You’re Invited!
August 16, 2025
1:00–3:00 PM PT | Online (Zoom)
Moderator Jennifer K. Morita will grill award-winning authors Naomi Hirahara, Cheryl Head, and Shelley Blanton-Stroud on how they weave historical research with fiction, nail the details without weighing down their stories, and recreate a time and place for their readers. Sponsored by Capitol Crimes.
August 18, 2025
12:40-1:00 PM PT | Live and Recorded Radio
Capitol Public Radio’s Insight. Interview with Vicki Gonzalez on the eightieth anniversary of the VJ-Day peace riot. Listen here.(Go to minute 36:30.)
August 19, 2025
5:30–8:30 PM PT | Magpie Cafe, Sacramento, CA
🎉 Publication Day for An Unlikely Prospect!
Join Shelley with journalist Carla Meyer for FOOD BY THE BOOK — an evening of food, drink, and conversation. Program from 5:30–7:30, with continued eating, visiting, drinking, and signing until 8:30.
Location: Magpie Cafe, 1601 16th St, Sacramento, CA 95814
Event is sold out. Attendees can collect their pre-ordered books at the event.
August 20, 2025
5:00–6:00 PM PT | Online (Zoom)
💬 Women Who Make Good Trouble: A Zoom conversation with Shelley’s brilliant critique group — Gretchen Cherington, Ashley Sweeney, and Debra Thomas — as they talk about the women characters who stir things up in fiction. Join us here.
August 21–24, 2025
Killer Nashville Conference | Franklin, TN
Shelley will appear on two panels:
- Friday, August 22, 9:00–9:45 AM — “Writing Historicals for the Modern Reader” (Hickory Room). Moderator: Shelley Blanton-Stroud.
- Sunday, August 24, 11:30–12:15 — “Writing the Historical Novel” (Franklin Room).
August 28, 2025
4:00–6:00 PM PT | Sacramento History Museum
Talk Books! A discussion of the real history behind An Unlikely Prospect, book signing, snacks, and conversation.
📍 101 I St, Sacramento, CA 95814
August 29, 2025
6:00–7:30 PM PT | Ruby’s Books, Folsom, CA
Two crime novelists in conversation, one of them a journalist who asks the tough questions. Shelley chats with Jennifer K. Morita about writing history, mystery, and everything in between.
📍 724 Sutter Street, Folsom, CA
September 3, 2025
6:00–7:00 PM PT | Wild Sisters Book Company, Sacramento, CA
Signing copies of An Unlikely Prospect. Please drop by this local gem of a bookstore to pick up a copy, get it signed, and visit. (I may even share treats!)
September 7, 2025
10:00–11:00 AM PT | Live Radio Interview
🎙️ A Novel Idea with Suzanne Lang, live on KRCB/NPR-FM 104.9 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org. It will then be syndicated to its NPR podcast page: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/504991626/a-novel-idea
September 13, 2025
1:00–3:30 PM PT | A Seat at the Table Books, Elk Grove, CA
Writing workshops for all ages!
🖋️ 1:00–2:00 — Youth writing workshop with Dorothy Rice
🖋️ 2:30–3:30 — Adult writing workshop with Shelley Blanton-Stroud
📍 9257 Laguna Springs Dr, Suit
September 14, 2025
2:00–3:00 PM PT | Book Passage-Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
Ferry Building, One Ferry Building 42, San Francisco, CA 94111
Join me in San Francisco for an intimate conversation about An Unlikely Prospect, with Laura Wenus, an independent multimedia journalist and editor. She is a co-founder of News Relay Network, a journalism venture that works to empower communities. She has launched and hosted podcasts for the San Francisco Chronicle (“Fixing Our City”) and San Francisco Public Press (“Civic”) focused on solutions reporting and civic engagement.
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Events After Launch
Every month
Book Clubs. (Would you like to schedule an author visit to your book club? Email Shelley.)
November 15, 2025
Author Night at the Steinbeck Museum. Salinas, California. Details TBA.
January 17, 2026
Redwood Writers. On writing history. 11:00 AM–1:00 PM. Finley Center, Santa Rosa.