2025 The Signature Dish
Monday, September 29 - 5:45 pm - 7:45 pm
Spokane Convention Center, Spokane WA, Ballroom 100A
Tickets Required
An evening for national and Northwest-known authors to meet with booksellers while enjoying this literary feast. Authors will rotate through ten tables of booksellers, spending about eight minutes with each group.
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Small town romance is at the heart of Lauren Blakely's It Seemed Like a Good Idea (Cosmo Reads/Sourcebooks), the first book in a new romcom series set in the town of Darling Springs, California. All the right elements for the perfect romance are here: a one-night stand, a case of mistaken identity, forced proximity to said one-night stand, and a small town full of quirky, memorable characters who are ready to fall in love. Lauren Blakely is a #1 New York Times and a #1 Audible bestselling author, known for her contemporary romances that are cute but spicy. It Seemed Like a Good Idea will be published in February, 2026.
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Sarah Crouch, the USA Today bestselling author of Middletide returns with The Briars (Atria Books/S&S), a captivating literary thriller that marries an exploration of human nature with a plot as thorny and twisted as the brambles for which it is named. Desperate to escape a relationship gone bad, Annie Heston flees north to accept a job as a game warden in Lake Lumin, a picturesque town in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. But when a body is found, Annie's job puts her in the path of a murderer in a small town eager to protect its own. The Briars will be published in January, 2026.
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Matt Dinniman, Gig Harbor author of the wildly popular Dungeon Crawler Carl series, introduces readers to an equally inventive world in his new standalone novel Operation Bounce House (Ace). The settlers on New Sonora are reconnected to Earth when a transfer gate is finally opened, restoring instant travel between the planets. But all is not well. Earth-based Apex Industries is set on evicting the settlers, enlisting Earther gamers to go after the New Sonorans remotely. Settler Oliver Lewis and his friends soon finds themselves fighting for their lives against seemingly overwhelming odds. Operation Bounce House will be published in February, 2026
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Clyde W. Ford | A High Price for Freedom | HarperCollins / Amistad In A High Price for Freedom (Amistad/HC), Bellingham writer and historian Clyde W. Ford gives voice to long silent and little-known African Americas of the past, allowing them to tell their own stories, shedding new light on critical moments in the struggle for Black Freedom. From slave ship revolts to the bridge in Selma, this is fascinating history - carefully researched, eye-opening, enlightening, and often counterintuitive. Clyde W. Ford has written more than 15 books, fiction and nonfiction, including his memoir Thinking Black and several mystery novels. He is also a psychotherapist, and is the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Publishing Project. A High Price for Freedom will be published in January, 2026.
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Kim Fu | The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts | Tin House / Zando PNBA Book Award winner Kim Fu returns to the show with The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts (Tin House), an eerie, spellbinding novel of grief and guilt. Unmoored by the death of her mother, Eleanor clings to her mother's final wish - that she use her inheritance to buy a house. But what feels like a fresh start turns into something else altogether. Seattle writer Kim Fu is the author of several novels, a collection of poetry, and the multi-award-winning short story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century. The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts will be published in March, 2026.
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In Grant Ginder's So Old, So Young (Gallery/Scout Press), five parties over the course of two decades bring six college friends together, exploring the ways we run from and cling to our friends in love, life, and death. From East Village apartment parties and disastrous destination weddings to fortieth birthdays and suburban backyard barbecues, this resonant, funny, and deeply moving novel is a story about the growing pains of the millennial generation, a celebration of how love and friendship can shift, stumble, grow and still hold. Grant Ginder is the author of four previous novels, including Let's Not Do That Again and the bestselling The People We Hate at the Wedding. So Old, So Young will be published in February, 2026.
