•  Laura T. Jensen’s “Step by Step,” her first collection of short creative non-fiction pieces has been published by Smashwords. ‘Step By Step” is a memoir recalling people, places and events; some big, some small, some happy, some sad. Jensen is a member of the N.C. Writers’ Network. She is originally from Bergen County, New Jersey.

•  Molly Carlson, a member of the Homeschool History Hunters club in Chapel Hill, placed second in the American Revolution Essay Contest sponsored by the Tar Heel Junior Historian Association. More than 400 students, advisers and parents from across North Carolina gathered at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh this spring for the 2012 Tar Heel Junior Historian Association Annual Convention. The event helps young people appreciate and understand North Carolina’s rich history.

Hunter Lewis has been named executive editor of Southern Living. Lewis will oversee the brand’s extensive food content in print and online and manage the Test Kitchen staff, which tests 6,000 recipes annually and publishes between 40 and 140 each issue. Lewis will also collaborate with Oxmoor House on the development and execution of the brand’s cookbooks. He will be based in Birmingham, Ala. Lewis comes to Southern Living from Bon Appétit, where he was Food Editor since January 2011. A North Carolina native and graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Lewis began his career as a reporter at the Herald-Sun in Durham.

•  Stacy Duck has been named the new executive director of The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina. Duck comes to the Alliance from the Chatham Social Health Council in Siler City, where she served as executive director since 2008. She brings 22 years of experience in mental health and five years HIV prevention and education, including 12 years with the State of New York’s Developmental Disabilities Services Office.