Las Vegas book briefs for Dec. 10-16, 2015

Octopus Tale Party: A launch party for "Christmapus — The Christmas Octopus: A Tentacled Yuletide Tale" is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble. The party is set to feature RJ Owens — who plays Bebe Francois in Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere" — reading the rhyming tale written by Paul Mattingly, illustrated by View reporter F. Andrew Taylor and published by Pj Perez through his Las Vegas-based comic and graphic novel publishing company Pop! Goes the Icon. Visit popgoestheicon.com.

Exploring the Andes: Kim MacQuarrie, a four-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and anthropologist, plans to read from and sign copies of his book "Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 10 at The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St. Visit thewritersblock.org. MacQuarrie is the author of four books on Peru and lived in the country for five years. Visit thewritersblock.org or kimmacquarrie.com.

Half-Price Book Sale: A Scholastic children's book sale to benefit the Henderson Libraries summer reading program is scheduled throughout each day Dec. 10-12 at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway. Visit mypubliclibrary.org.

Love Chapel: Stephen Murray is set to read from and sign copies of his novel "The Chapel of Eternal Love: Wedding Stories from Las Vegas" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Corner Gallery, 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220. The event is set to be an evening of art and literature sponsored as part of the monthlong "Vegas, Baby" art exhibition hosted by Chris Frausto. Murray also announced the upcoming release of a sequel, "Return to the Chapel of Love," expected in January. Visit thechapelofeternallove.com.

Mob Museum event: Author Bernie Sindler is scheduled to sign copies of his book "The Bernie Sindler Story: My Life with Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and the Mob" from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 11 in the retail store at the Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Ave. There is no admission charge to access the store. Visit themobmuseum.org.

Slam Poets: Andrew Clark Hall is set to present a free workshop on slam poetry at noon Dec. 12 at the Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 McLeod Drive. Clark County Poet Laureate Bruce Isaacson plans to host a free open poetry reading at the center at 2 p.m. Visit clarkcountynv.gov.

"The Turnip": Jan Brett is set to present her children's picture book "The Turnip" at 5 p.m. Dec. 12 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

Kokopelli: Donald L. Ensenbach plans to sign his book "Kokopelli: Dream Catchers of an Ancient" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Visitor Center, 1000 Scenic Loop Drive.

Wolfsayer: Hannah R. Smith plans to sign copies of her Wolfsayer trilogy from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 19 at BooksorBooks, 3460 E. Sunset Road, Suite R. Visit hannahr-smithauthor.com.

Mob Month: The Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, is set to host authors and experts on the mob at 7 p.m. Tuesdays in January. For a full schedule, visit lvccld.org.

Literary Launch: An event celebrating the launch of Helen: A Literary Magazine's animal issue is set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 8 at The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St. The evening is slated to be co-hosted by Heather Lang, co-editor of Petite Hound Press. Artwork from the issue is set to be featured, and appearances by contributors Chelsea Sedoti, Sarah Vernetti, Judy Salz, Kim Idol, Jamison Crabtree, Joan Robinson and Megan Duffy are expected. Visit thewritersblock.org or helenpresents.com.

Publishing contracts: Las Vegas intellectual property attorney Kim Cooper is set to talk about trademark and copyright issues during a meeting of the Las Vegas Romance Writers at 10 a.m. Jan. 16 at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. Visit lvrwa.org.

Paleo Cookbook: Sarah Ballantyne is set to sign "The Healing Kitchen: 175+ Quick & Easy Paleo Recipes to Help You Thrive" at 2 p.m. Jan. 17 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Laura McBride & Walter Kirn: A reading and signing featuring "We Are Called to Rise" author Laura McBride and "Up in the Air" author Walter Kirn is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St. McBride teaches at the College of Southern Nevada, and Kirn is a Bennett Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV. Visit thewritersblock.org.

Painted Stories: Writers of Southern Nevada is slated to host an evening of live painting inspired by author readings from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. Visit nevadawriters.org.

Little Rascals Reading: Julia Lee, assistant professor of English at UNLV, plans to read from and sign copies of her book "Our Gang: A Racial History of the Little Rascals" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St. Visit thewritersblock.org.

"Southern Paiute: A Portrait": Author Logan Hebner and photographer Michael Plyler plan to talk about their book "Southern Paiute: A Portrait" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St. Visit thewritersblock.org.

Jim Blockey: The local author is set to sign copies of his book "Public Schools – The Worst Case of Child Abuse in American History" from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 6 at BooksorBooks, 3460 E. Sunset Road, Suite R. For more on the book, visit jimblockey.tateauthor.com.

Ongoing events

5/5+ Poetry: Poets are invited to share original work for five minutes followed by attendees offering comments for five minutes during 5/5+, a workshop series put on by Nick Marco, Lana Hanson and Lee Mallory, scheduled every two weeks at BooksOrBooks, 3460 E. Sunset Road, Suite R. The next session is planned from 3 to 5 p.m. Dec. 20. Call 702-754-5971, email jtjmarco@live.com, raisewomenup@gmail.com or leewmallory3@gmail.com or search for 5/5+ on Facebook.

Neon Lit: Neon Lit, a public reading featuring writers from UNLV's Master of Fine Arts and Ph.D. writing programs, is scheduled at 6 p.m. the fourth Friday of most months at The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St., No. 100. The next gathering is set for Jan. 29. Visit neonlit.org.

Writers club: The Aliante Library Writers Club is scheduled to meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of each month at the Aliante Library, 2400 W. Deer Springs Way. Email facilitator Glory Wade at glorywadewriter@gmail.com.

Fiction writing series: The Creative Writing @ Your Library: Fiction Writing series facilitated by Henderson Writer's Group president Gregory A. Kompes is scheduled from 10 to 11:30 a.m. the first and third Tuesdays of the month through Dec. 15 at the Gibson Library, 100 W. Lake Mead Parkway. Topics to be discussed include settings, characters, dialogue and editing. Visit mypubliclibrary.com.

Poets Corner: The West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., plans to host poets corner readings with Keith Brantley at 7 p.m. the first and third Friday of each month. Call 702-229-4800.

Science fiction and fantasy writing group: Readers, writers and editors of science fiction and fantasy are invited to check out a new group scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Saturdays in meeting room two at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. Call 702-334-0204.

Barnes & Noble writing group: The 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble plans to host a writing critique group at 5:15 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. The group is limited to the first 20 participants per meeting. Sign up at meetup.com/las-vegas-creative-writing-class.

Henderson Writers Group: The Henderson Writers Group plans to meet from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays in Room C-2 at Community Lutheran Church, 3720 E. Tropicana Ave. Meetings are typically canceled on holidays. Visit hendersonwritersgroup.com.

Memoir-writing workshops: An ongoing series of free four-week memoir-writing workshops is scheduled at noon Wednesdays and 10 a.m. Fridays at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Library, 509 S. Ninth St. Four-week sessions are set to begin the first week of every month. Call 702-382-9695.