Raised for several years in a religious commune known as The Body, Shawna Kay Rodenberg delves into the complex intersection of religion, femininity, familial expectations, and personal agency in her memoir Kin. Rodenberg will appear with Robert Gipe at the Johnson City Public Library on September 10 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.
The Memory Index, the first book in a series by debut author Julian R. Vaca, explores an alternate 1987, where a disease has ravaged human memories and people rely on technology to preserve a sense of self. Vaca will discuss the book at North Wind Manor in Antioch on August 13.
Two young women come together to take part in an all-female Mardi Gras krewe in Diane C. McPhail’s second novel, The Seamstress of New Orleans. McPhail will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on June 9.
In her debut novel, Live Caught, R. Cathey Daniels explores betrayal and illicit activity in the rural North Carolina mountains. Daniels will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on April 25.
In The Silent Unseen, YA author Amanda McCrina returns to the setting of her previous novel, Traitor, to look more deeply into Polish and Ukrainian experiences during World War II. McCrina will discuss The Silent Unseen at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 5.
In Lee Cole’s debut novel Groundskeeping, Owen returns to his hometown in Kentucky to work as a groundskeeper at a small college where he enrolls in a creative writing course. Cole will discuss Groundskeeping at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 3.
