November 3, 2016 at Charlotte Convention Center

Featuring New York Times best-selling authors, with emcee Sheri Lynch.

Featured authors:

Henry William Brands is an American educator, New York Times best-selling author and historian. He has written 25+ books on U.S. history and biography and is currently the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography for both The First American and Traitor to His Class. Other books include Reagan: The Life; The Man Who Saved The Union; The First American: The Life & Times of Benjamin Franklin and The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream. New Release: The General vs The President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War

Fascinated by good people who do wicked things, Southern mystery author Lisa Turner examines human nature against the rich backdrop of Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. Her debut novel, A Little Death in Dixie, raced to the top of Amazon’s Kindle bestsellers list and nudged Mockingjay—the third book in The Hunger Games series—out of first place. Her second novel, The Gone Dead Train, explores lost secrets from the Memphis civil rights movement and the mysterious power of Santeria magic. A 2015 Edgar® Award nominee, Turner’s mysteries coil the roots of Southern identity around her characters and then drags them into a world of blues, murder, and heartbreak. “I’m a story archeologist,” she says. “I keep digging into my characters until I strike the bone.” She splits her time between Tennessee and Canada. New Release: Devil Sent the Rain

Rumaan Alam’s debut novel, Rich and Pretty, was hailed as a summer must-read by reviewers across the country. His stories have appeared in StoryQuarterly, Crazyhorse, Meridian, and elsewhere. He started his career in fashion publishing at Lucky magazine, has written extensively on interior design for Domino, Lonny, Elle Decor, architecturaldigest.com, and has worked in advertising as a copywriter and creative director. He studied writing at Oberlin College and now lives in New York with his husband and two kids. He credits the New York Public Library—a marvelous institution!—for “the insane pictures” on his website.

Tom Rinaldi has been a national correspondent at ESPN since 2002. Among other honors, he has won fifteen national Sports Emmy Awards and six national Edward R. Murrow Awards. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. New York Times best-seller The Red Bandanna is his first book.