Come see Meet the Author in bookstores around Chicago mid-May to mid-June on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Shows will be at 7 pm unless otherwise indicated. Shows will be free without taking reservations unless otherwise indicated. We're talking to many bookstores and as dates get confirmed, we will post them here.

5/16/24 -https://tangiblebookschicago.com/ (Bridgeport)

5/22/24 - https://www.thelookingglassbooks.com/ (Oak Park)

5/23/24 - https://www.unchartedbooks.com/ (Andersonville)

5/29/24 - https://www.womenandchildrenfirst.com/ (Andersonville)

5/30/24 - https://www.bookcellarinc.com/ (Lincoln Square)

6/06/24 - https://madstreetbooks.com/ (West Loop)

6/12/24 - https://www.kibbitznest.com/ (Lincoln Park)

Meet the Author is a one-act play by Chicago playwright Joe Janes

that takes place in a bookstore.

Casey Stumpner is an aspiring writer trying desperately to be seen by others as the next Tom Clancy or James Patterson. He has spent all his money to get his book into print and has managed to talk his way into doing a book signing at a little independent bookstore in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't go well. The bookstore owner begrudgingly presents the book signing that her partner Seth booked because he liked Casey’s press release. Nate, the only person in the world who has read all of Casey’s books, is there not to support, but to troll. The book that Casey thinks will put him on the map is Thrust & Perry: Pig in a Blanket of Death. An action erotica spy novel. Whatever the heck that is. Meet the Author is about trying to live one's dreams and failing miserably.

Joe Janes is an Emmy Award winning writer who also teaches comedy writing and improvisation at Columbia College and The Second City. His most recent production was Macbeth By The Sea which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 to rave reviews and will be performed at The Den Theatre in Chicago this fall. More information can be found at www.joejanes.net and www.macbethbythesea.com.

Andrea J. Dymond is a Chicago-based freelance director specializing in developing and directing new work; Andrea was Resident Director at Victory Gardens Theater, where she directed 11 productions, including 7 world premieres, and helped to develop and launch The Ignition Festival of New Plays. She also does research and production dramaturgy, directs at new works festivals; and has served as thesis play advisor for MFA playwrights at Carnegie Mellon University; and, as a director at NNPN’s MFA Playwrights Workshops, at the Kennedy Center. This is her fourth collaboration with Joe Janes. Their other productions were Our Christian Nation, The Greatest Theatrical Event…EVER!, and Macbeth By The Sea.