Jonathan Maberry is a NY Times bestselling novelist, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes the Joe Ledger thrillers, the Rot & Ruin series, the Nightsiders series, the Dead of Night series, as well as standalone novels in multiple genres. His new and upcoming novels include KILL SWITCH, the 8th in his best-selling Joe Ledger thriller series; VAULT OF SHADOWS, a middle-grade sf/fantasy mash-up; and MARS ONE, a standalone teen space travel
Anne Perry is the international bestselling author of over eighty novels, which have sold over 27 million copies. The Times selected her as one of the 20th Century’s "100 Masters of Crime". In 2015 she was awarded the Premio de Honor Aragón Negro.
Her first series of Victorian crime novels, featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, began with The Cater Street Hangman. The latest of these, The Angel Court Affair, is her most recent of many appearances on the New York Times bestseller list.
In 1990, Anne started a second series of detective novels with The Face of a Stranger. These are set about 35 years before the Pitt series, and feature the private detective William Monk and volatile nurse Hester Latterly. The most recent of these (21st in the series) is Corridors of the Night (April 2015).
Anne won an Edgar award in 2000 with her short story "Heroes". The main character in the story features in an ambitious five-book series set during the First World War. Her other stand-alone novels include her French Revolution novel The One Thing More, and Sheen on the Silk, which is set in the dangerous and exotic city of Byzantium.
Peter Dunne, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer and writer brings three decades of experience in story development, writing, and producing to his workshops. He served as Vice President of
Website: www.pdunne.com
Victoria Zackheim authored The Bone Weaver and edited six
Chantelle Aimee Osman
Chantelle Aimée Osman is the founder of Author Connect, where aspiring writers can get their work in front of experts in their genre. A freelance editor and consultant as well as the editor of RT Digital Extra magazine,
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2011 Anthony Award Nominee
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Charles Harper Webb.
Called by Lifescape “Southern California’s most inventive and accessible poet,” Charles Harper Webb, Ph.D. has published eleven books of poetry, includingReading the Water, Liver, Tulip Farms & Leper Colonies, Hot
ALL ROUNDS JUDGES:
Elizabeth White resides on the Central Coast of California and
authors the San Luis Obispo County lifestyle blog, Elizabeth in SLO. Since
2009, readers from around the globe have shared her discovery of SLO County's
regional avant-garde.
Elizabeth's taste for adventure dates back to the 90s, when she
taught English in rural Japan. She reveled in discovering the local cuisine and
customs while surrounded by lush fields of rice, stunning tulip farms, and
towering alps. She later served as the media coordinator for the Japan Exchange
and Teaching Program's Alumni Association of Southern California, where she sourced writers, edited articles,
and published several of her Japanese escapades in Sushi and Sake
Magazine.
She continues to explore and write about local novel events, and
holds steadfastly to the belief that truth is stranger than fiction. Her love
of documentaries led her to volunteer for the San Luis Obispo International
Film Festival, where for several years she wrangled wine for Festival events
and also served as a board member. This experience kindled her interest in the
budding Central Coast wine scene.
Elizabeth's blog stories chronicle her vino-infused exploits
throughout the rolling SLO County vineyards and culinary hot spots, as well as
her experimentation with recipes influenced by local flavors and products. In
the past few years her interviews with local chefs and wine makers have been
published in VINO Wine Lifestyle Magazine and Templeton Life.
When out exploring the local terrain, Elizabeth carries a camera
to capture the regional sights, flavors and events. She is a published
photographer and uses her photos to bring her stories to life. You can follow
along at elizabethinslo.blogspot.com.
Later this year, look for Elizabeth's new
website, The Quiet Blogger: Writing Out Loud About Spirited Travel.
Matthew Fleming teaches
poetry, critical thinking, composition, and literature at Cuesta College where
he has taught for the last eighteen
years. His poetry has been published
in the journals Night Roses, the University Review, The Forum, and he was
awarded the Dominic J. Bazzanella Literary Scholarhip for poetry as well as
being honored as the 2002 "Teacher of the Year.” His other writing pursuits
include screenwriting for film and t.v. as well as music performance and
recording.
Marilyn Meredith is the author
of over thirty-five published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe
Crabtree mystery series, the latest Not as it Seems from Mundania Press. Writing
as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is A Crushing
Death,
from Oak Tree Press. She was an instructor for Writers Digest
School for 10 years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writers Retreat, and
she presented at many writers’ conferences. Marilyn is a member of three
chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of
the Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills of the Sierra.
Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and
her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/
Deborah Foss is a writer, editor, and college writing instructor living in Atascadero, California. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in English, with an emphasis in Creative Writing, and her MFA in Fiction from University of Utah in 1993. Deborah has taught Writing and Children’s Literature at University of La Verne’s SLO campus for nine years; prior to that, she taught writing classes at Cuesta College and Salt Lake Community College.
Deborah’s creative writing work began with the Wild Goose Company in Salt Lake City. For five years she wrote and edited award-winning
humorous science books and experiment instructions for clients, including Steve
Spangler, Mr. Wizard, Lawrence Hall of Science, and Chicago Museum of Science
and Industry. After moving back to California, Deborah worked on the California
Education and the Environment Initiative Model Curriculum, writing over 80
introductory narratives called California
Connections. She also wrote California’s
Natural Regions, a book for third-grade students describing the diverse
ecosystems in our State.
Deborah’s short stories and poems have appeared in various literary journals over the years, including Shades, Sister Song, and Silver Vein. She was a contributing writer to Biomes and Ecosystem: An Encyclopedia, in 2013, and recently acted as ghostwriter for My Country or My Company, a memoir about free trade, outsourcing, and manufacturing in the United States. In early 2015 she completed a screenplay, Airlansea, based on a novel by the same name. She is currently working on her book, Environmental Intelligence: How Poetry, Art, and Storytelling Can Reconnect Children with the Natural World.
Brenda Knight began her career at
HarperCollins, where she fell in love with publishing and had the thrill of
working with luminaries such as Huston Smith, Paolo Coelho, and Melody Beattie.
Knight served as publisher of Cleis Press, founded
Viva Editions and was awarded
IndieFab's Publisher of the Year in 2014. A prolific writer, Knight is the author
of The Poetry Oracle, Wild Women and Books, The Grateful
Table, Be a Good in the World, and Women of the Beat
Generation, which won an American Book Award. Brenda volunteers
for the American Cancer Society as a counselor for the newly diagnosed and
leads a writing workshop titled “Putting Your Passion on Paper” at the San
Francisco Writers Conference, Book Passage, and East West in Mountain
View. Brenda might have begun her life in a West Virginia holler, but she's
settled in the San Francisco Bay Area to bring her message of fun,
gratefulness, and connection to the whole wide world.
Theresa-Marie Wilson was instrumental in starting the Coast News in 2004 and has been the managing editor ever since. She is also the Tolosa Press special section editor as well as a member of the
creative
team for four of the publication’s magazines, and a consultant for advertising
campaigns. She takes far too many photos of her cats,
none of which have been in the paper, yet. T, as most people know her, is
working on her first novel and writes a blog, CatNoirCC.com, dedicated to
saving black cats from high kill rates in shelters. She holds a Bachelor of
Arts in Creative Writing and Literature from Humboldt State University.
Mindy Conde. With a Master’s degree in Literature and a lifelong passion for the written word, Mindy is in her element as an editor for TheCrimsonQuill.com, which she runs along with friend and business partner, Natalie McDermott. She loves working with authors to help them perfect their manuscripts and turn those tricky passages into
masterpieces. After graduating from Cal Poly, Mindy and her
husband didn’t want to leave the area and now call the Central Coast their
home. She lives in the lovely, and often foggy, little town of Los Osos with
her husband, two cats, and piles and piles of books. When she’s not editing or
reading, Mindy enjoys local wine tasting, baking, and hiking in the many
beautiful areas the Central Coast has to offer.
Maria V. Eyles, aka Maria Christina Vidale, is the author of The Virtual Pen, a blog devoted to the passion of the moment whether plastic pollution on beaches, service dogs, or spiritual musings. She has
extensive experience as an editor and
copyeditor as the owner of The Polished Page. For many years she taught college
essay writing at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA. She received a degree in
French Literature and History at La Sorbonne in Paris, France, and completed
her education at Stanford University with a Master of Arts in French and
Linguistics. An award winning poet, Maria recently published her first novel, God’s Beautiful Dream, about a young
priest in Paris in 1972 who falls in love.
Natalie McDermott's love for the written word began in the first grade, and it simply never stopped flourishing; her family was not surprised when she received her Master’s in Literature, since seeing her
with her nose in a book
was not uncommon. Since she now runs TheCrimsonQuill.com with her
friend and business partner, Mindy Conde, this sight is still not uncommon,
except now she has a red pen in her hand. As an editor, Natalie’s
passion for the written word has grown exponentially, as she thoroughly enjoys
helping authors with their craft. She lives in Burbank with her husband
and their small dog, and she dreams of the Central Coast.
geography of the Central Coast. Her Otherworld series
(young adult, paranormal romance) is set in her hometown of Arroyo Grande and
interweaves the mythology of ancient Ireland with modern-day characters and
situations.
