Getting to Know Tracy Lawson

Tracy Lawson’s passion for storytelling led her first into the world of dance and educational theater. In a career that has spanned nearly three decades, she has been a dance teacher, a studio owner, and to date has choreographed thirty-two musicals for middle- and high school students. When faced with a mid-life career change spurred by a cross-country move for her husband’s job, Tracy adopted the motto, ‘have laptop, will travel.’ Within a few years, she had achieved a lifelong goal and published her first book, based on the 1838 travel journal of her great-great-great grandfather.

A series of post-apocalyptic novels aimed at young adults and a companion volume to her first nonfiction book followed. Currently Tracy has tapped into another family story for her debut historical fiction. While her body of work may seem varied, the common thread that connects all her books is her characters’ pursuit of individual liberty.

Getting to Know Adam Sass

Adam Sass began writing books in Sharpie on the backs of Starbucks pastry bags. (He’s sorry it distracted him from making your latte.) His debut YA novel, Surrender Your Sons, was named a best book of the year by Kirkus and Foreword INDIES, best first novel for young readers by ALA Booklist, and won the Gold Medal for YA Fiction at the IPPY Awards. He even collaborated with Born Perfect, the leading organization fighting conversion therapy, which promoted Surrender Your Sons to raise money for LGBTQ causes. He lives in North Carolina with his husband and dogs.

Selling Books in the Rain

Over the weekend, I sold books at my first in-person event in almost two years. (#ThanksCovid) I’ve been fully vaccinated for almost two months, so I loaded my car with plenty of books and hand sanitizer, snacks for the long day, and the blurb for my newest book tripping through my head. Despite being out of practice telling people about my book, I was excited. Never mind the torrential rain forecasted for the weekend — I was going to SELL BOOKS!

Getting to Know Victoria Anders

Book designer by day and writer by night, Victoria Anders lives in the world of books. And she feels extremely blessed with that! Originally from Atlanta, this Georgia peach now lives in the land of sunshine and barely a winter just north of Tampa, Florida.

Thanks to her daughter’s escapades in high school (and maybe her own), Victoria loves bringing you tales on the inner workings of the teenage mind. No fantasy or science fiction here. She brings you nothing but contemporary, realistic stories about kids growing up and discovering who they are. Oh, and yeah, there’s always a little bit of love thrown in from every angle.

Book Owl Word Search!

Welcome to the Book Owl Word Search (BOWS)! To play, write down my secret word, then go to the next blog at the bottom of this post. Follow the chain through all the blog posts, collect the other authors’ secret words, then enter your answers on the official form to be entered to win all the books shown! There are two other colored word searches, so you can enter up to three contests!

Getting to Know Judy Corry

Judy Corry is the USA Today Bestselling Author of YA and Contemporary Romance. She writes romance because she can’t get enough of the feeling of falling in love. She’s known for writing heart-pounding kisses, endearing characters, and hard-won happily ever afters. She lives in Southern Utah with the boy who took her to Prom, their four rambunctious children and a dog. She’s addicted to love stories, dark chocolate and notebooks.

Getting to Know Cody Wagner

Cody is the award-winning author of LGBTQ+ trilogy, The Gay Teen’s Guide to Defeating a Siren. The series has garnered much acclaim, and is a Readers’ Favorite Book Award Winner, LA Book Festival Award Winner, and New England Book Festival Winner. Book 1 was awarded The National Indie Excellence Award, 1st Place for LGBTQ for Children & Young Adults. Cody believes in his series, which tackles coming out, bullying, math, and sirens with superpowers. The usual stuff. He’s handing out cookie dough to anyone who grabs a copy (okay, maybe not). Cody is currently working on a YA contemporary novel that should be completed this summer (woot!).

After ‘The End’

One thing writers love more than actually writing is giving advice about writing (and then not following that advice) and the MOST IMPORTANT THING I’ve always heard is that after you finish a first draft, you must put it away.

Getting to Know Jen Lowry

Jen Lowry is North Carolina born and raised, still holding on to that country slang that is unique to the small town of Maxton she loves so much in Robeson County. She an avid enthusiast of all things horror, UFC, and binge-watches old episodes of The Mentalist. She finds herself comfier in a pair of pajamas and would make all public appearances in them if she could get away with it. When she isn’t literacy coaching or teaching English at the high school, author coaching, or homeschooling her son, she can be found napping or reading more than one book at a time.

Getting to Know Lisa Brown Roberts

Lisa Brown Roberts’ attempts to write serious literary fiction to impress peers and professors failed spectacularly, nearly destroyed her sense of humor, but eventually led to writing romantic comedies. Lisa lights her Jane Austen candle every day in gratitude for this miracle. 

Her novels The Bookworm Crush, The Replacement Crush, and more, feature adorkable teens navigating family, friendship, and first love, and have earned praise from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and the School Library Journal. Lisa loves hearing from readers who stay up all night reading her books, and blame her for their book hangovers.