Santa and Mrs. Claus come to Chapters

Mrs. Claus and Santa visited Chapters tonight to read stories and sing Christmas songs.  There were lots of wide-eyed kids here, and we were honored to have the Clauses take time from their busy schedules to spend time with us.  It was a fun time!

Squishables

Come in and squeeze the Squishables!  They are HUGE, adorable, and very squeezable, and you can't help laughing when you see them.  My favorite is the giant hedgehog.  We're thinking of keeping the owl as a store mascot (to stand in when Jane's not here).  Stephanie thinks we should name him Mr. Know it Owl, but we're open for suggestions.

 They'd make great gifts for people of all ages.  Little kids love 'em almost as much as college students.

Local Authors Event with Joy Castro

Thanks to everyone who came for our 7th annual Local Authors Event Sunday, November 6.  We especially thank Joy Castro for the very informative presentation on how to write a mystery novel.  Joy teaches in the English department at UNL, mostly creative nonfiction, but her first two mystery novels are under contract with St. Martin's Press--the same press that published the first 16 of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels.  Joy's first novel comes out in July 2012.  We hope it's a huge success for her and that she'll host a launch party at Chapters next summer.

CaSondra Poulsen, Victorine Lieske and Charlie Volnek

It was good to meet Charlie Volnek and a few others who were new to our Local Authors event.  It's always fun see the "regulars," too, and to hear what they are working on and give them the opportunity to network and discuss their projects.  

We have many of their autographed books in stock at Chapters, so stop in sometime and see what your neighbors are writing!

Sara Zarr visits Seward

I had the privilege of spending the day with author Sara Zarr on Monday.  She is on a tour of the Midwest to celebrate the release of her new young adult novel, How to Save a Life.  Sara's books deal with issues real teens face--without the vampires, werewolves, and dead-girl narrators of many of the YA books these days.

Monday morning, Sara spoke to a group of 8th graders at Lincoln Lutheran Middle/High School in Lincoln.  From that presentation, we learned that Sara prefers pen to pencil and Mac to PC.  And that her four published novels are not the only books she's written; the first three were for "practice."  Sara shared the inspiration for her books, where some of the characters originated, and other bits about her novels.

Thanks, Sara, for having lunch with me and a couple of friends who are interested in writing and who love YA books.  After lunch, Sara saw a bit of Seward and enjoyed a nap at the Liberty House Bed & Breakfast, before presenting to a group of 9th graders and seniors at Seward High School.  Mr. Kolterman even got an autographed copy of How to Save a Life!

Those who attended Sara's signing at Chapters Monday evening had the pleasure of an informal chat with her.  Katelyn, who's even listed in the acknowledgements in How to Save a Life, drove out from Lincoln for our event.  One of the book's narrators is a teen girl who grows up in Omaha before moving to Denver.  Sara traveled to Omaha to check out the city as a setting for her book and met Katelyn there.  It was fun to hear about that experience!

We have a few remaining copies of Sara's books in the store.  Her latest is receiving starred reviews all over the place, and her first, The Story of a Girl, was a National Book Award Finalist and very deserving of the award.  I look forward to more from her!  If you'd like to follow Sara, check out Sara's blog, www.sarazarr.com.