Vincent A. Alascia
Vincent A. Alascia is the author of In the Presence of Gods, Xristos: Chosen of God, available in e-book and paperback, Undead Heart (coming soon), and works that have appeared in anthologies and online. Originally an East-Coast native, he now makes his home in the Phoenix area with his wife and three attention-grabbing felines. He is a librarian at the Arizona State Library and an active member of the West Valley Writers Workshop.
Patricia L. Brooks
Patricia has called Arizona home for over 35 years. She has a business side in sales and marketing teaching marketing for over 15 years at the university level. She has helped seven other authors launch their book as a book shepherd. She is the award winning author of Gifts of Sisterhood – journey from grief to gratitude – a celebration of her sister’s life. Patricia is currently working on another memoir about her recovery from trauma and surviving violent crime twice in PTS. She is active in the community speaking out on Stop the Violence against Women. She has published many articles and short stories and edited university curriculum. She founded the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers seven years ago. Patricia is the author’s partner, www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com, helping writers through the maze of publishing with a “jump start” launch to their books to make publishing an exciting journey. Patricia is an active member of The Scottsdale Society of Women Writers (president/founder), AZ Authors Association, Phoenix Writers Club, Willamette Writers Club, and Pub West. She holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Management, the Advanced Toastmasters designation and was named to Who’s Who Amongst America’s Teachers. www.plbrooks.com
Drusilla Campbell
I never actually finished a story until the first year my husband and I lived in Washington, DC. By then I’d given up teaching and gotten an MA in Broadcast Journalism from American University. My science fiction story, “Piper, What Song” was bought and published and so was a second, “A Dream of Trumpeters.” Awash in visions of runaway success, I gave up my day job — I was receptionist, secretary and an on-air personality at WAMU-FM, the District’s big NPR affiliate — and began writing full time. Even during the years when nothing sold, I knew that if I stopped trying I would never be able to live with my disappointment. In myself. It was almost twenty years between my tenth published novel and my eleventh, and sometimes it seemed hopeless. But my husband, Art, and our boys, Rocky and Matt, never lost faith in me. Their confidence was a life raft, all that kept me from drowning in self-doubt. And plain exhaustion. Someone asked me why I write and though the full answer is too long to write here, it comes down to this: I write because I have always written; and if I stopped an essential part of me would stop too. I write because all my life I have loved stories, loved figuring out what makes people do the wild and weird things they do. I write because I want to connect with you, establish a bond between us based on common experiences and shared reflections.
Bob Duckles
Bob Duckles has had a career that has taken him to over a dozen countries, where he has often wandered off the beaten path. Along the way he has collected and made up stories which he now puts on paper in Phoenix, Arizona, where he shares his home with his lover of 27 years and two dogs who stare at him and seem to be trying to figure him out. As the Organizer of the West Valley Writers Workshop, he has paid special attention to the editing process, which he applies to his own work and to members of the workshop who seek his help. Bob has several published articles and short stories to his credit.
Ekta Garg
Ekta has enjoyed a great deal of diversity in her career by encountering everything from healthcare to home improvement to Hindi films—she has actively written and edited since 2005 for publications like: The Portland Physician Scribe; the Portland Home Builders Association home show magazines; ABCDlady.com; and TheBollywoodTicket.com. Ekta also edits writers’ manuscripts, helping them shape their work in preparation for publication, and simultaneously she manages her professional writing platform, called The Write Edge, at thewriteedge.wordpress.com, as well as its three extension blogs. When not fulfilling her writing and editing dreams on a regular basis, Ekta maintains her position as a domestic engineer (housewife) and enjoys being a mother to two beautiful kids.
Ann I. Goldfarb
New York native and Arizona author, Ann I. Goldfarb, spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and professional staff developer. Writing has always been an integral part of her world. Her freelance non-fiction can be found in trade magazines for Madavor Media/Jones Publications; but her real passion is writing mystery-suspense for young adult audiences. Time travel is the vehicle she has chosen to embrace. Her first novel, The Face Out of Time,received an award from the Arizona Authors Association in 2011. She has published four novels, one of which just received a stellar KIRKUS REVIEW. She is currently working on her fifth mystery. Ann has conducted a number of writing workshops for students and adults in New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona. She welcomes visitors to her website at www.timetravelmysteries.com and her Facebook Fan Page at “Time Travel Mysteries.” If you follow Twitter, she’s “Timetravelgal.”
