CJ Stevens

CJ Stevens met the real-life Maggie Thorne years ago, and when she finally decided to put the stories in her head on paper, she used her teacher friend as a template. Grasshopper Valley is CJ’s favorite fictional Appalachian small town, tucked in the hills just outside real-life Chattanooga.

The folks in Grasshopper Valley are the kind of friends you’d want around your table at Thanksgiving. Their stories are steeped in front-porch laughter, hard-earned grace, and the kind of love that sticks around long after the dishes are done. These are people with a soft spot for the complicated, the found, and the ones who believe second chances are worth getting a little muddy for.

When CJ isn’t writing, she’s usually following around her own teenagers, sipping tea at her favorite local bakery, or rocking on her front porch. She hopes you find her friends in Grasshopper Valley as funny as they are flawed—and that you’ll come back soon for another glass of sweet tea or a homemade biscuit.