Andy Abramowitz is the author of three novels, Darling at the Campsite, A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall and Thank You, Goodnight. A native of Baltimore, Andy lives with his wife, two daughters, and their dog, Rufus, in Philadelphia, where he enjoys classic rock, pitchers’ duels, birthday cake, the sound of a Fender Rhodes piano, and the month of October. He is also a lawyer.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month: Literature & Fiction

“This book is like life: sometimes funny, touching, sad, uplifting, and messy. More character-driven than plot-heavy, it’s for readers who appreciate stories that look back at high school and leaving home, through adult eyes.”―Library Journal

“With a mix of heartfelt tearjerkers, soaring ballads, and stuff that just plain rocks,Darling at the Campsite is like a great album that you go back to again and again. Andy Abramowitz writes with talent, humor, and a sneaky kind of wisdom that sticks with you long after you’ve turned the last page.”―Matthew Norman, author of Last Couple Standing and All Together Now

“Who would’ve thought a book about a funeral could be this funny and hopeful? Abramowitz tells the story of two brothers―one recently drowned, one alive but floundering―with the perfect balance of levity and earnestness. Full of surprises, endearing characters, and Talking Heads references,Darling at the Campsite is part homegoing story, part family drama, and part music nerdfest. Garden State meets High Fidelity, set in the present day. I could not put it down.”―Suzy Krause, author of Sorry I Missed You

“Darling at the Campsite is a funny, warm, offbeat treasure about the families we don’t choose, and the search for identity. Abramowitz’s characters walk off the page.”―Jonathan Evison, New York Times bestselling author of Legends of the North Cascades

“Reminiscent of the best of Jonathan Tropper and Mathew Norman,Darling at the Campsite is a deep dive into heartbreak through the funny and wise eyes of author Andy Abramowitz. What starts out as a story of one guy’s loss of a high school love turns into a fertile and relatable tale about the lengths we go to protect ourselves from future pain―and end up finding our truer selves instead. I was envious all the way through and wished I’d written this wonderful book.”―Ann Garvin, USA Today bestselling author of I Thought You Said This Would Work

Praise for A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall

“A family drama that twists and turns like any good roller coaster…witty and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Perfect for fans of Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You.”―Booklist

“At once hilarious and poignant,A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall explores the ups and downs of love, marriage, family, and all that life encompasses with such wit and incision, you’ll wish you hadn’t read the whole book so quickly.”―Allison Winn Scotch,New York Times bestselling author of In Twenty Years

“Childhood wounds often linger long into adulthood, as siblings Davis and Molly discover in Andy Abramowitz’s wry, compelling new novel. A story about second chances and the power of family,A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall is a potent reminder that as long as we’re alive, it’s never too late to make a change.”―Camille Pagán, bestselling author

“A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall has all the thrills, emotions, and unexpected turns of the best roller coasters. I immediately connected with these characters and couldn’t wait to see what was around each bend in the track of their story. Take a seat, pull down the safety bar, and settle in, because you are not going to want to get off this ride until you turn that last page. This is a great book!”―Elizabeth LaBan, bestselling author of The Restaurant Critic’s Wife, Not Perfect, and Beside Herself

“Read if: You’ve got a secret hobby you wish was your job.”—Businessweek

“Soul-searching . . . Fun and unfailingly heartfelt.”—Washington Post

"Think High Fidelity and About a Boy with a dose of Music & Lyrics thrown in."—Billboard Magazine

“The literary equivalent of a good Cameron Crowe romantic comedy . . . There's an undeniable charm and gentle wit to this book.”—Arkansas Democrat Gazette

“The mix of angst and humor make this book ideal for a road trip or a day at the beach.”—Baltimore Magazine

“A novel for those of us who longed to be rock ’n’ roll stars while settling for our routine day jobs.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Very funny, deftly done . . . With a good deal of compassion and a great eye for the comic detail, Abramowitz delves a little deeper here. . . . A pleasure to behold.”—Booklist

“An edgy, funny story about the lead singer of a one-hit-wonder ‘90s rock band now working as a lawyer who ends up getting the band back together—with surprising results.”—DuJour Magazine

"The pacing is quick, the emotional current soars, and the dialogue rings true. Abramowitz's debut is both funny and compassionate, using the world of the music industry to illustrate the questions of life and legacy that so many of us ponder."—Kirkus Reviews

“Thank You, Goodnight is a hilarious send-up of the music industry, late-onset adulthood, and where the two often uncomfortably meet. It’s also a sage novel for anyone who believes that our talents don’t fade as we get older, they only get better.”—Rick Springfield, author and Grammy Award-winning musician

“What do you do when you’ve given up on your dreams at age 25? When you’ve flamed out embarrassingly after a brief stint as a rock star? When you’re now nearing 40 and have nothing and no one? You put the band back together. In the character of Teddy Tremble, Andy Abramowitz has created a kind of 21st century Binx Bolling, a man in desperate search for meaning, maturity, and redemption. Funny, tender, and moving, Thank You, Goodnight is a debut from a writer to watch.”—John Kenney, author of Truth in Advertising

“Andy Abramowitz nails it with Thank You, Goodnight, a novel that is both comic and serious—just like real life. The characters are mordant and funny, the dialogue is crisp, and the story surprised me in delightful ways. What an accomplishment!”—David Small, author of Almost Famous

“A wild and spirited story about dreams lost, found, and broken. After all the reading fun it didn't have to be wise, but it was.”—Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish

DARLING AT THE CAMPSITE

Andy Abramowitz

Emmett Rensin and Alex Aciman were students at the University of Chicago when they wrote TWITTERATURE in their dorm room, reimagining great works of literature as a series of tweets from the protagonist. Alexander’s work has appeared in The New York Times and the New York Sun. He would like to be a writer, own a pair of John Lobb shoes, and live out his days reading and writing with his brothers in the Mediterranean basin. While Emmett’s dream is to be a sea captain, he has settled on a mastery of card magic and shaggy-dog jokes, and penning the Great American Novel.

