Kids Show Kids How to Make Balloon Animals by Emily and Elizabeth Chauffe

When faced with books full of long instructions and line drawings that were often hard to follow, Emily and Elizabeth set out to make the ultimate balloon animal twist book -- for kids, by kids. They left out the complicated designs and twists that required big hands, keeping only the projects that were fun and simple to learn. The book starts with seven-year-old Elizabeth's easiest balloon twists and works up to ten-year-old Emily's more advanced three-balloon creations.

Sisters Emily and Elizabeth Chauffe live in Austin, Texas, where they regularly attend camps and classes on magic, puppetry, the art of illusion, and balloon twisting. Learn more about them on their blog.

The Pecan Tree: A True Friend by Barbara Langham

The Pecan Tree: A True Friend, a nonfiction children's book, tells how a former governor's dying wish led to naming the pecan the State Tree. The 35-page book also explains how pecans furnished food for early Texans and shows in full-color photos how pecans are grown and harvested.

Author Barbara A. Langham, an Austin communications consultant, promotes the annual Explore UT open house at The University of Texas and edits a training journal for preschool teachers. She has written about women's health for Texas Monthly, edited curriculum for SafePlace and other groups, and written newsletters on static control for 3M.

Reunion on the Rainbow Bridge by Sherri Defesche

Sherri Defesche of Austin, Texas is the author of Reunion on the Rainbow Bridge: My Parents' Past Lives and the One They Shared With Me (North Atlantic Books/August 2009). The non-fiction narrative chronicles the extraordinary love story of Defesche's parents following the car accident that left her mother permanently paralyzed at the age of seventeen. It explains what life was like with a handicapped parent then transitions into a personal account of religious questioning after her parents' deaths and concludes with answers Defesche found in her quest to understand life, death, and afterlife possibilities.

Evacuation Plan by Joe O'Connell

Evacuation Plan by Joe O'Connell was a 2008 Violet Crown Book Award finalist and winner of the 2009 North Texas Book Award. It follows a screenwriter who goes into a residential hospice in search of a plot for his next screenplay. In the end, he learns the story he seeks is his own. O'Connell teaches creative writing to graduate students at St. Edward's University and undergrads at Austin Community College. He is also a film columnist for the DallasMorning News.

The Dark Side of the Cross by James Parker

Jim Parker's book, The Dark Side of the Cross, details a successful string of thefts of ancient artifacts from Catholic churches on the east coast that have left police baffled. Offered back for a considerable ransom, James MacBridan and the Hawthorne Group are called in to handle the exchange.

The thief and MacBridan meet, but something else has been waiting. The simple exchange ends violently, leaving MacBridan unconscious and the thief brutally murdered. MacBridan sets off on a grim quest to recover the missing artifacts.

The body count and the terror continue to rise the closer he gets, all in a place where no one is who they appear to be.

Insatiate Archer by Hunter Taylor

In the mists of time the line between superstition and reality was blurred. Susanna, descendant of Nimue and Merlin, is a priestess of the Old Religion, marked a witch by differently colored eyes. She has lived secluded, training to take her place as wizard-adviser to the King. Susanna struggles to protect the last holy vestige of her ancient faith, and avoid the man sworn to destroy all witches. Calling on a military background, Hunter Taylor seamlessly joins 14th-century fact, myth and magic to create a gripping tale of medieval folklore and witchcraft.

Not a tale for the faint-hearted.

Deprivation Trauma, A Transpersonal Approach to Healing by Zalora Price

Through a case study of a young and developing child, Deprivation Trauma, A Transpersonal Approach to Healing chronicles the development of Transpersonal Psychology and how Transpersonal Psychology can be used in healing.

The book explores levels of consciousness and how that consciousness can be used to reach full human potential. The book encourages becoming more aware by looking at self-talk, emotional responses and choices in life. In doing so, a life can be defined, health improved, and personal power strengthened.

Agama Advertising will be at the booth, with handouts, to discuss websites and web services, video clips, business cards, book markers, brochures, and other marketing to

Debuting at the Texas Book Festival is her picture book, Dance Y'all, Dance (Bright Sky Press). Written in a rollicking two-step rhythm, Dance, Y'all, Dance tells the story of one perfect night at the dance hall when the whole community drops their cares and comes together for some foot-tappin' action.

Minitrends by Dr. John Vanston

Minitrends are emerging trends that promise to become significantly important within the next three to five years, but which are not recognized or appreciated by the general public or most businesses. Like precious gems, Minitrends can be extremely valuable to those alert enough to recognize them, perceptive enough to appreciate their potential worth, and clever enough to reap their full potential.

This book presents practical, proven techniques for discovering, analyzing, and exploiting attractive Minitrends, together with examples of successful applications of these techniques.

Dr. John Vanston, Chairman of Technology Futures, Inc., has more than three decades' experience in trend analysis and exploitation. In this book he utilizes this experience to instruct readers on how to employ Minitrends to materially improve their business situations, enhance their financial standings, and increase their personal satisfaction.

Doctor Diablo by H.G. Martin

Doctor Diablo is an original telling of the superhero story from the point of view of the bad guy, a master criminal named Doctor Diablo. Diablo is the city's most successful villain. He has a beautiful girlfriend and a seven-figure income. All's well until Diablo gets on the wrong side of a super-powerful, seriously insane crime lord called the Crusher. Now it's fight or die. Doctor Diablo has been called "one of the best books I've read this year, and one of the best comic-book-super-hero books I've ever read" by Editor Peter Latrobe Heyrman.

H. G. Martin is the author of three novels, including the science-fiction/adventure The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion, just released from Mundania Press. Martin lives in Georgetown, TX.

The Race for a New Game Machine by David Shippy and Mickie Phipps

David Shippy and Mickie Phipps co-authored The Race for a New Game Machine - Creating the Chips Inside the Xbox 360 & the PlayStation 3, (Citadel Press, Jan09, ISBN 9780806531014). Their book, a chip designer's memoir, tells the true story of the making of the microprocessor chips, the brains for those high profile game consoles. The combination of a brutal schedule, top-secret assignments, passionate workers, domineering leaders, and competing clients created a pressure-cooker work environment. Their story of survival in the workplace and beating the odds is primarily about those brilliant, interesting engineers living in the high-tech world of chip design.