SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)-the best-selling author and artist of 15 books and the creator of hundreds of products and services to inspire people to think and live more creatively-will offer an interactive talk and book signing. Bring your curiosity and prepare yourself for something extraordinary! For cost, location and other information, visit the web site www.goddessinbloom.net

Saturday, August 22, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 23, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) writes, "If you have a creative idea, dream, new business or just know that you are meant to do something creatively powerful in this world, this workshop will support, encourage, inspire, and positively challenge you to make it real or even more real than it is now." For cost, location and other information, visit the web site www.goddessinbloom.net

Saturday, August 22, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 23, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) writes, "If you have a creative idea, dream, new business or just know that you are meant to do something creatively powerful in this world, this workshop will support, encourage, inspire, and positively challenge you to make it real or even more real than it is now." For cost, location and other information, visit the web site www.goddessinbloom.net

Durham writer Nancy Henderson-James will read from and sign copies of her new book, At Home Abroad: An American Girl in Africa. In this memoir of growing up in colonial Angola with her missionary parents, Henderson-James learns five languages, goes away to school at nine, and travels 1500 miles for high school in Rhodesia. And then when war breaks out in 1961, she must find her way in an alien America (Tacoma, Washington).

Durham author Katy Munger will launch her two new mysteries with a reading and book signing. Bad Moon on the Rise is the new title in the Casey Jones series and Desolate Angel is the first in her new Dead Detective series, written under the penname Chaz McGee. "Chaz McGee has an irresistibly rueful, melancholy voice that invites readers to remember that we all make mistakes—and that we all deserve a shot at redemption. Also: We all need to stop and smell the doughnuts," writes Laura Lippman.

Founders of Merge Records in Durham, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, will discuss and sign copies of the new book they wrote with John Cook, Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label that Got Big and Stayed Small.  “One of the most respected imprints in an often disreputable industry, Merge has defied the odds by releasing some of the finest rock and pop music of the last 15 years,” writes the Chicago Tribune.  Mac and Laura are two of the members of the pop-punk band Superchunk.  Mac and Laura will play some of their favorite Merge songs and show some slides—and we’ll offer beer and wine.  (We’ll also play the 20th anniversary Merge Records sampler CD.) Check out the site, www.ournoisebook.com.

Holly Goddard Jones will read from and sign copies of her new short story collection, Girl Trouble. These geographically linked stories create a composite image of life in Roma, Kentucky-haunting in its blankness-and address issues of compassion, caretaking, identity and growth. "Compelling and full of heartache, these stories are so beautifully written you won't want them to end," writes Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.