Library Journal

Set behind the scenes of a literary festival, the novel follows Sophie Pattison, cheerful but increasingly invisible staffer whose life has quietly unraveled.

A starred library journal review called the novel a special treat for book lovers, and Mason features real authors in the novel.

Ann Patchett praised the book as a moving examination of what it means to be alone in the world and what it means to find connection by turns heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply hopeful.

Meg's first career was in journalism, beginning at the Times of London, later writing for Vogue, Elle, GQ, Sunday Style, New Yorker's Daily Shouts, and many others.

welcome to long story short the podcast of the british fantasy society we're delighted to welcome the bram stoker award-winning author of queen of teeth a game in yellow a light most hateful the worm and his king series and many other books of dark fiction and also over 120 short stories appearing in weird tales pseudopod New York Times bestselling anthology, The End of the World as We Know It, and many other publications.

Her nonfiction appears in Writer's Digest, Library Journal, Crime Reads, and elsewhere.

Hailey Piper, welcome to the podcast.

How are you?

Notable presentations by fan favorites such as Horowitz, creator of the Alex Rider series, and Philbrick, whose work inspired In the Heart of the Sea, are expected to draw large crowds.

Renee DiPilato from Sarasota County Libraries noted the event's national recognition last year in Library Journal and described it as an opportunity for residents to connect directly with voices that help shape the literary world.

Off the page is more than just an author visit.

It's about inspiring creativity across generations while putting Sarasota on the map as a center for literary arts.

Our latest novel is Incarnate, described as a terrifying reimagining of the picture of Dorian Gray for the internet age.

Library Journal wrote of the book, "...a deal with the devil is reworked for the online age, with a healthy dose of body horror joining AI.

The combination makes the story uniquely terrifying." Author of Japanese gothic Kylie Baker called it, "...a deliciously addictive techno-horror that you can't look away from." Alma's debut novel, The Taker, was selected by Booklist as one of the top 10 debut novels of 2011.

She's a graduate of John Hopkins' writing program in Brandeis University, where she studied with novelist John Irving.

points

oh gosh yeah such stage wisdom um i will mention obviously incarnate one more time um and congrats go forth and conquer it's gonna be a lot of fun to follow along uh your home base there is amakatsu books.com where we can connect to all of the things, the info, the tour, everything's there.

And then I thought it was just really cool that Library Journal had said, or called Incarnate, a deal with the devil is reworked for the online age with a healthy dose of body horror joining AI.

Yeah.

So I feel like that's a really important thing to do as well.

absolutely because let's say that we had just a handy graph a handy sheet that we could make this common knowledge right that like you know hey libraries like there's a lot of works out there that you would love to have for your shelves for all ages and and that your readers would love to have for yourselves for all ages um but here are the specific things that get in the way i can imagine how many libraries then would actually be able to take that to their boards and have their collection development policies reviewed, right? And be able to say like, well, if that's one of the key barriers that we just, we can't take something because it wasn't reviewed by Library Journal or by Booklist or by, you know, one of these other sources that aren't a guarantee of reviews, what other options could we possibly come up with? And let's revise our policy.

so that our shelves can become more inclusive uh because as you said independent material is sometimes the most uh in inclusive and diverse um works those are the most diverse and and important works out there like those are the ones that are really bringing in the voices that we need to hear and that the readers need to hear and those identities

I agree wholeheartedly.

And this book was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the Washington State Book Award 2026.

It has been hailed as a best book of 2025 by Library Journal, the LA Public Library, Book Page, Miss Magazine, and others.

And now her debut novel, Foreign, which grew out of her reporting on farmer suicides in India, is coming to the U.S. And readers will get to read that.

So I really can't think of anyone better to talk to and who can help us think about the stories we tell about the conflicts around us.

She is the past president of the Oklahoma Library Association and served as co-editor of the American Association of School Librarians National School Library Standards for the second edition.

She is a 2025 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, a 2026 School Library Journal Librarian of the Year finalist, and a 2026 Oklahoma National History Day Junior Division Teacher of the Year.

Charity and her husband have two adult sons and two extremely spoiled rescue dogs.

I love that.

Because Walters is dealing with the overwhelming ubiquity of her subject, she deliberately avoids writing a traditional linear history.

The Library Journal review famously dubbed the book's format a push me, pull you hybrid.

Now referencing the fictional two-headed creature from Dr. Dolittle that looks in opposite directions simultaneously.

Exactly.