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Alphabetic Listing of Authors |
 | Mary Relindes Ellis | 
|
| was born and raised in Northern Wisconsin, and received a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota in 1986. She has had stories published in the Milwaukee Journal, The Wisconsin Academy Review, the anthology, Uncommon Waters: Women Write About Fishing (Seal Press), The Bellingham Review, and in Glimmer Train magazine. Three of her published stories have been anthologized in Bless Me, Father: Stories of Catholic Childhood, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and Gifts of the Wild: A Woman’s Book of Adventure. She is currently at work on a second novel, and lives in Western Wisconsin | ||
| http://www.maryrelindesellis.com |  | Jill Alexander |  |
| "THE SWEETHEART OF PROSPER COUNTY" from Feiwel and Friends -- selected for the 2010 Lone Star Reading List by Texas librarians and nominated for the American Library Association's 2010 Best Books for Young Adults! | ||
| http://www.jillsalexander.com/ |  | Mary Kay Andrews |  |
| Mary Kay Andrews is the author of the New York Times bestselling SAVANNAH BREEZE and BLUE CHRISTMAS, (HarperCollins) as well as HISSY FIT, LITTLE BITTY LIES and SAVANNAH BLUES, all HarperPerennial. A former reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she wrote ten critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series, under her "real" name, which is Kathy Hogan Trocheck. | ||
| http://www.marykayandrews.com/ |  | Kathi Appelt |  |
| Most of my books and poems come directly from my own life because that’s what I know best and feel most strongly about. Sometimes I write from a place of joy, as in my book The Thunderherd, which is about horses. I’ve loved horses since I was very young, and The Thunderherd was an opportunity to express that love. Of course horses and cowboys go together and for most of my childhood years, I really wanted to grow up to be a cowgirl and ride the range. This long-held dream turned into Cowboy Dreams. My family plays a large role in my writing life too. My husband Ken is a high school English teacher and a musician, and he has always encouraged me in my work. We were married on a cold, icy day in January, 1979. On the day we were married, Ken’s grandmother Emma told us that being married on a rainy day meant that we would be “showered with blessings,” and she was right! And two of the best blessing that we have are our sons, Jacob and Cooper. Jacob was born in 1982 and Cooper was born in 1984. Both of them are musicians like their dad. | ||
| http://www.kathiappelt.com |  | Sam Barry |  |
| Sam Barry is the author of the humor-inspiration book How to Play the Harmonica: and Other Life Lessons (Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2009) and co-author with his wife, author Kathi Kamen Goldmark, of Write That Book Already! about writing and publishing (Adams Media, March 2010). Kathi and Sam write a monthly column for BookPage called "The Author Enablers" offering down-to-earth advice, reality checks, and encouragement to aspiring authors. The Author Enablers also have a blog. Sam works for HarperOne, a division of HarperCollins. He is also a musician and music teacher who plays in and around San Francisco in the band Los Train Wreck and tours with the all-author rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders. Sam is a regular performer on the national radio show West Coast Live. Sam is the father of two children, Daniel and Laura. | ||
| http://www.redroom.com/author/sam-barry |  | Hester Bass |  |
| Dreams do come true! Hester Bass has wanted to be a children's author since first grade so, whatever your dream may be, her advice is: Never give up! She writes early readers and picture books as well as middle grade and teen novels. Hester has appeared at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Decatur Book Festival, Alabama Bound: Celebrating Books and Authors, Alabama Book Festival, Southern Festival of Books, SCBWI-Southern Breeze Fall Writers Conference, Alabama Reading Association Conference, American Library Association Annual Conference, and she performs at schools and libraries. She'd love to come see you, too! | ||
| http://www.hesterbass.com/ |  | John Berendt |  |
| author of The City of Fallen Angels and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | ||
 | Rona Berg | 
|
| is the former Beauty Editor of The New York Times Magazine and Editorial Director of ELLE. At the Times, Berg wrote the beauty column and edited the lifestyle subjects, including fashion, food, wine, home design and men's style. She was on the launch team of ELLE magazine, where she directed or supervised every facet of the editorial process from concept to publication. She was also a contributing editor to SELF, where she generated story ideas and wrote feature articles for the magazine. | ||
| http://www.RonaBerg.com |  | Elizabeth Berg |  |
| I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on December 2, 1948, in a hospital that has been torn down, which I’m pretty steamed about. When I was three years old, my father reenlisted in the Army, and I spent my growing up years moving around a lot—twice, I went to three schools in a single academic year. You can understand my dilemma when people ask me where I’m from. My usual answer is “Um…..nowhere?” I’ve loved books and reading from the time my mother began reading to me, and I’ve loved writing ever since I could hold a pencil. I submitted my first poem to American Girl magazine when I was nine years old. It was rejected, and it took twenty-five years before I submitted anything again. Then, I entered a contest in a magazine and won. I wrote for magazines for ten years, then moved into novels and haven’t stopped yet. I usually do a book a year. But I have to tell you, the prospect of retiring is beginning to sound better and better. I really want to live on a hobby farm with lots of animals, including a chicken, I’m dying for a chicken. | ||
| http://www.elizabeth-berg.net/ |  | Sarah Bird | 
|
| is the author The Flamenco Academy, Virgin of the Rodeo, The Boyfriend School, Alamo House, and The Mommy Club. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, George, and son, Gabriel www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/authors/sarahbird.php | ||
| http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/bird |  | Mike Blakey | 
|
| and Willie Nelson are currently working on their co-written western novel, designed to adapt to the big screen, with Willie himself playing the lead role. The book is scheduled for release by 2008. Meanwhile, native Texan Mike Blakely continues to leave his creative footprints across the landscapes of Texas, the U.S., and the world, as the author of 15 books and a performing songwriter with six CDs to his credit. Most of Mike’s books are historical novels set in the American West, and released by major New York City publishing houses. His CDs, showcasing his songwriting and musical abilities, have all been released on Mike’s own record label, Swing Rider Records | ||
| http://www.mikeblakely.com |  | Stephanie Bond | 
|
| writes a sexy mystery series for Mira Books, humorous romantic suspense novels for Avon/HarperCollins, and romantic comedies for Harlequin Books. She is best known for writing steamy books that make readers laugh out loud | ||
| http://www.stephaniebond.com |  | Sharon Boorstin | 
|
| writes for publications including The Los Angeles Times, Bon Appetit, More, Town & Country Travel, Smithsonian, Sunset and Jewish Woman. She was the Restaurant Critic of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and she is a contributing editor of Los Angeles Confidential, Porthole and Bel-Air magazines. Sharon has edited over a dozen
guidebooks and restaurant guides for cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and New York. With her husband Paul, she has written dozens of screenplays for feature films and television including “Fire With Fire” starring Virginia Madsen (Paramount) and “Angel of Death” (ABC) starring Jane Seymour.
Sharon has spoken to over 75 women’s groups throughout the U.S. and has been interviewed on dozens of radio and television programs. Her memoir/cookbook “Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food and Friendship” and her novel with recipes “Cookin’ for Love” both have been selections of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club. www.sharonboorstin.com | ||
 | Richard Bowden |  |
| is a musician and songwriter who has performed with The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Jackson Browne. Richard grew up in Linden, Texas where he and childhood friend Don Henley formed their first bands and performed throughout the area. Richard is the President of Music City Texas, a non-profit
musical theater in Linden, Texas. Richard latest band The Moon and Stars performs each month at Music City Texas in Linden,
Texas. www.richardbowden.com www.musiccitytexas.org | ||
| http://www.musiccitytexas.org |  | Melodie Bowsher | 
|
| was born in Dodge City and grew up in Derby, Kansas. She attended Kansas State University in Manhattan where she majored in journalism and won a first place award for investigative reporting from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. Graduating in three years, she went to work in the Wall Street Journal’s Dallas bureau
where at age 20 she was the first woman hired by that newspaper as a staff reporter.
