Local writer Andrea Hernandez Holm has had a story published in the anthology Wisdom of Our Mothers from Familia Books ($14.95, 296 pages).

Summary (from a press release):

The mothers profiled in the stories are human. Their virtues are balanced by their flaws, and in some cases, the lessons learned from those flaws form the basis of the story. The anthology explores maternal wisdom in various categories: emotional, relationship, and practical skills; virtues, humor, and heritage.

In Andrea Hernandez Holm's chapter, "Prayers and Other Ofrendas" she writes about the lessons of faith and humility taught by her mother's example. Born and raised in the desert of central Arizona, Andrea is a writer of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. She is a keeper of stories and a teller of stories, most of her writing focusing on the exploration of identity.

Author Bio (from author's website):

Born and raised in the desert of central Arizona, Andrea is a writer of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. She is a keeper of stories and a teller of stories, most of her writing focusing on the exploration of identity.

Local author Iris Arnesen's new book, Nine Famous Operas: What's Really Going On, has been published by McFarland and Company ($35, 202 pages).

Summary (from publisher):

Opera, for those not acquainted with its conventions, can be confounding. This book contains analyses of the stories and music of nine beloved operas, presented in chronological order from the late 1700s through the early 1900s. These works are most readily approached with an understanding of the conventions of the genres, as well as the social conditions that influenced the composers and librettists. In examining each work, the various genres are explained, and the popular and intellectual movements that influenced the operas are discussed, as well as the original source material. The operas covered in the text are Mozart's The Magic Flute, Beethoven's Fidelio, Donizetti's Lucia de Lammermoor, Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, Verdi's Rigoletto, Bizet's Carmen, Leonvacallo's Pagliacci, Strauss' Salome, and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera.

Author Bio (from publisher):

Iris J. Arnesen is a former CPA and currently an accounting manager for a multi-state firm. She is a lecturer on opera and the editor of The Opera Glass, a performing arts periodical covering opera, theatre, dance, and concert music.

We recently reviewed Innocent Until Interrogated: The True Story of the Buddhist Temple Massacre and the Tucson Four. See Tim Hull's Sept. 30 review: here.

Gary Stuart, the author of Innocent Until Interrogated, will speak tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the UA James E. Rogers College of Law, 1201 E. Speedway Blvd., Ares Auditorium, Room 164.

About the author:
Gary L. Stuart is an attorney in Phoenix. He is the author of six books, including The Gallup 14, a novel based on the notorious court case of 1930s New Mexico, and Miranda: The Story of America's Right to Remain Silent (UA Press).

Join bestselling author/illustrator of the Max & Ruby series for her Pajama Party Tour, in celebration of Max & Ruby's Bedtime Book.

The event will include door prizes, a reading and signing from Rosemary Wells, and a special appearance from Max himself. Bring your camera for a photo op with the duo. Guests are also encouraged to wear their jammies.

The Pajama Party Tour will be held in the Kid's Center at the Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Road, at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Dead Neon, edited by Todd James Pierce and Weekly contributor Jarret Keene, has been published by University of Nevada Press (183 pages, $20).

Summary (from publisher):

Las Vegas is considered a modern icon of excess. It offers every imaginable extreme of greed, pleasure, and despair, supported by technology that enhances fantasy and allows residents and visitors alike to forget reality and responsibility. The authors of the fourteen stories in Dead Neon imagine Sin City in the near future, when excess has led to social, environmental, or economic collapse. Their stories range from futuristic casinos to the seared post-apocalyptic desert, from the struggle to survive in a repressive theocracy to the madness of living in a world where most life forms and all moral codes have vanished. Dead Neon explores the possible future of America by examining the near future of Las Vegas. The authors, all either Vegas-based or intimately familiar with the city, capture its unique rhythms and flavor and probe its potential for evoking the fullest range of the human spirit in settings of magic, horror, and despair.

Local author Dafna Lazar's The Hard Road to Staying Thin, Healthy and Youthful, While Enjoying Life and Food to the Fullest: Fountain of Youth? has recently been published. $29.95, 154 pages. Available on Amazon.com and locally at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library.

Summary (from press release):

This is a true story that starts with a tragic fall, literally from a Garden of Eden into an abyss. Due to her own reckless action - a fatal flaw, perhaps - the protagonist loses everything she had. She is on the verge of exiting life. Instead she finds herself running and concomitantly begins a series of other intense purifications. To her astonishment, she achieves through these a state of transcendence and ecstasy, which allows her to choose life.

Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford, author of the children's book Hip Hip Hooray, It's Monsoon Day!, is in the running for the Purple Dragonfly Book Award.

The Purple Dragonfly contest recognizes excellence in children's literature. The finalists will learn the details of which category they placed in and whether they will receive first, second or third place, or an honorable mention, at the Arizona Authors Association Awards Banquet. The ceremony will be on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 5 p.m. at the Glendale Civic Center at 5750 W. Glenn Drive in Glendale, Ariz.

Local author Richard Cachor Taylor's Birds of Southeastern Arizona has been published by R.W. Morse Company ($19.95, 430 pages).

Summary (from publisher):

Southeastern Arizona is recognized as one of America's foremost birding destinations with almost half of all the birds of North America seen in this one area. This pocket-sized photographic guide features 640 stunning color photographs of the over 400 birds of Southeastern Arizona (including the Mexican vagrants) along with their descriptions, locations, elevation charts, and a regional checklist. Authored by lifelong Tucson resident and local bird expert, Rick Taylor, it is the ideal guide for beginning and experienced birdwatchers.

Local author Graham Brown's book Black Sun has been published by Bantam Books ($7.99, 472 pages).

Summary (from publisher):

In the heart of the Amazon, NRI operative Danielle Laidlaw makes an incredible discovery: a translucent Mayan stone generating massive waves of energy while counting down toward the infamous apocalyptic date: December 21, 2012. And somewhere, there are three more just like it.

What power will be unleashed if all four stones come together? Who created them—and who has them now? Using a cryptic Mayan map and a prophecy that points to the end of the world, Danielle and her team race toward answers. But one staggering question remains: Were these artifacts meant to save us—or to destroy us once and for all?

Douglas Wellman's new book, Boxes: The Secret Life of Howard Hughes has been published by WriteLife ($10.95, 191 pages).

Summary (from publisher):

Eva McLelland was good at keeping secrets, and she had a big one. Sworn to secrecy for thirty-one years until the death of her husband, Eva was at last able to come forward and share a story that turns twentieth century history on its head and fills in puzzling blanks in the mysterious life of the tycoon Howard Hughes. How could Hughes appear to witnesses as an emaciated, long finger-nailed, mental incompetent, yet fly a jet aircraft four months later? How could a doctor describe him as looking like a "prisoner of war," when at the same time investment bankers, politicians, and diplomats who met him said he was articulate and well-groomed? The answer is a perfect example of the brilliance of the elusive billionaire. He simply found a mentally incompetent man to impersonate him, drawing the attention of the Internal Revenue Service and an army of lawyers who pursued him, while he conducted his business in peace from Panama with his new wife, Eva McLelland. Sound fantastic? It is. However, after seven years of research and verification, Eva's story produces the final pieces in the mysterious puzzle that was Howard Hughes. Douglas Wellman has been a television producer and director in Hollywood since 1980. He is currently Assistant Dean of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Deborah.

Author Bio:

Douglas Wellman has been a television producer and director in Hollywood since 1980. He is currently Assistant Dean of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. He live in Los Angeles with his wife.