Thomas Patchell has taught writing and literature courses at Loyola Marymount University, Mount Saint Mary's College, and East L.A. College all in Los Angeles, and at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. He co-edited the anthology Veterans of War Veterans of Peace with Maxine
Hong Kingston. In 2012 his short story, “A Woman in the
Boss Man’s Yard” was selected for the New Short Fiction series and performed on
stage live at the Federal Bar in North Hollywood--it is available in the
e-anthology War Stories edited by Sally
Drumm. He has been a judge for Poetry Out Loud and the Ingrid Reti Creative
Writing Contest for ARTSObispo. He now teaches creative writing, literature,
and composition at Cuesta College in California where he has edited, co-edited,
and produced Tellus, The Literary
Journal of the college since 2008.
Sean Boling is the author of six novels and a collection of short
stories. He
teaches English at Cuesta College and Creative Writing at the Paso Robles Youth
Arts Foundation. He lives in Paso Robles with his wife and two children.
Deborah Foss is a writer, editor, and college writing instructor living in Atascadero, California. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in English, with an emphasis in Creative Writing, and her MFA in Fiction from University of Utah in 1993. Deborah has taught Writing and Children’s Literature at University of La Verne’s SLO campus for nine years; prior to that, she taught writing classes at Cuesta College and Salt Lake Community College.
Deborah’s creative writing work began with the Wild Goose Company in Salt Lake City. For five years she wrote and edited award-winning
Deborah’s short stories and poems have appeared in various literary journals over the years, including Shades, Sister Song, and Silver Vein. She was a contributing writer to Biomes and Ecosystem: An Encyclopedia, in 2013, and recently acted as ghostwriter for My Country or My Company, a memoir about free trade, outsourcing, and manufacturing in the United States. In early 2015 she completed a screenplay, Airlansea, based on a novel by the same name. She is currently working on her book, Environmental Intelligence: How Poetry, Art, and Storytelling Can Reconnect Children with the Natural World.
Paul Alan Fahey is the author of the Lovers and Liars gay wartime romance series—a 2014 finalist for a
Rainbow Award. He is the editor of the 2013 Rainbow Award-winning nonfiction anthology,
The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly
About Sex, Love, Infidelity,
&Moving On. His short fiction has appeared
in Byline, Palo Alto Review, Long Story Short, African American Review, The
MacGuffin, Thema, Gertrude, Kaleidoscope, and in various anthologies from Cup of Comfort, My Mom’s My Hero, to The Best of SLO NightWriters in Tolosa Press 2009-2013, and Somewhere in Crime. Paul is an emeritus
member of SLO NightWriters and Sisters in Crime. For eight years before
retiring from Allan Hancock College, he created and edited the award-winning
international literary journal, Mindprints,
for writers and artists with disabilities. Paul lives on the California Central
Coast with his husband, Robert Franks, and a gaggle of shelties. Visit him at: http://paulalanfahey.com
Email: paulfa1189@gmail.com
Website link: http://paulalanfahey.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.fahey.52
Twitter: @paulfahey12
Theresa-Marie Wilson was instrumental in starting the Coast News in 2004 and has been the managing editor ever since. She is also the Tolosa Press special section editor as well as a member of the
Mindy Conde. With a Master’s degree in Literature and a lifelong passion for the written word, Mindy is in her element as an editor for TheCrimsonQuill.com, which she runs along with friend and business partner, Natalie McDermott. She loves working with authors to help them perfect their manuscripts and turn those tricky passages into
Maria V. Eyles, aka Maria Christina Vidale, is the author of The Virtual Pen, a blog devoted to the passion of the moment whether plastic pollution on beaches, service dogs, or spiritual musings. She has
Natalie McDermott's love for the written word began in the first grade, and it simply never stopped flourishing; her family was not surprised when she received her Master’s in Literature, since seeing her
Jenna Elizabeth Johnson is a
bestselling, multi-award winning author of thirteen books in the Fantasy and
Young Adult Paranormal Romance genres. A California native, Jenna grew up
and still resides on the Central Coast, a place she finds as magical and enchanting
as the worlds she creates.
