Bess Kercher

Visit Bess' website

Bess Kercher indulged her love of stories at Davidson College, where she majored in English and dabbled in creative writing. She later graduated with an M.A. in organizational communication from Queens University of Charlotte. She has written for local publications and for Huffington Post, and is a founding member of a local writing collective, Writing Group, Ink. Her debut middle grade novel, Now and at the Hour, was published in October of 2020 and was awarded a Selah Award for First Novel from the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, and a Gold Medal for Juvenile Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. She has met with hundreds of middle schoolers who have read her novel and her favorite reviews come from them, including: “Thank you for coming to talk to us. This has been my favorite book we have read this year. My favorite part is when Albert saves the shark.” & “Thank you for writing an amazing book and sharing it with the world. I like how you go into detail with every character and really make you feel like you are there.” & “I really enjoyed reading your book because it gives a message to people to be kind and help others and I think that’s really inspiring.”

Bess contributed to charlotteobserver.com from 2013-2017 on their MomsCharlotte platform, authoring parenting essays and the blogs Worst Mom Ever, Miracle on Curbstone Street, Mom and Pop, Because Friends, Team Mom, and A Few Good Moms: Can you handle the truth? Her “Mom Haiku” endures as one of her most apt works: My calling must be* Helping others feel better* (By comparison). She lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband and a rapidly emptying nest – a phenomenon that would be distressing were it not for the amiable relationship it has engendered with her two young adult sons.

Sneak Peek

Now and at the Hour

Now and at the Hour follows twelve-year-old Catholic school kid and skateboarding enthusiast Albert Davidson as he navigates life in a military family, his mother’s battle with cancer, Internet fame, and an unusual quest for healing that takes him across the globe. The last line of the Hail Mary prayer that Albert recites during a tumultuous moment doubles as the title of this upper Middle Grade novel: “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” Framed by the constraints of human mortality, this story also elevates those things––art, nature, faith, and love––that transcend the human experience of time. Miraculously, amidst great uncertainty, Albert discovers the gift of now.