Pearl Cleage, "Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs." 7 p.m. Aug. 11. Reading, signing. Free. Stonecrest Library, 3123 Klondike Road, Lithonia. 770-482-3828, charisbooksandmore.com/event/pearl-cleage-charis-things-i-should-have-told-my-daughter-lies-lessons-love-affairs. Also appearing: 7:15 p.m. Aug. 19. Reading, signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=721. Atlanta playwright-author Cleage retraces her struggles to hone her craft amid personal and professional tumult.
Wendy Wax, "The House on Mermaid Point." 6 p.m. Aug. 11. Talk, signing. Free. Book Exchange, 2956 Canton Road, Marietta. 770-427-4848, bookexchangemarietta.com/Events.html. The crew from a reality show reunites in the Florida Keys to turn the home of an aging rocker into a bed and breakfast.
Open mic poetry night. 8 p.m. Aug. 13. $3-$5. Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-872-5338, Ext. 228; callanwolde.org/event/open-mic-poetry-night-4. Join amateur and professional poets in the conservatory. Original poetry is welcome. Open to the first 10 poets who sign up.
Kevin Sipp, "The Amazing Adventures of David Walker Blackstone." Noon Aug. 14. Discussion. Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, 3665 Cascade Road, Atlanta. 404-699-6363, onyxcon.com/onyxconcom/onyxcon-6-schedule/2014/5/9/onyxcon-6-onyxcon-institute. Sipp's debut graphic novel features a Victorian Age explorer-reporter who comes of age a free man in Africa, then returns to America to fight in the Civil War.
Joe Cook, "The Chattahoochee River User's Guide." 7:15 p.m. Aug. 14. Talk, signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=717. Cook offers a guide to paddling, camping and fishing on the Chattahoochee River.
Writers workshop with Sheree R. Thomas. 6 p.m. Aug. 14. Free. Hammonds House Museum, 503 Peeples St., Atlanta. 404-612-0500, afpls.org/events-aarl. Thomas, a writer, publisher and editor, will discuss how aspiring authors can refine their writing skills and succeed in today's literary marketplace.
Amy Lewis Bear, "From Charm to Harm: The Guide to Spotting, Naming, and Stopping Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships." 7:30 p.m. Aug. 14. Book launch party, talk, signing. Suggested donation: $5. Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Ave N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-0304, charisbooksandmore.com/event/charm-harm-10-emotional-abuse-tactics-are-difficult-recognize-and-what-do-about-it. Atlanta psychotherapist Bear presents a guide to emotional abuse.
Joe Samuel Starnes: "Research: A Writer's Best Friend and a Writer's Worst Enemy — Using Research in Your Fiction." 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14. Workshop. Free. Gwinnett County Public Library, 361 Main St., Suwanee. 770-978-5154, gwinnettpl.org/event/writers-workshop-sam-starnes. Starnes ("Fall Line") will focus on ways research can give short stories and novels a sense of verisimilitude.
Jenny Milchman, "Ruin Falls," and Cynthia Lott, "The Feathers." 1 p.m. Aug. 16. Book launch, discussion, signing. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events. In Milchman's novel, a family vacation turns desperate when the two children disappear, followed by the husband. Lott's debut novel is a thriller suffused with the supernatural and steeped in New Orleans history.
Portia Tewogbade, "During a Dry Season." 2 p.m. Aug. 16. Talk, signing. Free. Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, 3665 Cascade Road, Atlanta. 404-699-6363, socialweb.net/Clients/AFPL/southwest.lasso?id=170959. Atlantan Tewogbade will discuss her debut novel, which weaves the sights and sounds of urban Nigeria into the story of a poor Brooklyn girl's adjustment to her wealthy husband's country.
