Writers Thrive with Coworking: 6 Authors Who Published Their Books at BCL

by Neil Carlson, BCL co-founder

Collaboration and community are the twin pillars of Brooklyn Creative League’s culture. We strive to foster an environment in which our members not only thrive in their own careers and businesses but also support each other’s growth. Over the years, quite a few of our members who’ve shared how they’ve thrived with us at BCL have been writers!

We’re thrilled to have been the home to authors who have published books while working here. We like to think that our semi-private, spacious desks, phone booths/conferences, and access to lounge areas, provide an optimal work environment for writers. There’s space to lay out your drafts, take private phone calls, and even a dedicated quiet, no-phone zone, where members are able to get their focused, writing work done.

Since we place such a strong value on community and showcasing the success of our members, we’re thrilled to be showcasing another list of books that have been published by authors at BCL! You can find part 1 of our series, here.

She Said

When Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey published their groundbreaking 2017 New York Times expose of Harvey Weinstein’s serial sexual harassment (and the elaborate, multiplayer coverups), they struck a cord. Their reporting helped propel the #metoo movement into the public sphere, igniting one of the two great reckonings with systemic injustice that have unfolded over the past five years. (Black Lives Matter was the other–and both ignited a backlash that continues to this day.)

Two years later, in 2009, the pair published She Said, which told not only the back story to the Weinstein investigation, but also helped unearth sexual assault allegations against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Simply put, She Said is one of the most influential books of the last decade.

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days

In 1932, Mildred Harnack, an American PhD student living in Nazi Germany, began secretly organizing what would become Berlin’s largest underground resistance group. Drawing on extensive archival research, Harnack’s great-great niece, Rebecca Donner’s All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days is a riveting portrait of moral courage, personal bravery, and solidarity in the face of evil.

To End a Plague

In To End a Plague, journalist, feminist, and AIDS activist, Emily Bass, tells the history of PEPFAR, the George W. Bush administration’s wildly successful program to combat HIV in Africa. In an era of political polarization & purity tests, Bass shows how compromise, dialogue, & ideological flexibility can create dramatic change.

The Photographer

The Photographer, Mary Dixie Carter’s debut novel, follows Delta Dawn, a family photographer’s obsession with the Straubs, one of her client families. Under the guise of helping the Straubs, Delta slowly and slyly worms her way into the family’s everyday life. Kirkus Reviews lauded The Photographer as “sharply focused and mesmerizing as a magic trick and a good deal creepier than most.”

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

Named as one of the best books of 2017 by National Public Radio and The Washington Post, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, by Hannah Tinti, is part outlaw legend, part coming-of-age adventure, part father-daughter tale–and a complete delight to read.

Giggle, Giggle, Quack

Now something for the kids! In her follow-up to the best-selling Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, children’s author Doreen Cronin is back with Giggle, Giggle, Quack, a cautionary tale about the scourge of literate, manipulative farm animals.

Are you a writer looking for a place to settle down and work on a big project? Come check us out in Clinton Hill by the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We’ve got private offices, desks, and more, so bring your ideas and ambition, and get those creative juices flowing.

Check us out and book a tour!
PS – when you take a tour, you’re granted a day pass to try out working at our space for the remainder of the day