The public is invited to come meet Kansas author Gage Sears next Saturday, Jan. 13, first at Great Bend Coffee and later at the Great Bend Public Library. Sears will introduce himself and his debut novel, “The Watcher.”

Sears plans to be at Great Bend Coffee from 10 a.m. to noon, talking about and signing copies of “The Watcher,” a horror story set in a small, fictional Kansas town called Mulberry. He’ll also be at the library from 2-4 p.m.

“These are all free events, no tickets or anything like that,” Sears posted on his Facebook page. “Just come on in and say hi, and pick up a signed copy of my book! I will also be donating a copy to the library for patrons to read at a later time as well, so if you don’t want to purchase one, that’s fine. You can check it out later if you would like!”

Great Bend Public Library Outreach Manager Hannah Grippin adds that Sears will have copies of his book in hardback and paperback for sale and signing. “Free bookmarks will be provided by the author as well!”

Sears doesn’t reveal his hometown on Facebook, where his residency is simply listed as “Kansas.” “The Watcher” was released by Page Publishing this summer. He chose to visit Great Bend during his book tour because his mother was born here.

“So was my grandma, and I think great grandma,” he wrote. “I have a significant amount of family that lives in the area that I hope to see at one of these events, so in short, I’m following my roots.”

While “The Watcher” is his first published novel, he finished his first unpublished novel at age 15 and says he has been writing and telling stories since he was about 5 years old. His writing influences in the horror genre are Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and D.J MacHale.

The fictional town of Mulberry is similar to the town Sears grew up in, he said. “I take the safety and security of a small town and reveal the flaws that an obsessed stalker can exploit on two unsuspecting teens.”