After a brief stint in Denver, Melodie moved to San Francisco where she began working in corporate communications. Two children later she found herself a soccer mom in suburban Millbrae. Her two kids, Mia and Luca, provided the research and the dot.com bust provided the impetus for this, her first novel | ||
| http://www.melodiebowsher.com |  | Prill Boyle | 
|
| is the author of DEFYING GRAVITY: A CELEBRATION OF LATE-BLOOMING WOMEN. She and her husband live in Westport, Connecticut where she is working on her second book. A columnist for the monthly e-zine Boomer Women's World and the creator of the Defying Gravity Workshop, Boyle has been featured on numerous radio and television programs, was invited by the Nat'l Council of Women USA to give a keynote address at the United Nations, and has been a guest-speaker to groups all over the country about the rewards of late blooming. | ||
| http://defyinggravitynow.blogspot.com/ |  | Carolyn Brooks |
| Breaking the Silent Addiction of Abuse…America’s Genocide -Exposed by Bronze Bow | ||
| http://www.carolynbrooks.com |  | Bruce Cameron | 
|
| is an internationally known humor columnist. Born in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1960, he is the author of the 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, a best selling book upon which the TV show starring John Ritter is based. His most recent work is How to Remodel a Man. | ||
| http://www.wbrucecameron.com/ |  | Tracy Carnes |  |
| Raised in Southern Arkansas, Tracy was an only surviving child, her parents having lost twins at birth. Highly energetic, creative, and always up for life's adventures, October 1993 brought a completely new situation into her world. One day after her thirtieth birthday Tracy had a complete colectomy, that literally saved her life. Life with a ileostomy bag has its own quirky ways of making life an adventure. Tracy, however, has not slowed down one bit. Scuba diving, golfing, skiing, sailing, rugby....you'll have to wear your running shoes to keep up with her! Tracy feels that perhaps daily living with her ostomy bag has the gift of reminding her that life is indeed a privilege to be lived. She has found her "Iki Gai", (Her sense of purpose in Japanese) To share with the world and her friends that life with a bag is not keeping her from living life to the fullest....in any facet of her multi faceted life. Writing, producing documentaries, speaking and sharing her experiences. Tracy is a woman on a mission....stay tuned, its not over yet! | ||
| http://tracycarnes.com/default.aspx |  | Kathryn Casey |  |
| The Basics: My husband and I live in Houston with our puppy, a funny and fluffy white and gray Havanese named Nelson. We have two kids, but, as kids are prone to do, they grew up and moved out. I miss them but, hey, the upside is that I now have more room in the house for my clutter of files. My Career: A late bloomer, I finished college in my early thirties, and I've spent nearly twenty years writing for magazines. It's been a lot of fun, and, in the process, I've contributed more than 100 articles to national magazines that include: Ladies' Home Journal, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Texas Monthly, Seventeen, MORE, Town & Country, and Readers' Digest. | ||
| http://www.kathryncasey.com/ |  | Marshall Chapman | 
|
| was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. To date she has released ten critically acclaimed albums, and her songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Wynonna, Joe Cocker, Irma Thomas, Jimmy Buffett, Jessi Colter, Dion, Tanya Tucker, Russ Taff, Olivia Newton-John, Sawyer Brown, Mindy McCready, Conway Twitty, Greg "Fingers" Taylor, Crystal Gayle, Ronnie Milsap, and The Uppity Blues Women. She has toured extensively on her own and opened shows for everybody from John Prine and Jimmy Buffett to Jerry Lee Lewis and The Ramones. | ||
| http://www.tallgirl.com |  | Mark Childress | 
|
| was born in 1957 in Monroeville, Alabama and grew up in Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. After graduation from the University of Alabama in 1978, Childress was a reporter for The Birmingham News, Features Editor of Southern Living magazine, and Regional Editor of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Childress is the author of six novels: "A World Made of Fire" (Knopf, 1984), "V For Victor" (Knopf, 1988) "Tender" (Harmony, 1990), "Crazy in Alabama" (Putnam, 1993), and "Gone for Good," (Knopf, 1988) and "One Mississippi," published in July 2006 by Little, Brown & Co. Childress is now working on a new novel and a film project. He lives all over the place, currently in New York City. | ||
| http://www.markchildress.com |  | Judy Christie |  |
| Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana. Her debut novel, Gone to Green, was released in August 2009 as part of the new inspirational fiction line from Abingdon Press and is the first of a series about Green, La. Novel two, Goodness Gracious Green, will be released in the fall of this year. Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press: Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work; Hurry Less, Worry Less: 10 Strategies for Living the Life You Long For; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime. Hurry Less, Worry Less for Families will be released in Spring 2010. | ||
| http://www.judychristie.com/ |  | Will Clarke | 
|
| author of The Worthy and Lord Vishnu's Love Handles. Will doesn't want you to know where he lives or what he's doing next. | ||
| http://www.booktourvirgin.blogs.com/ |  | William Cobb | 
|
| is the author of a novel, The Fire Eaters (W.W. Norton), a book of stories, The White Tattoo (Ohio State UP), and the forthcoming novel Goodnight, Texas (Unbridled Books). His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Mississippi Review, American Short Fiction, The Antioch Review, New Letters, Puerto del Sol, and many others. (See link for particular publication information.) He’s been fortunate to have received a number of awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts grant for fiction, the Sandstone Prize, a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, and others. He lives in Pennsylvania and Colorado. | ||
| http://www.williamjcobb.com |  | Melissa Conroy |  |
| woOberry started as a collection of dolls inspired by my daughter's drawings. The dolls were so much fun to make, I began creating my own characters. Each doll earned a name and description of their own particular habits and character traits. Some are based on people I know, while others are invented. I like to think that they are all waiting for their story to be told. The first dolls to have their story told in the form of a children's book called pOppy's pants are pOppy and pEnelope. There will be more to come. - Melissa Conroy See Melissa at the Miami Book Fair, November 14th & 15th. Click on the Events link below to find out more. | ||
| http://www.wooberry.com/ |  | Pat Conroy |  |
| South of Broad, Conroy’s fifth novel and ninth book, presents readers with a Conroy first: a totally lovable father for Leo Bloom King, the story's central figure. The book is not only a love letter to the city of Charleston; it is a celebration of lifelong friendship. Conroy currently lives in Fripp Island, South Carolina with his wife, the novelist Cassandra King. | ||
| http://www.patconroy.com |  | Elizabeth Crook | 
|
| was born in Houston in 1959. She has lived in Texas, Australia, and Washington, D.C, and currently lives in Austin with her husband and two children. She is the author of three novels: The Raven’s Bride and Promised Lands, published by Doubleday in 1991
and 1994, and The Night Journal published by Viking in February 2006. Her work has also appeared in anthologies, and in periodicals such as Texas Monthly, Publishers Weekly, and the Southwestern Historical Quarterly.
Elizabeth was selected the honored writer for 2006 Texas Writers' Month, joining previous honorees O. Henry, J. Frank Dobie, John Graves, Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy, Katherine Anne Porter, Elmer Kelton, Liz Carpenter, Sarah Bird, James Michener, and Horton Foote. Her first novel, The Raven's Bride, is currently the Texas Reads: One Book One Texas selection. She has served on the council for the Texas Institute of Letters and is now a member of the TIL as well as of the Philosophical Society of Texas. | ||
| http://www.elizabethcrookbooks.com |  | Cindy Daniel |
|
| lives in Rockwall, Texas (a lakeside suburb of Dallas) with her husband. She works as an orthopedic research coordinator at a Dallas area children's hospital.
