BBB Author Series

Patti Callahan Henry at Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series July 13 at High Cotton

Join us Thursday, July 13 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series Luncheon at High Cotton with NY Times best selling author Patti Callahan Henry to celebrate the launch of her new novel The Bookshop at Water's End.

Registration begins at 11:30 AM and a lovely three-course lunch will be served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author. In addition to three creative courses by High Cotton, the bar will feature specialty cocktails and wines.

Tickets for this fun event are $49 for lunch with Patti and a signed, paperback copy of her newest book.

Click here to purchase your tickets.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Prologue: Mimi the Bookseller. We are defined by the moods and whims of a wild tidal river surrounding our small town, cradling us in its curved basin. We don't shape it; it shapes us. The gray-blue water brings us what it will and only when it desires.

One sweltering, languid afternoon as I shelved dusty paperbacks, I looked up to see a ghost. The girl was the spitting image of a woman I knew years ago, too many summers ago to count. It could have been another whim of the river.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling author of Between the Tides; Where the River Runs; When Light Breaks; Between the Tides; The Art of Keeping Secrets; Driftwood Summer; The Perfect Love Song: A Holiday Story; Coming up for Air; And Then I Found You; The Stories We Tell; The Idea of Love and The Bookshop at Waters End (July 2017).

A finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, an Indie Next Pick and OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Novel of the Year, Patti is published in nine languages. Her articles and essays have appeared in Southern Living, PINK, Writers Digest, Birmingham Magazine and more.

Cait Lineberry and Michael Boulware Moore at Charleston Author Series Friday 6/23

Join us Friday, June 23 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series luncheon at High Cotton, as we welcome Bestselling author Cate Lineberry for a discussion of her latest book, Be Free or Die.

"A stunning tale of a little-known figure in history. Robert Smalls' astounding heroism during the Civil War helped convince Lincoln and the country that African Americans were extraordinarily capable of fighting for their freedom," wrote Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Professor in American History at Harvard University and Executive Producer of Finding Your Roots.

 

Click here to purchase tickets.

ABOUT THE BOOK

It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a twenty-three-year-old enslaved man named Robert Smalls boldly seized a Confederate steamer.

With his wife and two young children hidden onboard, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbor and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces.

Smalls' courageous and ingenious act freed him and his family from slavery and immediately made him a Union hero. It also challenged much of the country's view of what African Americans were willing to do for their freedom.

In Be Free or Die, Cate Lineberry tells the remarkable story of Smalls' escape and his many accomplishments during the war, including becoming the first black captain of an Army vessel. In a particularly poignant moment, Smalls even bought the home that he and his mother had once served in as house slaves.

Be Free or Die is a compelling narrative that illuminates Robert Smalls' amazing journey from slave to Union hero and ultimately United States Congressman. It also gives fascinating insight and knowledge into the country's first efforts to help newly freed slaves while also illustrating the many struggles and achievements of African Americans during the war.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Be Free or Die is Cate Lineberry's second book. Cate is a journalist and the author of "The Secret Rescue," a No. 1 Wall Street Journal e-book bestseller and a finalist for the Edgar and Anthony Awards.

Lineberry was previously a staff writer and editor for National Geographic and the web editor for Smithsonian Magazine. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times. She lives in Raleigh, NC. 

Michael Boulware Moore, CEO of the International African American Museum will participate in the conversation, an interview format led by Emmy Award Winning Journalist Pamela Graham Anderson. Moore is the great, great grandson of Robert Smalls and CEO of the International African American Museum.   

Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author. There is a cash bar for your enjoyment.

High Cotton is located at 199 East Bay Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street.

Lowcountry Favorite and NY Times Bestseller Mary Alice Monroe Introduces Beach House For Rent Tuesday June 20th at High Cotton

Join us Tuesday, June 20th at High Cotton for the next Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series. 

