Authors CJ Leede and Kyle Kouri will discuss their new books in conversation with horror authors Chuck Tingle and Liz Kerin at Vroman’s Bookstore on Tuesday at 7 p.m., according to the store’s event listing.
Leede, a USA Today bestselling author, will discuss her new novel “Headlights”; Kouri will discuss his debut nonfiction collection, “The Problem Drinker.” Tickets, sold through Eventbrite, each include a copy of one or both featured books. A book signing will follow the conversation.
The event takes place at Vroman’s, 695 E. Colorado Blvd.
“Headlights,” published June 9 by Tor Nightfire, follows, according to the publisher’s description, Special Agent Daniel Stansfield, an FBI agent who on what should be his last day on the job is summoned back to Denver, where “seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they’ve allegedly never met.” The hardcover lists at $28.99.
Leede is the author of three novels — “Maeve Fly,” “American Rapture” and “Headlights” — according to her publisher, Tor Publishing Group. “Maeve Fly,” her debut, won the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award and the Splatterpunk Award and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. “American Rapture” was a USA Today bestseller.
“The Problem Drinker,” released June 2, is Kouri’s first book. The paperback, which lists at $19.95, is described by its publisher as a debut nonfiction collection about “an artist living with another artist, yearning to move the needle in his career, amidst a sea of personal tragedies and comedies.” Kouri holds an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and is co-founder of Slashtag Cinema, a film production company, according to his publisher’s biography.
Tingle, who will join the conversation, is a USA Today bestselling author and Locus Award winner whose recent books include “Camp Damascus,” “Bury Your Gays” and “Lucky Day,” according to his publisher. Kerin is the author of the “Night’s Edge” duology and “The Phantom Forest,” with a new novel, “How to Disappear Completely,” forthcoming from Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen, according to her published author biography.
In a blurb for “The Problem Drinker,” Tingle called the book “brilliant, somehow both minimalist and gorgeously sweeping,” writing that Kouri is “casually, effortlessly honest in a way that is so utterly propulsive, it makes the raw elegance of The Problem Drinker difficult to express without reading it for yourself.”
Vroman’s is also offering themed drinks tied to the event. From June 8 through June 16, the store’s wine bar (21 and over) is serving two $15 cocktails: “Tongue Tied,” a clarified coconut lemongrass sake with lime and pineapple served with a syringe of hibiscus tea, and “The Problem,” a mezcal negroni with smoked orange. On the day of the event, a $10 non-alcoholic drink called “The Drip” — a transfusion of ginger, lemon and hibiscus served to-go in a blood bag — will be available starting at 3 p.m.
Ticket options through Eventbrite are: one entry plus one copy of “Headlights”; one entry plus one copy of “The Problem Drinker”; or one entry plus copies of both books, handed out at check-in. For questions, the store can be reached at promo@vromansbookstore.com or (626) 449-5320.
Kouri’s first novel, “Graveyard,” is forthcoming in October from Rejection Letters, according to his publisher’s biography.
