details of his young life as an aspiring cowboy and what he learned from Michael Landon in touching a new memoir. READ Check out Prairie Man from the library! ABOUT THE AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER Cast just before his twenty-third birthday, Dean Butler joined Little House on the Prairie halfway through its run, gaining instant celebrity and fans' enduring affection. Ironically, when the late, great Michael Landon remarked that Little House would outlive everyone involved in making it, Butler deemed it unlikely. Yet for four decades and counting, Butler has been defined in the public eye as Almanzo Wilder—a role he views as the great gift of his life. Interviewer Devan Stuart Lesley is a longtime journalist and owner of Legacy Talent Group, representing actors and models throughout the Southeast. Her expansive media career experience includes print, radio, and TV journalism; commercial, news, documentary, and independent film producing; assistant directing; acting; and voice-over. She is a freelance correspondent for People magazine and founder of Stuart Media, LLC specializing in corporate media. As a volunteer, Lesley is co-founder and past President of the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum, a 501c3 nonprofit organization working to restore and reopen Jacksonville's sole remaining silent film studio complex, where some of the nation's first African American-cast films were produced. She also is a member of the Jacksonville Mayor's Commission on Motion Picture, Television, and Commercial Production; Film Florida's Marketing & Communications Committee and Industry & Association Council; Women in Film and Television's Jacksonville, FL and New York chapters; and the Northeast Florida Press Club. THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS More memoirs from the Little House on the Prairie cast: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim Lessons from the Prairie by Melissa Francis Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House by Melissa Sue Anderson --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Nate Powell began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992. Now, he is a National Book Award-winning cartoonist best known for his work on the ground-breaking graphic novel memoir series, March, with civil rights icon John Lewis. An inside story of the Civil Rights Movement told through the eyes of one of its most iconic figures, it was a #1 New York Times and Washington Post bestseller. Nate Powell has received multiple Eisner and Ignatz awards, the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award, and multiple ALA and YALSA distinctions. He was also a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He has discussed his work at the United Nations, on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS, and CNN. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana. His other work includes the new graphic novel Fall Through (released February 6, 2024) and a new comics adaptation of James Loewen's influential Lies My Teacher Told Me (released April 16, 2024), as well as Save It For Later, Come Again, Two Dead and more. Interviewer Badr Milligan is a podcaster, professional moderator, and community leader all rolled into one. He has moderated panels for some of the biggest conventions and conferences around the country, and to date, he's hosted and produced over 600 episodes of the award-winning and ongoing podcast: The Short Box: A Comic Book Talk Show. For the past 12 years, Badr has made it his mission to use the medium of podcasting to its full potential, engaging with the world's best artists and wordsmiths in thought-provoking interviews that are shared weekly, with listeners in over 140 countries. In 2018, Badr co-founded the Jax Podcaster's United Group: A collective of 500+ audio creators in Northeast, FL, committed to educating and inspiring the next generation of podcasters with collaborative events and community outreach programs. Badr is also an Air Force Veteran, and currently runs his own business, The Short Box Entertainment Company. READ Check out Nate's work from the library! THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS More great graphic novels and zines to read! Ish by Adam de Souza The Fire Never Goes Out by ND Stevenson They Called Us Enemy by George Takei --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Debut Florida Author Brings the Magic City to Jacksonville "I am, first and foremost, a Miamian. No physical location has done more to shape my personal and artistic sensibilities than the Magic City," Alejandro Nodarse said in a recent interview. "Miami is, unquestionably, very different from its neighboring Floridan cities, and I am a product of that high energy, heavy neon, fiercely multicultural coastal city." Critics seem to agree... This deeply personal vision of the streets and swamps of Miami is getting some attention, with Publisher's Weekly saying, "Heat practically radiates off the page." Nodarse went on to say, "The creative impulses that fueled the novel were heavily inspired by texts that, in their own right, are some of the best examples of how Florida has defined itself in the national consciousness." Alejandro Nodarse holds an MFA from the University of Miami and is an alum of Las Dos Brujas Writers Conference and a former staff member of the VONA Writers Conference. Blood in the Cut is his debut novel. Interviewer Michael Wiley is the Shamus Award-winning author of twelve novels in four series. The most recent series features Franky Dast, an exonerated convict who investigates crimes involving the unjustly accused. Michael's short stories appear often in magazines and anthologies, including Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022. A former board member of the Mystery Writers of America, he teaches creative writing and literature at the University of North Florida. His new novel, Find Your Own Way Home, will release this summer at the end of July. READ Check out Blood in the Cut from the Library! -- https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=AUTHOR%3D%22alejandro+nodarse%22&te= ALEJANDRO RECOMMENDS Here are the top Florida-themed works of art that helped hone Blood in the Cut: Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins "Few films are so Miami-as-it-is and Miami-as-it-should-be as Moonlight. In early drafts of Blood in the Cut, Chiron served as a model for Carlos, my protagonist Iggy's brother, and while Carlos's character arc fell to the background, Chiron, Jenkins's Miami, and the rugged determination of the characters to find their lanes in life held steady as I wrote." The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean "This book is everything I love rolled into one: Mystery, adventure, botany, orchids, the Everglades—what more could you want!? Orlean weaves a tale for readers that examines the lengths that some will go to feed their passions and find rare orchids. It's this combination of beautiful, deep descriptions, unbreakable determination, love of the Everglades, and eye for detail that I hoped to capture in Blood in the Cut." The Florida Project directed by Sean Baker "Throughout