Inklings' Books & Coffee will stay open late Tuesday, Dec. 5th for the Mayor's Christmas Tree Lighting event in Downtown Blue Springs. We hope to see you! Stop in and try our Cranberry-Caramel Swirl or any of our delicious hot beverages.

What started as an idea with three authors to get together for a holiday book signing, has grown to at least seven authors. What a slendid idea and fabulous event. Everyone has a history lover on their holiday shopping list. This is the perfect opportunity to get the perfect gift. Or better yet - bring your history lover to the event!! We'll be posting links to the authors' blogs, websites, books until the event. And, throughout December at Inklings' Books & Coffee Shoppe, spend $25 and get a $25 books certificate. (some restrictions apply) Wine Tasting. And, of course, fabulous treats from our Coffee Shoppe.

Inklings' Books & Coffee Shoppe is hosting a Local History Holiday Expo and Stories of Western Missouri in the 19th Century. Holiday Reception & Wine Tasting Holiday Gift Shopping for the Local History Lover on your list. Spend $25 Get $25 Books Certificate. Special Guest Presenter: Ralph Monaco, historian, author, and reenactor. Guest authors: Aaron Barnhart Diane Eickhoff David W. Jackson Dan Kelly Darryl Levings Cheryl McCann Connie Shrout Roman Ralph Monaco Books: The Strange Story of Col. Swope and Dr. Hyde Son of a Bandit: Jesse James & The Leeds Gang Blood on the Street: The Civil War Comes to Jackson County, Missouri, August 1862 Scattered to the Four Winds: General Order No. 11 Books by Diane Eickhoff and Aaron Barnhart: Revolutionary Heart: The Life of Clarina Nichols and the Pioneering Crusade for Women's Rights The Big Divide Travel Guide: Historic and Civil War Sites in the Missouri-Kansas Border Region David W. Jackson books: Lock Down: Outlaws, Lawmen & Frontier Justice in Jackson County, Missouri Born a Slave: Rediscovering Arthur Jackson's African American Heritage We Were Hanging by a Thread: Kansas City Garment District Pieces the Past Together, with Ann Brownfield Changing Times: Almanac and Digest of Kansas City's Gay and Lesbian History Kansas City Chronicles: An Up-To-Date History Lost Souls of the Lost Township:Untold Life Stories of the People Buried in the Davis-Smith Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri Direct Your Letters to San Jose: The California Gold Rush Letters and DIary of James and David Lee Campbell, 1849-1852 Recipes of our Past: Morsels from our Grandmothers' Recipe Boxes Dan Kelly book: "Soaring with Vultures" In post-Civil War Missouri, killing was the way of life. Darryl Levings book: Saddle the Pale Horse: A Novel of the Invasion of Missouri, 1864 Cheryl McCann book: Stirring Up History: The Meals, Memoirs, and Memories of Our Ladies of Clay County Connie Shrout Roman book: A Better Life (The Long Way Home), A family's 7,000 mile journey to settle in Eastern Jackson County in the 1840s.

Join us tomorrow for Small Business Saturday! Spend $25/ Get $25 Books Certificate. Check out our holiday flavored Gelato. Grab a bag of delicious House or Scots Grog Coffee - (perfect gift, btw), and find a store full of magic and wonderful books.

Inkling's is Thankful for all of our wonderful friends and customers. We want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and time to count your blessings. We will be closed Thanksgiving Day, to spend time with family and friends. We want to invite you to visit this Friday and Saturday as we kick off our annual Spend $25/Get $25 Sale.

Join us tonight for Downtown Blue Springs' Holiday Open House and Inklngs' Third Thursday Open Mic! Yep. We're open late. And we have delicious holiday drinks and gelato!!!

Join us at Inklings' Books & Coffee Shoppe for Downtown Blue Springs' annual Holiday Open House. You'll find carriage rides, shops open late, food, music, artisans, and more. Inklings' is celebrating Native American Heritage Month in November. Our special guest for our 3rd Thursday Open Mic is Ronald McMillian ...THE SONG OF ONE MAN. HAGOADO “The Turtle” Teller of Stories, Author, Flute Maker and Artist. Born in the spring of 1947, Ronald A. McMillian’s family moved frequently leaving him little time to make lifelong friends. Books about Indians and natural history became his companions. Learning as much as he could about the Plains Indians somehow made his heart fulfilled. Spending his summer days and sometimes nights wondering the woods and imagining how it would have been to live in those earlier times, started a life long journey that now makes his written stories come to life. 40 years ago, Ron met and married his beautiful dark haired wife, Barb. It was with her that he attended a Cherokee Pow-Wow. Barb’s cousin was the head woman dancer at that gathering. It was there that he began to understand the drumbeat hidden in his heart. He started collecting and retelling the stories of the Plains Indians and became Hagaoda, “the turtle,” teller of stories. Art and music are also an important part of Ron’s life. Following the customs and traditions of the old ones, Ron makes nearly all of his Native American clothing, jewelry, art and artifacts. He hand carves his flutes according to tradition, with each one having their own voice and design. Among his artifacts is a traditional lodge (tipi), which his wife refers to as the “spare bedroom.” Most of the time, you can find his lodge set up at his home. Ron tries to spend as much time, as his writing and wife will allow, living in it. When his children came along, he used them to refine his storytelling skills; the story of the flute is one of his family’s favorite stories. Ron’s children and grandchildren are responsible for him finally putting these stories down on paper so that they are not lost. With the help of his only life-long friend and with the encouragement of his wife, his books are now a reality with more to follow.