Buxton Books Presents Shannon Watts in conversation with Dr. Annie Andrews
celebrating Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age!

Buxton Books is proud to welcome Shannon Watts, author and founder of Moms Demand Action, to the bookstore for an event celebrating her new book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age. Shannon Watts will be joined in conversation by Dr. Annie Andrews! 

About Fired Up:

From the founder of Moms Demand Action, a guide to harnessing your potential, living without fear, and coming alive at any age.

Too many of us are living on autopilot. We believe we’re too old, too busy, or too inexperienced to go after what we really want. Shannon Watts has a message for you: Think again. If you are ready to stand tall in your greatness, Fired Up invites you to shatter your self-imposed limitations and unleash your potential so you can finally start living the life you deserve.

Since starting Moms Demand Action, the nation’s largest grassroots organization against gun violence, Watts has helped thousands of women step off the sidelines and into their power. What most women don't realize is that inside all of us is a spark waiting to be ignited. Your spark is the catalyst for your life’s meaning and joy. When nurtured, it has the potential to transform not only your life, but the world.

Whether you want to stand up for yourself at work, launch the business you always dreamed of, or leave a toxic relationship and reclaim your confidence, Fired Up shows you how to identify, light, and feed the fire inside you. As Watts says, "That’s not an indulgence—it’s a requirement for living the most authentic life possible, without regrets."

About Shannon Watts:

Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action, the nation's largest grassroots group fighting against gun violence. Known as the 'summoner of women's audacity,' she spent more than a decade leading one of the world's largest field experiments for mobilizing women. She has been named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People, a Forbes 50 over 50 Changemaker, and a Glamour Woman of the Year. The day after the Sandy Hook School mass shooting tragedy in 2012, she started a Facebook group to unite women against the gun lobby as Mothers Against Drunk Driving united mothers against the alcohol lobby in the 1980s. Under her leadership, Moms Demand Action became one of the largest grassroots movements in the country.

With a chapter in every state and over 10 million supporters, the organization is twice as large as the National Rifle Association. Over the past decade, Moms Demand Action volunteers passed over 500 gun safety laws; stopped the gun industry’s agenda in statehouses 90 percent of the time; elected thousands of gun sense candidates to office, including its own volunteers; and passed the first federal gun legislation in a generation. 

After 11 years as the full-time volunteer leader of Moms Demand Action, Shannon stepped back in 2023 to focus on writing, speaking and organizing. She recently organized one of the largest Zoom gatherings in history, mobilizing over 200K voters and raising over $11 million in support of the 2024 Kamala Harris campaign, and has become one of the campaign’s largest fundraisers and most powerful surrogates for calling white women in. She now co-hosts the Women Wednesdays for Harris call with Indivisible, empowering thousands of women weekly with  practical guidance on how to take action in the 2024 election. 

Prior to founding Moms Demand Action, Watts – a mother of five – was a communications executive at public relations firms and Fortune 100 companies. She is an active board member of Emerge America, one of the nation’s leading organizations for recruiting and training women to run for office. Her first book, Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World, was released in 2019. Her next book is expected in 2025, and she writes regularly for Substack and outlets like The Washington Post, Elle, Time, The 19th, The Meteor and more. Her ideas on leadership help redefine what’s possible when audacious women unite to drive change.

About Dr. Annie Andrews: 

Dr. Annie Andrews is a pediatrician and mom, who has dedicated her career to fighting for a brighter future for all children. After working as a pediatrician at children's hospitals for 15 years, she decided to run for Congress to give children a voice in Washington, D.C.. She was the Democratic nominee in South Carolina’s first congressional district in 2022. 

Annie is currently a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she cares for children and adolescents at Children’s National Hospital. She is also a Senior Advisor to Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. 

She is a gun violence prevention researcher and community advocate working to reduce the frequency of pediatric firearm injuries with a focus on secure storage counseling. Annie is a frequent invited speaker at children’s hospitals and medical schools across the country on topics related to child health advocacy and gun violence prevention.  She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is a 2022 graduate of Furman University Riley Institute’s Diversity Leaders Initiative.  

Annie received her MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and went on to complete her residency training in Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

During the 2022 election cycle, it became clear to Annie that there was something missing from the current political landscape. She knew kids needed a voice in Washington, D.C.. Her fight for a brighter, safer, more equitable future for all children was not over after election night. Annie believes it has never been more clear that our kids need us to step up and fight for them. Whether the topic is climate change, voting rights, healthcare, education, gun violence or poverty, if you consider what is best for kids, the issue is suddenly far less complicated. She is committed to being their voice in Washington, D.C..