Events

NOTE: all events are in person unless labeled ***VIRTUAL***

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Saturday 11/22/25, 1:00pm-3:00pm EST: Event with Karen Fine, author of The Other Family Doctor, and Ellen Finnie, author of The Ten Perfections: Spiritual Lessons from a Life with Dogs at Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough, MA.

Plus stay tuned for more events celebrating the paperback edition of Good Grief which comes out 11/11/25! I have things in the making with the likes of Sangamithra Iyer, Sy Montgomery, Matt Patterson, Melanie D.G. Kaplan, Carla Fernandez, and more!

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PAST EVENTS:

• Tuesday 8/2/22, 7:00pm EDT: My launch event!!! Part of the Grubbie Debut Author Series at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition in the Seaport, in conversation with Kelly J. Ford! RSVP here to attend in person and RSVP here to register to watch the live-stream on Crowdcast. [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Wednesday 8/3/22, 7:00pm CDT / 8:00pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** event with The Order of the Good Death, in conversation with Cat Warren! Please note that this event is only open to members of The Order of the Good Death, so make a donation to The Order to become a member before 8/3! You won’t want to miss this.

• Friday 8/5/22, 6:30pm PDT: Author event at Memento Mori: Los Angeles in Hollywood, CA!

• Saturday 8/6/22, 2:00pm PDT: Book signing/reading at Once Upon A Time Bookstore in Montrose, CA!

• Sunday 8/7/22, 11:30am PDT: Special event for Wellesley alums with the Wellesley College Club of Los Angeles! If you are an interested Los Angeles-area Wellesley alum, please register for the event here!

• Saturday 8/13/22, 11:00am EDT: Author event in conversation with Sy Montgomery at The Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough, NH!

• Sunday 8/14/22, 3:00pm EDT: Homecoming event at Newtonville Books in Newton Centre, MA!

• Wednesday 8/17/22, 7:00pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** event in conversation with Chloe Shaw through the Tewksbury Public Library! [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Sunday 8/21/22, 1:00pm EDT: Author event in conversation with Karen Fine at Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough, MA!

• Tuesday 8/23/22, 7:00pm EDT: Special exclusive author talk for the People Who Read Darkness book club!

• Wednesday 8/24/22, 7:00pm EDT: Author talk at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA! [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Saturday 9/3/22, 3:00pm EDT: Homecoming event at the Fishers Island Library on Fishers Island, NY!

• Wednesday 9/7/22, 7:00pm EDT: I get to be in conversation with Kelly J. Ford for the launch of her second novel Real Bad Things at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA!

• Tuesday 9/13/22, 6:30pm EDT: Author event at Gibson’s in Concord, NH! (Thank you to Sue Smith for setting that one up!)

• Sunday 9/18/22, 4:00pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** author talk with the Perfect Paws Pet Ministry! [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Wednesday 9/21/22, 7:00pm EDT: Atomic Anna x Good Grief event at Belmont Books in Belmont, MA, where I’ll be in conversation with Rachel Barenbaum, moderated by Susan Bernhard!

• Monday 9/26/22, 7:00pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** event with Morbid Anatomy, in conversation with Annie Hartnett! Click here to register.

• Wednesday 9/28/22, 8:00am EDT: Presentation in assembly at the Noble & Greenough School, followed by a guided tour of the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery!

• Monday 10/3/22, 7:00pm EDT: I get to be in conversation with Rita Zoey Chin for the launch of her debut novel The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern at Wellesley Books in Wellesley, MA!

• Tuesday 10/4/22, 12:30pm EDT: Visit to professor Christine Carpenter‘s class “The Power of Pets” at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire!

• Thursday 10/6/22, 10:00am EDT: Coffee with Authors event in Cohasset, MA with Rita Zoey Chin and William Martin.

• Thursday 10/6/22, 7:00pm EDT: Author event at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH! (Thank you to Sue Smith for setting that one up!)

• Tuesday 10/11/22: I am excited to be doing two events in Provincetown, MA as part of The Lily House‘s Nothing To Be Afraid Of…Let’s Talk About Death: a week of community-centered death education, art, and conversation. 11:00am-12:30pm EDT: I will doing a Good Grief reading and Q&A. 2:00pm-3:30pm EDT: I will be part of the panel “Pet Loss: Engaging in Art & Ritual.”

