Book Briefs for June 26-July 2

Mermaid authors plan visits

Mad about mermaids? Then head to the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble for a book release event featuring "Tempest Unleashed" author Tracy Deebs and "Just for Fins" author Tera Lynn Childs at 4 p.m. Thursday . For more on the authors and their new books, visit tracydeebs.com and teralynnchilds.com.

Princess costumes welcome at event

Readers are invited to dress up as princesses for the release of local author Lindsey Leavitt's final Princess for Hire book "A Farewell to Charms" scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Visit lindseyleavitt.com for details.

Mob Museum to host book signing

Portland, Ore., artist Shawn Gascoyne-Bowman is scheduled to sign copies of her quirky how-to book "Criminal Crafts: Outlaw Projects for Scoundrels, Cheats, and Armchair Detectives" from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday in the gift shop at the National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement, The Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Ave. Tickets are not required for gift shop admission. Visit themobmuseum.org.

'Vegas Rag Doll' appearances planned

Events planned for "Vegas Rag Doll" author Wendy Mazaros include a book signing during the Vegas Unwrapped Business & Health Expo from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the second-floor rotunda at the David Barton Gym in Tivoli Village, 410 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 200, and a signing set for 1 p.m. July 7 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble in Henderson. For details, visit vegasragdoll.com.

Yara Silva series event scheduled

The ability to interact with ghosts begins as an unwelcome family curse for Lani Woodland's heroine Yara Silva. But when she uses the skill to save a handsome classmate, suddenly being a "normal" teen doesn't seem as important. Woodland plans to sign copies of the first two books in a planned Yara Silva trilogy - "Intrinsical" and "Indelible" - at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Visit laniwoodland.com for more on the author.

Authors to be featured at Bellagio

"The World of Las Vegas Dining" authors Laury and John Bakie are set to be featured during the book and food chat event "The Book and The Bakies" from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturdays in the Tutto store at the Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South, beginning this week. For more information, visit theworldof lasvegasdining.com.

Black Mountain Institute selects Diana L. Bennett Fellows

The Black Mountain Institute's 2012-13 Diana L Bennett Fellows have been selected. Green Valley resident Oksana Marafioti, author of "American Gypsy: A Memoir," has been selected as the BMI-Kluge Fellow. She plans to work on "Lady of the Rocky Steep," an autobiographical narrative cast as a work of fiction, set to explore the effects of Dvoeverie or "double faith" and folk belief on Soviet culture of the twentieth century. In order to research mysticism and Russian history, Marafioti is scheduled to spend a semester at the Library of Congress's Kluge Center.

Bennett Fellow Criselda Yabes plans to write a trilogy, set on the three major islands of the Philippines, each with a point of view of a woman seeing both the destruction and little hopes for the country.

The nine-month fellowships are given published writers to provide them with a stipend and an office to work on a project. Fellows speak about their work in a public forum, take part in institute programs and occasionally contribute as visitors to University of Nevada, Las Vegas graduate classes.

For more information, visit blackmountaininstitute.org.

Self-made man shares story in book

Darrell Knoch shares the tale of how a disfigured, abused and emotionally scarred boy, raised on welfare, rose in the business world and became a self-made multi-millionaire in the book "Mastering a Healthy Self Image."

Knoch is scheduled to sign copies of his book from noon to 2 p.m. July 14 at the Book Boutique, 19 W. Pacific Ave. in Henderson. For more information, call 697-0001.

Lambda Literary Award-winner plans book signing

Jim Provenzano is scheduled to read from his fourth novel, the 2012 Lambda Literary Award-winning "Every Time I Think of You," and sign copies of his three previous novels at 5 p.m. July 14 at Get Booked, 4640 S. Paradise Road.

Author plans event for 'Pool of Truth'

Local author R. J. Smith is slated to present his novel "Pool of Truth," which follows archaeologists on a quest for the lost Ark, from noon to 2 p.m. July 21 at the Book Boutique, 19 W. Pacific Ave. in Henderson. For more information, call 697-0001.

Carr Chat event to be conducted by guest interviewer Deborah Coonts

Henderson bestselling author Robyn Carr plans to let local author Deborah Coonts take the interviewer's chair for her popular Carr Chat series' July conversation.

Coonts, author of the Lucky O'Toole Las Vegas Adventures series, is scheduled to interview local showgirl-turned-author Vicki Pettersson at noon on July 20 in the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway.

For more information, visit tinyurl.com/carrchat.

Comedian Cork Proctor plans charity book launch roast

A comedy roast and book launch for Cork Proctor's "My Mind is an Open Mouth" is scheduled for 2 p.m. July 22 at the South Point, 9777 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Proctor's memoir takes readers through his sixty years as a stand-up comedian. Tickets for the event are $40 and will benefit Opportunity Village. For more information, call 880-4081 or visit corkproctormemoir.stephenspress.com.

Date My Book night to pack in 5-minute interactions

New to town? Want to meet people who love to read as much as you do? Then the Date My Book night scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. July 12 at the Gibson Library, may be just what you're looking for. You will get 5 minutes to speak to each participant about what you like to read. Registration is required. Call 564-9261, and select option 5, or visit mypubliclibrary.com for details.

