Sixty -- count 'em -- 60 local authors of crime, thriller and mystery books will be available for schmoozing and autographing on Saturday at the Once Upon A Crime bookstore's annual “Write of Spring.”

They'll be available in one-hour shifts, between noon and 4 p.m., at the homey walk-down independent book store in south Minneapolis.

With 15 authors available at a time, visitors can have interesting conversations with writers they've read, or with writers they might want to read. You can talk with them about their books, or about writing, or about the weather.

Among the well-known names (at least to me): Gary Brookins, Laura Childs, William Kent Krueger, Chuck Logan, Larry Millet, David Housewright. Steve Thayer, R.D. Zimmerman (aka Robert Alexander -- both his names are listed on the manifest), Judith Borger. And there's Julie Kramer: my wife, the author of "Stalking Susan."

And I'm betting the others are well-known to avid readers, as well.

This is the seventh year that Once Upon A Crime has sponsored the event, and it draws an appreciative crowd each year.

The store is at 604 W. 26th St. in Minneapolis, one block east of Lyndale Avenue.