Her debut novel, Death Warmed Over, was released in hardcover in October 2003; it was followed by A Family Affair in November 2005. This new series, set in the East Texas Bible belt, is packed with sibling rivalry, lust, old-fashioned Christian guilt, death of a beauty queen, and, of course, pickup trucks. | ||
| http://www.deathwarmedovermysteries.com |  | J. Brooks Dann | 
|
| author of Anecdotal and 2007 Timber Guy of the Year. J. Brooks Dann is a strategic adviser to companies and has been a contributor to several national publications on innovation and technology. Currently, he lives in many places, but mostly in Northern California. This is his first novel. | ||
| http://www.jbrooksdann.typepad.com |  | Carol Dawson | 
|
| author of several books including the non-fiction story of House of Plenty and several novels that include The Mother In Law Diaries, Body of Knowledge and The Waking Spell. | ||
 | Loraine Despres | 
|
| was born in the snows of Chicago, but within months moved to a little town in Louisiana. She grew up in the family home. It had white columns on the front porch and bullet holes in her bedroom wall. She discovered her love of books at the local grammar school, but her real education came from her
grandmother, who wanted her to become a gracious Southern lady; her popular aunt, who taught her on how to flirt; and her mother, who just didn't want the boys to take advantage of her. Loraine kept their advice in her head, adding to it over the years, and giving it the ironic name, the Southern Belle's Handbook. It became her survival manual for life and she lent it, with
some changes, to Sissy in The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc.
Loraine grew up Jewish in a little Bible belt town with no Jewish congregation. Like the Rubinstein children in her latest novel, The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell, she was an equal-opportunity churchgoer. She has fond memories of Sunday school at the Episcopal Church and Summer Bible sessions learning to sing hymns and climb trees with the Methodists. When her father had his first heart attack, all the churches in town prayed for him, which may well have played a role in his recovery. But she was always an outsider. Her school friends were convinced that, unfortunately, she was going to hell. Her parents told her she always had to be on her best behavior, because she was "a representative for our people." Loraine was rarely on her best behavior. | ||
| http://www.lorainedespres.com |  | Ronlyn Domingue | 
|
| The Mercy of Thin Air, was a finalist for the 2005 Borders Original Voices Award and has been acquired in 11 other countries. Her writing has appeared in New England Review, Clackamas Literary Review, New Delta Review, and The Independent (UK). Born and raised in South Louisiana, Ronlyn lives there still and is at work on her second book. | ||
| http://www.ronlyndomingue.com/ |  | Phil Doran | 
|
| A TV producer for more than twenty-five years, Phil has worked as a writer-producer for such shows as Sanford and Son, Too Close for Comfort, and Who's the Boss?; as a writer for The Wonder Years; as well as writing episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and writing for such variety-show stars as Tim Conway, the Smothers Brothers, and Tony Orlando. He received an Emmy nomination, a Humanitas Award, and the Population Institute Award for his work on All in the Family. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times. He and his wife divide their time between Tuscany and their home in California. | ||
| http://www.reluctanttuscan.com |  | Cindy Dyson | 
|
| is nothing like any character in her book. She wouldn’t even hang with people who were anything like characters in her book. While she is blonde and did grow up in Alaska, any resemblances to her characters are just rumors started by questionable friends. Okay, she did have a few wayward years, and she did sling
drinks at the notorious Elbow Room. But not for very long, and she’s never eaten mummy flesh, although she has tried muktuk (whale blubber) as well as lusta (fermented seal flipper).
In fact, Cindy is a respectable member of her of community near Glacier National Park, MT. She has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and was a reporter for a few years. She wrote scads of magazine articles and several nonfiction kids’ books. Mostly she’s a mom, a foster parent and an elitist homeschooler, who does exciting things like drag her kids to library story hour and teach toddler karate classes. | ||
| http://cindydyson.com |  | Jamie Ford |  |
| My name is James. Yes, I'm a dude. I’m also the New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet—which was, in no particular order, an IndieBound NEXT List Selection, a Borders Original Voices Selection, a Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Pennie’s Pick at Costco, a Target Bookmarked Club Pick, and a National Bestseller. It was also named the #1 Book Club Pick for Fall 2009/Winter 2010 by the American Booksellers Association. In addition, Hotel has been translated into 17 languages. I’m still holding out for Klingon (that’s when you know you’ve made it). I’m an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and a survivor of Orson Scott Card's Literary Bootcamp. | ||
| http://www.jamieford.com |  | Ruth Franciso | 
|
| a graduate of Swarthmore College, studied voice and drama in New York City and then moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. She currently lives in L.A | ||
 | Kit Frazier | 
|
| is a professional journalist and is the two-time, first-place winner of the Writers’ League of Texas and Merritt awards. She is a member of the Texas Press Association, and is certified in Search & Rescue. She participates in research and training with the FBI and Austin Police Department, which
provides lots of opportunities for murder and mayhem, and oh, yeah, some really hot guys. Kit lives on Lake Travis just outside Austin, Texas, with her dog, Tahoe, who plays a significant role in the mystery series, and is willing to work without a contract. | ||
| http://www.kitfrazier.com/ |  | Mindy Friddle | 
|
| is a native of South Carolina, where her family has lived for more than two centuries. Her grandmothers still live on the same street in Sans Souci, South Carolina. Her people were lintheads who toiled in textile mills and hardy farmers with poems in their hearts -- no landed gentry in sight --
not a one. She has received a fellowship in fiction from the South Carolina Academy of Authors, and is a two-time winner of the South Carolina Fiction Project and the Piccolo Spoleto Fiction Open. A former newspaper reporter, she holds a B.A. from Furman University, a Master's degree from the University of South Carolina, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson. She attended Bread Loaf, courtesy of a scholarship program through the Emrys Foundation and recently completed a writer's residency at the Ragdale Foundation. An "Army brat" who lived as an adolescent in Europe, Washington, DC and a variety of other places, she graduated from a high school considered by many to be on the "wrong side of the tracks" in South Carolina. She lives and writes in an historic neighborhood in Greenville, South Carolina. THE GARDEN ANGEL is her first novel. | ||
| http://www.mindyfriddle.com |  | Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman | 
|
| is an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election for the office of Governor of Texas. Receiving 12.6% of the vote, Friedman placed fourth in the five-party race. | ||
| http://www.kinkyfriedman.com |  | Jenny Gardiner |  |
| "As sweet as a song and sharp as a beak, Winging It really soars as a memoir about family -- children and husbands, feathers and fur -- and our capacity to keep loving though life may occasionally bite." -Wade Rouse, bestselling author of At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream, and Confessions of A Prep School Mommy Handler Jenny Gardiner's hilarious memoir will have you alternately laughing and crying, and watching the skies for winged pets out for your blood. --Award-winning author of Catching Genius, Kristy Kiernan | ||
| http://www.jennygardiner.net/ |  | Deeanne Gist |  |
| After a short career in elementary education, Deeanne Gist retired to raise her four children. Over the course of the next fifteen years, she ran a home accessory and antique business, became a member of the press, wrote freelance journalism for national publications such as People, Parents, Parenting, Family Fun, Houston Chronicle and Orlando Sentinel, and acted as CFO for her husband’s small engineering firm--all from the comforts of home. | ||
| http://www.deeannegist.com/ |  | Kathi Kamen Goldmark | 
|
| is the author of And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, a novel published by Chronicle Books. She is co-author of The Great Rock & Roll Joke Book and a contributor to several collections of essays, including Mid-Life Confidential: the Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude. With her partner, Sam Barry, she writes a monthly column in BookPage called “The Author Enablers.” Kathi is the founder and a member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, president and janitor of “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Records, Author Liaison for several high-profile literary events including Book Group Expo, and producer of the coast-to-coast radio show West Coast Live. She likes to think she is ready for anything. | ||
| http://www.rockbottomremainders.com |  | Kathi Kamen Goldmark |  |