• Sunday 10/16/22, 11:00am to 3:00pm EDT: Brookline Dog Day! I’ve been asked to be one of the judges for the dog Halloween costume contest, pretty much the biggest honor of my life to date.

• Thursday 10/20/22, 8:00pm EDT: “Books & Burgers & Beers” party at Tasty Burger in Harvard Square celebrating four GrubStreet authors with 2022 books: Neema Avashia, Rachel Barenbaum, Kelly J. Ford, and me! ***Please RSVP here so we can get a sense of numbers!***

• Sunday 10/23/22, 11:00am to 3:00pm EDT: Rain date for Brookline Dog Day!

• Monday 10/24/22, 7:00am EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** guest speaker visit to Michelle Hoover‘s The 7am Novelist Zoom/podcast series! [Listen to the recording of this event!]

• Monday 10/24/22, 6:30pm EDT: I’ll be co-hosting literary animal trivia and a literary animal scavenger hunt with Rita Zoey Chin at Newtonville Books as part of the Boston Book Festival Prologue week of events! There will be prizes! Refreshments! Fun! Maybe even a real live animal or two!

• Sunday 10/30/22, 1:00pm EDT: Session on “Writing Collections: Short Stories and Essays” with Thomas McNeely as part of the Concord Festival of Authors, at the Concord Free Public Library.

• Tuesday 11/1/22, 1:30pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** text-based Reddit AMA about Good Grief and dead pets in honor of Day of the Dead!

• Thursday 11/3/22, 7:00pm EDT: Book event in New York City at McNally Jackson’s Seaport location (4 Fulton Street)! I will be in conversation with the artist Heide Hatry, and a reception will follow at McNally Jackson Seaport’s new snazzy cocktail bar! Please be sure to register ahead of time here!!!!

• Tuesday 11/8/22, 5:30pm to 7:00pm EDT: Party at Baramor in Newton Centre, hosted by Newtonville Books, to celebrate the paperback release of Jenna Blum‘s Woodrow on the Bench! I will be in conversation with Jenna and Trisha Blanchet of Operation Delta Dog. There will be snacks and books and, of course, dogs! Come take your mind off of the mid-terms! ***Please RSVP here***

• Thursday 11/10/22, 7:00pm EST: I will be in conversation with Kwan Kew Lai at Porter Square Books (Cambridge location) to discuss her new memoir The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly!

• Saturday 11/12/22, 10:00am-3:00pm EST: Teaching a ***VIRTUAL*** Memoir Generator class for Maine Writer and Publishers Alliance.

• Monday 11/14/22, 5:15pm EST: Special Good Grief event at Wellesley College, co-sponsored by Wellesley’s Writing Program and English Department! The event will run 5:15pm-6:00pm in Clapp Library, and I will be in conversation with Ann Zhao, Wellesley ’24 and author of the forthcoming DEAR WENDY (Feiwel & Friends, winter 2024)! Event is free and open to the public, just please ***pre-register for it here***.

• Thursday 12/8/22, 7:00pm EST: I will be in conversation with Kwan Kew Lai at Wellesley Books to discuss her new memoir The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly!

• Wednesday 1/11/23, 12:00pm EST: ***VIRTUAL*** presentation to the Animal Ethics Study Group at the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics.

• Thursday 1/19/23, 6:00pm EST: Roslindale Book Ambassador event! I’ll be in conversation with acclaimed dog photographer Traer Scott at the Roslindale Branch of the Boston Public Library.

• Monday 2/13/23, 12:00pm EST: ***VIRTUAL*** talk about publishing and the writing life with Inci Atrek, author of the forthcoming Holiday Country, as part of the Wellesley 2010 Day festivities! Open only to Wellesley alums from the class of 2010.

