Note: I've updated the author information below to include newly added author John Kalkowski, who will be signing at Chapters from 1:00-2:00 Saturday, November 21.
The holiday season is fast approaching. Thanksgiving is only about two weeks away, and Christmas just a month after that. During this busy season, independent businesses such as Chapters celebrate Small Business Saturday as a time to thank all of our loyal customers, the people who recognize the value of local retailers in keeping their communities strong, vibrant places with much to offer residents and visitors. We appreciate your business year-round, and on Small Business Saturday,
November 21 and 28, we're planning many special promotions and events as a way to both showcase what Seward has to offer and to thank our customers for shopping locally.
At Chapters, we're celebrating on Saturday, November 21, with a Local Authors Extravaganza from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. We'll have authors signing at the store all day, most of them from Nebraska or with Nebraska connections. Some big names will be here--Ted Kooser, Stephanie Grace Whitson, Alex Kava--and some who live right here in Seward, including Robert Bimler and Jeanne Wiemer. Some of our featured authors have been to Chapters before for signings or other events. Others we're hosting for the first time. Some write for children and young adults (Lydia Kang, Tonya Kuper, Toni Morehouse, Nancy Sharp Wagner, Tevin and Nichole Hansen). The others write in a variety of genre, including memoir, poetry, short stories, historical fiction, romance, and other forms, for adults. They include Angela Hiskett, Mark Langan, Connie Spittler, Gary Jones, Bill Spradley, Jim Reisdorff, Shawn Farritor, Gina Barlean, Mike Curd, Annette Snyder, Brian Hale, Sharon Raimondo, Bud Phelps, and Scott McPherson.
Read more about these authors below, or visit their individual websites for more information on them and their books. If you can't make it on November 21, stop by the store and browse our Local Authors Section, purchase a book, and leave it to be signed. And thanks again for shopping locally!
Gina Barlean of David City, Nebraska, has published six books under the name G. M.
Barlean, including her newest, Thorns of
Rosewood, the story of a woman’s search for her birth mother about whom she
knows little except that she was accused of murder many years earlier. A member of the Nebraska Writers Guild,
Gina will be signing from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Robert Bimler is a Seward resident, author of humorous books such as Do Vegetarians Eat Animal Crackers? He
also has t-shirts made from sayings in his books. Join him for an hour and ask
him your own silly questions from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Michael Curd, formerly a pastor in
Milford, returns to Chapters to sign his book Through the Valley, a
fictionalized account of a hospital chaplain in a major trauma center. Mike's a
great supporter of Chapters, and we're looking forward to his return visit. He’ll
be here from 11:00 a.m.-noon.
Shawn Farritor, author of novels
about Native Americans in Nebraska territory before the Civil War, is also
making a return trip to Chapters. He grew up in Ravenna, Nebraska, and now
lives in Grand Island, where he works as a lawyer and author. His newest book
is The Pawnee War, and he’ll be
here from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Brian
Hale, a
Colorado native, was injured in a chain saw accident as a youth. After hearing
for years how lucky he was to survive the accident, he has written Are You
Lucky? in an attempt to understand and clarify what luck is and how it
works in our lives. He’ll be returning to Chapters from 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Nichole and Tevin Hansen own Handersen Publishing, an independent
publisher of books for children and young adults and edit the YA literary
magazine Stinkwaves. Together and
independently, they write for children, blog, and raise their children in
Idaho. They will be at Chapters—though they’re not strictly local—signing from 10:00-11:00
a.m.
Angela Hiskett of Beatrice, Nebraska, has written Our
Legacy, a Bible study guide for families for studying the Gospels together.
She will be available to talk about her book and sign copies from 10:00-11:00
a.m.
Gary Jones’s novel, Doc’s Codicil, is the
story of a veterinarian teaching his heirs a lesson from the grave. In order to
claim their inheritance, they must work together to solve the mysterious puzzle
he leaves for them. Jones lives in Omaha and will be signing with us from noon-1:00
p.m.
John Kalkowski, an Omaha author and middle school teacher, is the author of Red Cell and its brand new sequel The Betrayal, about a teenager with a secret life as the government's youngest intelligence operative who helps prevent terrorist attacks, including one at a Husker football game--a timely topic given recent events around the world. Meet him from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Lydia Kang, an Omaha physician and author,
has written Control and Catalyst for young adults and those
who enjoy YA literature. Set in a futuristic society in what now is known as
Nebraska and Iowa, her books combine medical science fiction, romance, and
mystery and are thrilling reads for fans of The Hunger Games and other
dystopian novels. She's also an incredibly nice person and happy to share her thoughts
on ways to incorporate writing into a busy schedule. She’ll be at Chapters from
1:00-2:00 p.m.
Alex Kava,
originally of Silver Creek, Nebraska, now lives in Omaha and Pensacola,
Florida. Her Maggie O'Dell books and other thrillers have been published in
over thirty countries and have been on bestseller lists in the UK, Australia,
Germany, Japan, Italy and Poland as well as the US. Stranded was a
Nebraska Book Award recipient. Silent Creed is the second book in her
new series featuring Ryder Creed. Alex will be signing from 11:00 a.m.-noon.
