10th Annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention

Get ready to dive into awesome book chats, hear from best-selling authors and meet fellow Lowcountry readers at this fun annual meetup! 10th Annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention is almost here! The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host our 10th annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention on Saturday, September 26. Ideal for book club members, those interested in joining a book club, or anyone who simply loves the joy of reading, the Lowcountry Book Club Convention is presented in partnership with NeverMore Books. This is also a great opportunity to meet Robert Gwaltney, the Executive Director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center. The day-long Convention kicks off with registration beginning at 9:30am at the Culinary Institute of the South (1 Venture Dr., Bluffton), with three author conversations and gourmet box lunches provided by Catering by Debbi Covington. The program will feature a morning discussion with bestselling novelist Colleen Oakley, author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise and the upcoming In Concert, to be released in February. Colleen will be in conversation with another bestselling novelist, our own Cassandra King, author of The Sunday Wife and the memoir Tell Me a Story: My Life with Pat Conroy. Our second presentation will be with authors Dana Ridenour and Susan Zurenda, in conversation with Margaret Evans, writer and publisher of Lowcountry Weekly. Both Dana and Susan have brand new novels, published a week apart in August and we look forward to what promises to be a lively discussion. Our final author talk of the day will feature author Jennifer Moorman. Jennifer is known for writing magical realism novels, such as The Charmed Library, but this time she will be sharing insight into her delightful children's books in a conversation with children's book publishing executive, Annette Flavel. Each author conversation will be followed by a book signing. This is a ticketed event. Advance registration is required by September 20 (9/25 if not ordering a lunch) for this year’s Lowcountry Book Club Convention. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS-SEPT 26 9:30am Registration 10-11am Keynote speaker: Colleen Oakley in conversation with Cassandra King (CKC not yet confirmed) 11-11:30am Book sales and signing 11:30-12:30 Author conversation, Dana Ridenour and Susan Zurenda interviewed by Margaret Evans 12:30-1:30 Book signing break and lunch (Catered box lunches) 1:30-2:30 Author presentation, Jennifer Moorman in conversation with Annette Flavel 2:30-3pm Final book sales and signing ABOUT THE AUTHORS Colleen Oakley in conversation with Cassandra King Conroy Colleen Oakley is the USA Today bestselling author of six novels including, The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, You Were There Too, Close Enough to Touch, Before I Go and her latest Jane and Dan at the End of the World, which was the Good Housekeeping book club pick for March 2025 and named a most-anticipated book for 2025 by People magazine, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Zibby Media and more. Colleen’s novels have been longlisted for the Southern Book Prize twice and Close Enough to Touch won the French Reader’s Prize. Her books have been translated into more than 21 languages, optioned for film and have received numerous accolades. A former magazine editor for Marie Claire and Women’s Health & Fitness, Colleen’s articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Woman’s Day, Fitness, Health, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. A proud graduate of the University of Georgia’s school of journalism, Colleen currently lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids, and a terrier mutt named Baxter. Cassandra King is the award-winning author of two books of non-fiction and five novels, Making Waves, The Sunday Wife, The Same Sweet Girls, Queen of Broken Hearts, and Moonrise, as well as numerous short stories and articles. The Sunday Wife was a Book Sense Pick and a People magazine Page Turner of the Week; on release, The Same Sweet Girls was the number one Book Sense selection nationwide. Queen of Broken Hearts, was a Book of the Month Club and Literary Guild selection. Her latest book, Tell Me a Story, was named SIBA*’s non-fiction Book of the Year. In 2025, Cassandra was the recipient of the Harper Lee Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented by the Harper Lee Foundation. A native of L. A. (Lower Alabama), Cassandra resides in Beaufort, South Carolina, where she is honorary chair of the Pat Conroy Literary Center. Dana Ridenour and Susan Zurenda in conversation with Margaret Evans Dana Ridenour is an award-winning author and retired FBI Special Agent. During her twenty-year career she was assigned to four different FBI Field Divisions and had the opportunity to work a wide variety of cases to include multi-faceted narcotics investigations, domestic sex trafficking of minors, and violent crime. She spent most of her career as an FBI undercover operative. Dana is the author of three award-winning books, Behind the Mask, Beyond the Cabin and Below the Radar. Her fourth novel, All the Hidden Pieces was just released on August 25, and is receiving rave reviews. Dana lives in Beaufort, South Carolina with husband and where she is working on her fourth novel. Susan Zurenda taught English for 33 years on the college level and at the high school level to AP students. Her debut novel, Bells for Eli , was selected the first place winner for Best First Book—Fiction in the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards, a Foreword Indie Book Award finalist, a Winter 2020 Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, a 2020 Notable Indie on Shelf Unbound, a 2020 finalist for American Book Fest Best Book Awards, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2021. Susan has won numerous awards for her short fiction, including winning the South Carolina Fiction Prize twice. Her second novel, The Girl From the Red Rose Motel, was the recipient of the 2024 Patricia Winn Award in Southern Fiction, Gold Medal winner in the 2024 IPPY Awards for Southeast Fiction, a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a Shelf Unbound 2023 Notable 100 books, and a finalist in the American Book Fest Awards. Susan lives in Spartanburg, SC. Margaret Evans is a prominent South Carolina journalist, editor, and arts writer based in Beaufort. She is the editor of Lowcountry Weekly and co-publisher of The Island News, a role she has held for over two decades. Her passion for writing began in childhood, when she wrote poetry and read aloud to her family. Her journalism career began in the mid-1990s as editor of Beaufort Magazine, a position she held for six years. She later became a regular contributor to Lowcountry Weekly, where she developed her award-winning column Rants & Raves. In her late 20s, she worked as a research assistant for novelist Pat Conroy while he was writing Beach Music. She later served as his editorial assistant and became his research assistant for two years. Margaret remains a respected figure in South Carolina journalism, celebrated for her literary contributions, editorial leadership, and commitment to the arts and local culture. Jennifer Moorman is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of six novels, including The Charmed Library, The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds, The Magic All Around, and the Mystic Water Series. Her creative works also include a collection of folklore retellings and Strawberry Shortcake children’s books.