| is the author of And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, a novel; co-author of The Great Rock & Roll Joke Book, and Mid-Life Confidential: the Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude; and has contributed essays to several anthologies including My California: Journeys by Great Writers, Single Woman of a Certain Age, Feed Me!, and The Face in the Mirror. She has also worked in publishing "on the inside," for nearly every major publisher, as a media escort and publicist. With Sam Barry, she writes a monthly aspiring-writer-advice column in BookPage called "The Author Enablers." A 2007 San Francisco Library Laureate, Kathi is the founder and a member of the all-author rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders, president and janitor of "Don't Quit Your Day Job" Records, Author Liaison for many high-profile literary events (Book Group Expo, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library's Laureates Dinner), producer of the radio show West Coast Live, and winner of the 2008 Women's National Book Association Award. She likes to think she is ready for anything. | ||
| http://www.redroom.com/author/kathi-kamen-goldmark |  | Carolyn Haines | 
|
| When I was growing up in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, I had big dreams. I wanted to be a cowgirl, a writer, and Nancy Drew. Life has surely thrown me more than a few twists, but dreams are hard to destroy. Today, I’m all three--sort of. Of course the only mysteries I solve are in Zinnia, Mississippi. And I have the help of Sarah Booth Delaney, Tinkie, Cece, Coleman, Millie and a host of other characters. They’ll be quick to tell you they do all the hard work--I’m just the writer. | ||
| http://www.carolynhaines.com |  | Masha Hamilton | 
|
| Staircase of a Thousand Steps, was a Booksense pick by independent booksellers and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her second novel, The Distance Between Us, was named one of the best books of 2004 by Library Journal. Her third novel, The Camel Bookmobile, is also a Booksense pick for its publication month of April 2007. She worked as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press for five years in the Middle East, then spent five years in Moscow, where she was a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, wrote a newspaper column, “Postcard from Moscow,” and reported for NBC/Mutual Radio. She traveled to Afghanistan in the spring of 2004 to report on the changing situation for women. In 2006, she traveled in Kenya to research The Camel Bookmobile and interview drought and famine victims. | ||
| http://www.mashahamilton.com/ |  | Lauretta Hannon |  |
| was born too soon, an Rh Negative baby. Two blood transfusions and other problems convinced the doctors that there was no hope. Death was certain. But so was Mama. My childhood was hard, but I was well loved. Through it all I had books, and stories sustained me. By the seventh grade I was studying Eastern philosophies and listening to Zoot Sims and Gustav Holst with my dad. Music and spirituality have always been my greatest influences. | ||
| http://www.thecrackerqueen.com |  | Mark Harrell |
| musician and band leader of Woody and the Logarhythms and writer/performer of the Pulpwood Queen anthem, The Pulpwood Queens. Mark is a Jefferson, Texas native. | ||
| http://www.markharrellmusic.com/ |  | Karen Harrington |  |
| Karen Harrington was born and raised in Texas, where she still lives with her husband and children. She received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas. Karen's first writing gigs were in corporate America as an editor and speechwriter. Her fiction writing has been recognized by the Hemingway Short Story Competition and the Texas Film Institute. | ||
| www.karenharringtonbooks.com |  | Jaon Headley | 
|
| author of Small Town Odds www.myspace.com/jason_headley | ||
| http://www.jasonheadley.com |  | Heather Helper | |
| I was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which I think is one of the cooler places to be born, because initially people think I’m being funny—like I’m saying I was born on the moon, but then they see I’m actually being serious. It feels like since then I’ve lived nearly everywhere (well, only in the US—which is a bummer because I want to travel so much). In high school, I was in band and honors society and science club and worked on the school newspaper. All this in Texas where football was king and cheerleaders were the school royalty. When people ask me what I remember about middle school and high school, I stand there for several seconds not saying anything. This isn’t because I can’t remember anything, but because I remember too many things and I can’t figure out what to say out loud. | ||
| http://www.heatherhepler.com |  | Robin Hemley |  |
| is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on DO-OVER!. He has published seven books, and his stories and essays have appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and many literary magazines and anthologies. Robin received his MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop; he currently directs the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa and lives in Iowa City, IA. | ||
| http://www.robinhemley.com/ |  | Patti Callahan Henry | |
| Patti Callahan Henry is the New York Times Bestselling author of six novels with Penguin/NAL (Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Betweeen the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, and Driftwood Summer). Patti is hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction. She has been short-listed for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and has been nominated for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Fiction Novel of the Year. She is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women’s groups where she discusses the importance of storytelling and anything else they want to talk about. | ||
| http://www.patticallahanhenry.com |  | Kathy Hepinstall | 
|
| was born in Odessa, Texas, and spent a large part of her childhood two hours from the Louisiana border, where most of her relatives reside. She lives in Austin, Texas. | ||
| http://www.houseofgentlemen.com |  | Denise Hildreth | 
|
| author of "Savannah from Savannah" "Savannah Comes Undone" "Savannah by the Sea" | ||
| http://www.denisehildreth.com | Gloria Hilliard | 
|
| is the author of In the Shadow of the Sparrow | ||
 | Ron Hogan | 
|
| is the author of The Stewardess Is Flying the Plane, a visual tribute to '70s Hollywood. He created one of the Internet's first literary websites, http://www.beatrice.com in 1995, and still writes for it today, as well as reporting on the publishing industry for mediabistro.com's http://www.mediabistro.com | ||
| http://www.beatrice.com |  | Kimberly Willis Holt | 
|
| author of "Waiting for Gregory" "Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family" "Dancing in Cadillac Light" "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town" "Mister and Me" "My Louisiana Sky" | ||
| http://www.kimberlywillisholt.com |  | Ad Hudler |  |
| I grew up on the High Plains of Eastern Colorado, home to few trees, ample sagebrush, cowboys and wheat fields. The nearest airport or McDonalds was 164 miles away, but I was never bored. My family has owned the local newspaper in Burlington for five generations, and at nine years old I started working as (in my grandfather's words) the "super sanitation engineer." When I got older I started writing stories and taking pictures of everything from burned-down mobile homes to prize-winning sows at the Kit Carson County Fair. | ||
| www.adhudler.com |  | Edward Humes | 
|
| received the Pulitzer Prize for specialized reporting in 1989 for his coverage of the military, including dispatches from Panama; the unjust execution of an Army private during World War II; and a year-long investigation of fatal military helicopter crashes linked to flawed night-vision devices. | ||
| http://edwardhumes.com |  | R. Dean Johnson |
| author, screenwriter, producer of - LIFE: Be There at Ten Til "Just Pray", Runner up of BEST LIVE ACTION at Palm Springs International Festival of Shorts 2005, BEST SCORE Rhode Island International Film Festival 2005, HONORABLE MENTION Independent Narrative Carolina Film. | ||
| http://www.rdeanjohnson.com |  | Dr. Michael Johnson | 
|
| author of "Cowboys and Angels", "Reflections of a Cowboy", "Tad Pole and Dr. Frog", "Horse Stories", "Susie, the Whispering Horse", "A Gift for Ida and Bell" "Stories from the South", "Stories for Teachers","The Most Special Person" | ||
| http://www.michaeljohnsonbooks.com |  | Kathryn Jordan | 
|
| writing has appeared in such diverse publications as Westways, Palm Springs Life, Ranger Rick, Diver Magazine and a book, A Diver’s Guide To Underwater America. She holds a Masters degree in English from U.C.L.A. and attended Bread Loaf, Squaw Valley and the Santa Fe Writers’ Conference. She gleans early morning hours for her writing, savoring the quiet time that is all hers. | ||
| http://www.kathrynjordan.com/ |  | River Jordon | 
|
| is a southerner with a global perspective. They tell her that she is part-Cherokee and part-Irish and perhaps a dozen other things. What she knows is that she an all-American woman that appreciates the diversity of a multitude of cultural histories. Primarily, she’s a storyteller of the southern variety and has
been cast most frequently in the company of Flannery O’Connor and Harper Lee. Jordan’s writing career began as a playwright where she spent over ten years with the Loblolly Theatre group and received productions of her original works for the stage including Mama Jewels: Tales from Mullet Creek; Soul, Rhythm and Blues; and Virga. Jordan’s novel The Messenger of Magnolia Street, Harper Collins (Harper San Francisco) was published in January 2006.
