Two authors will be signing books and even giving away a bag of books this weekend.

Authors Dr. MJ Wixsom, DVM, a veterinarian and owner of the Guardian Animal Clinic and Cat Shaffer, will be at Consigned Books in downtown Ironton on Saturday from 2-4 p.m.

“We are doing a gift bag of books signed by our local authors,” said Wixsom. “It’s a chance to meet authors from the area, talk to them and pick up some of their books.”

Fat Cat Books and the KYOVA writers sponsor the giveaway as a way to introduce readers to local authors.

“Many of them are from the greater Ashland-Ironton-Portsmouth area,” Wixsom said. “More authors have signed the bag than we have books in the bag because they didn’t have books available in time. So these are all local authors, these are all local books. There are probably $100 worth of books in there.”

She said there is no charge to enter the contest to win the books; people “just need to stop by and say ‘Hello’.”

She added they would raffle off a bag of books. There are six books signed by the author and the bag itself is autographed by the KYOVA Writers group.

Among the books are “It’s Not Just Puppies and Kitties-Behind the Scenes with a Small Animal Vet” by Wixsom, “Dixie White and the Seven Dates” by Shaffer, “The Deacon’s Wife” by Gwendolyn Mason, “Challenging the Doctor Sheikh” by Amalie Berlin, “Jump the Line” by Mary McFarland and “Rain No Evil” by Michelle Savannah Zirkle Marcum.

The bag also includes “Fresh Currents,” a pirate-themed anthology written by several members of the KYOVA Writers including Shaffer, John Wright, Helen Hunt, Fonda Warnock, Angela Lewis, Mary Hendricks Shortridge, Tracey Clark, Adam Martinez and Matt Wixsom.

Wixsom and Shaffer will also be giving a bag of Valentine-themed goodies.

“So if you don’t win the bag of books, you might win the second prize,” Wixsom said.

Wixsom and Shaffer were invited to be part of Consigned Books “Meet Local Author” series of events.

They will be promoting their latest books including Wixsom’s “My Life’s Not Just Puppies and Kitties” series and a color book called “Pawsitivity. Shaffer will be promoting “Bittersweet,” a historical romantic suspense novel.

“We like to get out there and we like to meet readers,” Wixsom said. “It is not so much to sell books, it’s just that we like to meet people and let them know there is an active writing community here and the quality of the works is good as you will get anywhere else.”

The KYOVA Writers will have their Dogwood Writing Conference on April 11 in Russell, Ky. Information about it will also be available at the signing.