Author at UC Builders

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Author Colleen Anderson will be the guest speaker at the University of Charleston Builders luncheon at 11:30 a.m. March 27 in the Erma Byrd Gallery at UC.

Anderson will talk about "Missing: Mrs. Cornblossom," her novel set in Charleston's Arlington Court. Old Edna Cornblossom has disappeared and the whole neighborhood misses her.

Admission to the luncheon is $18, and reservations are needed by March 22; contact Jamie DeYoung at jamiedeyo...@ucwv.edu or 304-357-4369.

The mission of the University of Charleston Builders is to fund special projects and scholarships and to promote the university to its greater Charleston community.

Membership in the UC Builders is not a requisite for attending the luncheons and author presentations. However, new members are always welcome.

Lesson in leadership

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Bob Lynn, of Charleston, has published "Vision Courage & Heat," in which he gives lessons on how to lead and manage photojournalists.

Lynn served as graphic editor at The Charleston Gazette for three years and as director of photography for 17 years at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va.

In the book, Lynn writes of ways to motivate people, how to work with a creative team and gives practical advice on taking photographs and their display in the newspaper.

The book retails for $18.50. For more information, visit boblynnvisioncourageandheart.com.

Leadership for millennials

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Parkersburg native has co-authored a book that helps the younger generation engage in work that has a positive impact on the world.

Nina Vasan has published "Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation" with Jennifer Przybylo. A news release says the book provides students and young adults with a comprehensive and concrete roadmap to making a positive and lasting impact.

Vasan studied government at Harvard, graduating as one of Glamour magazine's top 10 college women. She is a medical student at Harvard Medical School and will be starting residency in psychiatry.

The book is published by Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint, and is available form Amazon.com.

Short stories published

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia writer Ron Houchin's collection of short stories, "Tales Out of School," is set in and around Huntington and is based on stories he told his writing students during 30 years of teaching high school in Proctorville, Ohio.

He told the stories to help students get in touch with their own experiences as material for their stories, essays and poems. The 20 locally set tales, published by Wind Publications of Kentucky, a longtime publisher of Appalachian literature, may be purchased for $15 from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and www.windpub.com.

Novel about foster care

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- "Seven Tears," by Shelia Joyner, will be released in April. The book is based on true events, including the loss of several of grandchildren to the foster-care system.

Joyner, formerly of Clay County, is a licensed therapeutic foster parent and advocate for children in foster care and kinship care and lives in Murrells Inlet, S.C.

For more information on the book, visit www.seventears.net.

New Mexico statehood

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former West Virginia resident, Elizabeth Rogers, has written "Yankee Gold," a book about Stephen Elkins' role in New Mexico's statehood.

Elkins moved to the New Mexico Territory late in 1863, after serving as a captain in the Union Army, to write a contract on several gold and silver mines there. There, he and others expose the Army's exploitation of local citizens and Indians.

"At stake are the lives of slaves, citizens' mining rights, the fate of millions of acres of land grants, a railroad, and statehood for New Mexico," says a news release on the book.

It was while representing the territory in Congress in 1872 that Elkins, a widower, met and married the daughter of Henry Gassaway Davis and moved to West Virginia.

"Yankee Gold," published by Story Merchant Books, is available for $16 from Amazon and Amazon Kindle.

Battle of Charleston

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Civil War historian Terry Lowry will present "The Battle of Charleston and the 1862 Kanawha Valley Campaign" at 7 p.m. March 19 at the Dunbar Public Library, 12th and Myers streets. The free lecture is based on his forthcoming book of the same title. The lecture is a program of the Kanawha Valley Civil War Roundtable.

Lowry has written several books on West Virginia and the Civil War. He works at the West Virginia State Archives.