Ms. Jordan teaches and speaks on ‘The Power of Story’ around the country. She is currently completing a new work of fiction. She and her husband live in Nashville, | ||
| http://www.riverjordanink.com |  | River Jordon |  |
| River Jordan is a southerner with a global perspective. She began her writing career as a playwright and spent over ten years with the Loblolly Theatre group, where her original works were produced, including Mama Jewels: Tales from Mullet Creek, Soul, Rhythm and Blues, and Virga. | ||
| http://www.riverjordan.us/cgi-bin/index.cgi |  | Kathleen Kaska |
| Kathleen Kaska has published three mystery-trivia books: What's Your Agatha Christie I.Q.? (Citadel Press, 1996), The Alfred Hitchcock Triviography and Quiz Book (Renaissance Books, 1999), and The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book (Taylor Publishing, 2000). These trivia books contain everything you ever wanted to know about the works of the three masters of mystery and suspense, as well as interesting behind-the-scene tidbits about the writers. Kaska is currently working on two mystery series of her own. The Kate Caraway series features Kate Caraway, an animal rights' activist and her husband, retired Chicago Cubs catcher, Jack Ryder. The Sydney Lockhart series is set in the early fifties when most women were housewives and moms. The five-feet ten, redheaded Miss Lockhart is travel writer who is too outspoken and headstrong to stay out of trouble. | ||
| http://www.kathleenkaska.com |  | Sue Monk Kidd | 
|
| was born and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia, which is tucked among the pinelands and red fields of Southwest Georgia, a place she has lovingly referred to it as “an enduring somewhere.” Her writing has been deeply influenced by place, and she mined her experiences of growing up in Sylvester as she wrote The
Secret Life of Bees, her first novel. Sue discovered her longing to be a writer when she was a child listening to her father’s imaginative stories. In adolescence, encouraged by English teachers who described her as a “born writer,” she began writing her own stories, as well as keeping prolific journals that chronicled her experiences, both internal and external, a practice she has continued throughout her life. Two books which she read at the age of fifteen- Thoreau’s spiritual memoir, Walden and Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening- had a deep impact on her and would foreshadow the course she herself would eventually take as a writer: writing spiritual memoir and novels. Today Sue lives beside a salt marsh near Charleston, South Carolina with her husband Sandy and their black lab, Lily. She writes in a book-lined, upstairs study where she can look out at the tidal creeks and marsh birds. She is at work on a new book. | ||
| http://www.suemonkkidd.com |  | Cassandra King |  |
| is a best-selling novelist whose fiction has won the hearts of readers everywhere, especially in the American south. Often through the use of first-person narration, her novels portray strong and memorable characters who struggle with the same timely issues and dilemmas that readers face in their own lives. | ||
| http://www.cassandrakingconroy.com |  | Kacey Kowars |  |
| is the host of the internet radio talk show, The Kacey Kowars Show featuring todays best authors. You can listen to Kacey's interviews at www.kaceykowarsshow.com | ||
| http://www.kaceykowarsshow.com |  | Robert Leleux |  |
| For nearly thirty years, Robert Leleux has remained internationally unknown as a celebrated bon vivant, fashion icon, and man about town. Neither the best-selling author of Highland Fling (1931) or Wigs on the Green (1935), Mr. Leleux's work is in no way associated with that circle of Bright Young Things who illuminated the London social scene during the interwar years. He is known not to have been portrayed by Julie Christie in John Schlesinger's Oscar-winning film Darling. In 1972, Mr. Leleux wasn't made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He does not currently reside at Swinbrook House in the Cotswolds. Robert Leleux is the author of The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy, where more information on his life may be found. | ||
| http://www.robertleleux.com/home2009.html |  | Leslie Levine | 
|
| believes that we can turn the lives we're living into the lives we want . . . at work, at home, and in-between. Leslie is president of Life Integration Concepts, which provides skill development workshops that empower employees to create working solutions for company productivity and job satisfaction. Leslie also offers personal and executive coaching services. Spirited, informative, and fun, Leslie has been featured at events hosted by Lord & Taylor in New York City, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, University of Wisconsin, Rancho LaPuerta Resort & Spa in Mexico, and more. She is also the author of three books. The first, Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home?, was selected by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best work/family books. Her latest book is Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You're Living into the Life You Want, just released by Simon & Schuster. The book has already been featured in several national publications, including Woman's Day. She has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs, including Today Show, CBS This Morning, and Fox News. Leslie is also the author of Ice Cream for Breakfast: If You Follow All the Rules, You Miss Half the Fun. She has two graduate degrees: an M.S. in Technical Writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. from Marymount University of Virginia. | ||
| http://www.leslielevine.com |  | M. L. Malcom |  |
| Although born in New York, M.L. Malcolm spent most of her childhood in Florida, both in a small town on the Gulf Coast, and in the state capital of Tallahassee. Her education gradually brought her back north, as she earned a B.A. and an M.A. in political science from Emory University in Atlanta, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in Boston. Between college and law school she spent a year in Aix-en-Provence, France as a Rotary Foundation Fellow. She developed a strong interest in World War I while touring the battlefields in Northern France, and used that time period as part of the setting for Heart of Lies. M.L. Malcolm began her professional career as an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. However, after practicing law for three years, she determined that "she and the law were not meant for each other," and is now a self-described "recovering attorney." | ||
| http://www.MLMalcom.com |  | Doug Marlette | 
|
| Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and raised in Durham, N.C., Laurel, Mississippi and Sanford Florida Doug Marlette graduated from Florida State University and began drawing political cartoons for The Charlotte Observer in 1972. He joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1987, New York Newsday in 1989, the Tallahassee Democrat
in 2002 and the Tulsa World in 2006.
His editorial cartoons and his comic strip, Kudzu, are syndicated in newspapers worldwide. He has won every major award for editorial cartooning including the 1988 Pulitzer Prize. He has received the National Headliners Award for Consistently Outstanding Editorial Cartoons three times, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award for editorial cartooning twice, First Prize in the John Fischetti Memorial Cartoon Competition twice and was the first and only cartoonist ever awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and he has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's Morning News, ABC's Good Morning America, ABC's Nightline, National Public Radio's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and the Jim Lehrer News-Hour. He has written an ethics column for Esquire and contributed to The New Republic, The Nation, Men's Journal, The Paris Review, Columbia Journalism Review and Salon.com. His work is collected in 19 volumes, including In Your Face: A Cartoonist at Work, Faux Bubba: Bill and Hillary Go To Washington, Gone With The Kudzu, I Feel Your Pain, What Would Marlette Drive?, and A Town So Backwards Even the Episcopalians Handle Snakes. He also co-wrote the screenplay, 'Ex' with Pat Conroy. The musical adaptation of his comic strip into Kudzu, A Southern Musical in collaboration with The Red Clay Ramblers was produced at Duke University and at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. and has been published by Samuel French Co. The musical's cast album CD was released in 2003. Doug Marlette's first novel, The Bridge, was published by HarperCollins in October, 2001 and was voted Best Book of the Year for Fiction by the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) in 2002. It was voted one of the best books of the last five years by BookSense, the American Booksellers Association. Paramount Pictures purchased the rights for a film adaptation for Tom Cruise. He was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001 and inducted into the UNC Journalism Hall of Fame in 2002. He serves on the UNC J-School's Board of Visitors. He has been appointed a Gaylord Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oklahoma's College of Journalism and Mass Communication for 2006. His second novel, Magic Time, will be published by Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux in the fall. | ||
| http://www.dougmarlette.com |  | Charles Martin | 
|
| earned his B.A. in English from Florida State University, and his M.A. in Journalism and Ph.D. in Communication from Regent University. He served one year at Hampton University as an adjunct professor in the English department and as a doctoral fellow at Regent. In 1999, he left a career in business to pursue his writing. He and his wife, Christy, live a stone's throw from the St. John's River in Jacksonville, Florida, with their three boys: Charlie, John T., and Rives. When he's not writing, Charles fishes with his boys, works in the yard with Christy, coaches T-ball, and kneels by his boys' beds at night. Right now, the boys are praying for two things: a boat with space for a cooler, three or four people, and five or six rods because they're not catching any fish off the neighbor's dock, and Daddy's book. | ||
| http://www.charlesmartinbooks.com/ |  | Cathryn Michon | 
|
| is an actress/comedian/author. Her books include The Grrl Genius Guide to Sex and The Grrl Genius Guide to Life. | ||
| http://www.grrlgenius.com |  | Victoria Moran | 
|
| is the author of ten books. An international speaker on wellness and personal growth and a certified life coach specializing in transformation and rejuvenation. Victoria’s latest book is Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit. Moran’s articles have appeared in publications including Ladies’ Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Body & Soul,Weight Watchers Magazine, Natural Health, and Yoga Journal. She has been a guest on TV and radio programs including Oprah!--two appearances. A native of Kansas City, Missouri and an adopted New Yorker, Victoria is married to an attorney and author. Her daughter Adair is an actor in New York City. | ||
| http://www.victoriamoran.com |  | Michael Morris | 
|
| The Washington Post has compared Morris's work to Harper Lee, Flannery O'Connor and to Mark Twain. But such comparisons are difficult for the native of the rural south to accept. "Growing up in a small town in North Florida, I always thought that writers lived in New York or
Paris," Morris explains. "And if writers were from the south they were eccentric alcoholics who lived in run down mansions. That was really my world view at the time. My mother and I had fled an abusive household and lived in a trailer. So I never thought that writing was in the realm of possibilities for me."
