Alethea Black was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard College in 1991. Her father was a mathematician, and for a long time she believed her name, the Greek word for truth, was his way of tipping his cap to the idea of absolutes. Then one day her mother overheard her and said, “No, we got your name from a TV show.” (Judd, for the Defense.)

Her debut collection of short stories, I Knew You'd Be Lovely (Broadway Books/Random House), was chosen as a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick and was an Oprah.com Book of the Week. Black lives with Zoë in Dutchess County, NY.

Sample stories from the collection here and here.

Guest blog post for the Happy Ending series.

Fun interview with the folks at The Story Prize.

Why the book includes a section of Author's Notes with the stories behind the stories.

What's so magical about short stories?

Reviews in The Boston Globe, January Magazine, and the StarTribune.

Read a Q & A or an interview.

Writers on Writing radio interview. Work Stew podcast.

My answer to the question Why write?

Why do I write at night?

I love stories such as David Bezmozgis' "Natasha" that are hilariously entertaining while they quietly work on your heart.

Ten months post publication, and we're in our fourth printing ... Plus new reviews from Seattle, Albany, and Ohio.

Brand new story "You, on a Good Day" in One Story.

And the next book, a novel, is called The Key.

Questions for reading groups are here.

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