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

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

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

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

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

Lucy Jane Bledsoe is the author of books for adults and young readers. Her fiction has won a Yaddo Fellowship, the Saturday Evening Post Fiction Award, the Arts & Letters Fiction Prize, the Sherwood Anderson Prize for Fiction, a Pushcart nomination, a California Arts Council Fellowship, an American Library Association Stonewall Award, and two National Science Foundation Artists & Writers Fellowships. She’s been a six-time Lambda Literary Award Finalist and a three-time Ferro-Grumley Award Finalist. Her stories have been translated into Japanese, Spanish, German, Dutch, and Chinese.

Lucy loves teaching workshops, cooking, traveling anywhere, basketball, doing anything outside, and telling stories. She's traveled to Antarctica three times, as a two-time recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Artists & Writers in Antarctica Fellowship. She is one of a tiny handful of people who have stayed at all three American stations in Antarctica. She has also stayed in a number of field camps, both on the coast and in the Transantarctic mountains, where scientists are studying penguins, climate change, and the Big Bang.

“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

Lucy Jane Bledsoe

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

Joanna Catherine Scott was the author of the novels The Road from Chapel Hill, Child of the South, Cassandra, Lost, The Lucky Gourd Shop, and Charlie, as well as the nonfiction work Indochina’s Refugees: Oral Histories from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and the prizewinning poetry collections Breakfast at the Shangri-la, Fainting at the Uffizi, and Night Huntress.

CHILD OF THE SOUTH

Joanna Catherine Scott (Estate of)

Beth Cato hails from Hanford, California, but currently writes and bakes cookies in a lair west of Phoenix, Arizona. She shares the household with a hockey-loving husband, a number-obsessed son, and a cat the size of a canned ham.  Beth's short fiction can be found in Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and many other magazines.

ROAR OF SKY

Beth Cato

Lauren Conrad is best known for starring in the MTV hit series The Hills. She is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including the L.A. CANDY series, and LAUREN CONRAD STYLE, a fashion and beauty guide. She began her fashion career in spring 2008 with the debut of the Lauren Conrad Collection. In 2009 she launched LC Lauren Conrad, exclusively for Kohl's and the line has since expanded to shoes, accessories and sunglasses. Her newest clothing line is paper crown. She has been featured on the covers of Elle, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Seventeen, Shape, and Entertainment Weekly, among others. She lives in Los Angeles.

CELEBRATE

Lauren Conrad

 Loni has a BA in creative writing from SUNY Oswego and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. 

GOSSAMER & GLASS

Loni Crittenden

Sarah Cypher has an MFA from Warren Wilson, and her writing has appeared in The North American Review, LEON, and Crab Orchard Review, among others. She works as a freelance editor and lives in Washington, DC with her wife.

THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL

Sarah Cypher

Jenny Fran Davis received her MFA from the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. The author of a novel for teenagers, Everything Must Go, she lives in Brooklyn.

EVERYTHING MUST GO

Jenny Fran Davis

Liana De la Rosa is a historical romance author whose stories are set in the Late Regency and Victorian eras.

Liana De la Rosa

KJ Dell’Antonia is a novelist and former journalist and editor at to the New York Times, where she covered the personal and policy aspects of family for many years.

She grew up in Texas and Kansas and attended Kansas State University, then spent her twenties locked in a struggle to marry her upbringing with the mysterious ways of Manhattan and East Coast culture and reconcile career choices that included practicing law at Cravath, Swaine and Moore and the New York County District Attorney's office with her childhood desire to be Anne of Green Gables, only with more publishing success. During the first internet boom, she became the worst Vice President of Business Development ever at an otherwise successful start-up.

