One of the Central Coast's favorite authors will be speaking and signing her latest book at the Central Coast Book Festival this September.

The newest book in Mara Purl's Milford-Haven Novels series is CHILD SECRETS, an intriguing journey into the childhood issues that often still govern us in adulthood. Delving into the background of the several main characters in her woven storylines, she reveals experiences that imprinted her characters early in their lives, and shows how those experiences continue to play out in present-time. It's a technique that provides plenty of tension rooted in deep insights.

So far Purl's deft hand at crafting her fictitious town of Milford-Haven have garnered her critical acclaim and several awards. She won both the Silver Benjamin Franklin Award and the USA Book News Finalist Award for WHAT THE HEART KNOWS, Book One. Book Two, CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, won a Gold Evvy Award at the best book of year in Colorado. And CHRISTMAS ANGELS, her short story collection, was named a CIPA Merit Book.

Mara Purl is familiar to TV viewers as "Darla Cook" on " Days Of Our Lives," but even more familiar to residents of the Central Coast as the creator of " Milford-Haven USA" the original radio drama that was a hit in San Luis Obispo before going on to find 4.5 million listeners on BBC radio.

So find out the latest buzz in Milford-Haven and don't miss the chance to meet, hear, and get a signed book from this rising-star author.

Mara Purl speaks at 2:30 pm and will be signing her award-winning novels all day.