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Debut Novelist
Librarian and Freelance Writer
Travels from: Dothan, Alabama

“Nothing short of astonishing. The best writers are brave writers, and Harris has proven herself among the ranks.” — Mateo Askaripour, New York Times bestselling author

Terah Shelton Harris is a librarian and freelance writer, who now writes upmarket fiction with bittersweet endings. Her first novel, One Summer in Savannah, was a LibraryReads and Target Book Club Pick. Her second book, Long After We Are Gone, will be published in May 2024. As a freelancer, her work has appeared in consumer and trade magazines including Catapult, Women’s Health, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and Minority Nurse.

Terah has worked as a librarian for over 15 years. Chief among her responsibilities is the coordination of all aspects of adult collection development (print and digital) including: acquisitions, withdrawals, circulation, cataloging, and processing, ensuring the present and future optimal operation and function of the DHCLS’s technology and communications network (hardware/software), including DHCLS’s website, ILS, and OverDrive’s eBook consortium, SEADL. As a librarian, Terah has written and received over a half million dollars in local, state, and federal grants. She is most proud of her Wifi-in-the-Park project which provides free Wifi to over 200 acres of Westgate Park.

Terah's Featured Titles

Long After We Are Gone: A Novel

Sourcebooks Landmark |
Family Life Fiction

An explosive and emotional story of four siblings―each fighting their own personal battle―who return home in the wake of their father’s death in order to save their family’s home from being sold out from under them, from the author of One Summer in Savannah.

“Don’t let the white man take the house.”

These are the last words King Solomon says to his son before he dies. Now all four Solomon siblings must return to North Carolina to save the Kingdom, their ancestral home and 200 acres of land, from a development company, who has their sights set on turning the valuable waterfront property into a luxury resort.

While fighting to save the Kingdom, the siblings must also save themselves from the secrets they’ve been holding onto. Junior, the oldest son and married to his wife for eleven years, is secretly in love with another man. Second son Mance can’t control his temper, which has landed him in prison more than once. CeCe, the oldest daughter and a lawyer in New York City, has embezzled thousands of dollars from her firm’s clients. Youngest daughter Tokey wonders why she doesn’t seem to fit into this family, which has left an aching hole in her heart that she tries to fill in harmful ways. As the Solomons come together to fight for the Kingdom, each of their façades begins to crumble and collide in unexpected ways.

Told in alternating viewpoints, Long After We Are Gone is a searing portrait on the power of family and letting go of things that no longer serve you, exploring the burden of familial expectations, the detriment of miscommunication, and the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children.

One Summer in Savannah: A Novel

Sourcebooks Landmark |
Contemporary Fiction

A compelling debut that glows with bittersweet heart and touching emotion, deeply interrogating questions of family, redemption, and unconditional love in the sweltering summer heat of Savannah, as two people discover what it means to truly forgive.

It’s been eight years since Sara Lancaster left her home in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years since her daughter, Alana, came into this world, following a terrifying sexual assault that left deep emotional wounds Sara would do anything to forget. But when Sara’s father falls ill, she’s forced to return home and face the ghosts of her past.

While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is desperate to protect her curious, outgoing, genius daughter from the Wylers, the family of the man who assaulted her. Sara thinks she can succeed―her attacker is in prison, his identical twin brother, Jacob, left town years ago, and their mother are all unaware Alana exists. But she soon learns that Jacob has also just returned to Savannah to piece together the fragments of his once-great family. And when their two worlds collide―with the type of force Sara explores in her poetry and Jacob in his astrophysics―they are drawn together in unexpected ways.

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Writing About Difficult Topics

In this talk, Terah Shelton Harris discusses why she chooses to write about difficult topics, detailing the writing of ONE SUMMER IN SAVANNAH and LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE, and why she embraces writing books with bittersweet endings.

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From Librarian to a Bestselling Author

In this talk, Terah Shelton Harris discusses her start and rise in the library world as well as how her work as a collection development librarian has played a significant role in her writing career.

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Heir Property

In this talk, Terah Shelton Harris details the history surrounding heir property and why the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recognized it as the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss. She will also discuss the story that inspired LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE, her own personal connection to heir property, and what needs to be done.

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Defining Forgiveness

In this talk, Terah Shelton Harris details her journey to writing ONE SUMMER IN SAVANNAH, shedding light on the two real life stories that inspired it, how it challenged her definition of forgiveness, and what it truly means to forgive.

Terah’s Blog Link

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Honors, Awards & Recognition

Target Library Book Club Pick
July LibraryReads Pick

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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