TWITTERATURE: The World's Greatest Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less

Alex Aciman

After a decade and a half spent in Chicago, where she worked as a freelance writer and served as a founding contributing editor of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, Jennifer Adams moved to New York to be closer to The Strand. She is at work on a variety of projects, including a zombie novel for middle-grades readers. She blogs sporadically at Jen-Adams.com. She lives in Astoria, New York, and is the mother of two boys.

Jen Adams

Meg Adams is a cartoonist and illustrator. She studied digital arts at the University of Oregon and graduated with degrees in digital arts, comics & cartoon studies, and business. Meg built her comic empire as a side business during her time as an undergraduate and was able to transition to working as a full-time comic artist upon graduation. She began sharing her comics online in 2014 and now posts her comics to various social media sites under the username ArtbyMoga.

Meg Adams

Allison Adato is the editor of special editions for People and Entertainment Weekly, as well as a recovering politics editor and pre-shutdown theater critic. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times Magazine, the New York Times, LIFE, and other national outlets. She lives in New York City.

SMART CHEFS STAY SLIM: Lessons in Eating and Living from America's Best Chefs, Foreword by Art Smith

Allison Adato

Katie Alender grew up in South Florida, where she attended high school at the Palm Beach County School of the Arts, studying Communication Arts. After graduating, she studied film at the Florida State University Film School, and then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in TV development and production for several years, including a long stint producing dog shows for Animal Planet.

In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, gardening, sewing, cooking, playing board games, and hanging out with her family.

THE COMPANION

Katie Alender

Travis M. Andrews is a features writer for the Washington Post. He joinedThe Postin 2016 as a reporter for Morning Mix. Previously he was an associate travel and culture editor for Southern Living and a contributing pop culture reporter for Mashable and The Week. He has also written for Time, Esquire, GQ, andThe Atlantic, among others.

BECAUSE HE’S JEFF GOLDBLUM: The Movies, Memes, and Meaning of Hollywood's Most Enigmatic Actor

Travis M. Andrews

Janine Annett is a New York-based writer, and my work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, the Wall Street Journal, Real Simple, Parents, Good Housekeeping, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and many other places.

I AM "WHY DO I NEED VENMO" YEARS OLD

Janine Annett

Eva Aridjis is a Mexican-American filmmaker and writer. She wrote and directed the narrative featuresThe Favor and The Blue Eyes and the documentary features Children of the Street, La Santa Muerte, Chuy The Wolf Man, andGoodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus. She also wrote on Narcos: Mexico. Her award-winning films have screened at festivals around the world and have been nominated for Mexican Academy Awards. Eva is the daughter of Mexican poet and environmentalist Homero Aridjis, whose activism led to the creation of the monarch butterfly sanctuaries in Michoacán. For more information go to http://www.evaaridjis.com/.

Eva Aridjis

Curtis Armstrong was born in Michigan in 1953. He divided his early years between Detroit―a town apparently so nerdy that the word “nerd” was coined there in 1949―and Geneva, Switzerland, which by comparison, wasn’t nerdy at all. Following a childhood spent mainly between the covers of books, Armstrong discovered the theatre.

He studied at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rochester, Michigan, which led to a forty-plus year acting career that shows no signs of slowing. After eight years of stage work in New York and around the country, Armstrong was cast in his first film, Risky Business, starring Tom Cruise. It was the beginning of a string of classic comedy films and television shows, including Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, TV’s Moonlighting and, most significantly, Revenge of the Nerds, in which he played the iconic role of Booger.

Since then Armstrong, a nerd icon himself has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows including, recently, Supernatural and New Girl. He co-created and co-hosted the hit comedy-reality show King of the Nerds, which brought his nerd narrative full circle. He is married to writer Elaine Aronson, and has one daughter, Lily.

REVENGE OF THE NERD

Curtis Armstrong

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong worked at Entertainment Weekly for a decade and has written for many publications, including BBC Culture, the New York Times Book Review, Vice, New York magazine, and Billboard. She also speaks about pop culture history and creativity.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Saul Austerlitz is a freelance writer whose work has been published in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Spin, Rolling Stone, Paste, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Slate, and The New Republic, among others. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in film studies (2001), and he received a master's degree in cinema studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

KIND OF A BIG DEAL: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the 21st Century

Saul Austerlitz

John Austin graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial/Product Design and was immediately recruited by Hasbro toys. He was a respected senior toy designer in the Boy's Research and Development Department for five years, during which time he created and shipped more than 200 items under some of Hasbro's biggest brands; Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Tween Electronics, and more. He has also personally pitched and presented a few of his projects to Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, EA Sports and Industrial Light and Magic. Trained in 3D computer modeling, illustration, and product sketching, he brings many of these skills when creating his books and ancillary products.

MINIWEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare

John Austin

Michael Azerrad is an American author, music journalist, editor, and musician. A graduate of Columbia University, he has written for publications such as Spin, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. Azerrad's 1993 biography COME AS YOU ARE: The Story of Nirvana was named by Q as one of the fifty greatest rock books ever written. His 2001 book OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE, a collection of profiles on prominent indie rock bands, received similar critical acclaim.

Michael Azerrad

Rose Bousamra is a comic creator and illustrator exploring themes of identity and queerness in fantasy and fiction. They have two graphic novels with First Second Books, including Frizzy (2022) with author Claribel Ortega, and solo debut graphic novel Gutless (2025). Their work has also been featured in Power & Magic: A Queer Witch Anthology Volume II and DROPOUT.tv's Ladies Book Club (Issue #5). When not reading or creating comics, they can be found playing fantasy video games, wrangling their tiny dog and two cats, or wandering the woods around Detroit, Michigan.

FRIZZY

ROSE BOUSAMRA

Luke Barber is a professor of philosophy at Richland College in Dallas, Texas. The recipient of the Award for Teaching Excellence by the Miles Production Laboratories and recognized for superior teaching by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, Dr. Barber is a highly requested at college and university convocations and staff development conferences.

GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM: 4 Unforgettable Keys to Success

Luke Barber

Dr. Neal D. Barnard, FACC,is a faculty member of the George Washington University School of Medicine and President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Dr. Barnard is editor-in-chief of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, a nutrition textbook given to all second-year medical students in the U.S. He is also editor of Good Medicine, a magazine with a circulation of 150,000. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes, The Get Healthy Go Vegan Cookbook, Power Foods for the Brain, The 21-Day Weight-Loss Kickstart, and most recently The Vegan Starter Kit, among many others.

Neal Barnard

Barbara Diane Barry is a freelance artist and art teacher in New York City. Under the educational outreach program at Symphony Space, she teaches in public school art residencies throughout the five boroughs and gives tours in the city's finest museums. She is also the creator of "Art for Self-Discovery," a studio art program for adults and children devoted to nurturing the creator inside. Her unique art programs have been used by such clients as Lucent Technologies, Barnes & Noble, The NY Chapter of the American Society of Training and Development, and the Center for the Arts Education in New York. She lives in New York.

PAINTING YOUR WAY OUT OF A CORNER: The Art of Getting Unstuck

Barbara Diane Barry

Tommy Marlow is surprisingly likable for a guy who mugs people for their laptops. Unfortunately for Tommy, the girl he just robbed was the daughter of a psychotic and high ranking member of a notorious motorcycle gang. Even worse, the laptop he stole contains proof of some gruesome murders and the location of a huge stash of their money. Totally broke and marked for death, his only shot at surviving the week is to rob the motorcycle gang, use the cash to get out of town, and hide out on the small Canadian vacation island where his mother now lives.

What follows is a whip smart black comedy filled with crackling dialogue and competing interests as various people try to arrest, kill, save, or rob Tommy. Among them there’s Greta, the manic pixie dream assassin sent to kill him, a small time meth cook who was recently bit by a rabid dog, and a burnt-out retired Chicago cop prone to quasi-philosophical ramblings named Alan Mouse, but who everyone calls Mousey. Inhabiting all of their voices, Battershill deftly combines delightful chaos, sharp wit, and surprisingly profound conversations on this quiet island, that’s not going to stay quiet for very long.

 Andrew Battershill is the author of "Pillow" (Coach House Books, 2015). It was longlisted for the 2016 Giller Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2016 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction. A graduate of the University of Toronto’s M.A in creative writing program, Battershill was the fiction editor and co-founder of Dragnet Magazine

MARRY, BANG, KILL

Andrew Battershill

Susan Baur, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with graduate degrees from Harvard University and Boston College. She has written six other books, The Edge of an Unfamiliar World: A History of Oceanography; On Almost Any Wind: The Saga of the Oceanographic Research Vessel Atlantis; Hypochondria; Woeful Imaginations; The Dinosaur Man and Other Tales from the Back Ward; Confiding: A psychotherapist and Her Patients Search for Stories to Live By; and The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in Psychotherapy. She lives in North Falmouth, Massachusetts.

THE DINOSAUR MAN

Susan Baur

Eytan Bayme earned his bachelor’s degree in English from McGill University, and his writing has been featured in College Humor and the Wassaic Art Project. Originally from New York City, he now lives in London.

HIGH HOLIDAY PORN: A Memoir

Eytan Bayme

Barbara Becker has dedicated more than twenty-five years to partnering with human-rights advocates around the world in pursuit of peace and interreligious understanding. She has worked with the United Nations, Human Rights First, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, and has participated in a delegation of Zen Peacemakers and Lakota elders in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota. She is an ordained interfaith minister and has sat with hundreds of people at the end of their lives. She lives in New York City with her interfaith family.

