Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library

Mia P. Manansala is a writer and book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.

She is the winner of the 2018 Hugh Holton Award, the 2018 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the 2017 William F. Deeck - Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, and the 2016 Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy Scholarship. She's also a 2017 Pitch Wars alum and 2018-2020 mentor.

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Mia P. Manansala

Borrow Mia's Tita Rosie's Kitchen series from our catalog Website: miapmanansala.com Twitter: @MPMtheWriter

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: jaxpubliclibrary.org Twitter: twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: facebook.com/JaxLibrary Instagram: instagram.com/jaxlibrary YouTube: youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: jplpromotions (at) coj.net

Debora G. De Farias graduated in Dentistry from the University of Brasilia, followed by a Master Degree in Health Sciences. She also obtained her equivalent D.D.S degree from the University of Florida, when she moved to the United States in 2001. Debora is passionate about her health career, literature and arts. An avid reader since the age of four, she grew up surrounded by books, fascinated especially by the true stories of those unknown heroes and heroines that are part of our history. This is one of the main reasons she began the writing journey with her first historical novel, Standing Tall. Debora lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with her husband Toan Nguyen and their son Andrew. When not writing, reading, painting or promoting beautiful smiles, Debora can be found traveling, hiking, or simply wandering around with her family and friends, always with a camera in her hands.

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Debora De Farias

Read: Borrow Standing Tall from our catalog Website: defariasbooksandarts.com

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: jaxpubliclibrary.org Twitter: twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: facebook.com/JaxLibrary Instagram: instagram.com/jaxlibrary YouTube: youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: jplpromotions (at) coj.net

Dive into the "weird, wonderful, and obscure" parts of Jacksonville history, including Willowbranch Park's role in LGBTQ+ and music history and the Main Library's collection of Le Moyne-DeBry Fort Caroline engravings.

Bill Delaney is a writer, editor and higher education professional from Jacksonville whose work focuses on the culture and history of the First Coast. He is co-owner and editor of the publications Modern Cities, TheJaxsonMag.com and Edible Northeast Florida Magazine. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of North Florida.

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Bill DelaneyRead: Secret Jacksonville in the Library Catalog Twitter: @tacachale Website: The Jaxson Mag

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net

In The Girl from Blind River, Gale Massey presents a thriller about a young woman trying to protect and escape her family at the same time. In Rising and Other Stories, she digs deep into the everyday lives of women overcoming obstacles. Join us for a chat with Gale Massey about these stories and her writing process! Gale Massey's debut novel, The Girl from Blind River, received a 2018 Florida Book Award and was a finalist for the Clara Johnson award. Her work has appeared in Lambda Literary, CutBank, CrimeReads, Sabal, the Tampa Bay Times, SawPalm, and the forthcoming Tampa Bay Noir. Gale was a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers Conference, a fellow at Writers in Paradise, and has served as a panel judge for the Lamdba Literary Awards. She has been nominated for a Pushcart prize in both fiction and nonfiction. She is currently working on her second novel.

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Gale MasseyRead: Library Catalog Website: https://galemassey.com/

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net

USA Today-bestselling author Sherry Thomas decided that her goal in life is to write every kind of book she enjoys reading. Thus far she has published romance, fantasy, mystery, and a wuxia-inspired duology. Her books regularly receive starred reviews and best-of-the-year honors from trade publications, including such outlets as the New York Times and National Public Radio. She is also a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA® Award. Sherry immigrated from China at age 13 and English is her second language.

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Sherry ThomasRead: Library Catalog Twitter: @sherrythomas Website: https://www.sherrythomas.com/

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net

Historian and author Leslie Kemp Poole will discuss her research on Florida women's roles in the state's environmental movement, the topic of her book Saving Florida: Women's Fight for the Environment in the Twentieth Century.

Jacksonville Public Library + MOCA(Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville) present Art & Conversations, a series of innovative programs focused on literacy and the arts. In this series, the Jacksonville Public Library and MOCA collaborate to provide the community access to a rich set of resources by partnering an educational library program with a museum exhibition.

