The book selection process for Alamance Reads is a long and difficult task, with the book selection committee trying to find not only the best book but to also find an author that will connect with our community. NC author Tommy Hays perfectly fit the bill. From the very beginning he was excited about his book, The Pleasure Was Mine, being considered for Alamance Reads. With a son attending UNC Chapel Hill, Hays knew he would be driving through Alamance County often. What a perfect opportunity to promote his book at the same time!

Tommy Hays is Executive Director of the Great Smokies Writing Program and Lecturer in the Master of Liberal Arts Program at the University of North Carolina Asheville. He also teaches in the Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program at Murray State University. His latest novel, The Pleasure Was Mine,has been chosen for several community reads, including One City, One  Book in Greensboro, Rockingham County Reads and the  Amazing Read – Greenville, South Carolina’s first  community-wide reading of a single book.  The Pleasure Was Mine was read on National Public Radio’s “Radio Reader” and South Carolina ETV-Radio’s “Southern Read”. It was a Finalist for the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Fiction Award.

Because The Pleasure Was Mine is in part about Alzheimer’s, Hays has been asked to speak at caregiver and aging conferences around the country, including the Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease and Research Center Conference at  Duke  Medical  School.   He was a panelist on a care giving segment with Gail Sheehy, New York Times writer Robert Lypsite and brain researcher Esther Sternberg for  the series, Life (Part  II), which aired on PBS nationally last  fall.
For more information on Tommy Hays: www.tommyhays.com