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Alan Gratz | War Games | Scholastic Inc. / Scholastic Press History comes vividly to life in Alan Gratz's War Games (Scholastic), a thrilling novel for middle grade readers set during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Evie Harris is in Berlin representing the United States, hoping to take home a gold medal in gymnastics. But under the ominous shadow of Hitler's regime, Evie becomes embroiled in a mysterious plot to steal Nazi gold, forcing her to choose between her dreams of Olympic glory and standing up to evil. Alan Gratz is the bestselling author of a number of highly acclaimed books for young readers, including Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, Two Degrees, Ground Zero, Refugee, and Prisoner B-3087.
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There once was a village so far north that most considered it the top of the world... and in that village, the Sun fell in love with her Starmaker. From Rachel Griffin, the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches comes The Sun and the Starmaker (Sourcebooks Fire), a whimsical and sweeping romantic fantasy. Tiny frost-touched Reverie depends on the magic of the Starmaker to bring sunlight to the village, and in this wonderful Beauty and the Beast-type tale, Aurora Finch chances to meet the Starmaker, changing her, and the fate of the village, forever. The Sun and the Starmaker will be published in February, 2026.
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Molly Hashimoto | Wildflowers of the West | Mountaineers Books Seattle writer and artist Molly Hashimoto continues her beautiful and inspiring Artist's Guide series with Wildflowers of the West (Mountaineers Books), the perfect companion for any Northwest hiker, artist or nature lover. Hashimoto brings her unique blend of vibrant illustration, engaging natural history, and intimate personal reflection to the breadth of our regional wildflowers, from wetland to shoreline, forest to desert. Molly Hashimoto's previous Artist's Guides include Colors of the West, Trees of the West and Birds of the West. She teaches and leads plein air watercolor workshops around the West, including at the North Cascades Institute, Yellowstone Forever Institute, and Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.
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Donna Barba Higuera | The Unlikely Adventuras of Ramon and El Cucuy | Abrams Chapter book readers who grew up with Donna Barba Higuera's picture books El Cucuy Is Scared, Too! and It’s Navidad, El Cucuy! will love meeting some of their old friends in The Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy (Amulet/Abrams). A young monster anxious to prove himself a real cucuy ends up befriending the human child he's been assigned to scare in this lively, lightly scary tale about the value of friendship and the things humans might find more frightening than the monster under the bed. Multiple award-winner Donna Barba Higuera is the author of several books for young readers, including the middle grade novel The Last Cuentista, which won both the Newbery Medal and a PNBA Book Award.
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Novelist Noelle Ihli packs a real visceral punch in Run on Red (Kensington), her latest heart-pounding thriller featuring courageous women. A rural country road. No cell signal for miles. A terrifying game of cat-and-mouse. And two women who must marshal their wits, strength, and resiliency to turn the tables on their tormenters when what seems like a bad case of road rage turns into a terrifying battle for survival. Noelle Ihli is the Boise author of several bestselling thrillers, including Ask for Andrea and Grey After Dark. Run on Red will be published in February, 2026.
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New York Times bestselling author Paula McLain returns to the city of Paris in Skylark, a mesmerizing tale of two lives, separated by three centuries, but marked by parallel journeys of defiance and survival. In McLain's Paris, a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time. Paula McLain's previous novels include The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun. She has also written several volumes of poetry, as well as her memoir of growing up in the foster system, Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses. Skylark will be published in January, 2026.
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Animator Morr Meroz turns his creative genius to the graphic novel with A Blood Moon (Graphix/Scholastic), the first epic book in the Snowlands series for middle grade readers. In the heart of the mountains, prey and predator alike are mysteriously disappearing. Three outcasts - an orphaned wolf cub, a fiercely independent leopard and a bumbling wildcat - join forces for the adventure of a lifetime, confronting a widespread danger in the frosty wilderness of Snowlands. Morr Meroz is the founder of Bloop Animation Studios, producing short animated films and leading Bloop Animation’s educational initiative, which has become a leading animation learning platform with over 20,000 students. A Blood Moon will be published in January, 2026.