Kris Saknussemm to speak at Las Vegas Writers Group meeting

Author Kris Saknussemm, a recent Gallagher Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute, is scheduled to speak at a meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group scheduled at 7 p.m. July 19 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. A $5 meeting fee is charged.

For more information on the group, visit meetup.com/las-vegas-writers.

For more on the author, visit saknussemm.com.

Las Vegas Romance writers to welcome RM Sotera

RM Sotera plans to talk about handling rejection and believing in yourself at the Las Vegas Romance Writers meeting scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon July 21 in the Wengert Room at NV Energy, 6226 W. Sahara Ave. The public is welcome. For more information, visit lasvegasrwa.org.

Green Valley Library's Meet the Author program to feature Jonathan Sturak

Local Jonathan Sturak, author of "A Smudge of Gray: A Novel" and "Clouded Rainbow," is scheduled to meet with readers and sign copies of his books from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway, as part of the library's Meet the Author program. For more information, visit sturak.com.

Share poems at Human experience

Polish up a poem or two and try them out at Human Experience, a free spoken word event, from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays in The Beat coffee shop at 520 Fremont St. inside Emergency Arts. For details, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

Event slated for 'Ministry Surrounds Me'

Henderson resident Tracy May is slated to sign copies of her book "Ministry Surrounds Me" from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the 8915 W. Charleston Blvd. Barnes & Noble. May's book supplies examples of different ways the faithful can start ministries at church, in neighborhoods and even at work.

Free Storycorps toolkit helps collect memories

The national StoryCorps' Memory Loss Initiative encourages people with memory loss to share their stories with loved ones and future generations. To make that task easier, a free step-by-step toolkit is available to download at storycorps.org/mli.

The Commemorate toolkit offers an individual reminiscence program that family members can initiate or memory loss care facilities can add to activities.

The initiative has collected more than 1,800 interviews with 180 partner organizations.

For more information, visit storycorps.org or call 646-723-7027.

Henderson Writers Group meets Mondays

The Henderson Writers Group meets from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 4550 S. Maryland Parkway on the second and fourth Mondays and at Saxbys Coffee Lounge, 72 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson, on the first, third and occasional fifth Mondays. Meetings are typically canceled on holidays.

Visit hendersonwritersgroup.com for more information. Meetings are open to the public.

Sunrise Coffee Co. on Sunset Road hosts open mic night Wednesdays

Sunrise Coffee Co. welcomes poets and poetry fans to participate in its open mic night starting at 7 p.m. every Wednesday at 3130 E. Sunset Road.

Access recorded book programs online

Too busy to get out to book programs? The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has started posting videocasts and podcasts of many of its programs online. Selections available so far include: "An Afternoon with Tony Curtis," John L. Smith's presentation "Amelia's Long Journey: The Challenge of Writing What You Know," "Batman" movie producer Michael Uslan's presentation at the 2009 Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, Jami Carpenter's "ABCs of Editing" workshop and Brian Rouff's "Getting Published: A Long Strange Trip." To access the programs, visit lvccld.org, select "Books, Movies & More" and then "Video and Podcasts."

The Black Mountain Institute has offered recordings of its programming since 2006. To access recordings of a gamut of writers from E.L. Doctorow to Alissa Nutting, visit blackmountain institute.org and select "multimedia."

Free Read to Me program offers stories online and by phone

Celebrity storytellers Oscar Goodman, Rita Rudner, Clint Holmes, Terry Fator, Carrot Top, The Scintas and others have donated their talents to the Clark County Education Association Community Foundation's Read To Me program. Children can view more than 15 videos of celebrities reading books on the website at readtomelv.com. Stories also can be accessed by calling 240-2665.

Both databases are frequently updated with fresh stories. Parents and teachers can download lesson plans for each book on the website.

Download books and more from your public library

Virtual Branch websites make it easy to browse, check out and download digital books and more to a home computer for free. All patrons need is a valid library card and an Internet-connected PC.

Virtual Branch download websites feature a digital catalog of downloadable audio books, e-books, music and video titles.

Each site is meant to look and feel like the library's main site, and it has many easy-to-use features similar to an online store.

Digital book downloads are borrowed just like print materials. Once patrons select the title or author they want, they follow the steps to check out and then download the title to their home computer.

Patrons can transfer most titles to portable media players, such as MP3 players, PDAs, Kindles or smart phones.

Each title that is downloaded has a designated lending period. When the title expires, it is automatically returned to the Virtual Branch, so there are no late fees.

For more information, visit search.overdrive.com.

Zine library open in Emergency Arts

Grab a cup of coffee and check out the independently crafted magazines at the Las Vegas Zine Library inside the Beat Cafe in Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont St.

The library is still small, more of a collection on display for reference and on-site reading than a checkout repository. Contributions of zines are appreciated. For more information, visit lvzinelibrary.blogspot.com.

Teen Writing Club plans meetings

A Teen Writing Club meets at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. The club schedules meetings every other month. For more information, call 207-4260.