Fred Jessett – I’m a retired Episcopal
minister who lives and writes in both Sammamish and Spokane. I write
a column Grace Happens for two church newspapers and my
first book, Remembering Grace, a collection of 13 short true
stories was published by Forward Movement Publications in 2006. I
also have three true short stories in On The Home Front, an
anthology published by the South Dakota Humanities Foundation in 2007. A
short story, "The Preacher's Gift" was published in Ancient
Paths issue 13, 2007. In 2004 "Death on the
Rez" won second place for creative non-fiction in
the Maryland Writers' Association contest.
Bettye Johnson - Author of Secrets of the
Magdalene Scrolls, which won an Independent Publisher Book Award
2006. From the cotton fields of Texas to working for the U.S.
embassies in Paris and Tokyo, her varied background includes
being a Federal Women’s Program Coordinator for a government district
office and has conducted workshops on women’s issues. Bettye has been a
student at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, an academy of mind and
Gnostic teachings. Bettye is currently working on the sequel to Secrets
of the Magdalene Scrolls. Bettye has also authored a novelette, A
Christmas Awakening.
Kay
Kenyon - has published ten novels from
major publishers. Her current series, beginning with Bright of the Sky, is the story of a man's journey in search of his family
through the Entire, a tunnel universe with a river of fire for a sky.
Publishers Weekly listed this novel among the top 150 books of 2007. The series has twice been
shortlisted for the American Library Association Reading List awards. The
Washington Post called it "A splendid fantasy quest as compelling as
anything by Stephen R. Donaldson, Philip Jose Farmer, or yes, J. R. R.
Tolkien." The final
volume in the quartet, Prince of
Storms, will appear in January 2010. Her work has been nominated for
major awards in the field and is available in audio versions. Visit
her web site at www.kaykenyon.com to sign up for
her email newsletter, Still Writing, with tips on the craft of fiction.
She is chair of a writing conference, Write on the River in Wenatchee. (www.writeontheriver.org)
Linda Kuhlmanngrew up in
Lincoln, Illinois and moved to Oregon almost thirty years ago. She has
been writing most of her life, but her fiction has always had to take a
back seat for her job as a Systems Analyst. During her work, she wrote
training curriculums and materials for the computer software classes that
she taught. Early in 2004, she retired the technical field to begin her
new career as an author. Her first novel, Koenig's Wonder, was published in
October, 2004. Since then, Linda has been marketing her novel, as well as
writing a screen play and working on her second novel. In marketing Koenig's Wonder, Linda has enjoyed
speaking to groups of writers about her experience in writing and
publishing. She has also held readings and signings in Oregon, the
Mid-West, and the East Coast. To see more information, visit her website
at: www.linda_kuhlmann@yahoo.com
Judith Laik is a member of PNWA, Sisters in Crime, and Romance
Writers of America. She is active in the
writing community, donating her time as mentor, contest judge,
workshop presenter, online instructor, and participant in author
panel discussions at conferences. She is the author of two
Regencies, The Lady Is Mine and The Lady in Question, and has a short
story in the Blue Moon Enchantment anthology.
Jan Lind-Sherman: Who on earth is she? Teacher, Writer, World Traveler,
Humanitarian, Parent, Grandparent, Book Reviewer, Giver of Teaching
Tips, "Hands on" Lesson Plans, Multiple Intelligences Activities,
Homeschooling Help, Parent SOS, and promoter of lifelong learning. View
my complete profile at www.mrslindsherman.com or simply click out her blog. You can email me directly at lindsher@aol.com
Debbie Macomber - Best-selling writer, Debbie
Macomber loves to tell the story of how she got published. Of how she
struggled for five years to find a publisher who would buy one of the
manuscripts she wrote in her kitchen on a rented typewriter. Of how the
young, dyslexic mother bargained with her four young children to give her
the quiet time to write. Of the sacrifices Debbie and her husband, Wayne,
made so she could pursue the dream that burned in her heart.
Liz Main - Attending the PNWA Summer Conference has been my most important writing connection for the past 11 years, providing me with information, inspiration, and a great sense of community. Also, access to agents and editors is fabulous. The publication of my third novel, Murder of the Month, came directly from an editor meeting at PNWA several years ago. I hope to have the same good luck with my latest mystery, No Rest for the Wicked, in 2008.
Brian Mercer - Brian is the author of the award-winning book,
Mastering Astral Projection: 90-day Guide to Out-of-body Experience
(Llewellyn, 2004), and its sequel, The Mastering Astral Projection CD
Companion (Llewellyn, 2007). Mentioned prominently in
Publisher’s Weekly and cover story for New Worlds magazine, his
work has been featured on such international radio shows as Dreamland
with Whitley Strieber and Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell. He
is currently negotiating with a well-known producer to write and
participate in Forgotten Journeys, a feature-length docudrama about
out-of-body experiences. He is board member of the Pacific Northwest
Writers Association and a staff member of and contributor to Author
magazine. His latest novel is Oversoul, Inc., for which he is
seeking representation. Mercer holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business
with a concentration in Management Information Systems. He resides
in Seattle.
