Most writers compete with each other to get noticed by publishing companies. Publishing companies, however, are competing for works by local author and historian Ran Shaffner.

Broad Channel residents stood in line at a local watering hole Sunday to pick up a copy of a book penned by a local couple about the neighborhood's history.

If you live in Asheville (especially if you’ve been here long enough to explore the town, get to know its arts scene and participate in a gallery crawl of two), you probably know about the River Arts District — the slice of real estate trianglated by the Grey Eagle, the railroad tracks and the abandoned warehouses that separate downtown from the French Broad River.

Have you ever talked with a person who knows a subject so well they bring it to life for you?

The new book, Highlands is now available at Cyrano’s Bookshop and online. Written by the area’s own scholar and historian, Dr. Randolph Preston Shaffner, the book is a visual journey through Highlands’ area history. He will be signing copies of Highlands from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2

National Park historian and author Mike Vouri discusses his latest book, “The Pig War,” Saturday at 7 p.m. in the San Juan Island Library.

Eagle County – Shirley Welch’s interest in Eagle County history started with simple curiosity.

TROUT VALLEY – Chicago gangsters controlled the unions in the first half of the 20th century, and for one union-busting tycoon, Leona Farms in southeastern McHenry County was a summertime getaway and fortress.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Since the first Jewish resident emigrated to Baltimore in the mid-1700s, the Jewish community has grown to almost 100,000. A once-insular East Baltimore group has grown to a community that spans all areas and facets of the Greater Baltimore area.

When Cynthia Adcock purchased a historic postcard of Piseco Lake for 25-cents in 1993, she had no idea it would lead to a published book.

When a community has been in existence for more than a century, you can expect anyone looking at its history will find a rich treasure.

Rick Thomas' "The Arroyo Seco" (Arcadia Publishing, $20) is filled with lots of fun photos. Like the other books in the Images of America Series, this work charts the history of its title place, showing how it has changed over the years, as well as the efforts made to restore it to its natural state. You'll also view interesting vehicles, baseball scenes and more. Thomas lives less than a mile from the Arroyo Seco and is a speaker on regional history.

POCOMOKE CITY -- When Norma Miles was growing up in Pocomoke City, she thought everyone ate canned tomatoes.

The Warner sisters spent their lives within a few rowboat strokes of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Putting together the book Lake Forest Day: 100 Years of Celebration was "a blast," according to Janice Hack, executive director of the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society.

Toni and Lawrence Faria often spoke about writing a history of the town’s fire department, which initially launched as a volunteer venture consisting of farmers and businessmen.

FROM THE 1920s to the 1950s, open ranch land spread throughout the Oakland hills, creating an equestrian Eden.

LOCK HAVEN - Local author David Ira Kagan will be on hand at two local book stores to sign his first book, "Images of America: Pine Creek Villages," which will be available Monday.

The importance of air transportation to and from Catalina is captured in the new pictorial history title, Catalina By Air. The book chronicles 90 years of aviation history and boasts more than 200 vintage images. Local author, Jeannine L. Pedersen, releases new book in conjunction with The Catalina Island Museum.

Uncover Bayside's historical origins with a new book from the "Images of America" series.

BELOIT— For almost three decades, Beloit’s Club Pop House was the place to be. The high school hangout featured live music, jukebox dances and its own social scene.

William ‘Billy’ Poe walks down the lane to find his inspiration from the people at home in Calvert County. An author, photographer and budding filmmaker, Poe’s mission is to get these stories told before the storytellers disappear.

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair: Creation and Legacy by Bill Cotter and Bill Young, among the latest offerings in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, cannot really be said to cover any new ground, at least not for anyone who has read Lawrence R. Samuel's The End of the Innocence: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair (Syracuse University Press, 2007, reviewed in the Gazette, Oct. 10, 2007).

The hobby started innocently enough. Jim Benson would see an interesting postcard, and pick it up.

Any Detroiter with a nostalgic bent will enjoy Vernor's Ginger Ale by Keith Wunderlich (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99).

EDWARDS, Colo. — Shirley Welch’s interest in Eagle County history started with simple curiosity.

WESTPORT — Aged photos capture long-gone places from Westport's history: a summer inn near Horseneck Beach destroyed in the 1938 hurricane; a jazz band inside the Hi-Way Casino, a one-time popular nightclub; and a boathouse torn down to make way for Interstate 195.

I am fascinated by the federal penitentiary, I confess to Ken LaMaster, historian of the big house in Leavenworth.

HOT SPRINGS – Just in time for Fall River County and Hot Springs’ 125th anniversary, a new book chock full of photos from the area’s past has just been released, with a familiar name in the space reserved for the author.

