Jessica Q. Stark is the author of Buffalo Girl (BOA Editions, forthcoming April 2023), Savage Pageant (Birds, LLC, 2020) and four poetry chapbooks, including INNANET (The Offending Adam, 2021). Savage Pageant was named one of the “Best Books of 2020” in The Boston Globe and in Hyperallergic. Her poetry has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in Best American Poetry, Poetry Society of America, Pleiades, The Southeast Review, Carolina Quarterly, The Boiler, Tupelo Quarterly, Glass Poetry Jour ..read more

Aaron Woodson is a Florida-based military combat veteran who has served in the US Air Force and US Air National Guard for over 15 years. He began his military career participating in military campaigns such as Operation Iraqi Freedom and Inherent Resolve. At a very young age, Aaron began to nurture an interest in and passion for poetry. He began to write poems at school and his love for writing grew so deep that he told his parents that someday he would publish his own book. Having moved to Jacksonville in 2016, he decided to finish up his now-completed book, The Face of Expression ..read more

Christopher Gorham is a lawyer and teacher of modern American history at Westford Academy, outside Boston. He has degrees in history from Tufts University and the University of Michigan, where he studied under legendary historian Sidney Fine. Gorham has a J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law, where he served on the editorial staff of the Syracuse Law Review. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post and in online journals. Interviewer Kelsi Hasden is an adjunct professor of composition at the University of North Florida and Florida State College a ..read more

Tommy Orange is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel There There, a multi-generational, relentlessly paced story about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. There There was one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year, and won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Pen/Hemingway Award. There There was also longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Orange graduated from the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian A ..read more

Deborah Goodrich Royce’s thrillers examine puzzles of identity. Ruby Falls won the Zibby Award for Best Plot Twist in 2021 and Finding Mrs. Ford was hailed by Forbes, Book Riot, and Good Morning America’s “best of” lists in 2019. She began as an actress on All My Children and in multiple films, before transitioning to the role of story editor at Miramax Films, developing Emma and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time. With her husband, Chuck, Deborah restored the Avon Theatre, Ocean House Hotel, Deer Mountain ..read more

Kristy Cambron is a vintage-inspired storyteller writing from the space where art, history, and faith intersect. She’s a Christy Award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling novels, The Butterfly and the Violin and The Paris Dressmaker. Her work has been named to Cosmopolitan’s Best Historical Fiction Novels of 2021, Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, INSPY Award nominations, received a 2020 Christy Award for her novel, The Painted Castle, and is a 2022 Carol Award ..read more

Valerie Bowman’s debut novel was published in 2012. Since then, her books have received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus. She’s been an RT Reviewers’ Choice nominee for Best First Historical Romance and Best Historical Romance Love and Laughter. Two of her books have been nominated for the Kirkus Prize for fiction. Valerie grew up in Illinois with six sisters (she’s number seven) and a huge supply of historical romance novels. After a cold and snowy stint earning a degree in English Language and Literature with a minor in history at Smith College, she moved to Flor ..read more

Madeline Martin is a New York Times and international bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance. She lives in sunny Florida with her two daughters, two incredibly spoiled cats and a husband so wonderful he's been dubbed Mr. Awesome. She is a die-hard history lover who will happily lose herself in research any day. When she's not writing, researching or 'moming', you can find her spending time with her family at Disney or sneaking a couple spoonfuls of Nutella while laughing over cat videos. She also loves travel, attributing her fascination with history to having spent mo ..read more

In her self-published novel, Seen, Julie G. Delegal takes a story straight from Jacksonville’s headlines and tells a fictional version that explores a similar event from two perspectives. Join us to chat with Julie about the process of fictionalizing true events and how she was inspired to write this novel! Julie G. Delegal is a freelance journalist and author who lives in Jacksonville. Her novel, Seen, earned the 2022 Independent Book Awards Gold Medal (IPPY) for best fiction in the Southeast region. For ten years, Julie covered education and other topics for Folio Weekly ..read more

Chris Barton and Alton Yates in conversation with local educator TiLena Robinson discussing Chris's book Moving Forward, a nonfiction children's book about Alton's roles in Space Age military experiments and in Jacksonville's 1960 civil rights sit-ins that culminated in Ax Handle Saturday.  Chris Barton is the author of picture books including bestseller Shark vs. Train, Fire Truck vs. Dragon, Sibert Honor-winning The Day-Glo Brothers, and Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, which has been included on 21 state reading lists. His new books in 2021 and 2022 include ..read more