 

Enjoy a lovely three-course luncheon at one of Charleston's finest restaurants, High Cotton, and meet the bestselling author, Mary Alice Monroe. You'll also hear about one of Mary Alice's passions, Aububon South Carolina, who will bring a little bookmark for each guest. Raffle tickets will benefit Audubon, as will ticket sales. We love shorebirds!

 

Click here for tickets.

Two women. One summer. One very special house.

Two women from different generations are bound together by a beloved beach house. Cara Rutledge, 50, rents her quaint beach house on Isle of Palms to Heather Wyatt, 26, for the summer. Heather's anxiety keeps her indoors with her caged canaries until the shorebirds-and a man who rescues them-lure her out to the beach. As the summer progresses and Heather's heart opens to the rhythms of the island, Cara's life reels with sudden tragedy. When their worlds shift like the sand under their feet these two very different women come together to discover their common bonds and unique strengths. So at summer's end they, like the migrating shorebirds that come to the island every summer, too, can take flight.

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe found her true calling in environmental fiction when she moved to coastal South Carolina. Already a successful author, she was captivated by the beauty and fragility of her new home. Her experiences living in the midst of a habitat that was quickly changing gave her a strong and important focus for her novels.

Mary Alice Monroe writes richly textured books that delve into the complexities of interpersonal relationships and the parallels between the land and life. Monroe's novels are published worldwide. Monroe’s novel The Beach House will be adapted into a Hallmark Channel Original Movie, starring three-time Golden Globe nominee Andie MacDowell. Read more.

 

Guests will be eligible to participate in an exciting drawing, courtesy of Mary Alice and Audubon. Gifts for the drawing will be a grab bag from Audubon, plus signed copies of The Beach House, Beach House Memories and Swimming Lessons to complete your Beach House Series.

Books are provided by Blue Bicycle Books, an independent bookstore and staple in the downtown Charleston community selling new, used and rare books in the fashionable Upper King Street District.

 

High Cotton is located at 199 East Bay Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author and there is a cash bar for your enjoyment.

Renowned Author Lisa Wingate launches Before We Were Yours June 8 at High Cotton

Join us Thursday, June 8th at High Cotton for the next Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series. Author Lisa Wingate presents her engrossing new novel based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country.

Enjoy a lovely three-course luncheon at one of Charleston's finest restaurants, High Cotton, and meet the bestselling author of the Carolina Heirlooms Novels and Novellas, and so many more.

 

Click here for tickets.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice in this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, for readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale.

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shanty boat. When their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge until strangers arrive in force.

Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Childrens Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents, but they quickly realize that the truth is much darker. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation . . . or redemption.

The story is based on one of Americas most notorious real-life scandals, in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country. Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lisa Wingate is journalist, inspirational speaker, and bestselling author of more than twenty novels. Her work has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Booklovers Reviewers Choice Award. Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa to be a recipient of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, "Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller."

Books are provided by Blue Bicycle, an independent bookstore and staple in the downtown Charleston community selling new, used and rare books in the fashionable Upper King Street District.

High Cotton is located at 199 East Bay Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author and there is a cash bar for your enjoyment.

 

COMING UP June 20th Mary Alice Monroe at High Cotton  Beach House For Rent    June 23rd Cate Lineberry at High Cotton  Be Free or Die, the story of Robert Smalls. Conversation with Michael Boulware Moore. June 27th Mary Alice Monroe in Augusta at Abel Brown Southern Kitchen and Raw Bar Beach House For Rent July 13th Patti C Henry at High Cotton  The Bookshop at Water's End Watch your email, follow  Charleston Author Series on Facebook, or call 843-303-1113 for information.