Morris began writing at the age of thirty-one, after he had worked as an aide to a US Senator, a salesman for a pharmaceutical company and as a public affairs manager. When his career in the pharmaceutical industry took him to North Carolina Morris discovered regional writers who shared a common knowledge of the rural lifestyle in which he had grown up and soon his world view began to change. "Writers like Lee Smith and Tim McLaurin had a big influence on me," Morris states. "After reading their work, I began to contemplate telling my own stories." While studying under Tim McLaurin, Morris began the story that would eventually become his first novel, A Place Called Wiregrass. A Place Called Wiregrass was released in April 2002 and received the Catherine Marshall Foundation's Christy Award for Best First Novel. A Place Called Wiregrass has been recommended by the Independent Booksellers Association as a Booksense 76 selection and included in the southern literature curriculum at three universities. Morris's second novel, Slow Way Home, was nationally ranked as one of the top three recommended books by the Independent Booksellers Association and named one of the best novels of 2003 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the St. Louis Dispatch. Morris is also the author of a novella based on the Grammy nominated song, Live Like You Were Dying. The novella was also a finalist for the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. A graduate of Auburn University, Morris and his wife, Melanie, reside in Alabama. | ||
| http://www.michaelmorrisbooks.com |  | Marsha Moyer | 
|
| was born in Austin and grew up in Bryan/College Station in central Texas. After graduating from Bryan High School, she attended the University of Texas at Austin, and for the next 25 years held a variety of jobs, including those of secretary to two animal scientists in the field of swine management, newsletter editor at the Texas
A&M computing center, and assistant to the late chemist Karl Folkers, whose work in the field of coenzyme Q-10 research is world-renowned.
Marsha has written fiction since childhood, and in 1990 was awarded a three-month residency from the Syvenna Foundation for women writers in northeast Texas. Almost a decade later, the East Texas experience came full circle when she began the manuscript which would ultimately yield two novels, The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch and The Last of the Honky-tonk Angels. A portion of the original manuscript was chosen first-place winner in the mainstream division of the Austin Writers’ League manuscript competition in July 2000, and in May 2001, publisher William Morrow purchased, at auction, The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch (published in 2002) and its sequel, The Last of the Honky-tonk Angels (published in 2003). Sales to Random House Australia and Sony Magazines Japan followed. A lifelong resident of her home state, Marsha recently sold the third and fourth installments in the Lucy Hatch series to Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown Publishers. Heartbreak Town will hit bookstores in summer 2007, with its successor (not yet titled) to follow in 2008. | ||
| http://www.marshamoyer.com |  | Daniel Olivas | 
|
| is the author of a novella, two short-story collections and a children's picture book. His writing has appeared in several anthologies and in many publications including the Los Angeles Times, THEMA, Jewish Journal, Exquisite Corpse, Red River Review, Pacific Review, Outsider Ink, | ||
| http://www.danielolivas.com/ |  | Janis Owens |  |
| author of three novels set in West Florida: My Brother Michael, Myra Sims, and The Schooling of Claybird Catts. On February 10, 2009 she will publish her cookbook memoir with Scribner: The Cracker Kitchen: A Cookbook in Celebration of Cornbread-fed, Down-home Family Stories and Cuisine. | ||
| http://www.janisowens.com/ |  | Kathy L. Patrick |
|
| The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, the official book of the Pulpwood Queens—“where tiaras are mandatory and reading good books are the rule!”—celebrates the transformative power of reading and is a
resource for book clubs and book lovers everywhere.
When licensed cosmetologist turned publisher’s rep Kathy L. Patrick lost her job due to industry cutbacks, she wasn’t deterred. Merely months later, she opened Beauty and the Book, the world’s only combination beauty salon/bookstore. An instant hit with customers, who flocked to the store for her dual beauty/book tips, Kathy soon founded The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas. The group meets monthly in official Pulpwood Queens attire—anything that includes hot pink, leopard print, and the obligatory tiara—to eat, drink, and talk books. In THE PULPWOOD QUEENS TIARA WEARING, BOOK-SHARING GUIDE TO LIFE, Kathy shares her life story on how books have changed her life, how she chooses selections for the Pulpwood Queens, and how to start a book group—and keep it going! • The Pulpwood Queens have now franchised into 34 chapters nationwide and the numbers are rapidly growing. They have been featured on Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show and have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Time®, and Newsweek. The comparable woman-centric The Red Hat Society™ (Warner trade, 4/04) was a #1 New York Times bestseller and has sold close to 365,000 copies to date. • Book clubs are hotter than ever, and THE PULPWOOD QUEENS’ TIARA WEARING, BOOK-SHARING GUIDE TO LIFE is ripe with book suggestions, stories, and anecdotes. The Pulpwood Queens’ mission is to promote literacy and reading in America. Visit their Web site at www.beautyandthebook.com. | ||
| http://www.beautyandthebook.com |  | Karen Penner | 
|
| is an artisan that lives, works and owns a store in the quaint historic town of Jefferson, Texas. Her designs have been featured on shows such as QVC and in Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies Home Journal magazines. Her productions can be ordered through the Spiegel Catalog or if you're in
Jefferson, stop by her shop, Cricket Alley, at 202 N. Walcott, Jefferson, Texas.