"In Heartwood, Barbara Becker inspires us to follow our curiosity into a world that is both universal and a source of our uniqueness. And what could be better than that?"―Gloria Steinem, bestselling author and activist

“Death fascinates and repels us. Barbara Becker has written a gorgeous book about it, and her writing will draw in everyone who is willing to approach the most serious topic we all must face. Becker gives the reader empathic access to some of life’s peak moments, along with insights into life’s biggest questions."-Jonathan Haidt, Professor, NYU-Stern School of Business, author of The Righteous Mind

"Heartwood is a luminous book...Within the first few pages I knew I could trust Barbara Becker to navigate the holy land of death and grief and take me with her...I have rarely read a book that left me feeling so fundamentally blessed. Highly recommended."―Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and Wild Mercy

“Both tear-jerking and joyful, Heartwood reveals how an intimate conversation with loss can bring forth the ‘forever’ possible through love. Across time zones, generations, and cultural divides.”―Sarah Bowen, author of Spiritual Rebel: A Positively Addictive Guide to Finding Deeper Perspective and Higher Purpose

"A powerful and exquisite book on being with dying and learning from loss that is written from the marrow of real experience and as well from the heart. It is a courageous exploration of grief, death, and release. This is a book that uplifts, instructs, inspires, and guides." -Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center

“Heartwood is wise and moving without a wasted word.Becker’s luminous meditation on death and life is a gift to us all."―Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps

“Heartwood is a gem.”―Dr. Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, author of forthcomingThe Power of Women: Learning from Resilience to Heal Our World

"Becker takes us on a poignant journey through her life in Heartwood. She shows us the threads connecting herself to ones who passed and with each tug on a thread we learn more about love and loss, life and death. Precious stories that have the power to move your heart, this book is a true gift.―Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Love and Real Change

“Becker debuts with a stirring chronicle of the events, moments, and stories that led to her reconciliation with mortality…Becker’s eloquence is a salve for confronting a difficult topic…This will be a comfort for anyone contemplating their own mortality, or those in search of advice for others.”―Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"A graceful meditation on divine deliverance...Once firmly entrenched in our “death-shy” contemporary culture, the author is now a reassuring advocate for peace and interreligious understanding, and she views dying as an opportunity to seek enlightenment and give thanks, regardless of one’s preferred spiritual path." -Kirkus

"A resource filled with wisdom and one that readers will find themselves returning to often in both good times and bad."- Shelf Awareness

"An affecting and informative memoir about the lessons we can glean from life as well as death."- Library Journal

HEARTWOOD

Barbara Becker

Amy Julia Becker is an award-winning writer and speaker on personal, spiritual, and social healing. She is the author of four books and hosts the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast.


A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv), Becker holds a bi-vocational license with the Evangelical Covenant Church. She lives with her husband and their three children in western Connecticut.

Amy Julia Becker

Jo Beckett-King is the author of the Bea Bellerose mysteries, coming from Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers in 2025. Originally from the North East of England, she studied Art History at the University of York before moving to Paris, where she worked for several years, honing her skills as a translator. Her writing for children and adults has been longlisted for the Bath Children’s Novel Award and the Bristol Short Story Prize, as well as shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. She currently lives in San Francisco.

BEA BELLEROSE AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING MATISSE

Jo Beckett-King

Scott Bedford is a London-based creative director who has worked for both global agency networks and cutting-edge technology start-ups. He is also the author of Made by Dad and a Webby Award–winning blogger who loves to make things and draw. He lives with his wife and two sons in Marlow, England.

MEGA-MAZE ADVENTURE!

Scott Bedford

Bethany Bennett grew up in a small fishing village in Alaska where required learning included life-skills like cold-water survival, along with several other subjects that are utterly useless as a romance writer. Eventually settling in the Northwest with her real-life hero and two children, she enjoys mountain views from the comfort of her sofa, wearing a tremendous amount of flannel, and drinking more coffee than her doctor deems wise.

Bethany Bennett

Zillah Bethell was born in a leprosy hospital in Papua New Guinea, spent her childhood barefoot playing in the jungle, and didn’t own a pair of shoes until she came to the United Kingdom when she was eight years old. She was educated at Oxford University and lives in Wales with her family. A Whisper of Horses is her first children’s book.

THE EXTRAORDINARY COLORS OF AUDEN DARE

Zillah Bethell

Mark Blake is an author and editor, whose work has been published in books, magazines and newspapers since 1989. A former Assistant Editor of Q magazine and long-time contributor to the UK’s biggest-selling music monthly Mojo, he has also written for Classic Rock, The Times, Rolling Stone and Billboard.

Bring It On Home, his 2018 biography of Led Zeppelin’s notorious manager Peter Grant, was listed as a Music Book Of The Year in The Times, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph and as one of the Best Books Of 2018 by The Observer. His first biography, the best-selling Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd, was published in 2007, updated in 2013 and 2017, and awarded the Guardian’s Paperback Of The Week.

Blake’s Queen biography, Is This The Real Life, was published in 2010, and described by Q as “the definitive text on a Brit-rock institution”. His 2014 book, Pretend You’re In A War: The Who And The Sixties, was praised by the Sunday Telegraph for “giving new reasons to appreciate the angst and theory behind The Who’s music.”

Blake has also edited and contributed to titles about Freddie Mercury, Keith Richards and Punk, and worked on official projects for Queen, The Who, the Jimi Hendrix estate and Pink Floyd, including 2017’s Their Mortal Remains exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. In summer 2017, he helped launch Planet Rock magazine on behalf of the UK’s award-winning rock radio station, and is a contributing editor to the title. He lives just outside London with his wife and son.

BRING IT ON HOME

Mark Blake

Lucy Jane Bledsoe is the author of several works of fiction for both adults and children, including A Thin Bright Line, which was a Lambda Literary Award and Ferro-Grumley Award finalist. She is the winner of an American Library Association Stonewall Award, a Yaddo Fellowship, a California Arts Council Fellowship in Literature, two National Science Foundation Artists & Writers Fellowships, and a finalist for the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Fiction Award. A native of Portland, Oregon, she now lives in Berkeley, California.

