🌟 Charlotte readers, mark your calendars 🌟 A magical picture‑book moment is coming your way. On May 9th, author LaRonda Gardner Middlemiss will be at Park Road Books to celebrate her brand‑new picture book and you’re invited to be part of the joy. If you love: ✨ stories that sparkle with heart ✨ events where kids light up ✨ meeting the creators behind the books your family cherishes ✨ supporting indie bookstores that keep our communities vibrant …this is absolutely your nex

Jordyn Zimmerman How did you become a writer? As a nonspeaking autistic person, my use of language has not always been well understood. For a long time, people underestimated the depth of my thought and what I had to say. In some ways though, writing changed that — becoming a powerful tool in advocacy, communication, and connection with others. It now gives space to more deeply articulate experiences that might otherwise go unshared, and to make sense of the world for myself

Did you see the cover art for My Name Was Baby: An Intersex Memoir by Chris M. Arnone ? @chrismarnone Chris is a rising intersex activist who offers a compelling memoir that brings rare visibility to intersex life in the American Midwest. With candor, humor, and emotional honesty, Arnone tells a story of growing up different—and learning, decades later, why. https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700642250/ “ My Name Was Baby is a brave and intimate exploration of the search fo

Shannon Iwanski began writing as a child and won his first award at 15. He has gone on to win multiple awards for science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery/suspense, and romance. He has previously served as an editor for two small presses, enjoys speaking at writers’ conferences, and helps other writers with their craft, including as a sensitivity reader. 1. ‎How did you become a writer? I learned to read using the I See Sam books, which featured various animals. That led t

How did you become a writer? I've been writing for as long as I can remember. As a kid I loved writing little holiday short stories about me and my friends (going Christmas shopping, being attacked by ghouls at Halloween, you name it), using the old method of middle name + street name for the character names. I didn't think anything of my writing abilities until I wrote a short story in grade school, and my teacher said he passed it to his wife (a high school English teacher)

Denise N. Wheatley is a lover of happy endings and the art of storytelling. She’s written over 20 romance novels and has been featured in Woman’s World , BuzzFeed , and Publishers Weekly , among other notable publications. A native of the Windy City, she earned a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Get to know more about Denise and her stories at www.denisenwheatley.com . 1. How did you become a writer? I’ve always been passionate about books and st