It's Our Annual "Lunch With Dottie" Friday, May 19. Dine and Chat with Dottie Frank as She Launches "Same Beach, Next Year"

Meet Dottie Frank   Join us Friday, May 19 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Author Series luncheon at Stars Rooftop & Grill Room (495 King St.) with Dorothea Benton Frank. Dottie will talk, entertain and sign copies of her just-released novel, Same Beach, Next Year. In Same Beach, Next Year, NY Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to her magical Lowcountry in this bewitching story of marriage, love, family, and friendship that is infused with her warm and engaging earthy humor and generous heart. This is our annual "Lunch with Dottie", always one of our liveliest and most fun events of the year. (And it will sell out quickly.) Seating is limited. You don't want to miss it! Tickets are only $62 for the author talk, signed, hardback book and delicious buffet luncheon at Stars. Of course, there is a full-service cash bar for your enjoyment. Click here to purchase tickets.   About the Book: One enchanted summer, two couples begin a friendship that will last more than 20 years and transform their lives. A chance meeting on the Isle of Palms, one of Charlestons most stunning barrier islands, brings former sweethearts, Adam Stanley and Eve Landers together again. Their respective spouses, Eliza and Carl, fight sparks of jealousy flaring from their imagined rekindling of old flames. As Adam and Eve get caught up on their lives, their partners strike up a deep friendship and flirt with an unexpected attraction of their own. Year after year, Adam, Eliza, Eve, and Carl eagerly await their reunion at Wild Dunes, a condominium complex at the islands tip end, where they grow closer with each passing day, building a friendship that will withstand financial catastrophe, family tragedy, and devastating heartbreak. The devotion and love they share will help them weather the vagaries of time and enrich their lives as circumstances change, their children grow up and leave home, and their twilight years approach. Bursting with the intoxicating richness of Dorothea Benton Franks beloved Lowcountry, the sultry sunshine, cool ocean breezes, icy cocktails, and starry velvet skies, Same Beach, Next Year is a dazzling celebration of the infrangible power of friendship, the enduring promise of summer, and the indelible bonds of love. About Dottie: "I am the author of 18 novels placed in and around the Lowcountry of South Carolina and thanking God for my chance to speak. When I'm not writing, I'm reading or gardening or cooking. Love to travel, shoot the breeze with people and most of all, be with my husband and children - not always necessarily in that order. And by the way, serious huge gushing thanks for everything - your kind words, posts and emails. Writing saves me, but without your support it wouldn't mean as much." Dottie Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, attended Bishop England High School in Charleston and graduated from General William Moultrie High School in 1969. She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from The College of Charleston and a Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bloomfield College. Her first novel, Sullivans Island, debuted on the NY Times list at number nine and went back to press over 25 times, has well over one million copies in print and can be found in ten foreign languages. Her subsequent novels Plantation, Isle of Palms, Shem Creek, Pawleys Island, Full o Grace, Bulls Island, The Christmas Pearl and Land of Mango Sunsets, Lowcountry Summer, Return to Sullivans Island, Folly Beach, Porch Lights, The Last Original Wife, and All Summer Long were all NY Times bestsellers and may also be found in various foreign languages. Dottie is an avid cook, enjoys fly-fishing, reading and travel and is a frequent speaker on the creative process for students of all ages. She divides her time between the Lowcountry of South Carolina and New Jersey. Tickets are $62 for lunch and a signed hardcover copy of Same Beach, Next Year. Stars Rooftop & Grill Room is located at 495 King Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and the Southern Buffet will begin before noon. There will be a cash bar for your enjoyment.   Click here to purchase tickets. Parking is available at the Visitors Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets, the Camden Exchange Garage between John and Hutson Streets, or at meters on the street.

Patricia Altschul: Date Changed to MAY 18 at High Cotton

Join us Thursday, May 18 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series luncheon with the delightful Patricia Altschul, the surprise breakout star of Bravo's hit reality show Southern Charm, discussing her new book The Art of Southern Charm, an essential lifestyle guide as refreshing and fun as a gin martini. And, we'll have those too.
 

Enjoy a lovely three-course luncheon at one of Charleston's finest restaurants, High Cotton, and hear Patricia in an interview format with Emmy Award Winning Journalist Pamela Graham Anderson.

