Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library Jacksonville Public Library

Sohrab Homi Fracis’s new book of North Florida and elsewhere stories, True Fiction, won the 2023 International Book Award for story collections. American Book Award winner Rilla Askew says of it: "True Fiction is a tour de force." Fracis is the first Asian American author to win the Iowa Short Fiction Award, described by the New York Times Book Review as "among the most prestigious literary prizes America offers," for his first book, Ticket to Minto: Stories of India and America. Publishers Weekly called it "A reminder of how satisfying the short story form can be...the work of an impressive new talent." 
His novel, Go Home, was shortlisted by Stanford University Libraries for the William Saroyan International Prize. Singapore Poetry described it as “newly poignant and even heartbreaking.” He taught literature and creative writing at University of North Florida. He was Twin Cities Visiting Writer in Residence at Augsburg College and Artist in Residence at Yaddo. He received the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature/Fiction. The South Asian Literary Association bestowed on him its Distinguished Achievement Award.
Interviewer Michelle Lizet Flores is a graduate of FSU and NYU creative writing programs. She currently works as a teacher and co-hosts the What's in a Verse Poetry Open Mic in Jacksonville, FL. She has previously been published in magazines and journals such as The Miami Rail, Chircú Journal, and Travel Latina. A finalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Award for Poetry, she is the author of the chapbooks Cuentos from the Swamp and Memoria, as well as the picture book, Carlito the Bat Learns to Trick or Treat. Her short fiction can be found in the anthology, Places We Build in the Universe through Flowersong Press. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Invasive Species, is forthcoming through Finishing Line Press. Find out more at michellelizetflores.com.
READ Check out Sohrab's work from the library! https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=sohrab+homi+fracis&te=
SOHRAB RECOMMENDS In addition to books and movies, I also love music and sports. Lately my Spotify playlists center around contemporary folk rock by such musicians as The Paper Kites, Birdtalker, Plains, Ondara, Bonny Light Horseman, and River Whyless. Some of my characters are aspiring musicians, as in "Open Mic," the first story in True Fiction.
Playing college sports in India taught me to hang in there when things were going wrong and then to turn them around. I still follow professional tennis and not long ago watched stars such as Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Venus Williams live at the Miami Open. I'm excited about the resurgent Jacksonville Jaguars. Go Jags! I see sportsmen as contemporary gladiators. Having been one helped me write the battlefield combat scene in True Fiction's concluding/signature novelette, "The Legend of Rostam and Sohrab," based on my ancient-Persian naming legend.
---
Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 
Jacksonville Public Library
Website: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl
Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