Maureen McQuerry – Maureen’s poetry
chapbook, Relentless Light, is now available for pre-order. From
Finishing Line Press: http://www.finishinglinepress.com/2006newreleasesandforthcomingtitles.htm. "A graceful
collection, a blend of simple and profound in a very touching exploration
of God's natural world, one deceptively full of faith."
Judge-New Eden Chapbook Competition "I enjoyed these poems very
much, found them moving, beautiful—what more can one ask of a poem?"
Bret Lott award winning novelist and editor of the Southern Review. A
misplaced Californian lives in Richland, Washington, and works as a gifted
education specialist and writer. She is the author of two
non-fiction books, Nuclear Legacy, and Student Inquiry, and
her YA fantasy novel, Wolfproof, will be released Oct 1, 2006 (
Idylls Press). Maureen's collection of poetry, Wingward, recently
won the New Eden Chapbook Competition and can be found in the 2006, XVI
issue of Ruah. Her chapbook, Relentless Light, is scheduled for
publication in April 2007 with Finishing Line Press. Her poems have
appeared in many journals including: Smartish Pace, The Atlanta
Review, Southern Review, and The North American Review. She
gives author talks and workshops in the schools, and especially enjoys
working with teen and YA writers.
Jennifer D. Munro’s - essays and stories have been published nationally and internationally
in over fifty anthologies and literary journals, including North American Review, Zyzzyva, Massachusetts Review,
Harpur Palate, Boulevard, Best of Best American Erotica, and The Bigger the
Better the Tighter the Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty and Body Image.
Whether fiction or nonfiction, J.D. offers a candid yet often humorous
exploration of sex and the sexes, with a quirky yet earthy take on topics such
as body image, infertility, gender roles, and marriage. Her fiction is
collected in The Erotica Writer’s Husband
& Other Stories. J.D. has taught for the Hugo House
Literary Arts Center, King County Library, and Pacific Northwest Writers
Association, leading classes on subjects such as getting published and on
writing memoir, erotica, humor, and women’s essays. She is a freelance
editor and writing coach. Her writing projects have been supported by various
Washington and Oregon State arts commissions and fellowships. Author website: www.munrojd.com.
Richard Neumann - is an Eagle Scout and retired Marine aviator who currently flies
MD11s for Fedex. Born and raised in Michigan, he currently lives in Montana.
His first novel, Jack's Last Promise, is
the story about Nick Adams. Nick lives a charmed life happily married to the
woman of his dreams and flying Marine fighter jets. "Always do your best and
always keep your promises" is the motto he learned from his Uncle Jack and it
has served him well. But now he's at a crossroad in his life with a coming child
and he realizes he has some unresolved issues and an unfulfilled promise from
his uncle. He journeys back to his Michigan hometown to attend the twenty-year
reunion of his state championship baseball team hoping to find answers. Can his
teammates inspire him once more? Can he connect with his detached father? Will
his uncle keep his last promise? Will Nick be able to provide a good life for
his wife and future child? The promise of the future depnds on the answers.
For more information about the book and author, please check out www.norsespirit.com.
Janet Oakley - has published personal essays in the Cup of Comfort series
ranging from the dreams of four generations of women in her family to doing
drywall after the sudden loss of her husband. “Dry Wall in the Time of Grief”
was the top winner in non-fiction at Surrey International Writers in 2006. Her
articles on Washington State history are at Historylink.org. Her novels THE
JOSSING AFFAIR and TREE SOLDIER were finalists at the Pacific Northwest Writers
Association lit contest. An historian
and educator, she has taught everything from splitting shakes to making butter
to 3rd graders at a cabin in the woods, researched the life a 19th
century West Coast bark and hiked across Haleakula Crater on Maui twice, ignoring
the pain the next day going down 10,000 feet to the ocean below. She loves
gardening and eating the fruits of her labor. Lately, she planted flax to
figure out how to ripple, ret, scutch, and hackle it. The linen yarn may be too
rough for weaving, but it’s the journey that counts. The curator of education at a county museum,
she lives in the Pacific Northwest and writes every day. No matter what.
Nick O'Connell - The Writer's Workshop is an
on-campus and online writing program based in Seattle, Washington that
combines the best of fiction and nonfiction writing. Contact Nick
O'Connell, MFA, Ph.D. (nick@thewritersworkshop.net, 206-284-7121) for more on
classes and tutorials.
Lisa
L. Owens -
After working in various in-house editorial positions for more than a
decade, Issaquah-based author-editor Lisa L. Owens launched the freelance
editorial services business Owens
Editorial Ink in 2002. Lisa specializes in writing and editing
children's books, K-12 curriculum materials, book reviews, and articles
for various print and Web audiences. To date she has authored 60+ titles
for kids using the pen name L. L. Owens and edited more than 100 books in
a variety of genres. Lisa also teaches writing and editing classes,
coordinates the national education program for the Editorial Freelancers
Association, and writes a blog about
her experiences as a children's writer working primarily for the school
and library market.