• Monday 2/13/23, 5:30pm EST: Special event at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine – Tufts University, co-sponsored by the Cummings Pet Loss Hotline and Animal Matters, a series of seminars from Tufts Center for Animals in Public Policy. I’ll be in conversation with Karen Fine, DVM, the author of The Other Family Doctor (preorder Karen’s book here!) as we discuss “Loving and Losing Animals: Understanding And Supporting Those That Are Grieving.” The talk will be open to the public and held at the Agnes Varis Campus Center Auditorium on the Tufts campus in Grafton. The event will also be live-streamed and recorded via Zoom. Register for the event here. [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Saturday 2/25/23, 3:00pm EST: TEDxWellesleyCollege event! I will be speaking about Good Grief and finding community through pet loss. This event is only open to current Wellesley students, faculty, and staff! [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Wednesday 3/1/23, 6:30pm EST: Author event at the Westborough Public Library! I will be in conversation with Karen Fine, DVM, the author of The Other Family Doctor, which is coming out in March 2023. (Preorder Karen’s book here!) (And, yes, this is the same event that was supposed to be in December, that then was supposed to be in January… hopefully third time is the charm!) Register for the event here.

• Wednesday 3/15/23, 7:00pm EST: Boston-area launch for The Other Family Doctor by Karen Fine! I’ll be in conversation with Karen at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA! RSVP for the event here.

• Tuesday 3/21/23, 7:00am EST: ***VIRTUAL*** guest speaker visit to Michelle Hoover’s The 7am Novelist Zoom/podcast series: March Madness edition! [Listen to the recording of this event!]

• Tuesday 3/21/23, 11:00am EST: Author talk at The Jenks Center in Winchester! Books will be available for purchase courtesy of Book Ends.

• Friday 4/7/23, 7:00pm EDT: I get to be in conversation with Tove Danovich to talk about her new book Under the Henfluence at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA!

• Thursday 5/11/23, 7:00pm EDT: Save the date for a very special “dog authors” event at Newtonville Books featuring Annie Hartnett, Jenna Blum, Karen Fine, and yours truly! More info coming soon.

• Tuesday 5/16/23, 7:00pm EDT: I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I get to be in conversation with Erica Berry to discuss her masterpiece Wolfish at All She Wrote Books! More info and registration link here.

• Tuesday 5/30/23, 8:15pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** I am excited to be part of a guest panel of writers in Theresa Okokon‘s GrubStreet course “Developing Your Personal Essay.”

• Sunday 6/11/23, 2:00pm EDT: Honored to be a guest lecturer in Ken Barringer‘s summer course at Lesley University, Division of Counseling and Psychology. While this talk is only open to Lesley students, you can hear my conversation with Ken on his podcast “Grief in Brief.” 

• Tuesday 6/20/23, 7:00pm EDT: I will be celebrating the launch of Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World by Jean Duffy, my former GrubStreet student. I will be in conversation with Jean and Soccer Grannies founder Beka Ntsanwisi as part of the Grubbie Debut Author Series at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition in the Seaport!

• Monday 6/26/23, 8:30am-10:30am EDT: As guest nonfiction faculty, I’ll be teaching “Writing the Nontraditional Essay” in Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing June 2023 Residency. This course is only open to students in the Lesley MFA program.

• Tuesday 6/27/23, 8:15pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** I can’t wait to be a guest lecturer in Theresa Okokon‘s GrubStreet course “Advanced Personal Essay.”

• Wednesday 6/28/23, 6:30pm EDT: Guest nonfiction faculty evening reading in Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing June 2023 Residency. This event is only open to students in the Lesley MFA program.

• Thursday 6/29/23, 8:30am-10:30am EDT: As guest nonfiction faculty, I’ll be teaching “Animals Across Genres: Writing About Non-Human Beings” in Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing June 2023 Residency. This course is only open to students in the Lesley MFA program.

• Wednesday 7/19/23, 7:00pm EDT: I will be teaching a special seminar as part of GrubStreet‘s Craft Talk Series: ‘Writing Through Darkness (and How to Take Care of Yourself During It)’. More info and registration link here. This talk will be held at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition in the Seaport.

• Friday 7/28/23, 7:00pm EDT: Excited that Good Grief was chosen to be part of GrubStreet’s Beach Reads Party. Come hear authors read excerpts from their “beachy” (broadly interpreted) books and mingle and hang out at 50 Liberty Drive in the Seaport! RSVP for this free event via EventBrite here.

