Author

CHICAGO – As summer winds down, there are still many beach reading opportunities, and you won’t find a more tense thriller than “No Place to Die,” the debut novel of Roger Kelly Smith. The setting is a near-future colony on the moon, with a geo-political struggle between the U.S. and China that has implications for Mother Earth.

CHICAGO – When a smart and ambitious California girl moves from her “one horse town” to early 1970s Los Angeles, what better way to break into the show business than being an NBC-TV Studio Page for “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and other programs of the era. Author Shelley Herman tells “My Peacock Tale.”

CHICAGO – The Devil is in the Details. The old adage, which primarily describes accounting, is the basis for author Lorraine Evanoff’s third novel in her Louise Moscow Spy Thriller series, “Devil’s Ledger.” This time, her intrepid financial sleuth Louise Moscow investigates the failure of the world’s oldest bank … a mystery that may also contain the key to a hidden treasure.

CHICAGO – At the point HollywoodChicago.com last talked to author Lorraine Evanoff, it was during the summer reading season, during the time her latest novel “Pinot Noir” – the second novel featuring financial sleuth Louise Moscow – was winning awards and appearing on best seller lists.

CHICAGO – It’s no mystery that author Lorraine Evanoff – who just released her second “Louise Moscow Novel,” entitled “Pinot Noir” – loves the genre of intrigue, for her life has mirrored the adventures of her fictional super spy character. Where Louise Moscow begins is where Lorraine Evanoff has been.

CHICAGO – The maturation of Keira Knightley… from ‘Bend it Like Beckham” to “Pride and Prejudice” to the current “Colette,” has had the actor delivering an evolving depth and purpose to her roles. The latest is a fantastic overview of an ahead-of-her-time French novelist, as the rest of society tried to catch up.

CHICAGO – It’s easy to recognize the author, producer and actor B.J. Novak from his many years on the TV series “The Office.” His latest project is his children’s title, “The Book with No Pictures,” and he came to Chicago last fall, for an appearance sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop (Naperville, Ill.) at North Central College.

CHICAGO – Don’t you hate it when you figure out where a film is going long before it gets there? That could be a problem with “Third Person,” but writer/director Paul Haggis (“Crash”) also adds enough secrets to chew on and enough multiple pathways to explore. Enter at your own risk.

CHICAGO – Not many Oscar winning screeenwriters change the course of their professional lives because of a dream (story below), but Paul Haggis is an exceptionally brilliant writer whose credits include “Crash” (2005) and “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) – which both won Best Picture – and his new film, “Third Person.”

CHICAGO – “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and main character Greg Heffley, is familiar to a generation of kid book lovers through the line drawings of creator Jeff Kinney. The film version has child actor Zachary Gordon bringing Greg to life.