"Two conversion therapy survivors go back to the site of their trauma, hoping the truth will set them free... The compelling leads, engaging blow-by-blows of basketball games, and small-town feuds ground a heartening, issues-driven book. Secondary characters shine, too...This satisfyingly nuanced story tackles sexuality and spiritual abuse, offering connection and redemption."—Kirkus, Starred Review

"Writing in a graceful, fluid style, Bledsoe examines life in Rockside in all its dimensions while revealing how Delia makes peace with a traumatic time of her past. Delia’s reconnecting with Ernest, who bonded with her during camp and is now an accomplished poet, gives the novel a definite upbeat tone and message. Both insightful and page-turning; highly recommended."—Library Journal, Starred Review

"Two queer people who escaped Christian conversion therapy as teens find their way back to each other as adults in the keenly observed latest from Bledsoe...Bledsoe paints an engrossing and complicated picture of small-town life and queer survival...a triumph of compassion.”—Publishers Weekly

"Ernest and Delia are sucked back into each other’s orbit with no choice but to face the trauma they endured as young adults at Celebration Camp, returning to the roots of their pain in an effort to set themselves free. Delia and Ernest are beautiful, complicated characters, and their journey is important for readers to witness, as it also gives voice to voiceless victims of conversion torture."—Booklist

"[A] powerful reading experience on the resilience, determination, and personal pride required for queer survival. Bledsoe clearly demonstrates a knack for dialogue and swift plotting, and the reality of the theme itself will hit home for many readers."—The Bay Area Reporter

“A multilayered gem of a novel, polished, intelligent, and moving. Tell the Rest deftly explores courage, drive, happiness, sexuality, love, and more in a riveting story that whisks readers along to a surprising and satisfying conclusion. I could not put it down.”—Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Train to London

“I feel privileged to have had an early read of Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s Tell the Rest. It’s an important book with a story we need now about the horrors of conversion therapy and adult survivors of childhood trauma. And it’s a timely book with an urgent exploration of issues including gender, race, class, sexuality, religion, and family. But mostly it’s also a character-driven novel full of basketball, high school escapades, cats who cannot be caged, academics who cannot behave, love for booksellers and bookstores, and indeed love for all kinds of people who need it, which is to say all of us. I enjoyed it beginning to end.” —Laurie Frankel, New York Times best-selling author of One Two Three

“Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s new novel is a revelation as it skillfully unfurls the lives of three characters—two white, one Black—who’ve meant psychic and literal survival to each other. Bledsoe draws a hard-edged picture of what abuse adults are willing to perpetrate on children who don’t fit their mold. Her tender yet precise debriding of the resultant wounds is an accomplishment that will stay with you. Tell the Rest is heartbreaking, chilling, and ultimately triumphant.” —Jewelle Gomez, Lambda Award–winning author of The Gilda Stories

“I soared through the delicately orchestrated pages of this novel. Tell the Rest asks the reader many things, but mainly it asks each of us to learn how to fly, to leap beyond words. The reader’s heart is broken, but not the music that the story creates or the challenges of building new landscapes for these incredible characters—sexual, physical, emotional. This is the Lucy Jane Bledsoe novel one lives for, a novel that not only touches the parts that burn but the ways we heal each other even in the silences.” —Jerry Thompson, coeditor of Berkeley Noir

“Tell the Rest is the story of two bruised people—a girls’ basketball coach and a poet—who are finding their feet, and finding their way back to friendship, years after the shared trauma of a religious conversion therapy camp. It’s beautifully told, unsentimental, and every character in it feels like someone I know, someone utterly real. This is a literary novel that could change lives. I can’t wait to put it into the hands of all my friends!” —Molly Gloss, Whiting Award–winning author of The Jump-Off Creek

Named a 2022 Golden Poppy Award Finalist (California Independent Booksellers Alliance)

“A timeless and triumphant story of courage in the face of opposition, as well as a glimpse into the early days of Title IX’s implementation. Knowledgeable about, and appreciative of, the trailblazers who fought for fairness and equal opportunities for women in sports, No Stopping Us Now is an excellent historical novel.” —Foreword Reviews (starred review)

“The cause is just, the action absorbing, the sexist flack still all too familiar.” —Kirkus Reviews

“It's tempting to say that No Stopping Us Now transports us back to the intense battles teen girls faced in the early years of Title IX, except that similar battles rage on today. This timeless story is a must-read for adolescents trying to find themselves and their powerful voices both personally and politically.” —Sherry Boschert, author, 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination

“So many young women athletes today grow up without understanding the importance of Title IX and how hard previous generations struggled for the opportunity to participate in the sports they loved. In writing No Stopping Us Now, Bledsoe not only informs and entertains, she directly connects young readers to an integral part of women's sports history that should never be forgotten.” —Lyndsey D'Arcangelo, sports writer; co-author, Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League

“Lucy Bledsoe conjures up everyday sexism on the cusp of Title IX with powerful immediacy. From Shirley Chisholm and Gloria Steinem, to macrame and  hip-huggers, we are solidly in 1974. Yet there’s something absolutely contemporary in the way Bledsoe captures the perils, the highs, and the awkward, nonverbal jostling of high school social life. No Stopping Us Now takes a historic moment for women’s sports and replays it in all its sweaty, visceral glory.” —Alison Bechdel, author, Fun Home and The Secret to Superhuman Strength 

