Author Night at Nora Navra: Mystery and Noir

Tom Andes, Danny Cherry, Ariadne Blayde, and Jon Hébert

Four authors read a selection of mystery, noir, and crime fiction with a New Orleans twist.

Tom Andes’ writing has appeared in several dozen journals and small publications and been anthologized in Best American Mystery Stories 2012. He won the 2019 Gold Medal for Best Novel-in-Progress from the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society. His short stories have been finalists or placed in numerous contests, and his book reviews have appeared widely. He is also a musician and has released two critically acclaimed EPs of original music. Tom was born and raised in New Hampshire and has since lived on both coasts and in New Orleans before relocating to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his BA in English from Loyola University New Orleans and an MFA in Fiction from San Francisco State University. He has held a variety of jobs, including installing fireplaces in the United Kingdom, working the front and the back of the house in the service industry, and teaching writing at San Francisco State University, Academy of Art University, Northwest Arkansas Community College, the ADVANCE Camp for Young Scholars, and the New Orleans Writers Workshop, which he co-founded. His first novel, Wait There Till You Hear from Me, was published in 2025 by Crescent City Books. 

By day, Danny Cherry Jr. is an MBA-havin', caffeine-addicted corporate drone. But at night, he is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and a sometimes-journalist. He is a frequent  contributor to Antigravity Magazine, and has written for: Buzzfeed News, Politico, and The Daily Beast; and published fiction for Apex Magazine, Fiyah Lit Mag, amongst others. His work has been acknowledged in Locus Magazine recommended reading list for 2022, as well as the Best American Sci-fi and Fantasy 2023 notable stories list. His recently released debut novel, The Pike Boys, is a historical crime drama based in 1920s NOLA.

Ariadne Blayde is a playwright and fiction writer. Her play “The Other Room” won the VSA Playwright Discovery Award and has been produced hundreds of times around the world. Her plays have been shortlisted by Lark Playwright’s Week, The Tennessee Williams Festival, and more, and her fiction has been published in Parhelion Literary Magazine, the Fountain Magazine, and various anthologies. Her story “Shinichi’s Tricycle” won the 2020 Quantum Shorts Competition’s People’s Choice Award. Her debut novel, Ash Tuesday, follows a group of eccentric French Quarter ghost tour guides whose haunted lives come into focus through the ghost stories they tell. Ariadne moonlights as a ghost tour guide and jazz singer in New Orleans.

Jon Hébert is an author and songwriter. UL Press will publish his forthcoming music-inspired comedy memoir in 2026. He is the author of the espionage thriller The Gemstone Peridot and the darkly comic noir You’ve Got To Be Killing Me! Both books have been selected for the Indie Author Project’s regional library collection. He has been featured in the New Orleans Library’s Renewed anthology (2024), and the Patty Friedmann Writing Contest anthology (2025). A lifelong musician, Jon has released three albums of original roots and rock music. He lives in New Orleans with his girlfriend and their blind cat.

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