Writing workshop to take place at Pig Iron

Writing workshop to take place at Pig Iron

YOUNGSTOWN

Pig Iron Literary & Art Works will have a writing workshop from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Pig Iron Press, 26 N. Phelps St., downtown.

Jim Villani is the facilitator. For information, call 330-747-6932.

‘Ticked Off’ author set for book signing

WARREN

Champion S.C.O.P.E. Center, 4451 Mahoning Ave. NW, will feature Janet L. Decesare, author of “Ticked Off,” as speaker at 11 a.m. Monday.

She also will appear for a book signing and author event at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at Poland Public Library, 311 S. Main St.

Domenech scathing about French players

PARIS

Former French national team coach Raymond Domenech was so angry with some players on his 2010 World Cup team that he called them “a bunch of imbeciles.”

Domenech’s book, “Tout Seul [All Alone],” included critical comments about Thierry Henry, Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka.

The French team went on strike at a training session after Anelka had been sent home for insulting Domenech during halftime break of France’s second game, a 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

Domenech’s six-year tenure as coach ended after Les Bleus failed to advance to the second round and led to his dismissal as a member of the French Football Federation.

Writer’s secret: Tap inner 11-year-old

MINNEAPOLIS

The first-time Minneapolis novelist who just won a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature found success by tapping into his inner 11-year-old.

William Alexander scored a major coup for a first-timer with his novel “Goblin Secrets.” It’s a story of an orphaned boy who recruits a troupe of goblin actors to help him find a long-lost brother.

Fans of the book say it creates its own fascinating and self-contained world in a way that recalls classics such as “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Harry Potter.”

Staff/wire reports