Maramag AJ Mayhew's career path has taken many turns, from court reporting to opera management to medical writing. All the time she was involved in these day jobs, she was writing fiction at night and on weekends, pieces that began as short stories and became novels. For twenty-five years she taught fiction writing at Duke University Continuing Education, at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro, and in her home. In 1987 she joined a group of writers in Chapel Hill, led by the inimitable Laurel Goldman, and is still in that group 32 years later. With the support and critique of her colleagues, A. J. has written two novels: The Dry Grass of August, published in 2011, and Tomorrow's Bread, available March 26, 2019 (already contracted for an audio book and a large print edition).

http://cumarefrigeration.com/product-category/refrigerators/page/2?product_brand=pastorfrigor,venice,arneg,nemco The Dry Grass of August— now in its thirteenth printing—won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, and was a finalist for the Book Award from the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. A Blackstone Audio book was followed by seven European translations.

In the fall of 2014, A. J. was in residence for a month at Moulin à Nef Studio Center in Auvillar, France, where she worked on her second novel, Tomorrow’s Bread. An excerpt of that book was included in 27 Views of Charlotte: The Queen City in Prose and Poetry.

On her blog site, A. J. says of herself, "I’m brilliant, secure, genteel, kind, funny, and modest. I live and write inspired by my husband’s success—he’s author of or contributor to a dozen books—and I’ve learned from him that while love is grand, being deeply in like is essential."