Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library

Rochelle Alers has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today's most prolific and popular African American authors of romance and women's fiction.

With more than eighty titles and nearly two million copies of her novels in print, Ms. Alers is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, regularly chosen by Black Expressions Book Club, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award.

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Rochelle AlersRead: The Beach House Website: https://rochellealers.org/ Twitter: @rochellealers

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

Willow Branch Library sits in a corner of Willow Branch Park, a popular location for local musicians during the late 1960s to develop and expand their audience. Named after the "Human Be-In," San Francisco's 1967 counterculture celebration, Jacksonville's "be-ins" spawned several notable acts, including the Allman Brothers Band.

In Jacksonville and the Roots of Southern Rock, Michael Ray FitzGerald digs into the history of bands like the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd and how Jacksonville played a role in bringing these bands to a national audience. FitzGerald and Alan Bliss, CEO of the Jacksonville Historical Society, will talk about this and more in this Lit Chat!

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Michael Ray FitzgeraldRead: Jacksonville and the Roots of Southern Rock Website: http://michaelrayfitzgerald.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

Marsha Dean Phelts joined us back in March of 2021 to chat about American Beach and her two books, An American Beach for African Americans and The American Beach Cookbook. Phelts will cover the myths of the beach -- what is the first, the most, the oldest? -- and the informational treasures unearthed there. She will also talk about the women of American Beach, including Miss Martha, Emma Morgan, Beach Lady, Annette Myers, and Hurricane Dora.

Phelts is an American Beach homeowner, a contributor to the Florida Star, and a former librarian with the Jacksonville Public Library. She will be joined in the chat by Felice Franklin of the PRIDE Book Club.

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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

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

Have you ever read a sci-fi or fantasy book and wondered, what kind of a mind thinks up these new worlds? Find out and get a peek inside of one at our Lit Chat with Chuck Wendig!

Chuck Wendig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Star Wars: Aftermath, as well as the Miriam Black thrillers, the Atlanta Burns books, Zer0es/Invasive, Wanderers, and the upcoming The Book of Accidents (July 2021). He's also worked in a variety of other formats, including comics, games, film, and television. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the cowriter of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his books about writing. He lives in Pennsyltucky with his family.

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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

Chuck WendigWebsite: http://terribleminds.com/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ChuckWendig

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

We all know a "Florida Man", but how many of us want to admit to being one? In The Thing About Florida, author Tyler Gillespie takes on the strange people and stories of the Sunshine State from the perspective of a fifth-generation Florida native. Gillespie joins us to talk about what he discovered in his quest to learn more about the state we all call home.

Tyler Gillespie is a fifth-generation Floridian who went to undergrad at the University of Central Florida and did a master's program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. He quarantined with his grandmother in Largo (near Clearwater) for the past year. His Twitter handle is @TylerMTG.

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Taylor AndersonWebsite: https://tylermtg.com/ Twitter: @TylerMTG

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

New York Times Bestseller Taylor Anderson talks about the last book in his Destroyermen series, Winds of Wrath. The Destroyermen Series follows the crew of the WWI destroyer USS Walker which is mysteriously transported to an alternate version of earth where unfathomable new wars, and embattled new species, pose even greater threats.

Join us to find out how this author, gunsmith, re-enactor, and history professor created an alternate world on the sea.

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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

Taylor AndersonWebsite: https://taylorandersonauthor.com/ Facebook:

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

Jacksonville artist Michael Regina published his first books with Kickstarter money back in 2013, and now his newest book, The Sleepover, is being published by a major imprint. Find out how he achieved this success in our Lit Chat!

Michael Regina has been drawing comics since the third grade, and his passion for art and storytelling has stayed with him his whole life. He studied painting and drawing at the University of North Florida and minored in literature. Michael is also the creator of the Webtoons.com featured comic Adamsville.

When he's not making comics, he loves fishing, begrudgingly rooting for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and spending time with his family. They all live in Jacksonville, Florida.

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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

Michael ReginaWebsite: http://www.michaeleregina.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelregina

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

We sit down with Dawn Wailey and Lindsey Anderson from DCAZ to talk about the Duval Comics and Zine Fest. Originally scheduled for March 28 at the Main Library, the event has been postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. DCAZ will be Jacksonville's first event designed to celebrate regional self-publishers. This free event will offer tabling for self-publishers to showcase their work, bookbinding, zine-making workshops and panel discussions featuring the local creators who helped lay the foundation for Northeast Florida's DIY and self-publishing community.

Hello book friends! We're back with another bonus podcast to chat about new releases you'll ♥ this March.

Brad Meltzer is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle, The Book of Fate, and 10 other bestselling thrillers including The Tenth Justice, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The President's Shadow, and The Escape Artist. Meltzer has books on bestseller lists for nonfiction (The First Conspiracy), advice, children's books, and even comic books, for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award.