It's all well and good to get a happy ending from Rolling Stone, but Hot Pop Prophets still have to pimp their books. Which is why Will Clarke will be signing his latest, The Worthy, November 10 at one of his favorite hangs, the Garden Cafe. But if you can't wait that long--yeah, who could?--tomorrow at 3 p.m. he's appearing at Half Price Books on Northwest Highway for the store's Writers Forum, which will include local authors William Scarborough, Janis Susan May and Linkie Seltzer Cohn, along with a couple of journalists.
The event's a Q&A, during which authors will also read from their respective works, but it will also highlight Half-Price's Bedtime Storybook Contest. Amateur writers can submit their short stories and poems for the store's annual publication Say Good Night to Illiteracy, proceeds from which go to the national literacy group Reach Out and Read. It's that most charitable time of the year: Tomorrow Clarke and company will be donating money they make from sales of their books to the charities of their choice.
And in random Half Price Books news, if there is such a thing, Community Relations Manager Mark Wren just informed Unfair Park that its Chicago-area store will have an Oprah Winfrey connection. During a taping this week, she gave each audience member a $1,000 debit card to spend on other people and a Sony DVD Handycam to record their creative efforts. Apparently, HPB headquarters here got wind that one person from that audience is visiting the store to buy books for charity. According to Wren, HPB will match that purchase dollar for dollar to help spread some literacy love. --Rich Lopez