Her subsequent layoff proved the perfect excuse to finally pursue journalism, and a move to a small town in New Hampshire didn’t stop her from eventually taking over the New York Times’ Motherlode blog. Her first book, How to Be a Happier Parent, developed as a result of her work there, but her heart was always in fiction. Her memories of the two chicken restaurants in the Kansas towns where her parents grew up sparked the creation of Chicken Mimi’s and Chicken Frannie’s, the two restaurants at the center of The Chicken Sisters, and the story grew from there. Her second novel,  In Her Boots, is about the gap between the adults we think we have become, the child our mother will always see and our horrible fear that our mother is right—a story that grew from the complex relationship that every author has with the successful self we portray on the outside and the doubting voices that will always hammer away inside of our heads.

KJ lives in New Hampshire with her husband, four children and assorted horses, chickens, dogs and cats. She is the co-host of the #AmWriting Podcast and is hard at work on her third novel.

“Heart-warming and complicated and uplifting. I couldn’t put it down. Even though I usually prefer books with supernatural goats that eat people.”—Jenny Lawson, author of Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things and Broken (In the Best Possible Way)

“Funny, heartfelt and un-put-downable,In Her Bootsis the perfect read and Rhett/Maggie is the exact heroine we all want to be—Strong, vulnerable and totally relatable. Going home shouldn't be this tough or this entertaining.”—Susan Mallery, author of The Stepsisters

“Witty, charming, and utterly unputdownable,In Her Bootsis the perfect reminder that living life on our own terms might just be what it’s all about. Once again, KJ Dell’ Antonia has knocked it out of the park with a story that will work its way right into readers’ hearts.”—Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of Under the Southern Sky

“What can be better than a book that surprises and delights you on every page and yet at the same time speaks so clearly to the familiar joys—and challenges—of friendship, family, and self-discovery?...You’ll gobble this one up and then push it on your best friend—and she’ll love you for it!”—Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch

“In Her Bootsis such a charming, funny, original story that I wished it were a blanket I could wrap myself in. Rhett is a unique heroine, the likes of which I haven't come across in contemporary fiction before, and I felt like I was tagging along with a close friend as I went along on her journey. KJ Dell'Antonia is a fabulous writer andIn Her Bootsis expertly plotted and full of the perfect little details that make a book sing.”—Elyssa Friedland, author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel

“Both peppy and heartfelt,In Her Bootsis a tender page-turning romp about running from both your past and your truth, only to discover that, just like real-life, you can only run for so long before it’s time to turn back home.”—Allison Winn Scotch, author of Cleo Mcdougal Regrets Nothing

“Full of quirky twists and heartfelt humor,In HerBoots is a wildly entertaining page turner about forging your own path and finding your way home again.”—Virginia Kantra, author of Meg & Jo

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

A January 2021 Country Living Front Porch Book Club Pick

"A charming, hilarious, feel-good story about the kind of bonds & rivalries only sisters can share. Also, a great present for your sister for the holidays!!"—Reese Witherspoon

“The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia is a delightful look at sibling relationships and the unbreakable and bonds of family.”—Real Simple

“The Chicken Sisters is a pitch-perfect book with which to begin the New Year, when the spirit of starting anew and putting aside baggage (no matter how many centuries old it may be!), is exactly what we need. Well, that and a plate of fried chicken, of course.” —Country Living

“If you prefer your family secrets served with a side of fried chicken, we highly recommend The Chicken Sisters…[a] funny, heartfelt book…”—Hello Giggles

“A charming first novel about family, regrets, and second chances. Dell’Antonia deftly deals with issues of mental illness, marriage troubles, and dreams deferred, all the while telling a funny satire of reality TV. An utter delight from start to finish.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Mae and Amanda are spirited characters, and their foibles are told with care and humor. Recommended for Food Network and HGTV watchers, this first novel is plucky, heartwarming, and a welcome distraction from the news of the day.”—Library Journal 

“Be warned: you’ll crave fried chicken throughout.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Dell’Antonia writes convincingly and sympathetically about complicated family relationships, giving Mae and Amanda each relatable flaws. The Food Wars scenes are a fun peek behind the curtain of the reality TV world, and the small-town warmth of Merinac is comfortingly quirky. A charming and satisfying story about family bonds that will make meat eaters everywhere crave fried chicken.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Nobody knows the humor and pathos of complicated family relationships better than K.J. Dell’Antonia, which is why this story about sisters and fried chicken and reality TV is such a satisfying read. It’s like the comfort-food of novels: warm, memorable, and wholly original. I loved it."—Laura Zigman, author of Separation Anxiety