“No Stopping Us Now is full of such heart, love and courage. A stunning and brave journey from start to finish, I loved Louisa and her bold crew of superstar athletes who rose up together to be seen, valued and heard. This is a book to be treasured, taught and shared. I want my children and students to know what it means to fight for what you believe in. To take up space, to raise your voice and most of all, to get on the court and play.” —Ellen Hagan, author, Don’t Call Me a Hurricane 

“Time and again, this skilled author reminds her readers of second-wave feminism's triumphs and turning points from the early 1970s...No Stopping Us Now fearlessly invokes a recent past we must become reacquainted with, the better to understand how far women have come and what's at stake for our rights and opportunities." —Bonnie J. Morris, women's history professor and author of What's The Score? Twenty-Five Years of Teaching Women's Sports History

“No Stopping Us Now reminds us of the battles fought, and won, by the first generation of Title IX athletes, those girls and women who made possible all of the opportunities female athletes have today. I guarantee you’ll be rooting for Louisa as she speaks truth to power and stands up to opponents on and off the court.” —Sue Macy, author, Breaking Through: How Female Athletes Shattered Stereotypes in the Roaring Twenties

“The characters are beautifully drawn, the story expertly plotted and moving and as a former D-I basketball player, it is close to my heart.” —Mary Volmer, author, Reliance, Illinois

Long-listed for American Library Association's Notable Books 2020

Best Children's Books of the Year 2020, Bank Street College of Education

"Ms. Bledsoe ably conveys the children’s competence—they know how to hunt and bivouac—but also the youthful limits of their strengths and capabilities, both in the wild and out of it."—The Wall Street Journal

"Nuanced, character-driven action." —Kirkus Reviews

"This adventure story is all about family and survival, and Willa shows amazing strength in supporting her brothers and keeping them all alive. The straightforward narration makes the story accessible for upper elementary, and the action, issues, and themes make it suitable for middle school readers as well." —School Library Connection

"Combining elements of survivalism, resilience in the face of adversity, and adaptation to the unknown, Bledsoe skillfully weaves a tale of adventure and coming of age on the Alaskan frontier. . . . Bledsoe makes Willa a likable, relatable, and strong lead who will appeal to readers of a similar age."—School Library Journal

"It triumphs as an intimate and humane evocation of day-to-day life under inhumane circumstances."—New York Times Book Review

“Bledsoe covers a lot of ground here, imagining her intellectual aunt’s relationship to the queer cultural transformations of the 1950s, as well as the paranoia of the Cold War era.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“This is gripping historical fiction about queer life at the height of the Cold War and the civil rights movement, and its grounding in fact really makes it sing. Like the scientists whose papers she edits, Lucybelle Bledsoe is passionate about the truth. Whether it’s the climate history of the planet as illuminated by cores of polar ice or the pursuit of an authentic emotional life in the miasma of McCarthyism, she operates with piercing honesty.”—Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

“A testament to courage and perseverance in the face of oppression, and a compelling, literary page-turner worthy of standing alongside the works of Pat Barker and Graham Greene. A Thin Bright Line reminds us that we are nothing, deep down, without love and dignity.”—Patrick Ryan, author of The Dream Life of Astronauts

“In this ingenious hybrid of fact and fiction, a fine novelist uses her storytelling skills to recover the lost life of a favorite aunt, a bookish, unmarried scientist from Arkansas. With her story Bledsoe also exhumes a dark, clandestine age in American history, the time of Ann Bannon and Patricia Highsmith, but made more intimate and real.”—Christopher Bram, author of Gods and Monster

“An engaging and moving novel about an unforgettable character. Intelligent, unadorned, and unsentimental, it allows us to look at a difficult time in American history with clarity instead of nostalgia.”—Rabih Alameddine, author of An Unnecessary Woman

“Bledsoe injects life and dimension through her often stunning dialogue. With heart and zest, the author depicts Lucybelle's slice of life as both pleasant and harrowing.”—Publishers Weekly

“Through her fictional reconstruction of the life of her namesake, her beloved aunt—who fought the good fight as a pioneering professional and a lesbian in unsympathetic times—Lucy Jane Bledsoe re-creates an important piece of history and imagines what it was like to live it. Poignant in both its conception and execution.”—Lillian Faderman, author of The Gay Revolution

“A story set in mid-20th century America – one that deftly weaves closeted sexuality, Cold War politics and a mysterious death that haunts the author to this day.”—San Jose Mercury News

“Is it possible for a novel to both break your heart and to heal it? . . . Bledsoe is deft in the way she shows . . . various models of how to be a lesbian in the world of the ‘50s and early ‘60s.”—Lambda Literary Review

Winner of the Devil’s Kitchen Fiction Award

"Riveting new collection...fully realized characters; stories that stick to your ribs." —Toronto Star

"In these twelve remarkable stories, the reader journeys from the remotest inner reaches of Alaska to deceptively calm suburban neighborhoods to a research station at the bottom of the world. Yet Lucy Jane Bledsoe's true territory is the wild, uncharted expanse of the heart. A wise and wonderful collection." ―Kirstin Valdez Quade, author of Night at the Fiestas

"This novella and group of stories by Lucy Jane Bledsoe will move and surprise and thrill you. She brings us right into her characters' lives, taking us on unexpected journeys. Through it all,the empowered and vulnerablewomen in this lively fictional world continually find themselves, so as readers welearn more about survival and are reminded of hope. We find ourselves delightfully renewed." ―Allen Gee, author of My Chinese-America

