EVENTS:
January 6, 2024, 3pm - 4pm, Bluffton Library: John MacIlroy and a panel of authors, all affilated with the Island Writer's Network will answer your writing questions.Click for more Info

April 28, 2023: MacIlroy joined award-winning author Regina Williams  (author of "Promise," a Pulplwood Queens Book Club International Selection) on a "Short Fiction" panel at Main Street Reads, Summerville, South Carolina.   This was part of the 10th Anniversary Celebration of "Independent Booksellers Day."

Nov 4 - 6, 2022:  Book Signing Party Launches Short Story America Conference Mark your calendars! Award-winning Lowcountry authors John W. MacIlroy and Tim Johnston will appear together to sign their acclaimed new books at the historic Lewis Reeve Sams House starting at 5:30 pm Friday, November 4th. MacIlroy’s short-story collection, Whatever Happens, Probably Will, and Johnston’s crime thriller Reciprocity, both recently received top honors at the International Book Awards. MacIlroy’s collection was named a finalist for Best Short Fiction, and Johnston’s novel was named a finalist for Best General Fiction and has been optioned for film/TV by Universal. The signing party is a free event, with wine, hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. The signings will include readings by both authors, and is part of the opening reception for the November 4-6 Short Story America Conference on Fiction, a gathering of writers and readers of short stories. read more>>>

August 4, 2021: Podcast - A Conversation with Author John "Mac" Macllroy
 

Oct 11, 2022:  A review of John MacIlroy’s new short story collection ‘Whatever Happens, Probably Will’ By Elizabeth Robin In Whatever Happens, Probably Will, John W. MacIlroy offers the best in a short story collection: all-in-one-sitting entertainment. Eighteen stories birth characters like Bump O’Rourke, former baseball rookie of the year, now a barkeep at Sidetrack Tap. There, a memorial “has the fire-damaged smell of death”—and a portal into spectral territory. His story will raise hairs on forearms.

MacIlroy develops the internal lives we live riding out storms and plagues and jobs and love. Each read finds another way “to do a little good in a world that could use a lot more.” His folksy tone and precise characterization, set from the Mississippi gulf to Newark, New Jersey, depict the Everyman American. Deft insertion of the ominous within common sights—spotting an injured hawk, picking bright blue hydrangeas—adds stylish notes to full-bodied stories that blend human chemistry with essences and end notes like the finest wine. Even the faults are familiar.

Those who have followed MacIlroy’s writing life know it began in 2016, after a career practicing law in New Jersey. His work received notice early and often. Parts of Not Exactly Rocket Scientists earned a spot on syndicated national radio. Stories in this collection appear in Short Fiction Break, Short Story America, Catfish Stew, and Y’all Magazine, where “Duke’s” was named Best Short Story of 2019. “The Man Inside” landed two finalist awards in 2021: The Coker Fiction Fellowship and Excellence in Southern Lowcountry Writing. T. D. Johnston, winner of the International Book Award for Friday Afternoon and Other Stories, calls MacIlroy “one of the modern masters of the short story.”  read more>>>  

 

May 13, 2022:  Join MacIlroy for the fun at the launch event in Beaufort for RECIPROCITY,  T. D. Johnston's sizzling debut novel, at Beaufort Bookstore (2127 Boundary Street) from 6-8. Readings, book signings, wine and cheese -- and maybe a few pre-release words about WHATEVER HAPPENS!   Be sure to check out the Short Story America website (www.shortstoryamerica.com) for more about the Short Story America community, and the expanding SSA-published library. 
 

May 14, 2022:  Continue the RECIPROCITY launch fun at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen Street) on Saturday afternoon from 2-3.  But you will need to reserve a spot by calling 1-843-379-7025. 
 

May 15, 2022:  WHATEVER HAPPENS, PROBABLY WILL HITS THE MARKET!  Buy -'em by the dozen in this "soft launch". . .wherever books are sold:  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your favorite local bookseller. (Please check out the IndieBound icon on this website for a store near you, as we try to support our indie booksellers.)
 

May 24, 2022:  MacIlroy is the "Featured Author" at the Island Writers Network "Open Mic" event at the Other Sisters Wine Bistro in Shelter Cove on Hilton Head Island, from 6-8.  Join the talented local writers of IWN for an evening of short readings, good wines, and even better company.
 

May 24, 2022:  Join seven local authors at the first of a series of public readings at the Hilton Head Public Library, 1-3.  Authors will read across the various genre, with MacIlroy in the "collections" lane.  Some authors may have a limited number of books for purchase, or order in advance. (See the click and purchase options below for WHATEVER HAPPENS, and visit notexactlyrocketscientists.com for purchase information on MacIlroy's other books, and then bring your copy for signing.) 
 

Stay tuned for other events, including the Premier Launch Event for WHATEVER HAPPENS, PROBABLY WILL in June, tentatively set for Beaufort, South Carolina.