Thursday November 15, 2012: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Susan Whitall became the first woman to become editor of the irreverent Creem magazine in the late ‘70s. This rock journal was immortalized in the film “Almost Famous”.

Since the 1980s Susan has been a feature writer for the Detroit News, writing about pop culture, music and radio, often returning to stories about the R&B and soul music that came out of the Motor City.

Come hear Whitall discuss her career and amazing interviews!

Saturday, November 17 | 2:00-3:30 PM | Traverwood Branch

The clock is ticking. Head to the Library for some space to work on your novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Hurry - the novel has to be finished by November 30! AADL provides the space - YOU provide the creativity! Then whether you finish or not come to the TGIO (Thank God It's Over) Celebration with author Lara Zielin on Sat., Dec. 1.

National Novel Writing Month is a non-profit event that encourages teens and adults to tackle the challenge of writing a novel during November. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. For more information about NaNoWriMo, visit nanowrimo.org.

Nominate your favorite Michigan Author so the Michigan Library Association can reward them! Any author who lives in Michigan or writes about Michigan can win, regardless of the genre they write, as long as they have published at least 3 titles. See the list of authors who have won over the years and access the nomination form here. This year's winner was Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Once Upon a River and several other Michigan based books.

Mystery bookstore, Aunt Agatha's is celebrating their 20th Anniversary by having 15 authors visit their store on Fourth Ave. Aunt Agatha's will be hosting an open house on Wednesday, October 3rd from 4-7pm, feature cake and drinks as well as the opportunity to meet the authors.

A few of the guest authors include:
Alyse Carlson, author of The Azalea Assault
Sarah Zettel, award-winning author of mystery and sci fi books and Ypsilanti native
Steve Hamilton, author of the Alex McKnight series
And many more.

For the full schedule of authors and more information, check Aunt Agatha's Event Page.

Sunday, September 9 | 1:00-3:00 p.m. | Downtown Library | Multipurpose Room

Join us for a little world building even if it’s out of this world! Cartoonist James Anderson will show you how he has created a world full of alien flora and fauna for his web comic strip Ellie on Planet X!

Join the Forum to get fresh ideas for your next comics or graphic novel creation and/or feedback from fellow cartoonists. Drawing supplies will be provided, so drop in to draw, learn, and network with other cartoonists.

Come to the Traverwood Branch today at 3:00 to hear from successful indie writer Chris Profeta (author of Life in Pieces) about his experiences with self-publishing and how effective writing habits can make your own work come to completion. This is a great forum to learn about publishing without a publishing house for those curious about the recent surge of self-published authors.

Chris Profeta teaches writing at Macomb Community College and Davenport University. He has had various works published in the Foliate Oak online literary magazine, one of which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 6 and up).

On Sunday, August 26, 2012, join Washtenaw County in a celebration of African American literature.

Guest speakers include local author Karen Simpson, romance author Beverly Jenkins, and children's author Debbie Taylor.

The event will be hosted from 4-6pm at Washtenaw Community College in the Morris Lawrence Building, Room 150, 4800 E. Huron River Dr., Ann Arbor. Tickets are $20 each/$5 for students.

Come listen to local artist and author Robb Johnston talk about the process behind his wonderful book The Woodcutter and the Most Beautiful Tree. Robb will demonstrate how he draws and answer questions. He will also be available for a book signing after the event.

The Woodcutter and the Most Beautiful Tree gained a star review from Kirkus Reviews, who also named it one of the best books of 2011. Don’t miss this chance to see Robb work!

This event will be on Monday, August 13th at 1pm in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Downtown Library.

This event is for grades K to 5.

It’s summer and things are hot and busy. Time to grab a dog, a Coke, and head to the beach. Perhaps a coney dog has your number, and if so, you aren’t alone. Apparently no one in the world is as crazy about coney dogs as metro Detroit is. Have you ever thought about the sheer amount Coney Island restaurants? Ever thought about the technique of what constitutes a great coney dog, or perhaps a coney pizza, coney omelette, or coney wrap?

The book Coney Detroit talks about the lore, the history, and the business of all things coney. It focuses on some establishments in Flint, Jackson, Port Huron, Kalamazoo, and Traverse City. It’s a fun little book, chock full of photos, for those interested in all things local.

The book is a collaboration of twenty, and was written by Katherine Yung (Detroit Free Press reporter) and Joe Grimm. It was photographed by EXPOSURE.Detroit and printed in Detroit. Interestingly, all proceeds from the book go to the Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Fritz Freiheit has been writing science fiction for years. For most of those years, he was working toward an end goal of getting his book published in the traditional manner. He was shopping for agents and dreaming of seeing his book in bookstores. Then Borders closed, and he began to think of things differently. Here, Fritz talks about his decision to self-publish, and introduces us to Dispensing Justice, his alternate-world, coming of age, novel.