IN HER BOOTS

KJ Dell’Antonia

Kathleen Donohoe is the author of the novels Ghosts of the Missing and Ashes of Fiery Weather, which was named one of Book Riot’s 100 Must-Read New York City Novels. Her stories and essays have appeared in Web Conjunctions, NYU’s Washington Square, Harpur Palate, Irish America Magazine and the anthology The Writing Irish of New York. She currently serves on the Board of Irish American Authors and Artists.

On her mother’s side of the family, Kathleen is a fifth-generation Brooklynite. Her paternal grandparents arrived from Ireland in the mid-1920’s. All four of their sons, Kathleen’s father and uncles, joined the New York City Fire Department.  Ashes of Fiery Weather, which is about the women of an FDNY family, is not based on her family but was certainly inspired by them.

Kathleen currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son. Like most descendants of Dodger fans, she roots for the Mets.

GHOSTS OF THE MISSING

Kathleen Donohoe

Lexie Dunne is a woman of many masks, all of them stored neatly in a box under her bed. By day a mild-mannered technical writer and by night an adventuress and novelist, she keeps life interesting by ignoring it and writing instead. She hails from St. Louis, home of the world’s largest croquet game piece, and SUPERHEROES ANONYMOUS is her professional debut into the world of caped crusaders, a journey that started when her father took her and her brother to see The Rocketeer.

Getting her to return a phone call is impossible. You’d have better luck sticking a Dr Pepper under a propped up box and waiting nearby, string in hand.

#HEROFAIL

Lexie Dunne

INNATE MAGIC

Shannon Fay

Robb Forman Dew (1946-2020) was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For the past thirty years she has lived in Williamstown, MA, where she lives with her husband, who is professor of history at Williams College. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Dew is the author of the novels Dale Loves Sophie to Death, for which she received the National Book Award; The Truth of the Matter; The Time of Her Life; Fortunate Lives; The Evidence Against Her; and, most recently, Being Polite to Hitler; as well as a memoir, The Family Heart.

DALE LOVES SOPHIE TO DEATH

Robb Forman Dew (Estate of)

Hades, Candice Fox’s first novel, won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut in 2014 from the Australian Crime Writers Association. The sequel, Eden, won the Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel in 2015, making Candice only the second author to win these accolades back-to-back. She is also the author of the bestselling Fall, Crimson Lake and Redemption Point, all shortlisted for Ned Kelly and Davitt Awards.

In 2015 Candice began collaborating with James Patterson. Their first novel together, Never Never, set in the vast Australian outback, was a huge bestseller in Australia and went straight to number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list in the US and also to the top of the charts in the UK. Since then they have written Black & Blue, Fifty Fifty, Liar Liar, Hush Hush in the Harriet Blue series. Her books are printed in fifteen languages.

Born in 1985, Candice is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney’s western suburbs composed of half-, adopted and pseudo siblings. The daughter of an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil from the cops and childcare authorities who frequented her home.

Bankstown born and bred, she failed to conform to military life in a brief stint as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy at age eighteen. At twenty, she turned her hand to academia, and taught high school through two undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees. She is a crafter, animal-lover and wine drinker living in Sydney.

Candice Fox

Donna Freitas has spoken at nearly two hundred colleges and universities about her nonfiction work. She is the author of The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano, Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention, as well as ten novels for children and young adults. Donna has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe, and she has appeared on radio and television, from NPR's All Things Considered to The Today Show. She has been a professor at Boston University and Hofstra University, and is currently a member of the faculty at Fairleigh Dickinson University's MFA program.

