FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Romance novelists coming to Newport News

Library System to celebrate romance novels

Two national best-selling romance novelists will present author talks, book-signings and a writing workshop in September at Newport News Public Libraries.

Love is among the stacks of the Newport News Public Library System in September. Two national best-selling romance novelists will present author talks, book-signings and a writing workshop.

Rochelle Alers will present an author talk, question-and-answer session and book-signing, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Sept. 17, at Virgil I. Grissom Library; and 1-2:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17, at Pearl Bailey Library. Kristan Higgins will conduct a romance writers’ workshop and book-signing, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24, at Main Street Library.

All events are free and open to the public, and no registration is required. The programs are made possible by the Friends of the Newport News Public Library. Call the Library Administration Office at 757-926-1350 for more information.

More about Rochelle Alers
Rochelle Alers has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today's most prolific and popular African-American authors of romance and women's fiction.

With more than 50 titles and nearly two million copies of her novels in print, Alers is a regular on the bestseller lists, regularly chosen by Black Expressions Book Club, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award.

She is a member of the Iota Theta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and her interests include gourmet cooking and traveling. She has traveled to Europe, and countries in North, South and Central America. Her future travel plans include visits to Hong Kong and New Zealand. Alers is also in accomplished in knitting, crocheting and needlepoint. She is currently taking instruction in the art of hand quilting.

Oliver, a toy Yorkshire terrier has become the newest addition to her family. When she's not barking at passing school buses, the tiny dog can be found sleeping on her lap while she spends hours in front of the computer.

A full-time writer, Alers lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island. For more information, visit www.rochellealers.org

More about Kristan Higgins
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, Kristan Higgins started writing fiction when her children graced her life with simultaneous afternoon naps. Writing, she found, was infinitely more satisfying than folding laundry, and so began her career in fiction. Her first book came out in 2006; her seventh and eighth books come out this year.

Her novels have received tremendous critical acclaim — she has been called “one of the most honest and creative voices in contemporary romance today” (Romance Junkies); “a special talent” (Romantic Times); and “a unique voice among the crowd” (the Examiner).

Describing her work as “big love stories about regular people,” Higgins blends romance, humor and family issues in beautiful, small-town settings. A lifelong reader of romance, Higgins said, “When I started writing, it seemed there weren’t many stories about people like me, my friends, my sister. Plenty of books about billionaires and vampires, daughters of earls or brilliant artists … which are fun to read, don’t get me wrong. But I felt the rest of us deserved a memorable, heart-tugging story as well.”

Before she became a romance writer, Higgins worked for 12 years in public relations and advertising. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross, which allows her to identify dangling participles, quote many great novels and play a mean game of Scrabble.

Higgins lives in her hometown in Connecticut, where she enjoys reading, movies, gardening and watching the New York Yankees. She and her crew spend as much time as possible at the family home on Cape Cod. She is the mother of two extremely enjoyable children, the wife of a heroic firefighter, and the devoted owner of a very cute mutt. For more information, visit her website at www.kristanhiggins.com.

###