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Savala Nolan | Good Woman | HarperCollins / Mariner Books Essayist and educator Savala Nolan addresses the issue of the confining expectations of womanhood in Good Woman: A Reckoning (Mariner Books/HC). In twelve bold and unforgettable essays, Nolan blends memoir, reportage and history to explore female social conditioning and the push so many women feel to be agreeable and fit the mold of the "good" woman. Savala Nolan is the author of Don't Let It Get You Down, and directs the social justice program at UC Berkeley, School of Law, where she teaches about the role of identity in lawyering. Good Woman: A Reckoning will be published in March, 2026.
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Activist, street medic and relationship educator Kitty Stryker shares her real-life experiences in Love Rebels (Thornapple Press), which is both an open and frank memoir and a call to action for advocacy. Learning to balance a devotion to activism with personal relationships can be incredibly difficult; Stryker encourages readers to consider how they can best advocate for causes they believe in, presenting different types of activism and urging readers to honestly examine their own hesitations. Kitty Stryker is the founder of ConsentCulture.com, a resource for alternative cultures, and is the author and editor of Ask, Ask Yourself, and Say More, all designed to lead adults and young adults through questions of consent.
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Bestselling young adult fantasy writer Laini Taylor re-introduces her readers to her thrilling first novel, Guardians of the Dreamdark : Windwitch (Amulet/Abrams), featuring a never-before-seen alternative opening to the novel. A whole new generation of fans will love this story of a devil-hunting faerie and her quest, aided by her trusted band of crows, to save the world from an onslaught of devils that devour everything in their path. A Printz Honor recipient and National Book Award finalist, Laini Taylor is the author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series and the Strange the Dreamer duology.
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Jasmine Warga| The Last Resort 2: The Claiming | Scholastic Inc. / Graphix Seattle area winner Jasmine Warga offers up The Last Resort 2 : The Claiming (Scholastic Press), continuing the innovative, thrilling series for middle graders. Readers can participate in the story via interactive elements on the page, talking to ghosts, working through puzzles and helping to solve the mystery in this eerie tale of the strange things going on at Castle Hill Inn. Jasmine Warga is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers including Other Words For Home, a John Newbery Honor book, and A Rover's Story, an instant bestseller. The Last Resort 2 : The Claiming will be published in January, 2026.
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Abigail Hing Wen | The Vale | Third State Books Tech savvy middle grade readers will lose themselves in Abigail Hing Wen's The Vale (Third State Books). Thirteen-year-old Bran Joseph Lee has spent half his life building the Vale, an immersive, AI-generated, virtual-reality environment using technology created by his inventor parents. Complete with a Blue Forest, a castle and an elf companion named Gnomly, the Vale seems perfect, until things start going wrong, leaving Bran and Gnomly to uncover the truth before both their worlds are destroyed. Abigail Hing Wen is a tech leader, filmmaker and the New York Times bestselling author of the Loveboat, Taipei series, as well as the executive producer of the Paramount+ book-to-film adaptation Love In Taipei.
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Nikesha Elise Williams artful weaves together themes of generational trauma, Black women's resilience and the unbreakable bonds of family in The Seven Daughters of Dupree (Gallery/Scout Press), her new novel about seven generations of Dupree women, each carrying forward the weight of the past. From mother to daughter, Dupree women only giving birth to daughters, the echoes of love, loss and survival ripple through the ages. Nikesha Elise Williams is the author of several previous books, most recently Mardi Gras Indians, as well as a two-time Emmy Award-winning producer and the host of the podcast Black and Published. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be published in January, 2026.
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James Workman | Sea Change | Torrey House Press Any success on the environmental front is most welcome these days, making this the perfect moment for James Workman's Sea Change (Torrey House Press). Exploring a victory for the world's most vital ecosystem, Sea Change tells the story of unlikely partnerships and surprising solutions that are quietly revolutionizing the fishing industry, to the betterment of fishers and wildlife alike. James Workman's work as a journalist has appeared in The New Republic, Washington Monthly, Utne Reader, Orion, and other publications. Based in San Francisco, he is currently a water consultant to policy makers, businesses, aid agencies, development institutions, and conservation organizations on four continents.
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