Ted Kooser needs little introduction.
He'll be signing his two latest books, Splitting an Order, a poetry
collection, and The Wheeling Year, a collection of very short prose
which will receive a Nebraska Book Award on November 15. Ted will be signing his
books from noon-1:00 p.m.
Tonya Kuper, a YA writer from Omaha, will visit
Chapters to promote her book, Anomaly, the story of a girl who can bend
reality with her thoughts. Her next book comes out in early 2016. Tonya has an
interesting publication story and is a good resource if you’re looking for
answers to questions about navigating the publishing process. Meet Tonya from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Mark Langan, a retired Omaha police officer from the burglary, vice and narcotics
units, drew on his work experience to write Busting
Bad Guys, true crime stories from the seamier side of life in Omaha. He’ll
be sharing stories and signing his book from 11:00 a.m.-noon.
Scott McPherson is a Lincoln,
Nebraska, physician and author of a series of mystery/thrillers about a doctor
named Jack Sharp, who finds danger and romance in such diverse settings as the
Congo and an urban bike path. He’ll be signing from 2:00-3:00 p.m. He
and Lydia may have to share stories about dual careers in medicine and writing.
Toni Morehouse, a speech-language pathologist
from Lincoln, Nebraska, has written Junie's Unicorn Horn, a picture book
of a unicorn's troubles on her first day of school. Happily, in the end,
Junie's horn saves the day. Even more happily, you can meet Toni from 11:00 a.m.-noon.
R. G. Bud
Phelps, a life-long Nebraskan, lives in Lincoln. After a career in
accounting and a stint in the navy, he now concentrates on writing. His books
include historical fiction, based on his life’s experiences, and accounting
books. You can meet him at Chapters from 2:00-3:00
p.m.
Sharon
Raimondo grew up listening to stories of the Dust Bowl years and based her
debut novel Big Sky, on those
accounts of life in the Nebraska Sand Hills during the 1930s. She She currently
lives in Columbus and is working on the sequel, and she will be signing at
Chapters from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
James Reisdorff
of David City has been to Chapters many times to share the stories behind his
railroad books. Reisdorff and his wife own South Platte Press and publish many
railroad-related titles, some of which he also wrote. He will be signing from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
N. L.
Sharp, of Fremont, is a retired teacher and avid writer and organizer of
workshops and resources for writers. She writes children’s picture books,
including The Flower Girl-The Ring Bear:
A Flip Book. Meet her from 2:00-3:00
p.m.
Annette
Snyder is a prolific writer of historical and contemporary romance novels
and lives in Brainard. Her newest book is Arpetta
Honor, and you can meet her from 2:00-3:00
p.m.
Connie
Spittler’s novel, The Erotic Book
Club for Nice Ladies will grab your attention with its title! It’s actually
a cozy mystery about women’s friendships and books by Emily Dickinson and Jane
Austen. You can meet her and find out more from 11:00 a.m.-noon.
William
Spradley, though born and raised in Nebraska, has traveled throughout the
world as an engineer with McDonnell Douglas. He now lives and writes in
Missouri, and his latest work is a collection of short stories titled Cold Trail. Meet him from noon-1:00 p.m.
Stephanie Grace Whitson, of Lincoln,
writes thoroughly researched historical fiction with a Christian touch. Her
newest book, a collaboration with Judith McCoy Miller and Nancy Moser, Basket
Brigade Christmas, is set in Decatur, Illinois, during the American Civil
War. I enjoy Whitson's strong female characters and always learn something of
the time period in which she sets her books. Stephanie will sign from noon
to 1:00 p.m.
Jeanne Wiemer is a Seward resident and owner of The Red Path Gallery. She is an artist
as well as a writer. Her book, My
Pleiadian Brother, introduces readers to Pleiadian Theory through the story
of Jason, a Pleiadian child with human parents. You can meet her and learn more
about this from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Next week is also Read Across America Day and a celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday. Highlights of our week will include a storytime and signing with author Rebecca Gomez at Seward Elementary School on Wednesday, March 2, and birthday cake at Chapters on Saturday, March 5. To pre-purchase a book for Rebecca to sign, contact Chapters by March 1. An Omaha resident, Rebecca is the co-author with Corey Rosen Schwartz of What About Moose? Illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi, it's a fun, rhyming picture book with a gentle lesson about teamwork. Rebecca's May release with Corey Rosen Schwartz and illustrator Dan Santat, Hensel and Gretel: Ninja Chicks, is an action-packed fractured version of the traditional story that's anything but traditional.
Add Saturday, May 7, to your calendar, too! That's when we'll host Ted Kooser in a release party for his new picture book, The Bell in the Bridge. Look for this to be a unique event. We visited a "house held up by trees" for his last picture book's release. This time, we're hoping to head to a steel bridge like the one in the book. The book is a sweet story about a lonely boy who finds a way to entertain himself while visiting his busy grandparents. You'll never look at a bridge the same again after reading it.