Tracey Enerson Wood loves discovering amazing women whose stories have been lost to history and bringing them to life for today’s readers. 
Her debut novel, The Engineer’s Wife, historical fiction about the woman who built the Brooklyn Bridge, is an international and USA Today bestseller. Her newest book, The President’s Wife, is centered on Edith Bolling Wilson, the second wife of Woodrow Wilson. She is sometimes described as America's first woman President because of the role she played after the President's massive stroke in October 1919.
Tracey has always had a writing bug. While working as a Registered Nurse, starting her own Interior Design company, raising two children, and bouncing around the world as a military wife, she indulged in her passion as a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She has authored magazine columns and other non-fiction, written and directed plays of all lengths, including Grits, Fleas and Carrots, Rocks and Other Hard Places, Alone, and Fog. Her screenplays include Strike Three and Roebling’s Bridge.
Other passions include food and cooking, and honoring military heroes. A New Jersey native, she now lives with her family in Florida.
Interviewer Jessica Hatch has a passion for writing laugh-out-loud fiction with a strong-beating heart. Her first novel, My Big Fake Wedding, debuted at #1 on Amazon’s “Humorous American Literature” charts in August 2022. It went on to be a Lonely Victories Best Book of 2022, and her follow-up, How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days, was a BookLovr pick for spring 2023.
Jessica has worked in book publishing since 2013. She has had bylines published in Writer’s Digest, The Millions, and G*Mob Magazine, among others, and she is a proud alumna of the Mors Tua Vita Mea workshop in Sezze Romano, Italy. Before being acquired by Bookouture, her debut novel won a pitch slam at the Brooklyn Book Festival in 2018 and was workshopped by acclaimed author Rumaan Alam at Aspen Summer Words in 2019.
Jessica was born outside of Richmond, Virginia, and now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with her bartender husband, Paul, and their three cats. When she is not writing, you can find her jogging on the Riverwalk or planning her next international trip. Say hello on Instagram at @JessicaNHatch.
Prepare for the Discussion Check out Tracey's work from the library!
The Library Also Recommends For more excellent historical fiction, try these titles!
The Woman at the Front, by Lecia Cornwall The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray The Social Graces, by Renée Rosen ---
Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 
Jacksonville Public Library
Website: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl
Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 14 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also an on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. National book critics call her “a superb and gifted storyteller”; she’s the only author to win the Agatha in four categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. A story of psychological manipulation exploring the dark heart of marriage and friendship, her newest page-turning standalone thriller, The House Guest, has been dubbed "Gaslight meets Thelma & Louise."
Hank is also the host of Crime Time on A Mighty Blaze and co-host of First Chapter Fun and The Back Room. She is a past president of National Sisters in Crime. Visit Hank at HankPhillippiRyan.com, Twitter @HankPRyan, Instagram @hankpryan and Facebook at HankPhillippiRyanAuthor. 
On Surprises and Suprise Endings









You can also check out Hank on Crime Time, First Chapter Fun, and The Back Room.
Interviewer Michael Wiley’s new novel is The Long Way Out, featuring Franky Dast, an exonerated ex-con who investigates a series of murders in Northeast Florida. Michael is also the author of three mystery and detective series, including the Shamus Award-winning Joe Kozmarski books, the Daniel Turner thrillers, and, most recently, the Sam Kelson PI novels, which are currently in development for television. His short stories appear often in magazines and anthologies, including Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022. 
Read Check out all of Hank's books from the library! - https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=AUTHOR%3D%22hank+phillippi+ryan%22&te= 
The Library Recommends Read similar books from other authors, including:
The Wife by Alafair Burke The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager






---
Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 
Jacksonville Public Library
Website: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl
Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

Deb Rogers' novel Florida Woman was published in July 2022 by Hanover Square Press, an imprint of HarperCollins. Called "a bewitching debut" by Publisher's Weekly, Florida Woman was featured as an Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association. Deb has lived and traveled throughout Florida working as an educator, policymaker and victim advocate, and she now lives on the Atlantic side of the state in the very haunted and very beautiful town of St. Augustine. While she'd love to stumble upon hidden pirate treasure along the coast someday, her daily obsessions tend to be thriller and heist movies, word puzzles, licorice, Florida manatees, and, of course, monkeys. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @debontherocks, or learn more on her website debrogersauthor.com.
Interviewer Kay Huggins is a creative, the owner of Aphelion Editing and Consulting, and the host of the Raindrop Corner Podcast. As a longtime resident of Jacksonville, Florida, they have sought to support local artistry, foster thought-provoking content, and aid in human rights advocacy. Kay is an English major with a concentration in psychology. For over a decade, their life has been dazzled with project management, technology industries, logistics, editing, writing, and production. Through the intersectionality of Kay’s craft, they aim to champion the community by providing a platform to marginalized groups. Currently, Kay is writing their debut novel and enjoying leisure moments with their fur babies.
READ
Jamie is a Florida Woman. She grew up on the beach, thrives in humidity, has weathered more hurricanes than she can count, and now, after going viral for an outrageous crime she never meant to commit in the first place, she has the requisite headline to her name. But when the chance comes for her to escape viral infamy and imminent jail time by taking a community service placement at Atlas, a shelter for rescued monkeys, it seems like just the fresh start Jamie needs to finally get her life back on track — until it’s not.
Something sinister stirs in the palmetto woods surrounding her cabin, and secrets lurk among the three beguiling women who run the shelter and affectionately take Jamie under their wing for the summer.
Check out Deb's work from the library! -- https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=deb+rogers&te= 
"Florida Woman ushers in a new talent who knows the quirkiness of the Sunshine State." – Sun Sentinel
DEB RECOMMENDS Learn about the origins of Central Florida's monkey problem by reading The Bitter Southerner's well-researched article: “Who Knew Monkeys Could Swim” by Jordan Blumetti. Visit the Florida Museum of Natural History and take a walk through our state's past, beginning in the Eocene epoch (when Florida was underwater).  Read some of Deb's favorite books that are set in Florida including The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, Lightwood by Steph Post and Swamplandia!( by Karen Russell. ---
Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 
Jacksonville Public Library
Website: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl
Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

