Author Archives: Erin Lewis

Virtual Author Hour – David Ellis

Author Hour in Massachusetts – David Ellis

Thursday, January 9, 2025

7:00 – 8:00 PM via Zoom

Register online!

Bestselling author (and judge!) David Ellis will discuss his new thrillers, The Best Lies and Lies He Told Me, which he co-authored with James Patterson, in this installment of “Author Hour in Massachusetts.”

About David: David Ellis is a Chicago-based judge and #1 New York Times-bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author of eleven novels of crime fiction, as well as ten books co-authored with James Patterson, most recently Lies He Told Me. His latest solo release is The Best Lies, another twisty thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn and Denis Lehane and recently optioned by Warner Brothers Television. An accomplished judge by day, David was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District in 2014. He lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children.

About The Best Lies: Bestselling and award-winning author David Ellis delivers a fast-paced, twisty thriller that will surprise readers at every turn. Leo Balanoff is a diagnosed pathological liar with unthinkable skeletons in his family’s closet. He’s also a crusading attorney who seeks justice at all costs. When a ruthless drug dealer is found dead and Leo’s fingerprints show up on the murder weapon, no one believes a word he says. But he might be the FBI’s only shot at taking down the dealer’s brutal syndicate. Risk his life going undercover for the feds or head straight to prison for murder? Leo accepts the FBI’s offer—but it comes with a price, including a collision course with his ex, Andi Piotrowski, a former cop and “the one who got away.” Forced to walk a tightrope between an ambitious FBI agent and a cruel, calculating crime boss, Leo’s trapped in a corner. But he has more secrets than anyone realizes, and a few more cards left to play…

About Lies He Told Me: An attorney and mother of two discovers her husband’s secret life—and it might cost them all their lives. Everyone in Hemingway Grove, Illinois, knows David and Marcie Bowers. David owns the local pub. Marcie is a former big-city lawyer who practices family law. When David jumps into Cotton River to save a drowning stranger, he’s celebrated as a hero. His muscled physique, shaved head, and piercing blue eyes are broadcast on every news outlet.  For most people, newfound fame is a lifeline. For David Bowers, it’s a death sentence. For Marcie Bowers, it’s a test. A wife knows the difference between a loving husband and father and a cold-blooded assassin. Right? 

About Author Hour in Massachusetts: “Author Hour in Massachusetts” is a series of virtual author talks this winter featuring some of the publishing industry’s top trending writers. These webinars — held from 7pm (ET) to 8pm (ET), Monday through Friday — are free and open to all. This series, which runs through March 20, 2025, is being promoted by more than 50 public libraries in Massachusetts.  Stay tuned for future events!

If interested, please click HERE to purchase a copy of this book from the event’s bookstore partner, Wellesley Books. Book sales will help support future virtual author events.

Fun on Creativebug

January Fun on Creativebug!

Start the New Year with a fresh perspective through mindful and cozy crafting. Explore the newest Creativebug classes designed to inspire you!

Using your library card and PIN, create your own account for FREE and nurture your creative side with 1000+ video classes in painting, knitting, crafting, sewing & more!

January 1 – Yoga of Yarn: A Daily Practice in Mindfulness and Making

As creators, our bodies are essential tools that deserve careful attention. Join Liza Laird, a knitter and yogi, as she explores beautiful ways to integrate body, mind, and spirit into artmaking. You don’t need a yoga practice or prior knowledge of knitting to benefit from this distinctive daily practice. While Liza demonstrates knitting up the Mala Cowl, a luscious two-color brioche stitch project from her book Yoga of Yarn, feel free to participate with any project of your choosing. Throughout the month, she shares mindfulness techniques and simple, adaptable movements that can be done right from your seat. Whether you’re interested in taking a spiritual journey with your craft or simply aiming to keep your body limber for extended art sessions, this class provides the tools for mindful making.

January 8 – Mending with Wool Felt

There’s no need to fret if you find a hole in your clothes. Mending with natural wool felt is not only practical but also decorative, fun, and possibly easier than you might think. Fiber artist and handwork teacher Melissa of Hex House Crowns demonstrates two ways to mend clothing with needle felting. First, mend directly onto the fabric, which is a good method for lighter, more delicate fabrics – Melissa demonstrates a sweet heart shape as well as a sun. Then, learn to needle felt a patch, which is best for thicker fabrics like canvas and denim. Melissa walks you through making a rainbow patch and a mushroom, and also how to use the blanket stitch to finish the edge of a patch and sew it to a garment. You’ll soon see that you have the freedom to create any shape or design that you want, and that you’ve learned a new way to repair your clothes to make them as unique as you.

January 15 – CB Mixtape: Eyes

CbMixtapes are playlists made of specific bits taken from different classes and grouped together by a common theme. It’s a fun way to learn how one topic is approached by a variety of artists with different techniques, all rounded up in one curated mixtape.

Eyes are, of course, “the windows to the soul,” and while we love portraiture, representing just an eye can be an efficient way to represent a person. These classes are taught by different artists and use a variety of media to draw, sketch, paint, and capture eyes.

