Hugh Hardy Jr. has worked with the Birmingham Public Library. Now his own books can be found there.

After spending 21 years working for Southern Company Services, a sister company of Alabama Power, Hardy was a substitute teacher and then joined the Birmingham Public Library as a library assistant.

After his father died in 2019, Hardy started writing stories as a form of therapy. Library patrons read some of his work and encouraged him.

That grew into “Maysa Brown: Rise to Power,” the first book in a series about a Black woman from Alabama who went from college student to U.S. president. “Maysa Brown: A World in Turmoil” would follow and then “Maysa Brown: A Season of Change.” The fourth installment, tentatively titled “Maysa Brown: The Return Home,” is planned for this fall.

Hardy talked to Alabama NewsCenter about his journey and how he approaches his work.

Alabama author Hugh Hardy Jr. talks about how he came to write the “Maysa Brown” series of books from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.