Author of "The Help" to speak at Signatures Author Series

Members of the Signatures Author Series Steering Committee.

Kathryn Stockett, author of "The Help," will headline the Signatures Author Series luncheon on Friday, Nov. 9.

Stockett's first novel "The Help," initially rejected by 60 literary agents, has since gone on to sell more than 10 million copies, earning a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than 100 weeks. Recently adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film, the novel follows the lives of African-American maids in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Stocett's follow-up will also be based in Mississippi, set in the Roaring 20s.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing Ms. Stockett to our community as well as her longtime friend, Mr. Taylor," said Kim Lindsey, Chairperson of the Signatures Author Series Steering Committee, in a press release. "We encourage everyone to reserve a seat early to join us for this year's wonderful lineup as we celebrate a love of reading."

The Executive Committee of The John Cooper School's Signatures Author Series has organized a diverse lineup of writers for this year's events. Visiting authors include fiction writers Jay Brandon and Joe Labatt, nonfiction author Debbie Browne, contemporary fiction's Terrie Cambridge, baking writer Bridget Edwards, photography and poetry writers Brenda Gottlieb and Kathryn Lane, romantic women's fiction author Sharla Lovelace, romance writer Richard Martin, Sr., cooking writer Hugo Ortega, literary fiction's Stephanie Saye and young adult fiction writer Belle Whittington.

The Signatures Author Series luncheon event will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, 1601 Lake Robbins Drive.

For registration and more information, visit johncooper.ejoinme.org/MyPages/SignaturesUnderwriting/tabid/32296/Default.aspx.