Swing by the Piebrary to meet three local authors and hear them talk about their books!
ABOUT STACY LEE
Born into a strict religious cult, Stacy escaped when she was 28 only to land in a narcissistically abusive relationship for 20 years. She knows what abuse, whether in a group or with a partner, looks like from the inside out. She tells her tale and what helped her be free and at peace through her stories and on her blog.
ABOUT CULT GIRL
One young woman's freedom depends on her cunning and courage to leave everything she's ever known, including her family, behind. Lili Stallworth's family joins a new religious group. At first the family seems happier. They have new friends and a renewed sense of meaning in their lives. The whole family joins the group's eminent leader at his farm in Virginia where many of the other group's members live and work. The setting is idyllic.
But... Lili begins to notice something sinister is being kept from the group's members. Secrets are being protected by the group's upper echelon elders and the eminent leader himself. What they are hiding and what they would do to Lili if she exposed them becomes a cat and mouse game of who has the most control.
ABOUT SARAH CAREY
North Carolina native Sarah Carey grew up in Tallahassee and holds an M.A. in English with a creative writing concentration from FSU. Her work explores place, loss, relationships, and ancestry through Southern landscapes and scientific observation. Her poems have appeared in Gulf Coast, Five Points, Rattle, and other journals, earning Pushcart and Best of the Net nominations. Her debut collection of poems, The Grief Committee Minutes, was an Eric Hoffer Award finalist. Her second collection, Bloodstream, was released from Mercer University Press in February 2026. She is the author of two chapbooks, including Accommodations, winner of the Concrete Wolf Chapbook Award.
ABOUT BLOODSTREAM
Anchored in place yet mindful of time's fluidity, the poems in Bloodstream traverse Carey's Southern roots in Florida and North Carolina, moving through Alaska and beyond as the poet cycles between past and present, faith and doubt, while exploring the power of language to illuminate such contrasts. The poems elegize lost loved ones, including pets, which serve as a lens through which to examine attachment, loss, and unconditional love.
ABOUT CATHERINE MEDINA
Catherine Medina is a fiction writer drawn to the quiet edges of life—where tension builds beneath the surface, and small choices carry lasting weight. Her work explores character, memory, and the emotional undercurrent of everyday moments. She is passionate about helping beginner writers keep their creative spark alive through practical guides and writing-exercise journals. She is the author of a world-building workbook and a series of writing journals, and her short fiction has appeared in literary publications, including Meetinghouse Literary Journal.
ABOUT WORLDBUILDING: CREATING IMMERSIVE STORY WORLDS
World-building is a practical workbook for beginner writers who want to build believable fictional worlds without getting overwhelmed. Through simple explanations, guided exercises, and observation-based prompts, this workbook helps writers turn setting, culture, details, and everyday life into story worlds that feel lived-in, purposeful, and real.
