[142] ‘Ya-Yas’ author Rebecca Wells examines craft of writing at Oct. 8 MTSU visit

MURFREESBORO — MTSU will welcome the woman who created an entire universe of “Ya-Yas” with her best-selling series of novels when Rebecca Wells discusses the art of writing on Thursday, Oct. 8, in a free public event.

“Divine Secrets: A Conversation with Rebecca Wells‚” is set for 1-2:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in the second-floor Parliamentary Room of MTSU’s Student Union, located at 1768 MTSU Blvd.

A searchable, printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking2015-16. Off-campus visitors attending the Wells event should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at http://www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

Wells is the author of The New York Times best-seller “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” and its predecessor, “Little Altars Everywhere,” and the third in the series, the prequel “Ya-Yas in Bloom,” as well as a separate work, “The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder.”

Her visit is part of the university’s Tom T. Hall Writers Series.

Wells will be reading from some of her works and, after a question-and-answer session, will be available to sign copies of her books, which will be on sale outside the Student Union Parliamentary Room.

Wells also is set to appear at the 27th annual Southern Festival of Books Friday, Oct. 9, in Room 16 of the Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville. The three-day festival also is free and open to the public.

A Louisiana native and now a resident of the Pacific Northwest, Wells created a worldwide sensation with the 1996 publication of “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” A tale of a tribe of four funny and sometimes outrageous Louisiana women, "Ya-Ya Sisterhood” went on to sell more than 6 million copies and top The New York Times best-seller list for more than a year.

The book also spawned a grassroots movement of “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” clubs that spread across the United States and the world.

The 2002 movie version of the book starred Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Ashley Judd and Maggie Smith. It was directed and produced by former Nashvillian Callie Khouri, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of "Thelma & Louise” and creator and executive producer of ABC’s “Nashville."

The Tom T. Hall Writers Series in the College of Media and Entertainment at MTSU celebrates songwriters, authors, poets and screenwriters and offers students, faculty, staff and the public a chance to learn more about the creative process as well as the business end of success.

Previous Hall Writers Series guests have included country superstar Vince Gill, acclaimed songwriter John Hiatt, bluegrass impresario Ricky Skaggs and renowned folk music scholar Stephen Wade.

This event is part of a yearlong series of events celebrating the launch of the renamed College of Media and Entertainment at MTSU. For more information about the college and its programs, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/media.