Cherie Priest introduces her latest novel, ‘The Family Plot’

Cherie Priest, an award-winning steampunk/urban fantasy novelist now living in Chattanooga, will introduce her new ghost story, “The Family Plot,” in two author appearances next week.

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the release date for “The Family Plot,” Priest will be at Barnes & Noble, 2100 Hamilton Place Blvd., at 7 p.m. On Thursday, Sept. 22, she will visit Star Line Books, 1467 Market St., for a 7 p.m. book signing.

Described as a modern fantasy/horror novel, “The Family Plot” was partly inspired, Priest says, by an over-the-fence chat with a neighbor who threw out an ominous caution about the excavation work Priest and her husband were having done in their backyard. They live in St. Elmo, a neighborhood rich in Civil War history.

“When you start digging back there, you’re gonna find things … mostly little things. Buttons and buckles, old glass. Bullets, probably. You keep that. That’s for you,” she recounts the neighbor saying, in a blog on her website. “But if you find human remains, you put that [stuff] back where you found it — and you don’t say a … word.”

“The Family Plot” is Priest’s 21st novel. She is best known for The Clockwork Century series, which included “Boneshaker” and its sequels. “Boneshaker” was nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards and won a Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

For more information on her upcoming appearances, call Barnes & Noble at 423-893-0186 or Star Line Books at 423777-5629.