Utah author events

BRIGHAM CITY — A Utah author will speak in Brigham City about the research tricks he has learned from researching the West.

Michael Zimmer, who has published eight novels, will speak 7 p.m. March 20 at Brigham City Library, 26 E. Forest St.

Zimmer will cover a wide range of topics, such as starting a fire with flint and steel and common misconceptions about Old West firearms, with an emphasis on avoiding familiar movie stereotypes.

The author will sign books immediately after the event.

For more information, call the library at 435-723-5850.

* Utah author Dan Wells reads from his newest novel "Partials" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Weller Book Works, 665 E. 600 South, Trolley Square, Salt Lake City. This is a free event.

* "Let's Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War" continues at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Pleasant Valley library, 5568 Adams Ave., Washington Terrace. Weber State University history professors Branden Little and Richard Sadler will lead the discussion. This is a free event. Call 801-337-2690 for information.

* It is difficult to disconnect in today's world with smartphones, tablets, e-readers and laptops demanding our attention. William Powers, author of the New York Times bestseller "Hamlet's Blackberry," will offer the audience advice on how to balance their digital lives during a presentation this week at Weber State University.

* Weber State University English professor Victoria Ramirez leads a free creative writing discussion based on Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the basement of the Brigham City Library, 26 E. Forest St., Brigham City.

Utah author Robin Crawford Robbins will sign and discuss copies of his book "A Foxhole Closer To Home: WWII Letters Home Love, Bob" (Authorhouse, $19.99) 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Hastings, 340 E. 525 North, Harrisville. This is a free event.

* The Brigham City Library concludes its reading series, Final Salute: America In A Time Of War, at 7 p.m. Thursday with a discussion of "Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia" by Ahmed Rashid. Rashid is a Pakistani journalist, who in 2000, warned about the problem of Islamic extremism and the Taliban. Sympathetic to the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, he is highly critical of American-led strategy since and of the role in events of Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf. Caron Frost with the University of Utah will lead the free discussion at the library, 26 E. Forest St., Brigham City. Call 435-723-5850 for more information.

OGDEN -- America's pioneers are often painted as daring men and women who yearned to see new lands. In reality, many of them yearned for their old homes.