Tommy Hays

Watch the Video Webcast Hear an interview with Hays on WCQS Asheville author Tommy Hays will present his latest book, What I Came to Tell You, on Saturday, November 23rd at 3 p.m. at City Lights Bookstore. What I Came to Tell You is a book for readers young and old (ages 10-110), and tells the story of twelve-year-old Grover as he deals with the loss of his mother. With his father withdrawn and overworked, Grover finds comfort working on his art in the bamboo groves near his Asheville home. As tensions rise within his family, new neighbors offer an unlikely source of relief from the grief that grips them all. Kerry Madden, author of Gentle’s Holler, says of the book, “Like the artistry of Grover's weavings in the bamboo forest, Tommy Hays' What I Came to Tell You captures the heartbeat of a young boy's journey to find his way after a tragic loss in Thomas Wolfe country in Asheville, North Carolina. It's a story of learning to listen with your whole heart and head, one filled with grace, grief, and ultimately, hope, as a broken family weaves itself back together in a dazzling tapestry of love and joy." Hays is the author of The Pleasure Was Mine, In the Family Way, and Sam’s Crossing. He is the executive director of the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNCA, which publishes The Great Smokies Review. To reserve copies of his books please call City Lights Bookstore at 828-586-9499.

Location: Street: 3 East Jackson Street City: Sylva, Province: North Carolina Postal Code: 28779 Country: United States (tillagd från IndieBound)… (mer)

Since his mother died earlier this year, Grover Johnston (named after a character in Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward Angel) has watched his family fall to pieces as his father throws himself into his work rather than dealing with the pain. Left to care for his younger sister, Sudie, Grover finds solace in creating intricate weavings out of the natural materials found in the bamboo forest behind his North Carolina home, a pursuit that his father sees only as a waste of time.

But as tensions mount between father and son, two unlikely forces conspire to lead the Johnstons on a new path -- a presence that seems to come to Grover in his darkest moments and new tenants in the rental house across the street who have come from deep in the Carolina hills and plopped themselves right into Grover's life. The families seem so different but become increasingly intertwined, bound together in unexpected ways. Until one devastating disaster threatens to tear them apart.

Tender, touching, and utterly compelling, What I Came to Tell You, the first middle-grade novel from critically acclaimed Asheville author Tommy Hays, is a story of grief, love, and hard-won redemption.

Location: Street: 4139 Park Road Additional: Park Road Shopping Center City: Charlotte, Province: North Carolina Postal Code: 28209-2229 Country: United States (tillagd från IndieBound)… (mer)

Join us for a reading to celebrate Writers at Home host Tommy Hays’s new book, What I Came to Tell You! A story for ages 10+, What I Came to Tell You is a novel about a boy, his family, and his community, which is set in Asheville. Allan Wolf (The Watch That Ends the Night) says, “Without the use of dragons, zombies, wizards, or vampires, Tommy Hays has written a page-turning tale starring a true-to-life kid on a true-to-life quest to find solace and forgiveness. . . . a memorable story woven, like young Grover’s bamboo “tapestries,” from alternating strands of sorrow and joy.”

Location: Street: 55 Haywood St City: Asheville, Province: North Carolina Postal Code: 28801 Country: United States (tillagd från IndieBound)… (mer)