THE NINE LIVES OF ROSE NAPOLITANO

Donna Freitas

Born in Mexico City, Leopoldo Gout is a visual artist, award-winning author, filmmaker, and producer. A graduate of Central Saint Martins School of Art in London, he has written, packaged, published, and developed books for more than a decade, and was the head of his own imprint, Leopoldo & Co, at Atria/Simon & Schuster. He has produced award-winning films and television series, including Molly’s Game, American Jesus, and Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, and the forthcoming Get Millie Black (with novelist Marlon James, for HBO/Channel 4) among others, and was co-president of the James Patterson Entertainment company for many years. He is the co-author and illustrator of the forthcoming Monarca (HarperOne). 

He lives in New York City. For more information go to http://www.leopoldogout.net/.

Piñata

Leopoldo Gout

Stephanie Graves is the author of Olive Bright, Pigeoneer, as well as four novels under the pseudonym Alyssa Goodnight. As a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, she worked in Austin as a product engineer on automotive application microcontrollers before returning to Houston and becoming the mom of two boys. She is a self-professed connoisseur of British mysteries of all sorts and has done extensive research on the little-known role of pigeons during the war, as well as the Special Operations Executive, particularly their school for sabotage, Station XVII: Brickendonbury Manor.

Stephanie Graves

Benjamin Hale is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, he has received a Michener-Copernicus Award, the Bard Fiction Prize, and nominations for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared, among other places, in The Paris Review, Conjunctions, Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dissent, The L Magazine, The Millions, and has been anthologized in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2013.  He is a senior editor of Conjunctions and currently teaches at Bard College.

THE FAT ARTIST AND OTHER STORIES

Benjamin Hale

Adena Halpern is the author of the novels Pinch Me, 29 and THE TEN BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE; and TARGET UNDERWEAR AND A VERA WANG GOWN- NOTES FROM A SINGLE GIRL'S CLOSET, a memoir which was based on her popular "Haute Life" essays for the back page of Marie Claire magazine. In addition to Marie Claire, Adena has written for Daily Variety and The New York Times. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting from The American Film Institute. A proud Philadelphia native, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband, television and screenwriter Jonathan Goldstein.

PINCH ME

Adena Halpern

Winner of the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

In the 1930s Bulgakov was one of Stalin’s favorite writers. But with fame came scrutiny, and in the face of crushing censorship, he was inspired to write his masterpiece, a dangerous and wickedly satirical novel: The Master and Margarita. After the censors blocked it from being published, Bulgakov burned the only copy, eventually re-writing it from memory. It was passed around in secret until it was finally published decades after his death and went on to become an international sensation. The character of the Master is clearly a stand in for Bulgakov himself, but who inspired the character of Margarita? And who was his model for such a complex take on the devil? These are the questions that animate Julie Lekstrom Himes’ MIKHAIL AND MARGARITA.

In 1933, Mikhail finds himself in a precarious state. His career is on the brink of being dismantled, his friend and mentor, the poet Osip Mandelstam, faces arrest and torture, and a mysterious agent of the secret police seems to have a growing obsession with exposing Mikhail as an enemy of the state. Through it all, he finds himself falling in love with Osip’s mistress, a strong and idealistic woman who is always willing to speak out. While she attends dissident meetings, he tries to curry favor from within the political system while simultaneously retreating to his apartment to write his novel in private. But in a city where no secret is safe, the most dangerous thing in his life could be the pages tucked away in his desk drawer. Ranging between lively readings in the homes of Moscow’s literary elite to the horrors of the Siberian Gulag, Himes paints a sweeping portrait of a country with a towering literary tradition confronting a dictatorship that does not tolerate dissent.

Julie Lekstrom Himes’ short fiction has been published in Shenandoah, The Florida Review (Editor’s Choice Award 2008), Fourteen Hills (nominated for Best American Mysteries 2011), 42 Opus (storySouth Million Writers Notable Story 2008), The Massachusetts Review, Mid-American Review, Confrontation, Camera Obscura and elsewhere. Like Bulgakov, she is a physician as well as a writer.