 

Tickets for this fun event are $31 for lunch, $57 for the luncheon and a signed hardback copy of The Art of Southern Charm, or $88 Luncheon-for-Two that includes two luncheons and one book.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW

 

About the Book:

Fan-favorite Bravo Celebrity Patricia Altschul, from the prime time hit show Southern Charm, finally brings fans her eagerly anticipated opus on etiquette and living a glamorous Southern lifestyle.

Patricia provides advice on every situation, from hosting a memorable cocktail party, to decoding the dress code for any event, to handling a drunken boor at the dinner table, to delivering the perfectly phrased insult like her now iconic "shameless strumpet."

 

The Art of Southern Charm takes readers inside the world of Charleston's most captivating grande dame, who (with Michael the Butler) offers a blue blood's blueprint for curating and celebrating life at its best.

 

About the Author

Patricia Altschul plays the resident madcap grande dame on Southern Charm, Bravos hit reality show. Patricia has earned her status as a preeminent tastemaker. She received her B.A. Magna Cum Laude and her Masters Degree from George Washington University, where she lectured on Art History.

 

She was a highly-successful art advisor who also amassed her own art collection and has been a director or trustee of several nonprofit organizations including the New York Historical Society and Historic Hudson Valley (the Rockefeller Family properties). In 2012 Altschul was given the "Woman of the Year" award by the Police Athletic League of New York City.

 

In 2013 she received a Carolopolis Award from the Preservation Society of Charleston for her renovation of the historic Isaac Jenkins Mikell House. "The preservation work completed is an excellent example of a sensitive approach to maintaining the integrity of one of Charlestons finest pre-Civil War residences."

 

In addition to being an academic and a philanthropist, she has done a life-long tour-of-duty at the top of the social ladder in Washington, D.C., Oyster Bay, and on Manhattan's storied Fifth Avenue, where she observed--and ultimately dictated--modern-day rules of civility. Patricia, who really puts the social in social networking, has a glorious brain, the best legs, a killer sense of humor, and expertly curates every aspect of her life.

 

She has been featured in publications including Vogue, Town & Country, Architectural Digest and People. Wise, cultivated, elegant and funny, Patricia is a consummate hostess and a lifestyle icon whose unique combination of class and sass has endeared her to fans of all ages. Pat quickly became a fan favorite last year and has even drawn the affection of celebrities like Lady Gaga who claimed 'that looking at Patricia is like looking in a mirror.

 

Wear your caftan, order a martini. We're having fun!

 

Look for a special gift from Charleston's favorite gift and wedding registry boutique, Vieuxtemps. 180 King Street.

 

Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author. There is a cash bar for your enjoyment. Click Here for Ticket Information.

 

High Cotton is located at 199 East Bay Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street.

Mary Kay Andrews has a Cookbook! Join Her Friday for Lunch.

