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The Jacksonville Public Library Foundation has launched an online poll giving literary enthusiasts the opportunity to choose the writer appearing at the Breakfast with an Author on Feb. 27, 2010, during Much Ado About Books.  The three authors that could be chosen for the intimate breakfast are Chris Bohjalian, Tori Murden McClure and Katherine Hall Page.

“By leaving the choice of the breakfast author up to the fans, we are giving them an opportunity to be involved in the programming for this year’s Much Ado About Books,” said Maggie Hightower, executive director of the Jacksonville Public Library Foundation.  “The Breakfast with an Author is a smaller, more private event giving fans a chance for close interaction with their favorite author and we’re excited to let them decide who will participate.”

The contest’s authors include:

• Chris Bohjalian – A past New England Book Award Winner, Bohjalian is the author of 11 novels, including The New York Times bestsellers, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before You Know Kindness, The Law of Similars and Midwives.  His next book, Secrets of Eden, will be published on Feb. 2, 2010, in time for the 2010 Much Ado About Books.
• Tori Murden McClure – McClure is best known as the first woman and American to row solo and unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean and to travel over land to the geographic South Pole. She has completed major climbs on several continents.  McClure’s memoir A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean recounts her adventures as she finds that what she is looking for lies not in a superhuman show of strength, but rather in embracing what it means to be human.
• Katherine Hall Page – Mystery novelist Page is the author of 17 Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the 1991 Agatha Award for “Best First Mystery Novel” and the 15th, The Body in the Snowdrift, which won the 2006 Agatha Award for “Best Mystery Novel.” In addition, The Body in the Lighthouse was one of three nominees for The Mary Higgins Clark Award. The most recent in the series, The Body in the Sleigh, was published in November 2009.

The online poll can be found at www.MuchAdoAboutBooks.com and voting ends on Jan. 15, 2010.  The private breakfast is open to 10 guests and will take place at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel.  Tickets are $100 in advance.

The Jacksonville Public Library Foundation’s annual book festival, Much Ado About Books will be held Feb. 26-27, 2010, and events include a writer’s workshop, breakfast with an author, panel discussions, Children’s Chapter and keynote luncheon.  To purchase tickets or get more information about the schedule of events and guest authors, visit the event Web site, www.muchadoaboutbooks.com.  Follow the event updates on Facebook and Twitter by visiting http://bit.ly/JaxBooks or www.twitter.com/jaxbooks.