MIKHAIL AND MARGARITA

Julie Lekstrom Himes

Paddy Hirsch is an award-winning journalist and online video host, who reports for the NPR podcast The Indicator from Planet Money. The author of Hudson’s Kill and The Devil’s Half Mile came to journalism after serving for eight years as an officer in the British Royal Marines, and lives in Los Angeles.

THE DEVIL'S HALF MILE

Paddy Hirsch

Erik Hoel received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Madison-Wisconsin. He is a research assistant professor at Tufts University and was previously a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University in the NeuroTechnology Lab, and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Hoel is a 2018 Forbes “30 under 30” for his neuroscientific research on consciousness and a Center for Fiction Emerging Writer Fellow. The Revelations is his debut novel. He lives in Massachusetts.

Erik Hoel

New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Joshilyn Jackson’s books have been translated into a dozen languages, won SIBA’s Novel of the Year award, three times been the #1 Book Sense Pick, twice been the #1 Indie Next Pick, twice won Georgia Author of the Year, been a top ten finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards, been the Target Book Club Pick, three times been a Books-A-Million Book Club Pick, four times been shortlisted for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, been a finalist for the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction, and won the Patricia Winn Award for Southern Fiction.

A former actor, Jackson reads the audio versions of both her own novels and other writers’ books. Her work in this field has been nominated for the Audie Award, included on  AudioFile Magazine’s best of the year list, won three Earphones Awards, made the Audible All-Star list for highest listener ranks/reviews, and garnered three Listen Up Awards from Publishers Weekly.

As a volunteer with Reforming Arts, Jackson spent six years teaching creative writing in Georgia’s maximum security facility for women. She currently serves on their board of directors, focusing on re-entry. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her family, two entitled cats, and a modestly-sized dog.

"Chilling, thought-provoking, and hauntingly written, Mother May I kept me on the edge of my seat with its breathless race against time. Joshilyn Jackson’s latest riveting thriller starts with a bang and doesn’t let up, asking how well you truly know the people around you—and how far you’re willing to go for the ones you love. A true page-turner that will stick with me for a long time."—Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl from Widow Hills

“All the things we love about Joshilyn Jackson come together with panache in Mother May I: subtle yet scalding insights on the nature of privilege, compelling, vibrant characters, and the wily plot and breakneck pace of a thriller. Mother May I sets a new standard for the genre: it’s razor-sharp, merciless, and masterful.”—Rose Carlyle, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Girl in the Mirror

"Joshilyn Jackson does it again with this explosive, white-knuckle read about a mother who will stop at nothing to protect her family. Terrifying, timely and thought-provoking, I couldn't tear my eyes away from Mother May I."—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Mrs.

"Gripping . . . The dark secret at the novel's heart rings all too true. Jackson knows how to ratchet up the suspense."—Publishers Weekly

“So much to unpack with Mother May I. Joshilyn Jackson has outdone herself with this psychological thriller that centers around a mother whose infant is kidnapped from right next to her. The mother is forced to make some horrendously hard choices if she is ever to see her baby again, but must also untangle the complicated mystery of why her family was targeted. Page turning, heart pounding twists and turns.”—Mary OMalley, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, MO

“Atmospheric Southern fiction—social class is almost a character in this book—with a gripping, unpredictable plot and a twist that grapples with toxic masculinity.”—Sarah Rettger, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA 

“A dark domestic suspense story. An old secret surfaces, throwing the lives of everyone in danger. Quite a page turner.”—Sherry Fritzsche, Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT

“[An] epic duel between two flawed women—it’s the perfect thriller to round out your summer.”―People

“Never Have I Ever becomes a tale of moral suspense in addition to a psychological thriller. Its several plot twists are surprising and effective, and there are gripping sequences involving Amy’s work as a deep-sea diver woven logically into the narrative. Many books claim to be the perfect beach read. This one doesn’t, but it certainly fits the bill.”―Wall Street Journal

"Jackson has been establishing herself as a master of domestic suspense for years, and her hyped latest should do little to change that. A carefree neighborhood evening of games, gossip, and wine gradually evolves into something much more sinister, as engineered by a woman harboring unsettling secrets."―Entertainment Weekly

