Seth Muller will sign books in Shepherdstown on May at Four Seasons Books

Seth Muller, a former Shepherdstown resident and Jefferson High School graduate, will return to his favorite small town for a reading and signing of his young-reader fantasy series Keepers of the Windclaw Chronicles on Saturday, May 8, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Four Seasons bookstore.

Muller moved to northern Arizona in 2001, where he discovered the inspiration to write a three-book series about a young Navajo girl named Ellie Tsosie. She learns of the gift to talk to birds and is thrust into a wild adventure in search of how to reunite the Human and Animal worlds. The first book of Keepers of the Windclaw Chronicles, The Mockingbird’s Manual, was published in spring 2009 and the second book, The Day of Storms, will be released April 27. The series is published by Salina Bookshelf, an award-winning publisher of multicultural books.

Muller moved to Harpers Ferry in 1987 with his parents Roy and Jeanette and graduated from Jefferson High School in 1992. He attended Shepherd University (then Shepherd College) in 1992 and 1993, and graduated from West Virginia University in 1997. He lived in Shepherdstown from late 1997 through early 2001. He worked for The Journal in Martinsburg during a good part of that time.

“I owe much of my passion and interest in writing to my early years at Shepherd and to my interactions and experiences living in Shepherdstown after college,” Muller noted. “Between classes with professors Joan Latchaw, Linda Tate and Betty Ellzey, open mic readings at the Lost Dog and the Folly on the Sanders’ Farm, collaborations with artists and musicians and interactions with literary folks such as Ed Zahniser and Jim Surkamp, my writing found emergence. Even though this published series is very Southwest and strongly marketed as such, I wanted to have some kind of Shepherdstown event that timed closely with one of the books’ releases.”

The Day of Storms is written by Flagstaff writer Seth Muller and illustrated by artist Bahe Whitethorne Jr. In the second installment, Ellie travels to the Hopi Mesas in search of a girl who can communicate with insects. She hopes to learn more about the nature of her gifts and of her future by meeting a girl who has unearthed similar abilities. The Mockingbird’s Manual is currently available at www.salinabookshelf.com and many other booksellers.