LOCAL

LOCAL
Girard author launchestwo books in one month
GIRARD -- Robin Stears, a local author from Girard, has two new novels being released this month.
"Me and You and a Truck Named Blue" is the story of a female trucker and her male partner, and the first in a planned series. It was published in paperback by Write Up The Road Publishing, which also has optioned "Jake Break" and "Rocky Road," the next two books in the series. The book, which took a year to write, was inspired by the many truck drivers in Stears' family.
"Twist of Fate," a time-travel romance and winner of the New Age Voices 2005 Award, was released as an ebook by New Age Dimensions. Stears wrote the book while participating in the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) contest. In it, the two main characters switch places in time, one traveling to present-day Ohio and the other to 1932 Alaska.
Both works will be available in bookstores, from online book sellers, and from the publishers' Web sites: www.writeuptheroad.com and www.NADBooks.com.
Stears also invites readers to watch her write her next novel, "Olympian Holiday," a tongue-in-cheek retelling of classic Greek myths in a modern setting, at her Web site, www.watchmewriteabook.com.
Salem man pensbook on painting
SALEM -- What exactly goes into a can of paint? What is the best time to paint? What color should you even choose? Christopher C. Wager answers these and many other questions in his new book," The Survivor's Guide to Interior Painting" (PublishAmerica, $17.95). Wager lives in Salem with his wife and son.
At only 122 pages, the guide may be slim, but it is packed with information, step-by-step instructions and handy check and shopping lists that will have any novice painting like a pro, or in the least, will arm them with inside information that will be helpful when hiring a contractor. And, with nearly 20 years of experience in the paint and finishing trades and former owner of The Briggs Painting Co., Wager knows and shares a host of secrets.
The book is available from a variety of online book sellers, including www.barnes & amp;noble.com, www.amazon.com, www.abe.com, www.bamm.com; the publisher, www.publishamerica.com; or contact the author at briggscomp@netzero.net.
Combined dispatches