The Signature Dish
Monday, September 19 - 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Hotel Murano Venice Ballrooms
Sponsored by Baker & Taylor Publisher Services/McSweeney's (tickets required)
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Mary Kubica / Just the Nicest Couple
New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica offers up another edge-of-your-seat thriller with Just the Nicest Couple (Park Row/HarperCollins), a propulsive tale of what happens to two couples when one husband goes missing. Kubica, author of The Good Girl and Local Woman Missing, again delivers plenty of twisty suspense, delicious lies and shocking betrayals, and proves that secrets buried will always find a way to the surface. Just the Nicest Couple will be published in January, 2023. |
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Suzanne Kaufman / A Friend for Ghost / All are Neighbors
Seattle writer/illustrator Suzanne Kaufman comes to the show with two new affirming picturebooks for young readers. Written and illustrated by Kaufman, A Friend for Ghost (Neal Porter Books/PRH) is a charming story of the unlikely friendship between a lonely ghost and a bright red balloon. In All are Neighbors (Knopf BYR/PRH), Suzanne Kaufman again teams up with her partner in All are Welcome and Big Feelings, author Alexandra Penfold, offering a positive story about a warm and welcoming neighborhood and the new family on the block. |
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Cherie Priest / Flight Risk
Psychic travel agent Leda Foley and Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt return in Flight Risk (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster), the delightful sequel to Cherie Priest’s Grave Reservations. Leda is investigating a missing person case when Grady’s lost dog returns home with a human leg in its mouth. DNA test results soon have the two cases, and the two investigators, tangled up together. Seattle writer Cherie Priest has published over two dozen books and novellas, including the award-winning Clockwork Century series. |
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Buddy Levy / Empire of Ice & Stone
Set against the backdrop of the Titanic disaster and WWI, Buddy Levy’s Empire of Ice and Stone (St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan) tells the true story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition aboard the brigantine Karluk. Just six weeks after setting out, the Karluk became icebound; the survival of all on board would depend on the difficult and courageous decisions of Captain Bob Bartlett. Buddy Levy, who lives in Idaho, has published nine non-fiction books of adventure and exploration. |
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Erin Bow / Simon Sort of Says
Simon Sort of Says (Disney-Hyperion/Hachette), by award-winning Canadian writer Erin Bow, is a middle-grade novel that tackles a very topical issue with empathy and humor. The survivor of a school shooting, Simon hopes a new start will help him change the way others see him, and how he sees himself. Erin Bow lives in Ontario, Canada. Trained as a physicist, she now writes fiction for middle-grade and YA readers. Simon Sort of Says will be published in January, 2023. |
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Trang Thanh Tran / She is a Haunting
Jade Nguyen just needs to make it five weeks with her estranged father in the family house in Vietnam, five weeks to fit in enough to get what she wants. Trang Thanh Tran’s atmospheric YA novel, She is a Haunting (Bloomsbury YA/Macmillan), pits Jade against the expectations of others, the rot that lurks at the center of her family, and a house with horrifying appetites. She is a Haunting is Trang Thanh Tran’s debut novel and will be published in February 2023. |
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Jason Roeder / Griefstrike!
Jason Roeder’s Griefstrike! (McSweeney’s Publishing/BTPS) is undoubtably the only guide about dealing with the loss of a loved one written by a comedy writer with no appreciable therapeutic skills, but with some personal experience of living through grief and coming out the other side. Jason Roeder has worked on both The Onion and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and is the author of two previous satirical manuals, one on social interaction for introverts and one on sex. |
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Caverly Morgan / The Heart of Who We Are
In The Heart of Who We Are (SoundsTrue/Macmillan), visionary Caverly Morgan offers insight into how the practice of meditation and mindfulness can transform how we address the really big questions, and shows how we as individuals can make a real difference in addressing the collective problems facing our world today. Caverly Morgan is a meditation teacher and nonprofit leader, as well as the author of A Kids Book About Mindfulness. She lives in Portland. |
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Andy Mientus / Fraternity
A mysterious boarding school, a secret brotherhood that stays in the shadows, and an ancient evil that threatens it all are at the heart of Fraternity (Amulet Books/Abrams), a queer paranormal tale written for older teens by actor and writer Andy Mientus. Best known for his work in the Broadway musicals Spring Awakening, Les Misérables, and Wicked, and on television in The Flash, Smash, and the upcoming Netflix series Grendel, Mientus is also the author of three Backstagers novels. |
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Matt Kracht / OMFG, BEES!