• Sunday 8/6/23, 4:00pm EDT: My first book event in the state of Maine! “Dog Days of Summer” event with Karen Fine at Back Cove Books in Portland, ME. The event will be a fundraiser for Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland! Please check out the ARLGP’s wishlists before the event for supplies you can bring/donate.

• Thursday 9/7/23, 6:00pm-9:00pm EDT: I’ll be hanging out at Papercuts JP as part of the Jamaica Plain Nite Market festivities, alongside fellow dog authors Karen Fine, author of The Other Family Doctor, and Morgan Baker, author of Emptying the Nest. 

• Saturday 9/9/23, 11:30am-1:00pm EDT: Save the date for the River Bend Bookshop’s 2023 Author Stage on Hubbard Green, at 99 Hubbard Street, Glastonbury, Connecticut, in conjunction with Glastonbury Art’s Arts & Crafts Festival on the Green. I will be part of a panel with Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life, and Amanda Parrish Morgan, author of Stroller, at 12:40pm, and I will also be hanging out and signing books in the “Author Alley” from 11:30am-1:00pm. They also have more great panels and authors all day Saturday and Sunday, too! Check out the full schedule!

• Sunday 9/24/23, 11:00am-2:00pm GMT+9: Do you live in Kobe, Japan? Are you a young person who loves creative writing? Do you want to learn more about flash fiction/nonfiction and six word stories? Then come to my very special writing workshop at Learning Lab Kobe, hosted by my college BFF Lee Ung! More information and registration link can be found here.

• Thursday 10/19/23, 7:30pm EDT: ***VIRTUAL*** I am over the moon to get to be part of the Cary Library Literary Cafe Series, an author series that happens at the library in my hometown of Lexington, Massachusetts! The very library I grew up going to! And even more exciting, I will be in conversation for this with Neema Avashia and Marjan Kamali. Click here to register for the virtual event. [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Saturday 10/28/23, 4:30pm EDT: Acclaimed dog photographer Traer Scott and I will be doing a special animal-themed story time (sponsored by All She Wrote Books) as part of the Somerville Halloween Block Party and Pet Parade, which runs from 3:00pm-6:00pm at Chuckie Harris Park in East Somerville. Stay tuned for more info!

• Sunday 10/29/23, 4:30pm EDT: Rain date for the Somerville Halloween Block Party and Pet Parade!

• Wednesday 11/15/23, 7pm EST: I will be participating in Literary Death Match at The Brattle Theatre! I’ll be competing against the great Aube Rey Lescure, the amazing Desmond Hall, and the fantastic JD Debris, and being judged by the visionary Nell Scovell (creator of Sabrina the Teenage Witch!!!!!), the brilliant Kellie Carter Jackson, and the hilarious Ken Reid. More info can be found here. [Read a review of the event!]

• Sunday 11/19/23, 11:30am EST: The Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester is hosting an three-week-long author series, featuring your truly on 11/19, Liz Kinchen, author of Light in Bandaged Places, on 11/26, and Julie Carrick Dalton, author of The Last Beekeeper, on 12/3. Books will be available for sale courtesy of BOOK ENDS Winchester!

• Sunday 11/19/23, 5:00pm EST: ***VIRTUAL*** I am honored to share that I have been invited to officiate and give the reflection at the Perfect Paws Pet Ministry annual Service of Remembrance. The service will be held via Zoom, and all are welcome to attend. Zoom Meeting ID: 990 855 545 / Password: Saintfranc.

• Thursday 6/6/24, 2:00pm PST / 5:00pm EST: ***VIRTUAL*** guest speaker at UCLA in Rosebud Ben-Oni‘s Creative Writing Certificate Capstone Course.

• Tuesday 9/24/24, 1:00pm EST: ***VIRTUAL*** participating in virtual animal book festival, curated by Zazie Todd, author of Purr, Wag, and the forthcoming Bark! I’ll be on a panel with animal chaplain Rev. Sarah Bowen, author of Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice For Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing The Planet and veterinarian Dr. Karen Fine, author of The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality. [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Thursday 10/17/24, 7:30pm EST: ***VIRTUAL*** guest speaker to gathering of members of the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement. [Watch the recording of this event!]

• Tuesday 3/11/25, 6:30pm EDT: Reading two pages of new material (!!!) in the Two Page Tuesday reading series at Charlie’s Kitchen!