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Thoughts on books, publicity, and the media from our Cave Henricks staff.

Preview: January events at Book People

Today, I’ve got author events on the mind.

I’m in the midst of pitching local media for our awesome client Randy Fertel, who hits up Miami, Atlanta, and our very own Austin next month. Austin has been especially fun – even though we’re based here, I’ve never actually had an Austin client or bookstore event. So it’s been fun talking to my hometown media favorites for the first time.

When Randy comes to the ATX on February 7, he’ll sign at BookPeople – the mecca for all book-loving Austinites. We’re lucky to live in a town that treasures its local business economy (Keep Austin Weird!), and BookPeople is one of our crowning jewels. I took a quick break to see who else BookPeople has on deck for the spring. They had a star-studded lineup in 2011—including Jonathan Franzen, Colm Toibin, Chuck Klosterman, and Jeffrey Eugenides—and I was hoping 2012 would be just as killer.

To my delight, the events folks didn’t disappoint! 2012 is chock-full of literary goodness, from big names to first-time authors, international writers to hometown heroes. Here’s a preview of the first month of events going on my calendar:

Luis Alberto Urrea, “Queen of America” – January 19. Alberto is the bestselling author of “The Hummingbird’s Daughter.” Here, he presents the sequel, “an epic novel of love, loss and miracles in America.”  

Elizabeth Engelhardt, Mess of Greens – January 20. Engelhardt is a professor at the University of Texas, and her previous book, “Republic of Barbecue,” has been on my reading list for some time. This is a panel event curated by edible Austin, featuring Carol Ann Sayle from Boggy Creek Farm, Stephanie McClenny of confituras, and Lara Nixon of Bad Dog Bar Craft. Special tastings inspired by the book along with craft beer from local Saint Arnold Brewing Company 

Ben Marcus, “Flame Alphabet” – January 24. This is actually the first event in a new series of readings curated by Austin-based American Short Fiction. According to Kimberley Jones at the Chronicle, Marcus’ new release is one of the most anticipated novels of the year.

Bernardo Fernandez & Pepe Rojo, “Three Messages & A Warning” – January 26.  BookPeople describes this as “a huge anthology of more than thirty all-original Mexican science fiction and fantasy features ghost stories, supernatural folktales, alien incursions, and apocalyptic narratives, as well as science-based chronicles of highly unusual mental states in which the borders of fantasy and reality reach unprecedented levels of ambiguity.” My dark horse pick for the month, hands down.

Daniel Handler & Maira Kalman, “Why We Broke Up” – January 28. YA novel by Lemony Snicket  + The Principles of Uncertainty? Don’t mind if I do.

That’s just the tip of the 2012 iceberg, folks – I’ll be back with more event picks as the year rolls along.

What author events are you looking forward to this year?