Broad Channel may only be a mile long and four blocks wide, but this "city-by-the-bay" has a history nearly as expansive as its more populous neighbors across the water.

Boynton Beach — Janet DeVries, archivist for the Boynton Beach City Library and the Schoolhouse Children's Museum, is about to release another book, "Sport Fishing in Palm Beach County."

Thousands of photographs adorn the walls of Jimmy Ruiz's Tolleson home, and his collection goes beyond the typical family portraits. From war veterans and students to old buildings and festivals, he tells the tale of Tolleson's history on a daily basis.

GLADWIN - They called one lumbering town here "Hard Luck." The county's first permanent white settler, trapper/trader Marvil Secord, lived to a ruddy 84, then died from a self-inflicted tomahawk wound in 1886.

RYE - When Kathryn Burke sifted through the Westchester County Archives a few years ago, the Eastchester woman came across a collection on Playland.

Brady Street has had many sons in its history, but few have picked up the pen in tribute like Frank J. Alioto.

JERSEY SHORE - Wayne O. Welshans, author of "Images of America: Nippenose Valley," said his book of more than 200 photographs detailing the valley's past is not a complete history. "I don't even know if the word 'history' is a good one. It's more a photographic snapshot of the past," he said.

Ray Osborne, one of our local authors/historians, has created a delightful addition to the excellent "Images of America" series by Arcadia Publishing. Although these books with the sepia-toned covers are basically photographs with lengthy captions, they are captivating.

With Midtown mainstays such as Baton Bob, Bubba D. Licious, Charlie Brown and Lily White, in all their glammed-up drag glory, and the annual celebration of Atlanta Gay Pride, it’s a wonder Atlanta was ever in the closet. But it was—far, far in.

Ultralight backpacks and moisture-wicking clothing didn't exist. GPS couldn't guide their way.

From the first race through the streets in 1948 to today's NASCAR battles, Watkins Glen has captured the imagination of American road racing enthusiasts.

Dunkirk celebrates its rich history in a new pictorial history book from local author Diane Andrasik and Arcadia Publishing. "Dunkirk" is a historical collection of more than 200 vintage photographs.

ST. JOHNS - Settled in 1982 by Spanish pioneers from New Mexico, the town of St. Johns began as a farming and sheep-raising community far removed from the county seat and territorial capital of Prescott. St. Johns, the latest in Arcadia Publishing's series "Images of America," tells the story of the area after the Mormon Church purchased 1,200 acres for Mormon colonizers to settle.

Information Executive Bill Cotter grew up in New York City and spent the summer of 1964 at the World’s Fair. Forced to entertain himself on a limited budget, he went on the rides that didn’t cost extra. He explored the pavilions, where conversations with an international crowd would be free of charge.

Even before her book’s official release, Lauren R. Silberman realizes she’s going to get slammed. You don’t need a crystal ball to know that when you author a book featuring images of Baltimore’s Jewish community and its history, someone is going to come up and say (most likely in a loud tone), “How could you have forgotten such-and such or so-and-so?”

Broad Channel now has a new claim to fame, thanks to a new Images of America: Broad Channel book that highlights the rich history of that community.

In Lesbian and Gay Richmond, by Beth Marschak and Alex Lorch, the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Richmond, Virginia, invokes a rich but uncelebrated past.

A new book highlights the good ol' days of Vista. Lois Cavalier, a former editor of the Vista Press and a board member of the Vista Historical Society, spent the last year rummaging through boxes for her paperback pictorial titled, simply, "Vista."

Although Paxton is largely a bedroom community today, during its 250-year history it has been home to a boot factory, several inns and its own Navy Yard. It was also a popular stopping place for stagecoaches traveling between Worcester and Barre.

CHEBOYGAN - A new book details Cheboygan's past through more than 200 vintage postcards.

LAKE PLACID — These days, few people live in one place for 55 years. When they do, as Laura Viscome has, all of the experiences, memories and changes they have witnessed in a small town over the years become the fodder for a historical book comparing yesterday to today.

Historic Constitution Island, across the Hudson River from West Point, features one of the first fortifications built to defend our American independence. Long before it became the anchor site where the great chain stretched across the Hudson River, archaeological digs found evidence that Native Americans occupied the land 6,000 years ago.

Coming from a family of farmers that dates back in Carroll County to 1790, Lyndi McNulty considers the farming history of the county as part of her own history.

David E. Longest loves railroads. He loves history even more. He recently put the two together once again to come up with his third book on railroads titled, “The Monon Railroad in Southern Indiana.”

