Las Vegas Book Briefs for May 8-14, 2014

CARR CHAT TO WELCOME BRENDA NOVAK

A Carr Chat conversation between Henderson romance author Robyn Carr and visiting best-selling author Brenda Novak is scheduled for noon May 9 at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org. For more on Novak, visit brendanovak.com.

PJ SHELDON PLANS BOOK SIGNING

Local author PJ Sheldon is set to sign her books “Feathers & Gifts” and “You’re Hired” at 11 a.m. May 10 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN EXPERT PLANS PRESENTATIONS

Joshua M. Parker, co-author of “Reptiles and Amphibians of the Mojave Desert: A Field Guide,” plans to share reptile and amphibian images and talk about what makes the Mojave so special during free presentations scheduled at 11 a.m. May 10 at the Valley of Fire Visitor Center; 2 p.m. May 10 at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Visitor Center; 2 p.m. May 11 at the Death Valley Furnace Creek Visitor Center; 7 p.m. May 12 at the Henderson REI, 2220 Village Walk Drive; and 6 p.m. May 13 at the Lifelong Learning Center, 8050 Paradise Road, as part of a University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Nevada Naturalist program. Parker is an assistant professor of biology at Clayton State University in Georgia. Prior to that he was a professor at the College of Southern Nevada for seven years. For more on the book, visit snellpress.com.

UNLV PROFESSOR TO SPEAK ON DIALOGUE

UNLV professor Douglas Unger, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist novel “Leaving the Land,” plans to discuss angles on dialogue during a meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group scheduled at 7 p.m. May 15 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. A $5 meeting fee is charged. Organizers recommend readers download Unger’s article on the topic at meetup.com/las-vegas-writers prior to the meeting.

BOOKSTORE GROUP EVENT SLATED

A group local author book signing is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 10 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

SIGNING SET FOR ‘CANDY AT LAST’

Candy Spelling, widow of Hollywood producer Aaron Spelling, is scheduled to sign copies of her memoir “Candy At Last” at 7 p.m. May 14 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

AUTHOR TO DISCUSS THRILLER ROMANCES

Jessie Humphries, Las Vegas author of the young adult contemporary thriller “Killing Ruby Rose,” plans to talk about mixing romance into thrillers during a meeting of the Las Vegas Romance Writers scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon May 17 in the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit lvrwa.org.

GROCERY STORE TO HOST BOOK SIGNING

Local author Anna Mae Zuccari-Teitelbaum plans to sign copies of her book “You’ll Never Know, Or Will You” from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 18 at Glazier’s Food Marketetplace, 8525 W. Warm Springs Road.

SAMMY DAVIS JR.’S DAUGHTER PLANS BOOK SIGNING

Tracey Davis is set to sign copies of her book “Sammy Davis Jr.: A Personal Journey With My Father,” written with Nina Bunche Pierce, at 7 p.m. May 19 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

TOMMIE SCOTT TO SHARE STORY AT LIBRARY

Tommie Scott author of the motivational memoir “The Tommie Scott Story” is slated to meet with readers from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. May 21 in the lobby of the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway, as part of the READ Local Author Series. Scott’s book traces his life challenges going from gang member to born-again Christian. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.com.

SHOWGIRL-TURNED-AUTHOR TO SIGN NEW BOOK

Local showgirl-turned-author Vicki Pettersson is scheduled to sign book three in her Celestial Blues series, “The Given,” at 7 p.m. May 27 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

UNITED WAY PLANS FLIP THROUGH SUMMER BOOK DRIVE

The United Way of Southern Nevada plans a Flip Through Summer Book Drive. Donors can host school or workplace drives and drop books off at the United Way office, 5830 W. Flamingo Road. The drive is slated to culminate with a Flip Through Summer Book Swap scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon May 31 at Lorenzi Park. To volunteer for the event, visit uwsn.org/volunteer.

LIBRARY DISTRICT ANNOUNCES TEEN WRITING CONTEST WINNERS

Henderson Libraries announced winners in its Henderson Libraries’ Teen Writing Contest. Winners were Middle School Essay/Memoir: Antonia Librizzi, first; Rien Townsend, second. High School Essay/Memoir: Daniela Calderon, first, Aireyawna Youmans, second. Middle School Poetry: Anthony Sepulveda, first; Hannah Potts, second. High School Poetry: Anna Joy Tanksley, first; Parker Nelson, second. Middle School Fiction: Sariyah Jerome, first; Samantha Sparks, second. High School Fiction: Harlee Miscovich, first; Camille Morris, second.

MEMOIR-WRITING WORKSHOPS SLATED

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.

For more information, call 702-382-9695.

LOCAL WRITERS WORK FOUND AT THE STORY SHACK

Las Vegas resident Martin Dean Dupalo’s short nonfiction story “The Briefcase” was recently published at The Story Shack, thestoryshack.com.

The Story Shack is an online, short story magazine platform that pairs writers and aspiring graphic artists to share a story.

This is Dupalo’s fifth published short story overall. His story “If Only Someone Had Cared a Little More” can also be found at The Story Shack.

LITERARY GUILD PLANS AUTHOR EVENTS

The Sun City MacDonald Ranch Literary Guild plans a literary event featuring Richman Mahlangu at 2 p.m. June 8 at the Desert Willow Community Center, 2020 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway. Admission is free, and guests receive a 20 percent discount in the center’s restaurant the day of the event.

SAVE A DIFFERENT DATE FOR VEGAS VALLEY BOOK FESTIVAL

Readers accustomed to attending the Vegas Valley Book Festival the first weekend in November won’t have to wait as long this year. This year’s main festival and the Vegas Valley Children’s Book Festival are slated for Oct. 16-18. For more information on the festival or to apply to be a volunteer or visiting author, visit vegasvalleybookfestival.org. The Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival (vegasvalleycomicbookfestival.org) is scheduled to remain on the first weekend in November at the Clark County Library.

BARNES & NOBLE TO HOST 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.

ALIANTE LIBRARY TO HOST WRITERS CLUB

The Aliante Library Writers Club is scheduled to meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the Aliante Library, 2400 W. Deer Springs Road. For more information, contact facilitator Glory Wade at glorywadewriter@gmail.com.

SHARE POEMS AT HUMAN EXPERIENCE

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

ART CENTER TO HOST 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. For more information, contact the center at 702-229-4800.

FREE READ TO ME PROGRAM OFFERED

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 702-240-2665. 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 Coffeehouse in Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont St. The library is 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.

HENDERSON WRITERS GROUP MEETINGS SET

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. For more information, visit hendersonwritersgroup.

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.

ACCESS RECORDED BOOK PROGRAMS ONLINE

Too busy to get out to book programs? The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has started posting videos and podcasts of many of its programs online. Selections available 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 blackmountaininstitute.org and select “multimedia.”