BRADLEY SIDES & CHARLOTTE DONLON: THE VOLCANO KEEPER & SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR WRITERS

Join us as we welcome BRADLEY SIDES & CHARLOTTE DONLON on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 at 6:00 PM to celebrate the release of both of their new books THE VOLCANO KEEPER & SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR WRITERS ABOUT THE BOOKS: THE VOLCANO KEEPER BY BRADLEY SIDES: When a volcano suddenly emerges in the middle of his family's Alabama cattle pasture, young Charlie Melvin is confronted with a promise his grandfather once made--that something extraordinary would rise from the land. As Charlie comes of age, he wrestles with the meaning of the volcano and the legacy of his family. His story unfolds through evocative vignettes that explore love, loss, responsibility, and faith.

Graceful, tender, and emotionally resonant, Bradley Sides' The Volcano Keeper is a moving portrait of a young man navigating grief while discovering the quiet miracles woven into the natural world. SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR WRITERS BY CHARLOTTE DONLON: What if the writing life isn't about daily word counts--but about daily attention to your whole self? You don't need to write every day to be a writer.

You don't need perfect conditions, endless hours, or a life free from doubt. What you need is permission to bring your whole, imperfect self to the page--and practices that nourish your soul as you write. All of life is the writing life.

Drawing on her experience as a spiritual director working primarily with writers, Charlotte Donlon offers something rare: a book that honors both the craft of writing and the care of the soul. Through contemplative practices, personal stories, and wisdom from writers like Toni Morrison, Margaret Walker, and Kaveh Akbar, she invites you to discover how rest, doubt, grief, and joy all become sacred ground for creative flourishing. Structured around five essential movements--"Begin," "Belong," "Become," "Behold," "Bestow"--this book offers practical rituals and gentle companionship for the real conditions of your life.

Whether you're navigating resistance, recovering from burnout, or simply longing for a more sustainable practice, you'll find permission to write from exactly where you are. Writers of all backgrounds are welcome here. People of deep faith and profound doubt.

Those who write every day and those who write in stolen moments. Published authors and private journalers. This is a sanctuary, not a system--a space where your creative identity isn't measured by output but nourished by attention.

Spiritual Direction for Writers doesn't promise to make you more productive. It promises something better: to help you become more fully yourself, on and off the page. Because when writing helps make you a kinder, wiser, and more generous human being--when it opens you to what matters most--you've already succeeded.

"Charlotte's book makes space, supports readers, writers, and listeners, and truly cares about the people who encounter its pages. It is a place to land and rest, a place to be curious, to experiment, to pray, to breathe, to feel, and to embrace the truth of your identity as a writer." --Ashley M. Jones, poet laureate emerita of Alabama ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Bradley Sides is the author of two previous short story collections, Those Fantastic Lives and Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood, a 2024 Book of the Year finalist at Southern Literary Review.

His writing appears at Chapter 16, Electric Literature, LeVar Burton Reads, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, The Rumpus, and Southern Review of Books, where he also serves as the host of “The Southern Summer Book Club.” He lives in Madison, Alabama, with his wife, and, on most days, he can be found teaching writing and literature at Calhoun Community College. His latest book is The Volcano Keeper. Charlotte Donlon is a writer, spiritual director, and gatherer whose work centers on helping people explore themes of belonging, artful encounters, and spiritual growth--even when life is full, busy, or chaotic.

Her work has woven together themes of belonging, art, and soul exploration for more than 25 years. With a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (2015-2018) and a certificate in spiritual direction (2018-2020), Charlotte guides writers and other creative souls in developing sanctuaries of acceptance and connection. In 2020, Broadleaf Books published Charlotte's first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other.

Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life is slated for release by Here Below Books in September 2026. Three volumes of Charlotte's "Guidebooks for the Soul"—Take More Retreats, The Great Belonging Project, and Belonging Through Art—will also be published in 2026. Her essays have been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, and The Millions, among others.

A new essay about art conservation, Joan Mitchell, and mystery is forthcoming with Image journal.