Get ready for a spine-tingling evening when bestselling horror genre authors Andrew Pyper and Nick Cutter visit the Downtown Library for one night of chilling readings and conversation, as part of their Dark Side II: Highway of Horror author tour. There will also be plenty of time for questions and answers — if you dare! A book signing will follow, and books will be for sale.

Andrew Pyper is the award-winning author of six internationally bestselling novels, including The Killing Circle, a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. Three of Pyper’s novels, including The Demonologist, are in active development for feature films. His new novel, The Damned, was released in February 2015 and has already been optioned as a feature film by Legendary Pictures.

Nick Cutter is a pseudonym for Scotiabank Giller prize-nominated author Craig Davidson. Davidson has published four books of literary fiction, including Rust and Bone (which was made into an Oscar-nominated feature film of the same name), and Cataract City. Under the name Nick Cutter, he published The Troop in 2014 and his newest book, The Deep, in January 2015.

This event is cosponsored by Nicola's Books.

For months hundreds of community members have been reading and discussing the award-winning novel A Tale For The Time Being by bestselling author Ruth Ozeki. Her book was selected for Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2015 by a panel of judges which included Area Blogger Mark Maynard, Ann Arbor News Entertainment Reporter Jenn McKee, Musician San Slomovits, Ypsilanti City Council Member Dan Vogt and Ann Arbor City Council Member Chuck Warpehoski. Join us for an unforgettable night and hear her speak about her novel!

Novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest, Ruth Ozeki will discuss her work at a special appearance for the Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti Reads 2015. The event includes a book signing and books will be for sale courtesy of Literati.Bookstore.

A Tale For the Time Being begins with Nao, a sixteen-year-old in Tokyo who has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao first plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in ways she can scarcely imagine.

Across the Pacific, we meet another character, Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami.

As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future. The book is full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth.

For more information on this Speaker, please visit www.prhspeakers.com

This workshop will inject new life into your rundown prose. Books can get tired and overwritten, but a second (or third) look can refresh them and make them feel like new. Join authors Alex Kourvo and Lara Zielin as they help you tighten sentences, eliminate repetition, tone plot, and get your book into perfect shape. This workshop is part of a regular series of events hosted by Lara and Alex to support and assist local writers.

What do the best writers know and do? How can authors block self doubt, silence naysayers, and tap into the resources they need to finish their books? Join authors Alex Kourvo and Lara Zielin as they take a practical approach to a writer’s everyday difficulties, from figuring out what you’re even writing to overcoming writer’s block to dealing with rejection and more. The workshop is part of the monthly Emerging Writers workshop series that happen on the first Thursday of the month at the Traverwood Branch.

Modern writers have more places than ever to sell their work. What is the best way to get your book into readers’ hands? Join authors Alex Kourvo and Lara Zielin as they discuss traditional publishing, indie publishing, small presses, and online venues for matching your novel or non-fiction book with the right reader. This workshop is part of an an on-going series of Emerging Writers Workshops. They happen the first Thursday of the month at the Traverwood Branch.

Phoebe Gloeckner is an Associate Professor, School of Art & Design at U of M and is a graphic novelist. Her book, The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2002), was praised as "one of the most brutally honest, shocking, tender, beautiful portrayals of growing up female in America." Phoebe will speak about the unique challenge and experience of writing, and publishing, memoir. The Diary of a Teenage Girl was also adapted as a film which debuted to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, in early 2015. It will be released in theaters later this year.

This is a monthly meetup that welcomes all writers to ask questions, connect with other writers, or simply have a dedicated time and place to work on their projects.

Local authors Lara Zielin and Margaret Alex Kourvo will be on hand to offer encouragement, answer questions, and point writers to resources.

These open houses complement the Emerging Writers Workshops. These events feature perspectives from both traditional publishing and indie publishing and considerations of fiction and non-fiction writing.

This is a monthly meetup that welcomes all writers to ask questions, connect with other writers, or simply have a dedicated time and place to work on their projects.

Local authors Lara Zielin and Alex Kourvo will be on hand to offer encouragement, answer questions, and point writers to resources.

These open houses complement the Emerging Writers Workshops. These events feature perspectives from both traditional publishing and indie publishing and considerations of fiction and non-fiction writing.

This is a monthly meetup that welcomes all writers to ask questions, connect with other writers, or simply have a dedicated time and place to work on their projects.

Local authors Lara Zielin and Margaret Alex Kourvo will be on hand to offer encouragement, answer questions, and point writers to resources.

These open houses complement the Emerging Writers Workshops. These events feature perspectives from both traditional publishing and indie publishing and considerations of fiction and non-fiction writing.

This is a monthly meetup that welcomes all writers to ask questions, connect with other writers, or simply have a dedicated time and place to work on their projects.

Local authors Lara Zielin and Margaret Alex Kourvo will be on hand to offer encouragement, answer questions, and point writers to resources.

These open houses complement the Emerging Writers Workshops. These events feature perspectives from both traditional publishing and indie publishing and considerations of fiction and non-fiction writing.