07/19/2025 - Author Panel with Veronica Bane & Friends

We are delighted to welcome author Veronica Bane for a panel discussion to celebrate the release of her debut Young Adult novel Difficult Girls! Veronica was, and continues to be, instrumental in replacing books lost to Angelenos in the Palisades and Eaton fires. Her first distribution event was right here at Black Cat Fables and we are so excited to have Veronica back to highlight the release of her first book!

Veronica will be joined by friends and authors Alexa Donne (The Bitter End) and Charlotte Lillie Balogh (Kill the Lax Bro).

This event will include time for signing and audience Q&A. Free to attend; registration is required.

When: Saturday, July 19, 2025 from 6:00 - 8:00pm

Where: Black Cat Fables (415 S. Myrtle Avenue, Suite B, Monrovia, CA 91016)

About Author Veronica Bane: Veronica Bane is the debut author of Difficult Girls. She spent her formative teen years working as an usher and a face character for a world-renowned theme park—no, not the mouse-related one, though she did audition for that one, too. Since those days, she’s worked her way up the coast from her hometown of San Diego to her current-town of Los Angeles.

She also teaches English and Creative Writing to high school students. She graduated from Chapman University with a B.F.A. in Creative Writing. When she’s not writing, she’s exploring Los Angeles with her husband and beloved dog, Bodhi. Visit her online at veronicabane.com, and on Instagram, TikTok, and X @VeronicaBane.

About Difficult Girls: 

A teen girl’s attempt at social reinvention takes a deadly turn when a co-worker disappears—and she learns she may have been the last person to see the missing girl—in this razor-sharp, murderously funny thriller debut.

After the incident last year, Greta Riley Green is looking for reinvention—a fresh start—and a job at Hyper Kid Magic Land, the local amusement park, seems like the perfect way to forge a new path . . . no matter what it takes.

So when fate pulls Greta into Mercy Goodwin’s orbit, it feels like things are looking up. Beautiful and confident, Mercy dazzles audiences daily. And at the first party of the summer, she picks Greta to confide in. Mercy has a secret to share, if Greta will just meet her the next day. It’s a sign that Greta’s truly fitting in.

Only, when the time comes, Mercy is a no-show—as she is everyday after that—and Greta knows something’s wrong. She can’t help thinking back to the night of the party. Did Mercy seem upset? Terrified, even? Could she be in trouble? It wouldn’t be the first time a talented young performer came to a sinister end at Hyper Kid. . . .

Of course, Greta has her own issues with the past, and the more she uncovers Hyper Kid’s secrets, the more her own threaten to surface. This job was meant to be a reboot, a summer without trouble. But trouble, it seems, finds Greta, and her past—and the bloody past of Hyper Kid—is about to catch up with her.

Praise for Difficult Girls:

"An engaging, plot-driven debut with a heart."
—Kirkus Reviews

“A thrilling debut. I dare you not to read it in one sitting.”
—Cynthia Murphy, author of Win Lose Kill Die

“Sharp, witty, and oh so compelling, Difficult Girls cements Veronica Bane as an author to watch.”
—Jessica Goodman, author of The Meadowbrook Murders and The Legacies

About Alexa Donne: Alexa Donne is the two-time Edgar nominated author of YA thrillers The Bitter End, Pretty Dead Queens, and The Ivies. By day, she lives in Los Angeles and works in television marketing. The rest of the time she contemplates creative motives for murder and takes too many pictures of her cats. You can find her in most places @alexadonne.

About Charlotte Lillie Balogh: Charlotte Lillie Balogh is an author, screenwriter and comic book writer, born and raised outside Boston, Massachusetts. She self-published her first book at age sixteen, and later graduated as a Remembrance Scholar from Syracuse University. CLB is a lifelong superhero fanatic, and she launched into the television and film industry by working at DC Entertainment on projects including WONDER WOMAN 1984 and the CW’s STARGIRL.

When she’s not writing, CLB mentors young women through RowLA and WriteGirl, helping to create the next generation of real-life superheroes. Her first traditionally published book, Kill the Lax Bro, is scheduled for release June 24, 2025 from Delacorte Press and Penguin Random House.