Karen lives in Jefferson, in a historic Victorian house with her husband Richard and (according to her sister Pulpwood Queen, Kathy L. Patrick) their 525 cats. Well it just seems like that many. | ||
| http://www.karenpenner.com |  | Jonathan Pierce | 
|
| Nashville Christian musical artist, CDs include- "Jonathan Pierce: For You" "Jonathan Pierce: Santuary" "Jonathan Pierce: Mission" "Jonathan Pierce: One Love" | ||
 | >Susan Gambrell Reinhardt | 
|
| is a bona-fide crazy woman with a fabulously huge heart to match her semi-huge bra size. She loves motherhood, laughter, old people and children. She is a syndicated columnist through Gannett Newspapers and a full-time columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times located in Asheville, N.C. – the prettiest town in America. Her work has appeared all over the world in major newspapers such as the Washington Post, Chicago Sun, Newsday, Woman’s World, and dozens of other publications. Her new breasts have appeared less frequently, but debuted on Dec. 10, 2003. And the rumors are true, indeed. She felt so guilty about spending so much on them, she signed on to sponsor a child from Guatemala. They are all getting along swimmingly – the child, Reinhardt, and her new breasts. Each week, her special brand of heart-infused humor is available to the hundred or more Gannett newspapers that have the option of running her column. Some do, some don’t. She thinks those who don’t are missing out. Reinhardt has won many dozens awards for her columns, features and fiction writing. She was tapped Gannett’s Outstanding Writer of the Year in 1998 and has won several Best of Gannett honors. She has been nominated for a Pulitzer, which she did not win, obviously, and has penned two novels, which have yet to find a home. They are up for adoption. Her short stories have been honored by the venerated Story Magazine, Mademoiselle and Writer’s Digest magazines. As a woman born in South Carolina, reared in Georgia and then transplanted to North Carolina, she knows the South and its people the way a mom knows the roads to her children’s souls and smiles. She is a woman who can not only write funny, but one who takes it a level deeper by not being afraid to show her pain, her faults, fears and losses. She does it in a way that brings familiar tears with the smiles. Reinhardt has been a guest on radio and television shows, has given dozens of speeches and is as funny and charming in person as in print. Or so others tell her. She’s no timid wallflower, but a sassy southern woman who goes after what she wants but leaves the grass tall, and not flattened, in her wake. She is a long-time volunteer and fund raiser for Hospice, the United Way, the PTO, and other worthwhile and not so worthwhile causes. She is a proud member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Southern Humorists.com and the Not Quite Write Book Club, a group of 10 women who eat too much and pretend to act literary. She is married to jazz musician, Stuart Reinhardt, and they have two children: Niles Landon 12, and Lindsey Hope, 7. | ||
| http://www.susanreinhardt.com/ |  | Celia Rivenbark | 
|
| is an award-winning newspaper columnist and freelance journalist whose work has been compared to a cross between Erma Bombeck and Hunter S. Thompson. Celia has won national and state press awards and is the author of three humor collections: Bless Your Heart, Tramp (2000, reprinted in 2006), We're Just Like You, Only Prettier (2004), and Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank (2006). Celia lives in Wilmington, NC, with her husband and daughter. | ||
| http://www.celiarivenbark.com |  | Joni Rodgers | 
|
| is a critically acclaimed novelist applying the fine art of fiction to the creation of powerful memoirs, Joni Rodgers writes mainstream fiction and serves as a high end ghostwriter, book
doctor, and "memoir guru" to celebrities and other clients. Joni was born into a family of gospel/bluegrass performers and grew up on stage, opening for sequin-spangled C&W stars of the 1960s. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1994, Joni was sidelined from her career in theatre, radio, and voiceovers (her voice has been heard on over 3,500 radio and television commercials) and used the chemo downtime to write her first two novels, both of which were published to critical acclaim. Bald in the Land of Big Hair, Joni's memoir about her cancer experience was published by Harper Collins in 2001. Excerpted in Good Housekeeping, condensed by Reader’s Digest, and translated for publication throughout the world, Bald quickly became a reading group favorite and made Joni a popular keynote speaker at conferences and fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, Junior League, and many other organizations. The book also brought her to the attention of celebrities and others seeking help with memoir projects. (While working on her forthcoming memoir, My First Five Husbands, actress Rue McClanahan wrote to Joni, "You made gorgeous cream pies out of the curds and whey I sent.") Joni has written articles, essays, and columns for several national magazines and anthologies. Media appearances include the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, the Discovery Channel, TLC, Oxygen, PBS, and BBC. More importantly, she and her family have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, United Methodist Youth Fellowship, and Operation Compassion, which served evacuees displaced by Hurricane Katrina. While peer counseling fellow cancer survivors, Joni founded ChemoHeads.com, an online resource center for people living with cancer. She received advanced certification as a United Methodist layspeaker in 1998 and continues private study of the Bible, Torah, and Buddhist scripture. Married to jet mechanic/home winemaker/anthropology buff Gary Rodgers since 1983, Joni is the proud mom of two exceptionally fine young adults. The whole fam-damily lives near Houston, Texas, where the roses are yellow, the hair is high volume, and salsa is not just for breakfast anymore. | ||
| http://www.jonirodgers.com |  | Matt Roloff | 
|
| is an author, actor, farmer, and businessman, best known for appearing with his family in the reality television program Little People, Big World seen on TLC. Roloff is a dwarf, or little person, as is his wife Amy and one of his four children | ||
| http://www.mattroloff.com |  | Margaret Sartor | 
|
| author of "Miss American Pie"
Margaret's web site http://margaretsartor.com/ Margaret Sartor on Bloomsbury USA website: | ||
| Margaret Sartor on Bloomsbury USA website: http://www.bloomsburyusa.com |  | Monique Maria Schmidt | 
|
| author of Last Moon Dancing, the story of her experiences in the Peace Corps. | ||
 | Nicole Seitz |  |
| Nicole Seitz grew up on Hilton Head Island, a small town off the coast of South Carolina, where she was surrounded by palmetto trees, marsh grass, sandy beaches and unique Southern characters. As an author, artist and speaker, Nicole's work is deeply influenced by her faith and the mystique and charm of the Lowcountry. In 1989 she went to the U.S.S.R as a student ambassador through People to People Organization, and the trip opened her eyes to the struggles, beauty, and universal qualities of other cultures--things she likes to explore in her work. | ||
| http://www.nicoleseitz.com/ |  | Louise Shaffer | 
|
| is a graduate of Yale Drama School, has written for television, and has appeared on Broadway, in TV movies, and in daytime dramas, earning an Emmy for her work on Ryan's Hope. Her debut novel, The Three Miss Margarets, was released in 2003. Shaffer and her husband live in the Lower Hudson Valley. | ||
| http://www.louiseshaffer.com |  | DC Stanfa | 
|
| engagements' built around humor and the importance of self-esteem draw from her own experiences at surviving high school, the Catholic church, datelessness, and the Jerry Springer Show. Born and raised in Toledo , Ohio , DC insists she grew up after college in Dallas during the 1980s, an experience she refers to fondly as "the destructive and reconstructive years." Her maverick spirit is revealed early on in The Art of Table Dancing: Escapades of an Irreverent Woman, when she "as a mere seventh-grader" goes toe-to-toe with the church, and continues through a chronicle of crazy-but-true stories revealing how imagination and perseverance may carry one through. From Toledo to sex in the Big City, DC manages both an epic escape and a remarkable transformation. Armed with sarcasm and a pen, she proves truth is funnier than fiction. DC has made various local television appearances and was featured in an interview for In The Tank, a documentary program on PBS. She has appeared in several publications, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio Magazine, and award winning humor writer Susan Reinhardt's nationally syndicated column. DC has also been a guest on various radio programs, including Youngstown based The Ron & Casey Show and Cincinnati's Q102. She is a regularly featured guest on Q102's radio show Amy's Table: A Girl's Guide to Living, where she speaks about a wide range of book topics. Taking her book tour all over the Buckeye State and even Kentucky , DC has hit the road with her beach party book signings ranging from locations like Covington , Kentucky to Cincinnati , Columbus , and Toledo , Ohio . She currently lives in Cincinnati with her daughter, Cori, and two cats, the requisite writerly minimum. | ||
| http://www.dcstanfa.com |  | Shellie Rushing Tomlinson |  |
