For everyone that has seen enough Olympics for a lifetime, or does not even own a TV for that matter, Barnes and Noble will host a local author night this Thursday at 7 p.m.

“Barnes and Noble is thrilled to be able to host a local author night that gives authors a venue to promote their books,” says Susan Soares, community relations manager for B&N.

The books vary from children’s stories about Haiti to a crime-ridden mafia story that could easily follow in the footsteps of the Departed, for the next great Boston crime corruption drama.

The authors will present their books in a panel format, with each one getting an opportunity to talk to the audience about their work.

Michael McKay’s, A Big House for Little Men, is a fictional account of the Massachusetts State prison system in the late 1970’s.

“I wrote it based on true events about the harshest prison in the country at the time,” said McKay.

The main character, loosely based on Mikey Thurber, grows up in a crime ridden Dorchester neighborhood and becomes a part of the criminal system early in his life.

“He is the only prisoner ever to escape from a Massachusetts state prison twice,” said McKay.

Thurber was also a member of the infamous Walpole prison execution squad, according to McKay, but is somehow a free man living in Tampa today.

McKay, a chef by trade, gave up the hospitality life after his two sons were born and is hoping to develop another novel with Thurber. The next book may implicate the whereabouts of Whitey Bulger, but McKay is not revealing any more than that.

The panel of authors is as diverse in personality as they are in book topics. Another one of the authors, Kiki Latimer, is the chairperson for the project for Haiti at St. Joseph’s Church in Hope Valley. Her book, Islands of Hope, is told from a young Haitian girls perspective as Americans come to her country and build a village for her community.

“I told it from the perspective of the girl in the village because I wanted it to become personal to people,” said Latimer.

Latimer had traveled to Haiti several times on humanitarian missions, building a village, a community center and a well for drinking water.

“The book is about the building of a village to show how it is done and how it came about,” said Latimer.

The earthquake did not damage the section of Haiti that Latimer and her congregation built the village, but the devastation was still felt.

“Of the 200 homes there, only one collapsed,” said Latimer.

In another effort to spread words of hope and help, Greg Ladas chose the health of the American people as his book’s focus.

The Couch Potato Diet, Ladas’ first novel, takes aim at helping people lose weight by finding healthier substitutes for the food and snacks they eat everyday, like pizza and ice cream.

“I wanted to help other working parents like myself to find the motivation to do it themselves,” said Ladas.

Ladas, who lost 50 pounds on his diet, believes that people can reduce their caloric intake by sticking to three core principles in their diet: reducing saturated fat and cholesterol, adding fiber and protein and significantly reducing sugar intake.

“I am a lot like other busy professionals with work and family, it is difficult to stay motivated and get healthy,” said Ladas.

Ladas, an IT management consultant for Leapfrog Systems had never written a book before and is now working on his follow-up, The Couch Potato Diet for Kids.

Another mom with some worldly solutions is author Christine Carr. In her book, Mother Daze: Tales from the Imperfect Playground, Carr decided to use real life experience and humor to help struggling moms everywhere.

“I don’t want people to think that this is a comparison of my life to theirs, it’s just a shared story,” said Carr.

Carr, a physical education teacher and mother of three, wanted to let mothers across the country know that they are not alone in their struggle with juggling work, family and a life of their own. She thought that if mothers know that there are other people out there with similar problems, they might feel better about themselves.

“The feedback has been very positive,” said Carr.

One review on Amazon said, “Reading this book was like sitting at the kitchen table talking to your best friend and sharing all those funny and not so funny moments of being a mother.”

The Barnes and Noble local authors night is an annual event held nationally in most of the chain’s stores.

The night serves as an opportunity for local authors whose books are not normally carried at the store, to have them available for purchase that night.

Other local authors that will be attending are: Gina Russo with Paul Lonardo, From The Ashes, Surviving the Station Nightclub Fire, A Personal Story of Tragedy and Triumph; Larry Johnson, Out of My Mind; Jon Land, Strong Enough to Die; Francisco Lima and Darrin Bouley, God’s Divine Will; and Terri Martin, The Adventures of Eddie the Emu.