While attending the University of
California at Berkeley, Johnson focused on the field of fine arts and Celtic
Studies, two subject areas she has drawn from to create her novels. Her
Legend of Oescienne series (a middle grade, epic fantasy adventure) was inspired
partly by the
Johnson’s Otherworld novel, Lorehnin,
was a 2014 New Apple Book Awards Medalist in the Young Adult category, and was
also named the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Paranormal Silver
Medalist. For more on the author and her books, and for contact
information and to sign up for the author’s newsletter, visit:www.jennaelizabethjohnson.com or send
an email to:authorjejohnson@gmail.com
FREE Kindle
Books: The Legend of Oescienne - The
Finding
Follow Online
Thomas Patchell has taught writing and literature courses at Loyola Marymount University, Mount Saint Mary's College, and East L.A. College all in Los Angeles, and at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. He co-edited the anthology Veterans of War Veterans of Peace with Maxine
Sean Boling is the author of six novels and a collection of short
Randi Barros is an award winning film editor and screenwriter. She recently finished editing “Lives Well
Lived,” a feature documentary by director, Sky Bergman. She co-edited the documentary, “Botso, The
Teacher From Tblisi” which won the
Dianne Emley is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author who has received critical acclaim for her Detective Nan Vining thrillers (including Killing Secrets—Random House) and Iris Thorne mysteries (including Pushover—Simon and Schuster). Dianne’s also written a standalone paranormal mystery, The Night Visitor (Random House.) Her short fiction has been published in Literary Pasadena (Prospect Park Books) among
Website:
www.DianneEmley.com
Twitter:
@DianneEmley
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/83073.Dianne_Emley
Sue McGinty. With little more than an urge to live at the beach,
write mystery novels, and mollify a cat who’d never ridden in a car before Sue
McGinty left Los Angeles June 17, 1994, the same day OJ Simpson took his
infamous ride. Unlike OJ, Sue had a destination in mind: the
S.L. Gore. Born with wanderlust, forever
living in a fantasy world, S. L. Gore escaped the prairies of Kansas to follow
the yellow brick road on a twenty-year odyssey that took her to Europe, Africa,
Latin America and the Middle East.
Starting with a
one way ticket to Iceland, she returned with a Viking husband, an art degree
and speaking five languages.
A love of
travel, classical history, languages, mysticism, food, shopping and adventure
led Gore to create the epic time travel romance novels of the Isis Trilogy: The Red Mirror, The
Emerald Tablet and The Black Scroll.
Her non-fiction
publications include the self-help manual Sex and the Zen of Shopping: How
to Live Rich by Shopping Smart and inspirational memoir contributions
to three Life Choices anthologies.
Gore is a
regular contributor to Life
Choices on-line magazine with the cooking and table
art column Beauty and the Feast, Dining with Sandra. From time to
time, you can find samples and photos of both simple and exotic dishes on her
blog www.SLGore.com. Expect a future cookbook of Gore’s own
recipes plus those of talented, foodie friends from around the globe.
Gore’s next
project is a memoir of her years in North Africa hitchhiking the sands of the
Sahara and exploring the back alleys of the souks
in the underbelly of Maghreb. Working title: Not In Kansas Anymore. Gore is a frequent guest on talk radio
discussing Middle East politics and the impact of Islamic culture on the West.
Joyously married forty-one years, the Nielsens hang out
in a quintessential beach bungalow in a coastal California beach town. You can
follow her on twitter @GoreNovels or like her Facebook page S. L. Gore. Email
her at GoreNovels@gmail.com.
Her Bella Kowalski Central Coast mysteries include
“Murder in Los Lobos,” “Murder at Cuyamaca Beach,” “Murder in Mariposa Bay,”
and the forthcoming “Murder in a Safe Haven.” Her short fiction has been
featured in four other Sisters in Crime Central Coast Chapter
anthologies.
Tony Piazza is a mystery writer, film historian, and
veteran storyteller renowned for his passion for writing and movies. He is the
Sandra Tyler authored Blue Glass, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and After Lydia, both published by Harcourt Brace. She is editor-in-chief of The Woven Tale Press (www.thewoventalepress.net), an online magazine featuring works by writers and artists from across the Web. With a following of over 5,000, The Woven Tale Press is gaining traction as cybersphere’s premier literary and fine arts magazine, publishing both
Tyler was awarded her BA from Amherst College and MFA
in Writing from Columbia University. She has taught creative writing on both
the undergraduate and graduate levels, including at Columbia University, (NY),
Wesleyan University (CT), and Manhattanville College, (NY); she was an
assistant editor at Ploughshares and The Paris Review literary magazines, and production
freelancer for Glamour, Self, and Vogue magazines. For the past ten years, she has served as
judge for Stony Brook University’s
national annual fiction contest. She was one of the 2013 BlogHer.com
Voices of the Year.
Jo Haraf’s fiction and poetry have been published in the California Writers Club Literary Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Ragnarok. She’s currently working on a collective biography based on the early
Joyce Krieg is Vice President of California Writers Club (CWC) and is scheduled to become president of the venerable organization by the time the 2016 Central Coast Writers Conference takes place. CWC
Roland Finger
