Robert Venditti, author of the award-winning graphic novel, “The Surrogates,” will speak at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29 in the Recital Hall of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Coastal Carolina University.

Venditti will discuss the concept of his book and offer an inside view of the growing comic book and graphic novel industry.

Venditti earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and English from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Central Florida. At the age of 27, he published his first short story in the Berkeley Fiction Review but decided to pursue a career as a comics scriptwriter.

Venditti went on to work at Top Shelf Productions in 2002. “The Surrogates” was published in 2005-2006 and became a New York Times bestseller. The motion picture adaptation of “The Surrogates,” starring Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames, was released in September 2009.

Venditti, who lives in Atlanta, recently published “The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone,” a prequel to the first volume, and “The Homeland Directive,” a political/medical thriller. He also writes for the “Percy Jackson & The Olympians” series for Hyperion Books.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by CCU’s Nancy Smith Distinguished Visiting Lecturer Series. A book signing and reception will follow the talk.

For more information, call the Office of the Dean of the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at 843-349-2421.