I just learned from the wonderful folks at University of Wisconsin Press that Meet Me Halfway, my collection of short stories about race relations in Milwaukee, has an official release date of April 21, 2015. I’m really excited to have the date in hand because now I can ask you:

* Are you part of a book club that would like to read Meet Me Halfway and have me drop in — virtually, via video conference, or in person — for an author Q&A?

* Do you teach a high school or university course on creative writing, urban studies, U.S. history, sociology, African American studies, whiteness studies, LGBT studies, aging studies, Latino studies, or linguistics? If so, Meet Me Halfway has something to offer your class. With its diverse cast of characters and a range of perspectives and voices, your class can use the book as an entryway into a wide range of conversations about racial identity, racism, language and class, the nature of historical truth, issues in aging, and more.

* Do you have a bookstore or other venue to recommend for a reading or other event?

* Are you part of a group — civic, faith, social — or a workplace that could benefit from a discussion of race facilitated through fiction? I believe many readers will be able to see themselves in the characters in Meet Me Halfway, allowing them to begin to talk about hard topics from the safe distance that fiction provides.

Let me know if you have ideas about how Meet Me Halfway can reach your audience. I want people to enjoy this book — maybe I’m biased, but I think the stories are a good read! — but I also want to see these stories help start needed conversations about race in cities across the country. You can send me ideas through the Contact page of the MoralesWrites website and I will get back to you promptly.

Thanks!

Jennifer

P.S.: Click over to the Meet Me Halfway page of the site to see the book cover featuring some of Milwaukee’s beautiful faces.