“Bestselling author Jackson packs in dramatic reveals about the women’s complex histories.”―Time

“Bestselling Jackson successfully trades her usual quirky Southern lit for darker psychological suspense in this latest highly recommended novel. Her prowess at writing affecting, character-driven fiction is on full display, and readers will devour the twisty, consuming story.”―Library Journal (starred review)

“Nail-biting suspense.… Jackson builds on her talent for creating imperfect, capable, and multi-layered characters to write smart suspense, driven by the intelligence and determination of the instigator and her prey… Never Have I Ever marks a new high in Jackson’s career.”―Booklist (starred review) 

“Wonderful—suspense and surprises, real characters, and a scary, ominous backbeat.  This feels like the book Jackson was born to write.”―Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

“A smart, original thriller with real, compelling characters and a chilling reveal. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.”―Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go

“The more Roux and Amy became obsessed with each other, the more obsessed I became with the book. Jackson is a master... Fans of Joshilyn Jackson and newcomers alike will eat this book up. I did, and I’m hungry again.”―Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants

MOTHER MAY I

Joshilyn Jackson

Nancy Jensen’s latest novel is In Our Midst, a 2020 Great Group Reads selection. Her bestselling novel The Sisters was selected by the Independent Booksellers Association as a #1 Indie Next Pick, and included by Kirkus Reviews on its list for Best Fiction of 2011. She has been awarded an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and an Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council. Her first book, Window: Stories and Essays, was published by Fleur-de-Lis Press in 2009. Find her online at www.nancyjensen.org

IN OUR MIDST

Nancy Jensen

Erin Judge is a writer and comedian based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel Vow of Celibacy won Best Fiction at the Bisexual Book Awards and was named a Must-Read Indie Press Book by Book Riot.

Recently, Erin worked as a contributing playwright on FEED (2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, toured the UK in 2020). Her words also appear in Vanity Fair, the Advocate, and several prominent online recipe comments sections. She’s performed stand-up on Comedy Central and on NBC's Last Comic Standing, and her comedy album So Many Choices is out on Blonde Medicine.

Erin talks and writes about queerness, open relationships, bisexuality, sexuality in general, body image, culture, family, and her life. She loves words, ideas, mysticism, humans, justice, love, friendship, art, science, and comedy. She’s currently working on a horror screenplay, a couple of TV pilots about goddesses and chosen families, and a novel about a bunch of dudes getting their emotional acts together.

Winner of the Bisexual Book Award for Best Novel

Longreads Best of 2016: Most Under-recognized Book

Vow of Celibacy is both readable and fun—Natalie is no shrinking violet, and her life and observations make for quite a ride."
—Lambda Literary

“Vow of Celibacy is a funny and smart exploration of sex, love, and every woman’s road to body-positivity. Its characters are carefully crafted and relatable, whether they have sex or don’t. The ultimate message seems to be that growth and self-realization is different for everybody, and that what it means to love and what it means to have sex are relative."
—Foreword Reviews, Book of the Day

"Erin Judge totally hits it out of the park with this funny, sexy, fat- and bi-positive debut novel."
―Autostraddle

“Millennial women: Natalie is all of us...Vow [of Celibacy] is a coming-of-age story for our generation, told with all the honesty we’d expect from Judge.”
―Wellesley Magazine

"This novel is a freaking delight..."
―Book Riot

"...heart ripping and funny and marvelously written. It’s a book I want to keep forever, and also have copies on hand to give to my friends."
―Lara Lillibridge, Huffington Post

“Erin Judge's compulsively readable debut is the rare novel that contains equal parts heart and wit. And yes, it's sexy as hell, too."
—Maris Kreizman, author of Slaughterhouse 90210