 "From Antarctica to suburbia to the ancient past and a post-apocalyptic future, these tales of kick-ass women adventurers and survivor girls are big-hearted, breathtaking, and profound. Reading Lava Falls is like meeting an animal in the wild: I was rapt, unable to turn away, with no idea what would happen next." ―Micah Perks, author of What Becomes Us

TELL THE REST

Lucy Jane Bledsoe

Amy Bloch, M.D., has been practicing child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry for 23 years. She received her pre-Emily education from Dartmouth, Yale University School of Medicine, and New York-Cornell Hospital. The mother of four children, Amy lives in suburban New York, where she spends an inordinate amount of time as her children’s chauffeur and Sherpa.

THE POWER OF HEART

Amy Bloch

Molly Bloom is an American entrepreneur, speaker, and author of the 2014 memoir Molly's Game. She had trained for years to become an Olympic skier but was injured while trying to qualify for the Olympics. For several years, Molly organized one of the largest high-stakes poker games in the country. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Molly Bloom

Raised in Michigan, Luke Dani Blue (they/them) has lived in cities in the U.S., Mexico, and Western Canada, where they now reside. Luke is a 2021 Tin House Scholar, with other awards and honors from Colorado Review, Fourteen Hills, Crab Orchard Review and Best American Short Stories. They earned their BA at The Evergreen State College and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University (Distinguished Achievement Award). Luke’s debut short story collection, PRETEND IT’S MY BODY, is coming soon from Feminist Press.

PRETEND IT’S MY BODY

Luke Dani Blue

Brandon Ying Kit Boey writes fiction and poetry. His work has been described as literary and atmospheric, often drawing from Asian cosmology and lore. The son of an oil engineer, he grew up moving frequently, never staying in the same place for more than three years. Themes of time and space, and the malleability of both, feature prominently in his work. His poems have been published in literary journals and anthologies, and he is also a writer of plays and short stories. Karma of the Sun is his first novel. When not at work on his next book, he can be found wandering the backyard woods in his home of Maine or the shelves of his library.

“This fascinating variation on the Chosen One archetype neatly demonstrates how fragile hope can be destroyed, diverting attention from actually solving any problems. Fans of a post-apocalyptic world that is not a crushingly dystopian one should check this one out.”

“Set amidst the stunning beauty of the Himalayas on the brink of a global apocalypse, KARMA OF THE SUN unfurls a hero’s tale of quest and survival, perseverance and hope. With silken prose and atmospheric grandeur, Boey’s elegantly assured debut weaves in fascinating interpretations of Asian cosmology and concepts of the afterlife and end-times to haunting, resounding effect. Beautiful, moving, vast in its spiritual and emotional scope, I was reminded in parts of Kevin Brockmeier's Brief History of the Dead, and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.”

—Angela Mi Young Hur, Author of Folklorn

“Brandon Ying Kit Boey has crafted a propulsive tale of adventure, sacrifice, and salvation, not just for the young protagonist Karma, but for all of humanity. Set in Tibet in a frighteningly apocalyptic future, Boey's novel offers us an earnest and sensitive hero who has been tasked with no less than ensuring the survival of the entire planet. Though filled with intense battle scenes and life-or-death decisions, Karma's quest is one we will all recognize, grounded as it is in family, love, and a profound search for the self. A hero's journey for the end of the world, KARMA OF THE SUN is a must-read for anyone reckoning with where we are now and where we will go next.”

—Erin Swan, Author of Walk the Vanished Earth

“Part journey into the mystical, part adventure in a faraway world, KARMA OF THE SUN deftly moves through places and among characters as it transports the reader again and again.”
—Eric Barnes, Author of The City Where We Once Lived

Karma Of The Sun

Brandon Ying Kit Boey

Rebecca Boyle is a contributing editor atScientific American, a contributing writer for Quanta andThe Atlantic, and a frequent contributor at theNew York Times, Atlas Obscura, Popular Science,Smithsonian Air & Space, and many other publications. She is a member of the group science blog, The Last Word on Nothing. Boyle was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is the recipient of numerous writing awards throughout her career. Her work has been anthologized multiple times in The Best American Science & Nature Writing. 

Rebecca Boyle

Anthony Bozza is a New York City native author and journalist who has penned multiple New York Times and international bestselling books. His career began as a staff writer for Rolling Stone magazine where he wrote the first national cover story on rapper Eminem in 1999. His first book, Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem (2003), the definitive story of the rapper's rise to fame, was a runaway bestseller in the US and UK and was published in fourteen foreign languages. He has co-written bestsellers with Slash of Guns n' Roses, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue, Raekwon The Chef from The Wu-Tang Clan, and three books with comedian Artie Lange including the number one New York Times bestseller Too Fat to Fish. Bozza has also written the autobiographies of Wyclef Jean, INXS, Tracy Morgan and Mick Fleetwood, Why AC/DC Matters, a biography of the Australian rock band, as well as a follow up to his Eminem biography titled Not Afraid: The Evolution of Eminem. He also wrote and edited the New York Times bestseller Jeter Unfiltered, chronicling the famed Yankee captain's final season. He lives in Brooklyn.

