Heather Bell Adams, Nina de Gramont, J.G. Hetherton, Donna Everhart, Leah Weiss Complete Lineup at Sold-Out Event

HAMPSTEAD, N.C. – Local Author David Dean joined five fellow southern writers Saturday, March 11 at the 2023 Feast of Authors Luncheon sponsored by Quarter Moon Bookstore of Topsail Beach.

The sold-out event held at Nineteen Restaurant featured presentations, Q&A, and book signings by Dean and Leah Weiss, Donna Everhart, J.G. Hetherton, Heather Bell Adams, and Nina de Gramont.

"The camaraderie and networking with such a great group of authors was amazing, as were the many conversations with the wonderful readers who we got the opportunity to visit with," Dean said.

During his presentation, Dean discussed the genesis behind writing OBX, his action-packed murder/mystery novel set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and the inspiration behind the strong female lead character Michael Francis. The State Bureau of Investigation agent and mother of three navigates dirty politicians, crooked cops, attempts on her life, crumbling marriage, unexpected romance, and a hurricane on her way to uncovering a serial killer who's been operating in the shadows for years. 

This is the first in a series of books featuring Michael Francis, one of the author’s complex characters who discover their true, authentic selves when faced with unforeseen challenges. Francis is set to appear in the follow-up sequel The Triangle coming out in Summer 2023.

OBX (ISBN: 979-8-218-00862-8) is available at bookstores and retailers like Quarter Moon Books as well as online at Amazon.com.

The other authors offered various takes on the process of writing as well as details on their backgrounds and their books:

Heather Bell Adams is the author of two novels, Maranatha Road and The Good Luck Stone. Maranatha Road won the gold medal for the Southeast region in the Independent Publisher Book Awards and was selected for Deep South Magazine’s Fall/Winter Reading List. Nominated for the Pushcart Prize and O. Henry Award, Heather has won the Doris Betts Fiction Prize, Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Award, Carrie McCray Literary Award, and James Still Fiction Prize. Originally from Hendersonville, NC, Heather lives in Raleigh with her husband and son. She works as a lawyer and served as North Carolina’s 2022 Piedmont Laureate.

Nina de Gramont (also known as Marina Gessner) lives in coastal North Carolina with her husband, the writer David Gessner. She teaches at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is almost always in the company of her two dogs, Missy and Isabelle. She’s the author of the acclaimed Meet Me at the River, Every Little Thing in the World, Gossip of the Starlings, The Last September, as well as The Distance from Me to You, which has recently been optioned for a movie. Her latest novel is The Christie Affair.

J.G. Hetherton is the Audible bestselling author of Last Girl Gone, a Sun-Sentinel Top Debut Mystery of 2018, and What Lies Beneath, nominated for the 2023 Beltie Prize for Best Mystery. He was raised in rural Wisconsin, graduated from Northwestern University, and now lives in Durham, North Carolina with his family. He is hard at work on his next book.

Donna Everhart is the USA Today bestselling author of Southern fiction with authenticity and grit, including the Southeastern Library Association Award-winning The Road to Bittersweet. Her fifth novel, The Saints of Swallow Hill, was released in February 2022. Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, she now lives with her husband in a small town in the Sandhills region, and is most likely working on her next novel.

Leah Weiss is a southern writer living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in Deep South Magazine, Serving House Journal and a Simple Life Magazine. Her debut novel IF THE CREEK DON’T RISE was released in 2017 and selected as a Library Reads, Indie Next and SIBA Okra Pick. It was honored as a 2018 finalist for the Library of Virginia’s Literary Fiction and People’s Choice Awards. Her second novel, ALL THE LITTLE HOPES was released in 2021 and was a Library Reads, BAM’s December 2021 book club choice, and named a Best Book for Fall 2021 by Country Living Magazine. It was a 2022 finalist for the Library of Virginia’s People’s Choice Award.