Beatriz Williams is the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of Our Woman in Moscow, The Summer Wives, Her Last Flight, The Golden Hour, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, A Hundred Summers, and several other works of historical fiction, including four novels in collaboration with fellow bestselling authors Karen White and Lauren Willig. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before her first novel was published in 2012. Beatriz’s books have won numerous awards, have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the world.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Beatriz now lives near the Connecticut shore with her husband and four children, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.
Reviews "Williams’ particular gift as a writer is peeling back the pages of history to breathe life into the interior lives of women — how they lived, loved, and lost within the expectations and limitations of their time." — Entertainment Weekly
"I think Williams is writing the best historical fiction out there. It's lush with period detail but feels immediate." — Elin Hilderbrand
Interviewer Jessica Hatch has a passion for writing laugh-out-loud fiction with a strong-beating heart. Her first novel, My Big Fake Wedding debuted at #1 on Amazon’s “Humorous American Literature” charts in August 2022. It went on to be a Lonely Victories Best Book of 2022, and her follow-up, How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days, was a BookLovr pick for spring 2023. 
Before being acquired by Bookouture, her debut novel won a pitch slam at the Brooklyn Book Festival in 2018 and was workshopped by acclaimed author Rumaan Alam at Aspen Summer Words in 2019.
Jessica has worked in book publishing since 2013. She has had bylines published in Writer’s Digest, The Millions, and G*Mob Magazine, among others, and she is a proud alumna of the Mors Tua Vita Mea workshop in Sezze Romano, Italy.
Jessica was born outside of Richmond, Virginia, and now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with her bartender husband, Paul, and their three cats. When she is not writing, you can find her jogging on the Riverwalk or planning her next international trip. Say hello on Instagram at @JessicaNHatch.
Reading Recommendations Check out Beatriz's historical fiction from the library!
---
Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 
Jacksonville Public Library
Website: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl
Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

In resistance to the homogenous policies that limited the possibility and wonder that grows from the earth, Dungy employs the various plants, herbs, vegetables, and flowers she grows in her garden as metaphor and treatise for how homogeneity threatens the future of our planet, and why cultivating diverse and intersectional language in our national discourse about the environment is the best means of protecting it.
Camille T. Dungy is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Trophic Cascade, winner of the Colorado Book Award. She is also the author of the essay collections Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden and Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood and History, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dungy has also edited anthologies including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry and From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great. A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, her honors include NEA Fellowships in poetry (2003) and prose (2018), an American Book Award, two NAACP Image Award nominations, and two Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominations. Dungy’s poems have been published in Best American Poetry, The 100 Best African American Poems, the Pushcart Anthology, Best American Travel Writing, and over thirty other anthologies. She is University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University.
Interviewer Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy award winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black & Published podcast. Her latest novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree was acquired by Scout Press and will be published in 2025. A Chicago native, Nikesha is a columnist with JAX Today. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, ESSENCE, and VOX. She lives in Florida with her family.
READ Check out Camille’s work from the library: https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=camille+dungy&te=
---
Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 
Jacksonville Public Library
Website: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl
Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net