Anthony Bozza

Michael P. Branch is an award-winning writer who has long explored the culture of the American West. His writing has appeared multiple times in The Best American Essays, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and the annual Pushcart Prize anthologies, and in magazines such as Orion, Slate, Outside, and Pacific Standard. A graduate of the College of William and Mary (BA), and the University of Virginia (MA, PhD), Branch is a professor of English and a professor of literature and environment at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he teaches creative nonfiction, humor studies, popular science writing, and environmental literature.

ON THE TRAIL OF THE JACKALOPE: How a Legend Captured the World’s Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer

Michael P. Branch

Peter Brannen is an award-winning science journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Wired, the Washington Post, and more. He was previously an Ocean Science Journalism Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a Journalist-In-Residence at the Duke University National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, and most recently, a Scripps Fellow at the University of Colorado–Boulder, where he is currently affiliated with the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research.

Peter Brannen

Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood are two of the UK's foremost music writers. A contributor to Rolling Stone, Classic Rock, Q, and Metal Hammer magazines, Brannigan is the author of the acclaimed This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl, while Winwood has written for Rolling Stone, the Guardian, Mojo, Kerrang!, NME, and the BBC. Both reside in London.

INTO THE BLACK: The Inside Story of Metallica (1991-2014)

Paul Brannigan

Harriet Brown is the author of Shadow Daughter, Body of Truth, and Brave Girl Eating. She has edited two anthologies and has written for the New York Times Magazine, O Magazine, Psychology Today, Prevention, and many other publications. She is a professor of magazine journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

SHADOW DAUGHTER

Harriet Brown

When Rachel Brown was seven years old, her post-hippie parents joined an ashram, or spiritual commune, in a cobra-ridden, drought-stricken, backwater town in India. The ashram was devoted to Meher Baba, best known for having been Pete Townshend's guru, for having kept a lifelong vow of silence, and for the slogan "Don't worry, be happy." She was the only foreign child within a hundred mile radius. ALL THE FISHES COME HOME TO ROOST is the acclaimed true story of her childhood. After returning to America, Rachel became the youngest person ever to receive an MFA in playwriting from UCLA. She has won awards for playwriting, comedy writing, and literary criticism, and has produced an off-Broadway play entitled Driving Past.

ALL THE FISHES COME HOME TO ROOST: An American Misfit in India

Rachel Manija Brown

Rex Brown is most famous as the longtime bassist for the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling band Pantera. Since the 1990 release of Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell", Rex Brown has had a hand in multiple gold, platinum, and #1 records. He has shared the stage with the likes of Kiss, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath. In 2002, Rex joined Down for the release of Down II, and subsequent U.S. tours including headlining the second stage of Ozzfest. In 2006 he recorded DOWN III, which was preceded by a tour with Heaven & Hell and Megadeth. Currently Rex is a member of the band Kill Devil Hill. After finishing a successful tour, he is currently in the studio working on their next record.

OFFICIAL TRUTH, 101 PROOF: The Inside Story of Pantera

Rex Brown

Leslie Bruce is a #1 New York times bestselling coauthor and an award-winning entertainment and lifestyle journalist. She previously worked as an editor at Us Weekly magazine and a senior writer at The Hollywood Reporter. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, her daughter and two very needy rescue doodles.

YOU ARE A F*CKING AWESOME MOM

Leslie Bruce

Dr. Thema Bryant is a clinical psychologist and president-elect of the American Psychological Association. She is also a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University and an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Thema earned her doctorate from Duke University and completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. With more than twenty years of experience in trauma recovery, she has appeared as a mental health expert on television, radio, and in print media. Dr. Thema raises awareness about mental health issues onThe Homecoming Podcastand her social media platforms. 

HOMECOMING: Overcome Fear and Trauma to Reclaim Your Whole, Authentic Self

Dr. Thema Bryant

Tom Bryant is a music journalist who has written for Kerrang!, Q, and MOJO magazines and the Guardian newspaper, during the course of which he has had an absinthe-fueled sleepover at Marilyn Manson's house, been attacked by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bass player, and been accused of starting a riot with The Prodigy. Not the Life It Seems is his first book. He lives in England.

NOT THE LIFE IT SEEMS: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance

Tom Bryant

David Buckmaster is an expert on pay who has led corporate compensation teams at Wildlife Studios, Nike, Starbucks, and Yum! Brands, and worked with business leaders on pay projects all over the world. Buckmaster was named to the global shortlist of the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Bracken Bower Prize for emerging business writers. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Buckmaster now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and daughter.

FAIR PAY: How to Get a Raise, Close the Wage Gap, and Build Stronger Businesses

David Buckmaster

Anika Burgess is a photojournalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Atlas Obscura. She was a photo editor for Past Tense, the archival storytelling team at the New York Times, and is now a visual editor on their Book team.

Anika Burgess

Caitlin shares teachings that are inspired by years of practice and study in the ancient wisdom traditions of Hatha Yoga, Tantra and Ayurveda. The focus of her teaching is on reconnecting with calm, peace, and joy and cultivating the courage to overcome self-doubt, perfectionism, fear and anxiety, empowering you to live to your full potential.

Caitlin’s work has been featured in the pages of Marie Claire, Real Living, Prevention and Women’s Health.

American by birth, Caitlin now lives with her husband and three children on Bundjalung Country, Byron Bay, Australia.

Caitlin’s book The Hope Dealer was published in Australia by Affirm Press in December 2022 and will be published by Hay House in the USA and UK in July 2023. 

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