Bees are so amazing and you’re about to find out why. Bestselling author Matt Kracht (The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America, The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World) is here with this helpful, honey of a guidebook to all things bees. Filled with lighthearted watercolor and ink drawings, humorous quips, lists, and cool facts, OMFG, BEES! will show you that bees are the queens (and kings) of the insect world. Matt lives in the Tacoma area and OMFG, BEES! will be published in by Chronicle Books in March 2023. |
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Andy MacKinnon / Mushrooms of British Columbia
Northwest mushroom foragers will love discovering some fresh territory in Andy MacKinnon’s new guide, Mushrooms of British Columbia (The Royal Museum of British Columbia/IPG). BC has more fungi species than any other region of Canada, so this practical guide to more than 350 common species is the perfect carry-along for amateur and expert alike. Forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon is the co-author of six previous western plant guides, including Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. |
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Susanne Pari / In the Time of Our History
Inspired by her own family’s experiences, novelist, journalist and book reviewer Susanne Pari explores the tangled and tenuous bonds of an Iranian American family in In the Time of Our History (Kensington/PRH). Touching on issues of duty and independence, cultural ties and forging a new life in a new country, this is ultimately a beautifully written tale of the relationship between a mother and daughter. In the Time of Our History will be published in January, 2023. |
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Charmaine Craig / My Nemesis
Charmaine Craig’s My Nemesis (Grove Press) is a dramatic and captivating story of love, betrayal, female rivalry and confronting one’s own perceptions. After forming an intellectual relationship with another man, Tessa alienates both him and his wife, a woman she cannot understand. Charmaine Craig is the author of Miss Burma and The Good Men. Formerly an actor, she now teaches in the fiction program at UC Riverside and lives in Los Angeles. My Nemesis will be published in February, 2023. |
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Lauren Thomas / The Modern Hippie Table
In her debut cookbook, lifestyle blogger Lauren Thomas shows how anyone can plan, prepare and present delicious and deliciously simple meals in The Modern Hippie Table (The Collective Book Studio/IPG). With recipes that are easy to follow, and casual as well as economical decorating tips, Thomas encourages the reader to slow down, learn how to make entertaining enjoyable, and to (re)discover how simple + nostalgic + sophisticated + casual all adds up to the Modern Hippie. |
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Sonora Jha / The Laughter
Seattle writer Sonora Jha confronts privilege, radicalization, class, and modern academia in The Laughter (HarperVia/HarperCollins), a powerful and disturbing novel about an aging white professor who develops a dangerous obsession with a new Pakistani colleague. Sonora Jha is an essayist and the author of the novel Foreign. She teaches journalism at Seattle University, and fiction and essay writing for the Richard Hugo House and Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat. The Laughter will be published in February, 2023. |
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Arnée Flores / The Spirit Queen
Seattle writer Arnée Flores returns to the Kingdom of Lyrica with The Spirit Queen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), the second novel in the middle-grade fantasy series that began with The Firebird Song. Although nature has been restored with the hope endowed by the Firebird Song, the kingdom remains uneasy, and Princess Calliope feels her people are once more in danger. Sent on a secret quest, the princess will have to find her magic and her strength to lead the Kingdom. |
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Martin Riker / The Guest Lecture
In Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture (Grove Press), a young woman lies awake in a hotel room, anxious about the talk she will give the following day. Abby, feminist economist, lapsed optimist and newly jobless academic, has a lot more than John Maynard Keynes, the subject of her guest lecture, to think about. Riker is also the author of Samuel Johnson’s Eternal Return. The Guest Lecture will be published in January, 2023. |
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Danielle Kartes / You Were Always There
Grab a chair and a plate of comfort food for a loving and personal conversation with cookbook author and food stylist Danielle Kartes, as she returns to the show with You Were Always There: Notes and Recipes for Living a Life You Love (Sourcebooks). Kartes artfully combines deeply personal essays about motherhood, cooking and chasing one’s dreams with recipes for delicious, simple and comforting meals. Danielle Kartes is also the author of Rustic Joyful Food; she lives in Seattle. |