Eveline Horelle Daily
Eveline Horelle Dailey was educated overseas. Her stories capture human nature. She laughs and cries with ease. She writes because she has to, paints when a canvas needs color for her skies. She is a weaver of yarns and words. French, the language of her youth, brings texture to her poetic prose. She has a passion for the possible. She fears not the crossing of the bridge at the center of her mind; it allows inspirations and challenges in. Her style is distinct and she is read internationally.
Michael Larsen
Michael Larsen, AAR, is a partner in the San Francisco-based Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents, www.larsenpomada.com. The agency, which has five agents, has sold books to more than 100 publishers and imprints. Mike believes now is the best time to be a writer. He represents nonfiction that will, with luck, be fail-proof, because of writers’ ideas, writing, platform, and promotion. He has a consulting service for writers he can’t help as an agent. Mike wrote How to Write a Book Proposal and How to Get a Literary Agent, and coauthored Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work. He is a co-director of the 10th San Francisco Writers Conference, www.sfwriters.org, and coauthor of the six books in the Painted Ladies series about Victorian houses, which sold more than 500,000 copies.
Gale Leach
Gale is the author of an award-winning series of heroic fantasy novels for middle-grade children that have been adopted as part of the school curriculum in both Arizona and California. She also authored an instructional guide, The Art of Pickleball, which won the Arizona Book Award, and two of her short stories were recently published in the West Valley Writers Workshop anthology. Gale’s BA and MA studies were in English and American literature, and she worked as a technical writer and editor for a number of years before making the leap to fiction. Gale is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the West Valley Writers Workshop. She loves speaking to elementary school children (and adults) about writing and being an author. She lives in Surprise, AZ, with her husband, three cats, and two dogs.
Greg Lundberg
Greg Lundberg is the author of a science fiction novel, Metamorphosis, published March 2011, and How To Publish An Ebook For Under $350, published March 2012. Both works can be purchased in ebook or trade cover format. In his early years, he was a prolific reader, and his house was piled high with boxes of science fiction books. He dreamed of writing fiction, but pursuing two college degrees, a stressful job, and a family to look after left little time to write. It took the sudden death of his father to motivate him to write his novel. That first manuscript made many one-way trips to agent and publisher slush piles. Hundreds of postage dollars later, his manuscript was transferred to an old computer hard drive in the closet. It sat there for years until one day technology offered him the chance to make his dream come true. Over lunch, an author told Greg about ebook publishing and how easy it was. He was instantly hooked. He refreshed the manuscript and hired a professional editor. Early the following March he published his first science fiction ebook. Within weeks he found himself on TV and radio explaining how he did it. Later that summer, a TV producer convinced him to write a book about his ebook process. The rest, as they say, is history. Now he has the opportunity to write both fiction and non-fiction and to share with others what is possible if you have just a little bit of passion and perseverance.
Rebecca Lyles
Rebecca Carey Lyles is a freelance writer and editor who lives with her husband, Steve, in Boise, Idaho. Her claim to fame in Arizona is her status as a founding member of the West Valley Writers Workshop. Though the group only had five or six members in the early days, they helped her hone her first novel in the Kate Neilson series, “Winds of Wyoming.” The sequel, “Winds of Freedom,” is scheduled for release this fall. Her nonfiction books, “It’s a God Thing! Stories of Inspiring Friendships” and “On a Wing and a Prayer–Stories from Freedom Fellowship, a Prison Ministry,” are available in paper and ebook formats online.
http://www.beckylyles.com
http://www.widgetwords.wordpress.com
Facebook: Rebecca Carey Lyles
Twitter: @BeckyLyles
Darlene Quinn
Darlene Quinn is an international award winning author and speaker from Long Beach, California. Webs of Fate, winner of the Readers Favorite Award for General Fiction, is the prequel to her Award Winning Web Series. Webs of Power, the first stand-alone novel in the series is the winner of the 2009 National Indie Excellence Award for General Fiction. Twisted Webs is the 2011 International Book Award Winner for Fiction and Literature, as well as the Winner of the 2011 National Indie Excellence Award for General Fiction. Unpredictable Webs will be released in spring of 2013. Currently working on April’s Web. Quinn’s first published novel, Sizzling Cold Case, published in January of 2007, was a somewhat unusual collaboration as well as labor of love for her dear friend, Buddy Ebsen. His work-in-progress was a Barnaby Jones novel, which at his widow’s request, Quinn was thrilled to complete.