the film, Moonee is far wiser than any six-year-old should be, but because of it, she takes everything in stride. I wanted my protagonist, Iggy, to embody that same sort of steely determination as his situation deteriorated. Like any Floridians worthy of the name, both Moonee and Iggy are adept at "resolviendo", a Spanish word that loosely translates to "making things happen", and this is what allows us to hope against all hope when things are darkest for them both. " Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston "The tumultuous external landscape that Janie must navigate throughout the novel mirrors her internal turbulence, and that sort of well-rendered, thoughtful characterization is a literary feat I desperately hoped to accomplish as I crafted my characters, especially Iggy." Cocaine Cowboys directed by Billy Corben "Corben's skill at recreating a bygone era and fully immersing audiences is something I've always marveled at and wanted to achieve in Blood in the Cut, which is set in Miami in 2016, just as the presidential elections are taking shape." Gator Country by Rebecca Renner "I think of this book as Blood in the Cut's nonfiction aspirational counterpart because of how beautifully Renner renders the Everglades and the worlds it contains within. One goal I set for myself as I was writing my novel was to treat the Everglades as a character by rendering it as elegantly, vividly, and faithfully in terms of scope, beauty, danger, and primordial, elemental mood. Gator Country forced me to step my game up as I rendered the Everglades in my work." Ace Ventura: Pet Detective directed by Tom Shadyac "I'd like to go on the record and state that the protagonist of this eponymous, comedic whodunit, Ace Ventura, is the original Florida Man. This film is part mystery, part comedy, part love letter to Miami: a tryptic of accomplishments that inspired some key elements of Blood in the Cut." Swamplandia! By Karen Russell "This book. All of it. The way that Russell lures readers into the Everglades and into the lives of the Big Tree family is the magic I pray for every time I crack open a book. This coming-of-age mediation on love, loss, and "resolviendo" is one of the reasons Blood in the Cut exists." --- Never

You May Never See a Hot Summer Day the Same Way Again... Jeff Goodell is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, which was picked as a New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2017, as well as one of Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2017. Goodell's previous books include Sunnyvale, a memoir about growing up in Silicon Valley, which was a New York Times Notable Book, and Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future. His latest book is the New York Times bestseller The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet - about the impact that temperature rise will have on our lives and our planet. This program was presented in partnership with the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the Jacksonville Climate Coalition. Jeff Goodell has covered climate change for more than two decades at Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. A 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, his work has been recognized by the American Meteorological Society, New America, and the inaugural Covering Climate Change Now Journalism Awards for Feature Writing. He is a Senior Fellow at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and serves on the board of the McHarg Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Interviewer Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy award-winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black & Published podcast. Her latest novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree, was acquired by Scout Press and will be published in 2025. A Chicago native, Nikesha is a columnist with JAX Today. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, ESSENCE, and VOX. She lives in Florida with her family. READ THE AUTHOR'S WORK Check out Jeff's work from the Library! THE LIBRARY ALSO RECOMMENDS Other climate change reads: Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe Are We Screwed?: How a New Generation is Fighting to Survive Climate Change by Geoff Dembicki The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Hallmarky Romance with Some Light Spice Siera London says, "I write sassy, sensual heroines." Whether it's the Forbidden series, Fiery Fairy Tales, The Bachelors of Shell Cove, you're sure to find plenty of heat, humor, and a rollercoaster of emotions. Dubbed a "Hallmarky romance with a little extra heat" by author Lizzie Shane, London's latest book, Fake It Till You Make It, is no exception. In it, we meet Amarie Walker, who has just left her cheating ex and her entire D.C. life in the rearview. It's not long after crash landing in a small town with no money, no plans, and no job, that Amarie meets certified veterinarian (and certified grump) Eli Calvary. He may not be cracking many smiles but his animal clinic is the only gig for miles. The only problem? The practice Eli inherited from his father is in financial trouble and when he needs to invent an investor on the fly, it's Amarie's name that comes to his lips! Can the gorgeous, bubbly, and business-savvy Amarie help save the clinic from foreclosure? And can the two ignore the nonstop sparks between them long enough to save his family business? The Lit Chat Interview with Siera London took place live at the Bradham and Brooks Library on Saturday, May 11, 2024. USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Siera London crafts tales with a message to heal the heart and soul. From contemporary to paranormal, Siera weaves stories with heroines you know, heroes you love, and romance you feel. When not writing, Siera roams with Mr. Awesome and Frie, her cat muse. Siera is a retired Navy veteran and a Jacksonville native. Learn more about the author and her literary catalog online at sieralondonauthor.com Interviewer Jessica Hatch has a passion for writing genre-blind, character-first fiction with a love of words and a strong beating heart. Her work has appeared in such publications as Writer's Digest, The Millions, Fast Company, Neutral Spaces, and Surely Magazine, and she hosts the virtual reading series Comp Title Book Club. Her freshman and sophomore novels were published by Hachette UK's Bookouture imprint, and her debut novel, My Big Fake Wedding, a Lonely Victories Book of 2022, appeared in the Top 50 women's fiction and Top 100 romantic comedy titles on Amazon. Before becoming an author, Jessica worked and interned in New York trade publishing institutions Writers House and St. Martin's Press. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. READ Check out Siera's work from the library: https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=AUTHOR%3D%22siera+london%22&te= SIERA RECOMMENDS "I enjoy lazy days at the museum and learning about people who inspire me to invest in myself and others. Check out Fort Mose, a free black settlement established in 1738 in America's oldest city, Saint Augustine, FL." --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]