MARY KAY ANDREWS HAS A COOKBOOK! Join us Friday, May 5 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series luncheon at High Cotton, with New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews as she releases her first cookbook, The Beach House Cookbook. She is the author of 24 novels including The Weekenders, Beach Town, Ladies Night, Summer Rental, Deep Dish and Hissy Fit. TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT ARE: Luncheon $31 (Books will be available for purchase) Luncheon Plus Signed Book: $61 includes the luncheon and a signed, hardcover copy of The Beach House Cookbook Luncheon-For-Two Plus One Signed Book: $92 includes the luncheon for two plus one, signed, hardcover copy of The Beach House Cookbook   Click here to purchase tickets. ABOUT THE BOOK: You don't have to own a beach house to enjoy Mary Kay Andrews recipes. All you need is an appetite for delicious, casual dishes, cooked with the best fresh, local ingredients and presented with the breezy flair that make Mary Kay Andrews novels a summertime favorite at the beach. From an early spring dinner of cherry balsamic-glazed lamb chops and bacon-kissed green beans, to Fourth of July buttermilk-brined fried chicken, yuppie potato salad, and Coca-Cola cake, to her New Year's Day Open House menu of charcoal-grilled oysters, home-cured gravlax, grits'n greens casserole, and Meyer lemon bar trifle, this cookbook will supply ideas for menus and recipes designed to put you in a permanently carefree coastal state of mind all year long. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: After a 14-year career working as a reporter at newspapers including The Savannah Morning News, The Marietta Journal and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she spent the final ten years of her career, she left journalism in 1991 to write fiction. Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was published in 1992 by Harper Collins Publishers. She went on to write ten critically acclaimed mysteries under her real name. In 2002, she assumed the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah Blues. In 2006, Hissy Fit became her first New York Times bestseller, followed by eleven more New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestsellers. To date, her novels have been published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese. THE BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK is Mary Kay Andrews first cookbook. She and her family divide their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, where they cook up new recipes in two restored beach homes, The Breeze Inn and Ebbtide, both named after fictional places in Mary Kay's novels. In between cooking and plotting her next novel, Mary Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing up old houses. A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she received a B.A. in journalism from The University of Georgia and was a newspaper reporter for 14 years. The last ten years of her career were spent as a features reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mary Kay was recently the keynote speaker or Charleston's American Heart Association Go Red For Women Annual Luncheon. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Tom Trocheck, with whom she has a 40-year (and counting) collaboration yielding two grown children, two adorable grandchildren and countless memorable kitchen experiences.   CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author. There is a cash bar for your enjoyment. High Cotton is located at 199 East Bay Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street.

COMING UP

COMING UP May 5th Mary Kay Andrews at High Cotton  Beach House Cookbook   Delicious, casual dishes, cooked with the best fresh, local ingredients and presented with the breezy flair that make Mary Kay Andrews’ novels a summertime favorite at the beach. May 9th Patricia Altschul at High Cotton  The Art of Southern Charm   Advice on every situation, from hosting a memorable cocktail party, to decoding the dress code for any event, to delivering the perfectly phrased insult, like her now iconic shameless strumpet.  May 12th Chris Ullman at High Cotton  Find Your Whistle Heartwarming, hilarious, and outrageous journey of a Washington and Wall Street insider who uses his simple gift to touch hearts and change lives. May 19th Dorothea Benton Frank at Stars  Same Beach, Next Year Bewitching story of marriage, love, family, and friendship that is infused with her warm and engaging earthy humor and generous heart. June 8th Lisa Wingate at High Cotton  Before We Were Yours June 20th Mary Alice Monroe at High Cotton  Beach House For Rent June 23rd Cate Lineberry at High Cotton  Be Free or Die June 27th Mary Alice Monroe in Augusta at Abel Brown Southern Kitchen and Raw Bar July 13th Patti C Henry at High Cotton The Bookshop at Water's End Watch your email, go to Charleston Author Series, or call 843-303-1113 for information.

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY AT HALLS CHOPHOUSE APRIL 29

Join us Saturday, April 29 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series luncheon at Halls Chophouse with Kristy Woodson Harvey, the next major voice in Southern fiction with her newest novel, Slightly South of Simple.

Kristy Woodson Harvey is the author of Dear Carolina and Lies and Other Acts of Love. Slightly South is the first in her all-new series chronicling the journeys of three sisters and their mother... and a secret from their past that has the potential to tear them apart and reshape their very definition of what it means to be a family.

 

Click here to purchase tickets

Tickets for this event are:

• Luncheon Only $36 for the three-course luncheon and discussion
• Luncheon Plus Signed Paperback Book $52 includes the luncheon and a signed, paperback copy of Slightly South of Simple
• Luncheon-For-Two Plus One Signed Book $88 includes the luncheon for two plus one, signed, paperback copy of Slightly South of Simple

Ticket sales benefit Reading Partners, whose one-on-one tutoring empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide individualized, personal attention.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Caroline Murphy swore shed never set foot back in the small Southern town of Peachtree Bluff; she was a New York girl born and bred and the worst day of her life was when, in the wake of her fathers death, her mother selfishly forced her to moveduring her senior year of high school, no lessback to that hick-infested rat trap where she'd spent her childhood summers.