Quinn became interested in storytelling at an early age but did not begin writing until her adult life. Prior to being an author and speaker, Quinn was a teacher in the public school system, a self-improvement and modeling instructor, a private contractor for department stores (Bullock’s/Robinson’s) and hospitals. She has two children, John and Jodie, six wonderful grandchildren, and lives with her fantastic husband and greatest supporter, Jack, in Long Beach and Big Bear, California.
Gordon Warnock
Gordon Warnock combines industry knowledge with a sharp editorial eye and experience as a college-level tutor to provide friendly and thorough aid with polishing manuscripts and book proposals. From his start as an intern, he has since worked his way up to becoming a full agent and an integral part of Andrea Hurst Literary Management. He frequently participates in conferences and workshops and speaks throughout the community. He is an honors graduate with a B.A. in Creative and Professional Writing. With a zest for fresh, new writing and a deep love of the classics, Gordon always has his eye out for works which will not only thrive in the current market but will also withstand the test of time, bringing joy to readers for years to come. In that spirit, he seeks to establish involved, long term working relationships with talented and dedicated authors of many genres.
Christopher Wilke
Christpher Wilke writes speculative fiction in virtually all forms. He also provides marketing and design services for independent and self-published authors. His book covers include Undead Heart by Vincent A. Alascia, the first two novels of the Travelers’ Club series by Michael Bradley, as well as the Twisted History anthology. He is the founder of the League of the Iron Quill and is a member of Literary Plus. His day-job is in marketing and graphic design for a local non-profit. During his enlistment in the Marine Corps he also had several news articles published in his name. His current projects include his debut novel set in a retro-futuristic Earth and a series of post-apocalyptic diary shorts. He lives in the Phoenix Metropolitan area with his beautiful wife and two great children.
Maralys Wills
Maralys Wills calls herself a “genre-hopper.” Her twelve books span no fewer than six different genres, though this wasn’t her intention when she began writing. Her fiction works include four romance novels published by Harlequin and Silhouette, and a techno-thriller about airplane sabotage. The N.Y. Times called SCATTERPATH “exciting, down-to-the-wire stuff . . . her cockpit sequences all but put the reader at the controls.” Among her non-fiction works are MANBIRDS: HANG GLIDERS & HANG GLIDING (Prentice-Hall), a party game book, FUN GAMES FOR GREAT PARTIES (Price/ Stern/Sloan), and her family story about the sons who were hang gliding champions, HIGHER THAN EAGLES (Longstreet Press—in 2010 re-published by Stephens Press). Sadly, the Wills family lost two sons to the sport, and Wills’ account of those years–initially exhilarating, then tragic–earned her high marks in Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus. HIGHER THAN EAGLES garnered five movie options, including from Disney, and today is once more under consideration by film makers. Wills’ book on addiction, SAVE MY SON, is the result of years of trauma with an addicted son. During several years of research in four states, Wills found not one, but many solutions to the addiction problem. Her recent, light-hearted memoir, A CIRCUS WITHOUT ELEPHANTS, earned a national award from Writer’s Digest. In 2008, Stephens Press published the sequel, A CLOWN IN THE TRUNK (an Indie award winner). After years of teaching creative writing, Wills was gratified that Stephens Press also published her writing book, DAMN THE REJECTIONS, FULL SPEED AHEAD: The Bumpy Road to Getting Published. Within three weeks, the book won First Place in its category from USA Book News, and later a First Place from the Indie awards. She also authored a recently published book on marketing entitled BUY A TRUMPET AND BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: TURNING BOOKS INTO BUCKS. Wills is the mother of six children–five boys and a girl. Her husband is a lawyer. She studied at Stanford and UCLA, earning a B.A. and a teaching credential. She once helped her sons run a hang gliding manufacturing business, but after the family tragedies she went home to write books. For the past 22 years, Wills has taught college novel-writing, and in 2000 was voted “Teacher of the Year.” In addition to frequent speaking engagements, she has given numerous writing seminars—at UCLA, UC Riverside, UCI, Orange Coast College, Cerritos College, and at writers’ conferences across the country. She is a past president of the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America.