This series of programs centers around MOCA's current exhibition, Structure of Nature | Nature of Structure by Jacksonville artist Doug Eng. His art and advocacy highlights the need to preserve our endangered wetlands and forests in Northeast Florida.

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Leslie Kemp PooleRead: Library Catalog Website: https://www.lesliekemppoole.com

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net

Join Keith Ashley and Denise Bossy from the University of North Florida as they discuss Jacksonville's indigenous history and share research tips! Ashley and Bossy will debunk some major myths about the indigenous communities of Northeast Florida and share research tips to those interested in conducting their own research.

Dr. Keith Ashley is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Florida (UNF) and is UNF's Archaeology Lab Director. His research focuses on the cultures and histories of the indigenous peoples of southeastern North America, with a special interest in Northeast Florida.

Dr. Denise Bossy is an Associate Professor of History at the University of North Florida. Bossy specializes in cross-cultural relations between Indians, Europeans, and Africans in the early South. Her current research specializes specifically with the Yamasee Indians of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. One of her current book projects include The Yamasee Indians: A New History of the Early South.

Ashley and Bossy are currently co-writing a book titled Heca Utimile/Our Land: The Indigenous History of Northeast Florida.

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Keith AshleyRead: Late Prehistoric Florida: Archaeology at the Edge of the Mississippian World, edited by Keith Ashley

Denise BossyThe Yamassee: From Florida to South Carolina, edited by Denise Bossy

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net

Deesha Philyaw is the author of the debut short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (West Virginia University Press, 2020), which won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 2020/2021 Story Prize, and a 2020 LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; the collection was also a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. She is also the author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband.

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Sign Up for Library U to hear about the latest Lit Chats and catch them live! — https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/library-u-enrollment 

Deesha Philyaw
Read: Library Catalog
Website: https://www.deeshaphilyaw.com/ 
Twitter: @DeeshaPhilyaw

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 (at) coj.net

Kristen Arnett's novels and short stories explore queer life and life in Florida, combining the two with her signature dark humor. Join us to chat with the New York Times bestselling author about the stories that motivate her to write, what she's learned from writing, and more!

Kristen Arnett is the author of With Teeth: A Novel and the New York Times bestselling debut novel Mostly Dead Things, which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction. She is a queer fiction and essay writer. Her work has appeared at The New YorkTimes, The Cut, Oprah Magazine, Guernica, Buzzfeed, McSweeneys, PBS Newshour, The Guardian, Salon, and elsewhere. Her next book (an untitled collection of short stories) will be published by Riverhead Books. She has a Masters in Library and Information Science from Florida State University and currently lives in Miami, Florida.

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Kristen ArnettRead: Kristen's Books in the Library Catalog Website: https://www.kristenarnettwriter.com/ Twitter: @Kristen_Arnett

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net

Interested in learning more about authors from your community? What is their writing process and what inspires them? Learn more at Lit Chat with Therese Tappouni, who will talk about her book, Caught Between Worlds. Tappouni will be joined with moderator Stacey Horan, a local author and podcaster. Both authors reside in Jacksonville and are passionate about living creatively and helping others through their writing.

Therese Tappouni is a native of Springfield, Illinois, she attended Hillsborough Community College, the University of Florida, and studied writing at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, USF, and Eckerd College. Her passion arises from being a mother to six and a grandmother of three. She is the founder of the company Whole Heart, which is dedicated to helping people live a balanced, loving, and creative life.

Stacey Horan is our moderator for this Lit Chat. Prior to becoming a writer, Horan was a corporate lawyer and used writing as a creative outlet. Eventually, she became a full-time writer of young adult books. After experiencing book festivals and author discussions, she was inspired to start her podcast, The Bookshop at the End of the Internet.

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Sign Up for Library U to hear about the latest Lit Chats and catch them live! — https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/library-u-enrollment

Therese TappouniRead: Caught Between Worlds Website: https://www.theresetappouni.com/ Twitter: @thereseta

Stacey Horan Read: Sycamore Lane Website: http://www.staceyhoran.com/ Twitter: @staceyleehoran

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: 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 (at) coj.net