But now that her marriage to a New York high society heir has fallen apart in a very public, very embarrassing fashion, a pregnant Caroline decides to escape the gossipmongers with her nine-year-old daughter and head home to her mother, Ansley.

Ansley has always put her three daughters first, especially when she found out that her late husband, despite what he had always promised, left her with next to nothing. Now the proud owner of a charming waterfront design business and finally standing on her own two feet, Ansley welcomes Caroline and her brood back with open arms.

But when her second daughter Sloane, whose military husband is overseas, and youngest daughter and successful actress Emerson join the fray, Ansley begins to feel like the piece of herself she had finally found might be slipping from her grasp. Even more discomfiting, when someone from her past reappears in Ansley's life, the secret she's harbored from her daughters their entire lives might finally be forced into the open.

Exploring the powerful bonds between sisters and mothers and daughters, this engaging novel is filled with Southern charm, emotional drama, and plenty of heart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristy Woodson Harvey is the author of Dear Carolina and Lies and Other Acts of Love. She blogs at Design Chic about how creating a beautiful home can be the catalyst for creating a beautiful life and loves connecting with readers at kristywoodsonharvey.com.

She is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's school of journalism and holds a Master's in English from East Carolina University.

Her writing has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including Southern Living, Domino magazine, Our State, Houzz, the Salisbury Post and the New Bern Sun Journal. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and four-year-old son where she is working on her next novel.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author. There is a cash bar for your enjoyment.

Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Visitors' Center, other municipal lots or at meters on the street.

 

Get tickets.

 

Former Moscow Bureau Chief for Business Week, Paul Starobin, Talks About His Latest Book, "Madness Rules the Hour"

Join us Friday, April 21 at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series luncheon at High Cotton, when we welcome former Moscow Bureau Chief for Business Week, Paul Starobin, for a discussion of his latest book, Madness Rules the Hour: Charleston, 1860 and the Mania for War.

"No city was more fervently attached to slavery, and no city was seen by the North as a greater threat to the bonds barely holding together the Union than Charleston."

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS

• Luncheon Only: $31 for the three-course luncheon and discussion
• Luncheon Plus Signed Book: $58 includes the luncheon and a signed, hardcover copy of Madness Rules the Hour
• Luncheon-For-Two Plus One Signed Book: $89 includes the luncheon for two plus one, signed, hardcover copy of Madness Rules the Hour

ABOUT THE BOOK:
In 1860, Charleston, South Carolina, embodied the combustible spirit of the South. No city was more fervently attached to slavery, and no city was seen by the North as a greater threat to the bonds barely holding together the Union. And so, with Abraham Lincoln's election looming, Charleston's leaders faced a climactic decision: they could submit to abolition--or they could drive South Carolina out of the Union and hope that the rest of the South would follow.

In Madness Rules the Hour, Paul Starobin, tells the story of how Charleston succumbed to a fever for war and charts the contagion's relentless progress and bizarre turns. In doing so, 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. Madness Rules the Hour is a portrait of a culture in crisis and an insightful investigation into the folly that fractured the Union and started the Civil War.

About the Author
Paul Starobin has been a frequent contributor to The Atlantic. He was Moscow Bureau Chief for Business Week from 1999 to 2003 and has also written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and National Geographic. He is the author of After America: Narratives for the Next Global Age.

Starobin has reported from Russia, India, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Europe and South America. Previous positions include reporter for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, business reporter for The Lowell Sun in Massachusetts, and public-policy case writer for the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
 
He grew up in Worcester, Mass. and graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. in 1979. Starobin received a Masters of Science degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1981. He was an international journalism fellow for the Knight Foundation journalism program in 1998. He lives with his wife and two children in Massachusetts.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author. There is a cash bar for your enjoyment. Click here for ticket information.

High Cotton is located at 199 East Bay Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street.

Happy Hour Whiskey Reception with Troy Ball, Moonshine Entrepreneur and Author of "Pure Heart: A Spirited Tale of Grace, Grit, and Whiskey."