“Like an updated and more grounded Perks of Being A Wallflower, Vow of Celibacy cuts to the bone. The struggle has never been more real, and no writer understands it better than Erin Judge. There is a dearth of literature with bisexual characters at the center—Vow of Celibacy stands out because it captures the experience honestly and in a way that is so relatable. Equal parts witty and devastating, Vow of Celibacy understands the struggle to find footing in this difficult world better than anything else currently on the shelves."
—Catie Disabato, author of The Ghost Network

“A smart, funny, and fast-paced book about sex, love, body image, and friendship."
—Kirkus

“Fat-positive, bi-affirming, clever, and fun, Vow of Celibacy is the beach read of your dreams."
—Lindsay King-Miller, AfterEllen.com and author of Ask A Queer Chick

“Vow of Celibacy is so funny and sexy and heartbreaking and joyous! I didn't feel like I was reading accounts of relationships as much as I was overhearing friends talk about the most vital and exciting parts of them."
—Josh Gondelman, Writer and Web Producer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

“Erin Judge's Vow of Celibacy is a smart, witty coming-of-age tale starring a complex and courageous heroine who stays burned in your memory long after you put down the book. Natalie's bold adventures in self-discovery and desire are sometimes hilarious, sometimes unnerving, but always engrossing."
—Heather Havrilesky, The Cut's Ask Polly and author of How to Be a Person in The World

"Every teen girl wondering if she is bi should be given a copy of Vow of Celibacy. Not just because of its honest and positive representation of bisexuality but because it it’s honest towards sex, sexual desire, and body image."
―The Queerness

“All in all, this is a wonderful read. Even after finishing, it took me time to process what I loved about it and why I think this is an important work of contemporary bisexual literature. I’m looking forward to reading more from Erin Judge in the future. For a fabulous bisexual protagonist, a well-written friendship, and a story which kept me hooked, this gets 10/10 fountain pens.”
―A.M. Liebowitz, author of An Act of Devotion

“The kind of book you keep sneaking 3 pages of because it is so satisfying to do so. I loved it. Would read it again tomorrow. Makes you feel great just knowing its out there. The very definition of a great time.”
―Kevin Smokler, author of Brat Pack America

VOW OF CELIBACY

Erin Judge

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Julia Keller, former chief book critic for The Chicago Tribune. writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her critically acclaimed mystery series begins with A Killing in the Hills and continues through seven additional novels. The Dark Intercept is a science fiction trilogy for young adults. Other books include Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It, a biography of the inventor of the Gatling Gun; and Back Home, a YA novel narrated by a young girl whose father returns from the Iraq War with a traumatic brain injury. 

Julia's next book, which will be published by Grand Central in 2023, is Quitting; A Life Strategy / The Myth of Perseverance -- and How the New Science of Giving Up Can Set You Free. A screenplay that she co-wrote, Spider & Jessie, will be produced this summer. Like her mystery series, it is set in her home state of West Virginia and deals with the tragic toll of the opioid epidemic in small-town America.

FAST FALLS THE NIGHT

Julia Keller

Stephanie Landsem writes historical fiction for women, about women. Her latest novel, In A Far-Off Land, is a story of murder, romance, and mercy set in the glamour of 1930s Hollywood. Her biblical fiction brings the unknown women of the Gospels to life in The Living Water Series and the Walk In Her Sandals series. Stephanie has traveled on four continents and dozens of countries. When she can’t travel, she reads fiction and history and dreams of her next adventure -- whether it be in person or on the page. She makes her home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota with her husband of 30 years, occasional adult children, two cats, a dog, and a tortoise named Moe.

IN A FAR-OFF LAND

Stephanie Landsem

Maya Shanbhag Lang is the author of What We Carry, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a "Best Memoir of 2020" according to Amazon, Parade Magazine, PopSugar, and Times of India. She is also the author of The Sixteenth of June, named a Must-Read Novel by CBS and InStyle and long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. In 2021, the American Civil Rights Museum named her a “Woman You Should Know.” Lang has appeared on television and radio, and been a guest speaker at numerous conferences, campuses, and literary events. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and is the daughter of South Asian immigrants. She currently serves on The Authors Guild Council.

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