Blue Bicycle Books

Join us Thurs., May 4, 5:30 pm as local authors, and College of Charleston professors, Lindsey Drager and Anthony Varallo will give readings from their new books.

Lindsey Drager is the author of The Sorrow Proper (Dzanc, 2015), winner of the 2016 Binghamton University / John Gardner Fiction Award. Originally from Michigan, she is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the College of Charleston, where she teaches in the MFA program in fiction. Her work has been published in prominent venues including Web Conjunctions, Gulf Coast, West Branch Wired, Black Warrior Review, Cream City Review, Quarterly West, and Kenyon Review Online.

Her new novel, The Lost Daughter Collective (Dzanc, pb., 176 pp., $16), is a gothic fairy tale fusing the fabulism of Donald Barthelme and Ben Marcus with the language play of Rikki Ducornet and Jenny Offill.

Anthony Varallo is the author of three previous short-story collections: This Day in History (University of Iowa Press), winner of the John Simmons Short Fiction Award and Finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize; Out Loud (University of Pittsburgh Press), winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize; and Think of Me and I’ll Know (TriQuarterly Books).

His latest, Everyone Was There (Elixir Press, pb., 164 pp., $19), will be released in May.

Anthony has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Literature, and his stories have appeared in over seventy literary magazines and journals. He joined the Department of English at the College of Charleston in 2005 and serves as Fiction Editor of Crazyhorse.

Join us Wed., April 19, 5:00 pm as Katie Ashley discusses and signs copies of her book Living Life on Purpose.

Anyone looking to create a future that is not defined by their past will find refuge in this book. Living Life on Purpose proves how far people can progress in one lifetime when they rebel against fate and follow their heart to find a spiritual purpose. Katie provides a roadmap for readers to engage with one of life’s most important questions: How can I feel happy no matter my experience? Katie shows you how to work through your biggest challenges to be the one guiding your soul’s ship. When you finish reading, you’ll realize you had the power to actualize your life all along. You just needed the tools to see more clearly.

Katie Ashley is a mentor, yoga teacher, positive body image activist and the author of Living Life On Purpose – a collection of essays, stories, and timeless teachings from a modern perspective. She lives and teaches in Charleston, and serves students worldwide via her mentoring practice, workshops and upcoming retreats.

Join us Fri., April 21, 12 pm for lunch at High Cotton (199 East Bay St.), as Paul Starobin discusses his new book Madness Rules the Hours (Public Affairs, hb., 296 pp., $27). Tickets are $31 for the three-course luncheon and talk, or $47 with a signed copy of the book.

Get tickets here.

In Madness Rules the Hour, Paul Starobin tells the story of how Charleston succumbed to a fever for war. He examines the wily propagandists, the ambitious politicians, the gentlemen merchants and their wives and daughters, the compliant pastors, and the white workingmen who waged a violent and exuberant revolution in the name of slavery and Southern independence. They devoured the Mercury, the incendiary newspaper run by a fanatical father and son; made holy the deceased John C. Calhoun; and adopted “Le Marseillaise” as a rebellious anthem. A portrait of a culture in crisis, Madness Rules the Hour is an insightful investigation into the folly that fractured the Union and started the Civil War.

Join us Sat., April 8, 5 pm when our YALLFest friends Margaret Stohl and Gwenda Bond will be stopping by to talk and sign copies of their books. Margaret’s newest novel, Royce Rolls (Free Form, hb., 400 pp., $18), is set to be released this Tuesday.

Margaret Stohl is the #1 New York Times best-selling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series. She is also the author of the instant best-seller Black Widow: Forever Red, and its sequel Black Widow: Red Vengeance. Growing up in the shadow of Hollywood, Margaret spent her adolescence crank-calling Harrison Ford, and waving to Starline Tours buses as they stopped to take pictures of her P.E. class at Mulholland Hall, where she first met Bentley Royce.

Gwenda Bond writes YA and children’s fiction. Her novels include the Lois Lane series (Fallout, Double Down), which bring the iconic comic book character front and center in her own YA novels, and the Cirque American series (Girl on a Wire, Girl Over Paris, Girl in the Shadows), about daredevil heroines who discover magic and mystery lurking under the big top. She and her husband author Christopher Rowe will launch a middle grade series, the Supernormal Sleuthing Service, in 2017, and Lois Lane: Triple Threat will be released.

Purchase a copy of his new book and come see Charlamagne Tha God, Sunday, Apr. 22, 12 noon, at PURE Theatre, 477 King St. This is the official Charleston book release of Black Privilege, by the Lowcountry native, co-host of the iHeartRadio program The Breakfast Club and MTV personality.

General admission to the event is included with advance purchase of a signed copy of Black Privilege from Blue Bicycle Books.

Charlamagne will be in conversation with ABC News 4’s Tessa Spencer, as he shares his eight principles to unlocking your God-given privilege.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Books will be distributed at the door. Charlamagne Tha God will personalize books after the event. No posed photos, please.

In Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It, Charlamagne presents his comic, often controversial, and always brutally honest insights on how living an authentic life is the quickest path to success. Beginning with his journey from Moncks Corner, S.C., to his headline-grabbing interviews with celebrities like Kanye West, Kevin Hart, Malcolm Gladwell, Lena Dunham, Jay Z, and Hillary Clinton, this book will share how he turned his troubled early life around by taking ownership of his many mistakes and refusing to give up.

Combining his fundamental keys to success and happiness with his signature commitment to honesty, Black Privilege will empower you with the confidence to live your own truths.

General admission to the event is included with advance purchase of a signed copy of Black Privilege from Blue Bicycle Books.

For more information please call Blue Bicycle Books at 843-722-2666.

Tessa Spencer is a 27 year broadcast veteran. She currently co-hosts “Good Morning Charleston” on ABC News 4 and is the mid-day radio personality on WMGL FM in Charleston, SC. The US Army veteran is also the “voice” of the nationally syndicated gospel “Stellar Awards.”