Dean's novel OBX (ISBN: 979-8-218-00862-8) is set in the popular beach destination of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and introduces readers to NC State Bureau of Investigation Agent Michael Francis as she investigates the murder of an influential politician’s staffer, right in the middle of a campaign. The struggling mother of three finds herself in a gathering storm of cover-ups, crooked cops, drug trafficking, and attempts on her life while she deals with a difficult separation from her police detective husband. In the midst of unexpected and confusing romantic overtures from a prime suspect, an approaching hurricane threatens to sabotage her investigation as Michael chases down a serial killer who's been operating in the shadows for years, facing human threats more dangerous than mother nature herself in a climactic ending with an unexpected twist. 

For more information on David Dean, visit www.daviddeanwriter.com. 

ABOUT DAVID DEAN
An avid fan of suspenseful mysteries, science fiction, and horror, David Dean enjoys writing novels, novellas, and short story anthologies that challenge a reader's perceived understanding of social norms, reality, science, and religion, and the role each plays in the ongoing struggle between good and evil in every human being.

The author lives in the coastal paradise surrounding Topsail Island, North Carolina. His other titles include the sci-fi anthology The Peril of Thought and the horror novel SHADOWS. He is available for book signings, panel discussions and other public events.

For more information, visit www.daviddeanwriter.com. 


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OCRACOKE, N.C. – How much evil will society tolerate in exchange for a good quality of life? That’s the underlying question of the new horror novel ocracoke now available for pre-order by North Carolina author David Dean.

Due out this Halloween, the book tells the story of Thomas White, a 160-year-old vampire masquerading as a 20-something entrepreneur, a survivor from a long-ago British shipwreck lording over the bucolic beach community of Ocracoke as a benevolent despot with a combination of economic incentives and fear.

According to Dean, he tried to make an indie film by the same name a couple years ago. “We actually shot a lot of scenes in and around Ocracoke, everyone in the village was gracious and welcoming and the plot of the movie was received very well locally,” Dean said. “Unfortunately, soon after we left the island North Carolina locked-down tight due to the Coronavirus, and all our other filming locations backed out. By the time restrictions lifted the actors and production company had moved on.

“Covid killed my movie,” he explained.

Saddled with debt from the failed production, Dean said he walked away from his screenplay and focused on finishing and publishing a novel this summer, his suspense/thriller OBX, which helped rebuild his confidence.

“The sales of OBX have been way better than I had imagined,” Dean explained. “The support of retailers and booksellers up and down the Outer Banks has been tremendous, everyone has been so welcoming and encouraging it got me excited to turn back to ocracoke.”

The novel ocracoke is more detailed and nuanced than his original screenplay, Dean said, with the book format allowing for more character development, incorporation of more of Ocracoke’s island history, and in-depth examination of societal issues as they relate to people’s tolerance for evil as long as it benefits them personally.

“There’s still a ton of action but with the novel I get to delve deeper into White’s backstory, what made him who he is and what makes him tick, rather than having him be a revenge-fueled angry vampire running amok killing people,” he said.

Dean is currently planning a local book launch. His novel will be available in paperback through IngramSpark and as an eBook from Amazon.com. A plot summary is and more about the book is available at the author’s website www.daviddeanwriter.com. 
 

ABOUT DAVID DEAN
David Dean is an avid fan of suspenseful mysteries, science fiction, and horror. He enjoys writing screenplays, novels, novellas, and short story anthologies that challenge a reader's perceived understanding of social norms, reality, science, and religion, and the role each plays in the ongoing struggle between good and evil in every human being.

The author lives in the coastal paradise surrounding Topsail Island, North Carolina. In addition to ocracoke, other titles he’s authored include the Outer Banks mystery/suspense/thriller OBX, the sci-fi anthology The Peril of Thought and the horror novel SHADOWS. He is available for book signings, panel discussions and other public events.

For more information, visit www.daviddeanwriter.com.

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