| Shellie Rushing Tomlinson lives in Lake Providence, Louisiana with her husband, Phil. Their daughter, Jessica, and her husband, Patrick, live in Houston, TX. Their son, Phillip, and his new wife, Carey, live in Lake Providence. Shellie is the author of “Lessons Learned on Bull Run Road”, “’Twas the Night before the Very First Christmas” and “Southern Comfort with Shellie Rushing Tomlinson” and the recently released title from Penguin Group USA, Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On . Shellie is owner and publisher of a website called All Things Southern and the host of a daily radio show and weekly TV segment by the same name. A list of the twenty-eight radio stations that carry Shellie’s southern features can be found here. You can see Shellie each Tuesday morning at 6:00 on CBS affiliate KNOE’s Good Morning Ark-La-Miss out of Monroe, LA, and listen to Shellie's All Things Southern LIVE Talk Show each Friday morning from 8:00 to 9:00 CST on FOXFM 02.7.The show streams LIVE and podcasts are available so everyone can join Shellie's southern celebration! When Shellie isn’t writing, speaking, taping her show, answering email or writing content for the next deadline, you can find her playing tennis with Dixie Belle, (the chocolate lab who thinks she's in charge of running Shellie's life). | ||
| http://www.allthingssouthern.com |  | Carolyn Turgeon | 
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| is the author of Rain Village, her first novel. She currently lives in New York. | ||
| http://www.carolynturgeon.com |  | Amy Wallen |
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| was raised by a wild pack of Texans. But she's an oddity to the Texas cousins because she never lived in the state, and still likes barbecue, beer and pinto beans. Because her dad worked for an oil company, she grew up in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, Nigeria, Peru, Bolivia and Oklahoma. She's still crazy for plane rides. Most of her writing inspiration comes from spending her summer vacation helping out her grandmother at her roadside convenience store on Highway 90 in Brackettville, Texas. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, Norman in 1986 with a BA in Journalism/Advertising. She majored in Advertising thinking she could be a creative writer and make a living-another one of her silly illogical ideas, like when she thought skydiving would be no big deal, or that aerobics would be enough of a workout to insure she was in shape for her trek to the Everest Base Camp. Upon college graduation, she decided she'd had enough of the Midwest and took off for San Diego, California with no job, a few hundred dollars, and the key to an apartment of a friend of a friend. She worked her way through a variety of jobs from advertising to legal administration. All the while, she plodded away at her short stories, essays and novels. Currently, Amy teaches creative writing at UC San Diego Extension, leads an advanced private read and critique group, along with other occasional workshops around San Diego. She hosts the monthly open mic prose reading sponsored by San Diego Writers Ink and she sits on their advisory board. She started piano lessons at the age of 40 and can now play the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television show theme song, and John Lennon's Imagine. | ||
| http://www.amywallen.com |  | Milton Watts |
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| Long time Jeffersonian Milton Watts has used time not needed by his business on Lake O’ The Pines, its trailer park, his land, timber and cattle to create a collection of poetry, short stories and essays that not only chronicles one man’s life, but preserves eight decades of East Texas history. Using humor, wit and unabashed honesty he describes his many roles through the years as a soldier, a cowboy, a businessman, a family man, a raconteur and a poet. His unguarded, eclectic style seldom fails to hit its target as he narrates the highs and lows experienced during his long and active life. | ||
| http://www.MiltonWatts.com |  | Rebecca Wells |
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| actress, playwright, and author of two New York Times bestsellers, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere, was born in Louisiana. After college, Ms. Wells later moved to New York City to pursue her acting career and began studying the Stanislavski method of acting, as well as a depth approach that integrates spirituality and performance with Maurine Holbert. "I live in an actor's body, in which the cultivation of sense memory, active listening, and the belief that the sublime can arise out of the most common character, word, or gesture is somewhat of a religion for me." Rebecca's commitment was not only to the stage, but to peace and social justice as well. In 1982, she went to Seattle, Washington, where she performed at numerous professional theaters. She also founded a chapter of Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament. Charmed by the beauty and grace of The Great Northwest, she decided to make it her home. Her writing, however, resides in the heart of Louisiana. While many fans assume her work is autobiographical, Wells maintains that her stories are just that -- stories. "I grew up in the fertile world of story-telling, filled with flamboyance, flirting, futility, and fear. My work, though, is a result of my imagination dancing a kind of psycho-spiritual tango with my own history, and the final harvest is fiction, not memoir." Little Altars Everywhere, which won the Western States Book Award and was a New York Times bestseller, and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, a #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 1999 Adult Trade ABBY Award, have given Wells a dominant place in American literature. She lives on an island near Seattle with her husband and her King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who is named "Mercy." As Rebecca is fond of saying, "Dogs always remind me why the word 'God' is 'dog' spelled backwards. | ||
| http://www.ya-ya.com |  | David Wilkinson |
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| , a fifth-generation Arkansan, has lived in Texas since 1972. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1980 with a B.A. in English. The author has worked as a carpenter, mortgage loan officer, a legal investigator for a civil trial firm, and in the domestic and foreign oil fields. His second novel, The Empty Quarter, draws upon his experiences in the North Sea and Saudi Arabia. His first, Not Between Brothers, won the 1997 Violet Crown Award for fiction, was a Spur Award "Best Novel of the West" finalist, and was selected "Editors Choice" by The Review of Texas Books. His short story, "Opening Day," published by ReadWest Online Magazine, won the Western Writers of America 2000 Spur Award for Best Western Short Fiction. Wilkinson is a member of Western Writers of America, and sits on the board of Ozark Creative Writers. His third novel, OBLIVION'S ALTAR, the true life story of the Cherokee Chief Major Ridge, was released by NAL/Penguin Putnam in November, 2002. Major Ridge championed the "civilization" movement within the Cherokee Nation and was the driving force behind the organization of a centralized, constituted government only to be blamed for the Trail of Tears. OBLIVION'S ALTAR won the 2003 Spur Award for "Best Original Paperback" and was selected as a finalist for the 2003 Oklahoma Book Awards. Wilkinson co-wrote a memoir with retired Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson. At the twilight of Jackson's 27-year career with the Rangers, TEXAS MONTHLY magazine featured his image on their bestselling edition ever (February, 1994). Jackson went on to act in feature films THE GOOD OLD BOYS, DANCER,TEXAS, ROUGH RIDERS, and BLUE SKY. Now in its seventh printing, ONE RANGER: A MEMOIR has become the fastest-selling book in the history of the University of Texas Press. Wilkinson is currently at work on a contemporary novel set in the Big Bend Country of West Texas entitled WHERE THE MOUNTAINS ARE THIEVES. David splits his time between Alpine and Dallas, Texas. | ||
| http://www.dmarionwilkinson.com |  | Franz Wisner |
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| is a writer/vagabond who, in a previous reincarnation, used to work as a lobbyist, public relations executive, and government press secretary. During his world journeys, he penned numerous travel articles and opinion pieces, which appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, ABC News on-line, and Coast Magazine, among others. Franz and his brother, Kurt, are currently traveling the globe for their next book, also with St. Martin's Press. | ||
| http://www.honeymoonwithmybrother.com |  | Karen Spears Zacharias | 
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| grew up in several Georgia trailer parks where her brother taught her how to outrun the cops, and her mother taught her how to load cinder blocks in a hurry. Not a particularly bright student, Karen indulges an insatiable curiosity for useless information. Despite her trailer park beginnings, Karen managed to graduate, without honors, from Oregon State University, with a B.S. in Communications, which her mama swears she mastered long before Karen wasted all that money on college, when she could've just as easily gotta job at Dairy Queen and made a pile more money than she does now. Karen's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, The Oregonian, and a bunch of other newspapers and magazines and on Beatrice.com. Karen also served as a panelist/judge for the National Endowment of the Arts Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Random House, 2006. She's married to a pretty decent Yankee, and is the mother of four adult children and mother-in-law to a verified Sinner. She divides her time between her home in Oregon and her hometown in Georgia. Karen is currently working on The Arrow that Flies by Day, a novel set in East Tennessee. She claims it will be her first "bass-saller". | ||
| http://www.heromama.org |
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