<h4><b>Join authors of social media-inspired Influence</b></h4>
<strong>From staff reports</strong>

[caption id="attachment_48306" align="alignleft" width="228"]<a href="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Influence-SaraShepard.jpg"><img class="wp-image-48306 size-full" src="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Influence-SaraShepard.jpg" alt="" width="228" height="228"></a> Sara Shepard[/caption]

Join No. 1 New York Times bestselling novelist Sara Shepard and actress and advocate Lilia Buckingham, co-authors of the new social media-inspired whodunit, Influence, in conversation with the Pat Conroy Literary Center's student intern Holland Perryman and executive director Jonathan Haupt at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25.

This free virtual program is presented in partnership between the nonprofit Conroy Center and Blue Bicycle Books of Charleston. Signed copies of Influence are available through Blue Bicycle.

Register for the conversation at https://bit.ly/3rZKJki.

[caption id="attachment_48247" align="alignright" width="206"]<a href="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Buckingham.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-48247" src="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Buckingham-683x1024.jpeg" alt="" width="206" height="309"></a> Lilia Buckingham[/caption]

Booklist calls Influence “a timely tale that calls into question the pressures put on young people of influence and how far people are willing to go to get ahead."

According to the School Library Journal, the novel is “a peek into a fascinating of-the-moment cultural phenomenon."

Shepard is the author of the Pretty Little Liars series, the Perfectionists series, and many more novels for teens and adults. She lives with her family in Pittsburgh.

Lilia Buckingham is a 17-year-old writer, actress, dancer, student, advocate, and social media personality with 1.7 million Instagram followers. She lives in Los Angeles with her mother, brother, and two dogs.