On September 21, 2022, I headed over to The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore for another installment of Charm City Spec. And while that night’s four writers read selections from their novels, I was in the front row recording as much as my battery power and speed with pressing the start button allowed.

Here I am holding up my Flip camera, captured while Alan Smale was at the mic —

And because of that, though you weren’t there, now you can be. Check out the four performances below.

Serby Gray
reading from her novel Ashes of Regret

Randee Dawn
reading from her novel Tune In Tomorrow

Alan Smale
reading from his novel Hot Moon

Amy L.Bernstein
reading from her novel The Potrero Complex

If you’d like to catch one of these events in person, another Charm City Spec is coming up on November 16, this time at the Bird in Hand Cafe & Bookshop. For more information, follow Charm City Spec on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Yesterday, after recording a lunchtime episode of my Eating the Fantastic podcast in Towson, Maryland, I headed into Baltimore to attend the second incarnation of Charm City Spec, a quarterly reading series which takes place at Bird in Hand Coffee & Books.

Last night’s featured writers were Malka Older, Tom Doyle, and Ariel S. Winter.

Do you regret missing it? Well, you don’t have to! Because I recorded all three readings, as well as parts of the introductions by Karen Osborne. And you can enjoy them all below.

Malka Older

Tom Doyle

Ariel S. Winter

The next installment of Charm City Spec will take place on April 25th with Leah Cypess, A.C. Wise, and Fran Wilde. I’ll be there. Will you?