Join us Wednesday, April 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the Oyster House on Market for a Special Happy Hour Event with cocktails, seafood and Troylyn Ball, whiskey entrepreneur and author of Pure Heart: A Spirited Tale of Grace, Grit, and Whiskey. This is a Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series event.  Meet author Troylyn Ball while you enjoy a buffet of savory treats and learn about Troy's journey of spirit, determination and entrepreneurship. "The first woman ever licensed to distill hard liquor in North Carolina uncorks an emotionally charged memoir about traversing family heartache to become the moonshine mama of the South... A heart-stirring life story" - Kirkus Reviews  The Oyster House on Market, renowned for its fresh seafood and lowcountry favorites, is located at 35 South Market in downtown Charleston. CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW Happy Hour Whiskey Reception with Troy Ball $31 Happy Hour Whiskey Reception plus a signed, hardcover copy of Pure Heart $58 Happy Hour Whiskey Reception For Two plus a signed, hardcover copy of Pure Heart $89 About the Book Troylyn Ball and her husband, Charlie, an engineer and real estate developer, had spent their entire lives in Texas. But after a near fatal trip to the emergency room with their non-verbal, wheelchair-bound son Marshall, they admitted the dust and the heat were too dangerous. To save their boys, the Balls cashed out, sold their beloved farm, and moved to Asheville, North Carolina. Nearing 50, Troy thought her chance at adventure had passed. But in this booming little Appalachian Mountain city of hippies, farmers, artisans and retirees, she unexpectedly discovered a support network and something shed never had in 25 years of providing round-the-clock care for her special needs boys: the freedom to pursue her own dreams. She struck up a friendship with a legendary 80-year-old raconteur from the mountains, met his friends, and soon found herself in a rickety country shack with an ingeniously inventive retired farmer trying to create the best recipe ever for traditional mountain moonshine. But when the real estate bubble burst and the collapse of her husband Charlies new venture in Asheville left them deeply in debt, Troy realized her 10-year business plan for Troy & Sons Platinum Whiskey wasn't enough. If she were going to save her family--and she was definitely going to save her family--she needed to become the most successful woman in the legal whiskey business. And, she needed to do it fast, before the bank took her house, her business, and everything shed worked so hard to achieve. Full of eccentric characters and charming locations, from a "haunted" cabin in the mountains to the last farm in the world to grow heritage Crooked Creek corn. Pure Heart is a charming story of a woman who set out to find a purpose in the most unexpected of places, and ended up finding happiness, contentment, and a community of love and respect. About the Author Troy lives outside Asheville, North Carolina with Charlie and two of their three grown sons, Marshall and Coulton, who have special needs. The book is a memoir of her struggles and success. Troy is the founder and principal owner of Asheville Distilling Company in Asheville, North Carolina, makers of Troy & Sons Platinum whiskey, Troy & Sons Oak Reserve, and Blonde whiskey. Troy & Sons Platinum recently received a gold medal for moonshine, the highest possible rating. "We only use the sweet spot," Troy's husband Charlie said of their ingredients. He was referring to the alcohol derived from the middle of the distillation process, known as the heart  or the nectar of the gods, which yields the most flavor and the cleanest taste. Troy's whiskies are handmade from the pure heart of each distillation. Click Here for Ticket Information The Oyster House on Market and O Bar on State Street offer the freshest and most interesting variety of oysters in the renowned Charleston Market. Soaring ceilings, exposed brick walls and original wooden beams reflect the warehouse districts historic past. The unique interior and great staff beautifully meld to create an ultra-cool atmosphere that exudes Charleston. Enjoy fresh seafood and Lowcountry favorites in the newly renovated dining room, bar, patio and private rooms, or visit the O Bar for happy hour while you sample oysters from across the country and enjoy cocktails crafted from local ingredients. Parking is available at the Cumberland Street Garage, other municipal lots or at meters on the street.