Westport — The town’s history dates back to when farmers first settled there in the 1670s, but until this month, Westport wasn’t among the towns mentioned in more than 5,000 books published by Arcadia Publishing, with its recognizable and uniform covers adorning bookshelves nationwide.

A century ago, foothills and Central Valley residents had no air-conditioning to keep them cool during the 100-plus days of summer. Instead, they packed nearly everything they owned, loaded it onto a horse-drawn wagon, and headed into the mountains to camp amidst cooler temperatures until autumn.

"Images of America: Broad Channel" is of value, not just as a piece of nostalgia for area residents, but as a worthwhile addition to a reference library (private or public) of the history of New York City. Extensively researched by authors Liz Guarino and Dan Guarino, the book draws from the seemingly bottomless resource of the Broad Channel Historical Society, its members and president Barbara Toborg, newspaper clippings, interviews with residents and historians, and archives of various Broad Channel, New York City and national agencies.

VISTA – Lois Vaughan Cavalier arrived in Vista in 1967, when she and her husband decided that Valley Center was too far for him to commute to Oceanside.

Richenda Fairhurst wonders if Clark County residents understand the role Fisher’s Landing played in the development of Southwest Washington.

MARSHALL — It is the story of the house that Harold built, and the one that Abner built, and that Isaac built. It is the story of the city of Marshall.

Jack Coll has published four photo anthologies related to Conshohocken, Norristown and Bridgeport. This Saturday, he'll autograph copies of his (and co-author Maureen McQuaid's) new 127-page pictorial history of the annual Our Lady of Mount Carmel Italian Feast during the Bridgeport church's July 11-13 Grande Festa.

“Don’t forget to take a kid to a ball game, it may be the best thing you ever did for yourself.”

"Albany Revisited," a book about the state capital recently published by historian and Troy native Don Rittner is due in bookstores July 14.

A new book about Cecil County has just arrived in area bookstores, and the volume’s photographic content delivers a must-have keepsake that is informative, educational and, most of all, interesting.

While lighthouses conjure romantic notions of life by the sea, the early keepers of Point Piedras Blancas dealt with isolation, long work days and lots of brutal wind.

After a year and a half of collecting historic pictures, interviewing community residents and writing meticulous captions, Patricia Whitacre finally is seeing her efforts come to fruition.

ALEXANDRIA - When Elizabeth Thatcher Klem was asked to help put together a book about Alexandria, she just opened up her photo albums and scrapbooks and the stories started coming together.

John Waters Jr., the self-effacing editor of The Weekly Calistogan, has a sense of history. Maybe it was because as a little boy, he sat on his grandfather’s front porch and listened to stories of the “cowboy days” in the small Southern Illinois town where he grew up.

Jennifer Jovin isn’t even from Wellesley, but she probably knows more than most Wellesleyites about their town’s history.

Residents of Avondale past and present will delight in a new historical, pictorial book, which was researched and written by Avondale Borough's own Bob Cleveland."Avondale" contains over 100 pages of photos of people, buildings and daily life in the town, including 170 photos not known to have existed and not previously published.

GLADWIN COUNTY - “ Local columnist Rick Sigsby has authored a second book that will be released by Arcadia Publishing on Monday, July 14. The book titled Images of America: Gladwin County is a pictorial history of the mid-Michigan county from its beginnings in the 1840’s to present day.

A new book compiled by Dr. Michael Steiner, associate professor of history, provides local-history enthusiasts with an intimate picture of Nodaway County as it appeared in decades gone by.

Much of a city’s history can be told through it s sculptures, monuments and plaques, erected to commemorate history. This is especially true for Illinois’ capital, Springfield.

If anyone could crack the taste code, it would be Keith Wunderlich, author of Vernor’s Ginger Ale (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99), and an authority on all things Vernor’s, the ginger ale created by James Vernor in his Woodward Avenue pharmacy in Detroit in 1866l Wunderlich also has been a collector for decades of Vernor’s memorabilia, souvenirs that make his Troy basement resemble what he calls “a 1940s soda fountain.”

From the covered bridges and horse drawn buggies to the arrival of the Model T, much of the rich and detailed history of southeastern Pennsylvania is chronicled in this excellent compilation of archival photographs.

As Atlanta celebrates Gay Pride on the July 4 weekend, two local authors are marking the event with the publication of a new book, Gay and Lesbian Atlanta ($19.99, Arcadia Publishing). Atlanta History Center curator Wesley Chenault and former AHC Historical Journal editor Stacy Braukman collaborated on the book after the success of the 2005 AHC exhibit The Unspoken Past: Atlanta Lesbian and Gay History, 1940-1970.