Book Briefs for Aug. 7-13

Local author Paula Garriott is scheduled to sign copies of the cookbook she wrote with Steven W. Siler, "Signature Tastes of Las Vegas," at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Writers group to welcome Brian Rouff

Brian Rouff, managing partner at Imagine Communications and author of the novels such as "Dice Angel" and "Money Shot," is scheduled to speak on keys to success in self-publishing during the Las Vegas Writers Group meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. Anyone is welcome. A $5 event fee is charged. Visit meetup.com/Las-Vegas-Writers for more information.

Book Fair to feature romance writers

A book fair to celebrate the end of the Henderson Public Libraries’ summer reading program is scheduled to feature members of the Las Vegas chapter of Romance Writers of America from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway. Writers scheduled to participate include Shannan Albright, Joyce Brennan, Laura Hunsaker, Tom Keller, CR Moss, Siobhan Muir, Beverly Preston, Johanna Riley, Katie Salidas and RM Sotera. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org or call 492-6580.

Motivational book signing set

"Breaking Down the Barriers" author Ricardo A. Ramirez is scheduled to sign books at 5 p.m. Sunday at the 8915 W. Charleston Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Black Mountain Institute sets schedule

The Black Mountain Institute has released its fall schedule. An open house and discussion on medical ethics with Harriet Washington, David Ewing Duncan and Jacob Appel is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ student union, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.

The institute plans to host free, public presentations by James Longenbach at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Flamingo, 3555 Las Vegas Blvd. South; Jennifer Egan, in cooperation with the Vegas Valley Book Festival at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St.; Wole Soyinka at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the UNLV student union; Mustapha Marrouchi at 7 p.m. March 6 in the student union; and a conversation with BMI Fellows Criselda Yabes and Oksana Marafioti, moderated by Richard Wiley, at 7 p.m. April 10 in the student union.

For more information, visit black mountaininstitute.org.

Writers of Southern Nevada plan freelance writing conference

Making Cent$ of a Writing Career, a Writers of Southern Nevada freelance writing conference, is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Gold Coast, 4000 W. Flamingo Road.

Speakers slated include: Steve Friess, Andrew Kiraly, Heidi Kyser, Becky A. Johnson and Rick Lax. Topic discussions are to include marketing, avoiding common editing mistakes, reaching out to national markets and handling rejection.

Admission is $149. A $99 early bird rate is available to those who register before Aug. 31. Continental breakfast is included, as is lunch with industry experts leading table discussions.

For more information, visit nevadawriters.org.

Organizers are gearing up for Vegas Valley Book Festival

Planning is in high gear for the Vegas Valley Book Festival, scheduled Nov. 1-3. The annual festival is expected to feature more than 100 authors participating in panel discussions, readings, book signings, workshops, spoken word performances and exhibitions.

Headlining speakers include 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan and Charlaine Harris, whose Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasy series is the basis for the HBO series "True Blood."

The Vegas Valley Children’s Book Festival, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 2, is set to feature David Shannon, Jon Agee, Patrick Carmen, Monica Brown, Charlotte Blake Alston, Susan Katz, Alex Raffi and more.

The Valley Comic Book Festival, scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 2, is scheduled to feature panel discussions, speakers, film screenings, an artist jam and portfolio reviews. Participating talent is set to include Gene Ha, Aaron Alexovich, Dan Parson and Tommy Kovac.

Landis Bahe has been selected to create three pieces of artwork for the event’s official posters, one each for the main festival, the Vegas Valley Children’s Book Festival and the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival.

For more on the festival, visit vegas valleybookfestival.org.

Romance writers to welcome Shirley Kennedy at next meeting

Regency historical romance author Shirley Kennedy is slated to speak on the changing world of publishing and e-publishing during a Las Vegas Romance Writers group meeting scheduled Aug. 18 in the Wengert Conference Room in the Nevada Energy building at 6226 W. Sahara Ave. The chapter meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., and Kennedy is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. For more information, visit lasvegasrwa.org.

Roger S. Baum plans appearance

Roger S. Baum, great-grandson of the original Oz book series creator L. Frank Baum, has continued the tales of Oz with books of his own including "Dorothy of Oz," "The Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage" and more. Baum is scheduled to sign books at noon Aug. 18 at the 8915 W. Charleston Barnes & Noble. For more on the author, visit tototooinc.com.

‘Ascension’ author plans appearance

Meet Christy Christensen, local author of "Ascension: Book 1: the Council of Lords," at noon Aug. 18 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

‘Nevada’s Lost City’ signing scheduled

Dena M. Sedar, curator and archaeologist at the Lost City Museum in Overton, is scheduled to sign "Nevada’s Lost City," an Images of America series book about the ancient pueblo structures unearthed in Overton, at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at the 567 N. Stephanie St., Henderson, Barnes & Noble.

Series to feature Luzanne Lucas

The READ Local Author Series is scheduled to feature Luzanne Lucas, author of the book "A Sweet Breath Of Life: Transition – Making Necessary Changes," from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway. The fourth Monday of each month the series features local authors meeting with readers in the library’s lobby. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org or call 492-6580.

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.

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.

Barnes & Noble to host writing group

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

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 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.