On October 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Blanco Book Bunch reading group will sponsor an Author Day at the Blanco Library. The event is free and open to the public. Bring a brown-bag lunch; beverages and dessert will be provided. Four authors of varying genres will discuss their work and sign books. Last week’s Blanco County News featured Karen Valby, author of Welcome to Utopia. This week’s article features California mystery writer Taffy Cannon.

Now residing in San Diego, Cannon was born in Chicago, attended Duke University in North Carolina, and resided in Texas for a period of time before moving to Southern California, where she has lived for the past 25 years. The San Diego Tribune calls her “one of the most reliable members of the San Diego mystery community.” The mystery she will discuss at Author Day, Blood Matters, explores the world of adoption through the eyes of detective Roxanne Prescott, who investigates the murder of an adoption agency CEO. Prescott returns to police work in the second of the Roxanne Prescott Tour Guide Mysteries, which Publisher’s Weekly calls an “expertly-paced police procedural.”

In real life, Cannon has held a variety of jobs, including carnival barker and what she calls “professional feminist.” She once won the Daily Double on the game show “Jeopardy” in the category “Women Writers.” According to her website, she was recently honored with a President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement Award for giving over 4000 hours of community service to her local library, where she runs a Friends of the Library bookstore.

Plan to attend Author Day October 8 to hear this multifaceted author speak and sign her book, Blood Matters.