Mad City Coffee Hosts Author William Sells and Illustrator Michael Bracco

First-time author William Sells, and award-winning illustrator Michael Bracco, have teamed up to create a riviting children's book called "Leaf", and will appear at Mad City Coffee on Sat., Dec. 15 from 11 to 2 to chat with customers and sign copies.

Leaf is a Tolkien-ish tale written by William Sells, a former newspaper journalist turned freelance marketing writer, and associate producer for Maryland Public Television. A published poet, songwriter, and short-story writer, he lives with his wife and their three daughters amidst the sprawling green parklands of Columbia, Maryland between Washington DC and Baltimore.

Michael S. Bracco is a graphic novel author and illustrator of The Creators, the award-winning Novo series, and Adam Wreck and the Kalosian Space Pirates. Along with his comic work, Michael owns and operates "Spaghetti Kiss", a craft company that features his original science fiction and fantasy illustrations. In addition to being a member of "Super Art Fight," a performance art group, Michael teaches art to middle school students. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, their daughter, and their cats.

"Here we go again, with, 'The trees are disappearing, the trees are disappearing!' Come on, Leaf, no one else believes this fairytale except you and your hero father. Look around us. We don't see anything but trees."

Everyone believes that Leaf and his visionary father have lost their minds when they say that people are cutting down the trees-the primordial, sturdy trees that have sheltered their colony throughout the ages and stood strong against all enemies. Even Leaf 's principal has tried to get him to doubt his father, who has sailed far beyond their tree home and seen the devastation in the mysterious Lands Unknown.

But the humans aren't the leaf colony's only concern, they quickly realize. When their ancient enemies, the ants, attack their tree home with three massive armies (complete with wolf-spiders, leaf-cutting caterpillars, and hornets as air support), the leaf colony must decide who they should believe, who they should follow, and whether they should stay and defend their families, community, and ancient homeland.

Join author William Sells and illustrator Michael Bracco for their joint appearance at Mad City Coffee in Columbia, Maryland, grab an awesome cup of coffee, pick up a copy of "Leaf", and relax with friends during the holiday season. A signed copy of "Leaf" for the 8 to 12 year old on your shopping list will make a perfect gift!