January 22 – Tetra Pak Printing

Unlock the potential of everyday materials by transforming food packaging into printmaking plates that yield beautiful, accessible results. Courtney Cerruti, artist and Creativebug Editor-In-Chief, fell in love with this technique because it is similar to etching on metal plates but has a convenient twist—the materials you’ll use are recycled, readily available, and easy to work with. This approach encourages free and spontaneous exploration, without the worry of “ruining a plate.” In this class, learn how to upcycle a TetraPak into a printing plate, create abstract images from organic shapes, etch prints by drawing directly onto the surface, and cut away spaces that will print in black. This sustainable method offers a creative and attainable way to dive into printmaking.

Virtual – Historical Fiction Book Recs with Jane Healey

Virtual – Historical Fiction Book Recs with Bestselling Author, Jane Healey

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

6:30-7:00 PM via Zoom

Register Online!

Love Historical Fiction but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Jane Healey, monthly for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations – the best of historical fiction out there! We’re sure you’ll find something to like from Jane’s many enthusiastic reviews.

Jane Healey is the author of The Beantown Girls, a Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller, The Secret Stealers, which was an Amazon First Reads Editor’s Pick and a Historical Novel Society’s Editors’ Choice, and her debut, The Saturday Evening Girls Club. Goodnight from Paris is her newly released novel from Lake Union Publishing. Jane is also the host of Historical Happy Hour, a monthly webinar and podcast featuring interviews with premier historical fiction authors and their latest novels. She and her family lives outside Boston. We can’t wait to hear what Jane will be recommending – be ready for your TBR pile to fall over! 

A list of all recommendations will be shared for those who register. There will also be recordings of each meeting uploaded to the Ashland Public Library YouTube Channel.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with a multitude of MA and NH libraries. 

Mass Center for the Book 2025 Reading Challenge

How it Works:

  1. Choose a book that fits the monthly challenge. If you are stuck, please ask a library staff member for some ideas!
  2. Each month, after you read, fill out a short form to tell us about the book.
  3. That’s it!
    • Mass Center for the Book will host a year-end party to celebrate participants committed to the challenge.
    • There will be monthly drawings for free books.
    • If you read a book in each of the 12 months, you will be entered in a drawing to win a tote filled with books and other bookish goodies.

January: A book published or about the year you were born


February: A book with the name of a city in the title


March: A book about someone with a marginalized identity


April: A book about books, bookstores, or libraries


May: A book with a first sentence of eight words or less


June: A book that spans multiple generations


July: A book you were drawn to by its cover


August: A book with a protagonist who is a teenager or senior citizen


September: A book told in non-chronological order


October: A book published by a Massachusetts press


November: A cookbook or book about food


December: Another book by an author you’ve already read   

Virtual Author Hour – Adam Haslett

Author Hour in Massachusetts – Adam Haslett

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

7:00 – 8:00 PM via Zoom

Register Online!

Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Award finalist Adam Haslett will discuss his latest novel, Mothers and Sons, in this installment of “Author Hour in Massachusetts.”

About Adam: Adam Haslett is the author of the story collection You Are Not a Stranger Here and the novels Union Atlantic and Imagine Me Gone. He has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, as well as a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Adam is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/Malamud Award, the Berlin Prize, and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He currently directs the MFA Program at Hunter College in New York.

About Mothers and Sons: At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated. He spends his days immersed in the struggles of immigrants only to return to an empty apartment and occasional hook-ups with a man who wants more than Peter can give. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter’s numbness, the event that he has avoided for twenty years returns to haunt him. Ann, his mother, who runs a women’s retreat center she founded after leaving his father, is hurt by the estrangement from Peter but cherishes the world she has built. She long ago put behind her the decision that divided her from her son. But as Peter’s case plunges him further into the fraught memory of his first love and the night of violence that changed his life, he and his mother must confront the secret that tore them apart. With unsurpassed emotional depth, Mothers and Sons reveals all that is lost by looking away from the past and the love that might be restored by facing it. This spellbinding novel has received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly.

About Author Hour in Massachusetts: “Author Hour in Massachusetts” is a series of virtual author talks this winter featuring some of the publishing industry’s top trending writers. These webinars — held from 7pm (ET) to 8pm (ET), Monday through Friday — are free and open to all. This series, which runs through March 20, 2025, is being promoted by more than 50 public libraries in Massachusetts.  Stay tuned for future events!

If interested, please click HERE to purchase a copy of this book from the event’s bookstore partner, Wellesley Books. Book sales will help support future virtual author events.

Virtual – Women’s Fiction Book Recs with Kristan Higgins

Virtual – Women’s Fiction Book Recs with Bestselling Author, Kristan Higgins

Thursday, January 16, 2025

6:30 – 7:00 PM via Zoom

Register Online!

Love Women’s Fiction but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Kristan Higgins (and Ashland fave!), quarterly for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations – the best of women’s fiction out there! We’re sure you’ll find something to like from Kristan’s many enthusiastic reviews.

Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, which have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her books have received dozens of awards and accolades, including starred reviews from Entertainment Weekly, People, Kirkus, The New York Journal of Books, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Booklist.

The mother of two fantastic adults and a smitten grandmother, Kristan enjoys gardening, mixology, the National Parks and being overly helpful to strangers. She lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband and a variety of rescued pets.

A list of all recommendations will be shared for those who register. There will also be recordings of each meeting uploaded to the Ashland Public Library YouTube Channel.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with a multitude of MA and NH libraries. 

1 2