Submitted by Griffin Bay Bookstore

Sunday, April 21 at 2 p.m., Griffin Bay Bookstore presents Charlie Stephens and his new book “A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest’.Wearing glasses and smiling faintly In 1980’s Oregon, Smokey is trying to survive childhood with a young mom who is increasingly desperate in her search for love. As their mother’s boyfriends come and go, Smokey aches for the safety their mother can never quite provide. When a dangerous new man moves into the house, Smokey seeks refuge in the nearby forests– finding comfort as they give themselves over to the strength and beauty of the natural world.

Charlie J. Stephens is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race writer from the Pacific Northwest. Charlie has lived all over the U.S. and worked as a bike messenger, wilderness guide, and high school English teacher. They are the owner of Sea Wolf Books & Community Writing Center. Charlie’s short fiction has appeared in Electric Literature, Best Small Fictions Anthology, New World Writing, Original Plumbing/Feminist Press, and elsewhere.