Ted Pedersen - Ted Pedersen grew up in the
Pacific Northwest before traveling south to La La Land to toil as a
computer programmer and then scriptwriter (200+ TV episodes). He has since
authored several tween and YA novels, plus the best-selling "Internet
for Kids" series. He currently is hard at work on a science fiction
thriller and another YA novel.
Terry Persun - With twenty-five years
experience in magazine publishing, Terry owns an ad agency for high-tech
companies. He has also published two novels with small independent
publishers, several short stories in small press magazines, and literally
hundreds of poems in literary journals. Terry's latest novel, Wolf's Rite,
won the Star of Washington Award in March '03. His website covers his
technical writing and creative writing.
Steve Pomper – Has been a Seattle Police
Officer since 1992. He has been writing since high school, and decided to
get serious about a writing career a few years ago. He has written a novel
(not published – yet) has another half finished, and a non-fiction book,
“Is There a Problem, Officer?” (The Lyons Press) which will be released
this May. He has been married to his wife Jody, a firefighter, for 27
years and they have three grown children. They live in Brier, WA. For More
information please visit my personal
and book website.
Emanuele F. Portolese - Author
of the novel, Secret Valor, is a former leadership
consultant, nuclear weapons electronics specialist, and director of the
largest private sector technical and academic exchange between the US, the
USSR and the People’s Republic of China. He has spoken many times before
audiences in the White House, Kremlin, and the Great Hall of the People
and was the keynote speaker at the Brandenburg Gate for a
commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall. Emanuele recently traveled throughout China to research
another novel concerning international intrigue on the Yangtze River, The
Yangtze Illusion, which will be completed in 2008.
Naseem Rakha - a former
martial arts instructor/ short order cook/ waitress/geologist/environmental
consultant/ facilitator/ public radio journalist. Currently I am a mom and an
author. My debut novel, The Crying Tree,
was selected for the 2010 PNBA Book Award, and has also been a Barnes &
Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. Rights have been sold two ten countries,
and it is also available in audio. www.naseemrakha.com naseem@naseemrakha.com
Esther Schrader - lives in Vancouver, WA,
with her artist husband Jack. He has created the covers for her
short-story collection Murder Most Foul, novels Desperate
Straits and The Shadow People, and the anthology she edited Twisted
Cat Tales. Currently in the pipeline at Fine Tooth Press are novels Death
Walks Among Us and Wrath of Thoth, plus upcoming anthology Strange
Stories of Sand and Sea.
Dawn Simon swears that no more
than five percent of her writing energy comes from the caffeine in Frappuccinos.
She is a member of PNWA and SCBWI, and she has also been actively involved with
Field’s End. In 2009, she was a finalist in the young adult category of the PNWA
Literary Contest. She thinks kids are some of the coolest people, which explains
her elementary teaching degree and her undying quest to write for teens. In
addition to writing YA, she loves reading it, and she dreams of seeing her own
books published someday. Soon. Her blog address: www.dawnsimon.com.
Jim Suthers – is a Human Resource professional who writes about 40 years of
studying those strange and wonderful people who make up the work-a-day
world.His book, Surviving & Thriving in the
HR World, is a primer for those who want to succeed as a leader in HR,
or for that matter, in any leadership role.He gives thanks to all those people he has met who are, or were in
leadership roles, gleefully assuring them they are likely somewhere in one of
his books.He delights in skewering
those who are not class act leaders and sets the true class act leaders out for
the reader to emulate and learn from.They were such a rich source of materials for his surviving and thriving
book that he is again tapping that goldmine in the new one he is working on
tentatively titled Supervisor Survival Basics – For the Real World!His website is www.cascadecareers.com and his blog is
cascadecareers.com/ask-jim/.
Chellis Swenson Jensen - recently published her first book, Mrs. Annathena Gilly Gully From Puddle Rumple Tilly
Willy. Written for children, basically 7-9 year olds,
but a read-to-me for younger children, it has already been read to hundreds of
school children, teachers and parents with enthusiastic response. The
book and cover were designed and illustrated by her oldest son, Paul
Swenson, who lives in Arcata, CA. The publisher was her stepson, Patrick
Swenson, who teaches Enghlish at Riverside HS in Auburn and has been an
independent publisher of a softcover quarterly called Talebones as well as publishing over 30
books under the name of Fairwood Press. Paul and Patrick are both
graduates of PLU.The
story grew out of a short story for a granddaughter in 2007. Tired
of being teased by neighborhood children, this quirky lady and her
parrot, Maurice, take off for town to find someone who will help her change her
name. Chellis even wrote words and music for a song, We Might Even Get To Be Friends". A
CD recording of the story (and song) was also made with John Toth as
narrator, and Chellis doing the voices.Getting the book in the hands of children has meant creating
new ideas for publicity, and arranging readings and book signings with
schools, senior centers, clubs, shops, libraries, and any other clubs or
organizations looking for a program. Her background as an entertainer and
public speaker has made it fun and enjoyable for her to read and talk with
children. She always takes time for the children to ask questions
about the book or the subjects it brings up....teasing, and name changing.Influenced by her father whose
romantic notes and poems to all his family were treasured, she has had a
natural flair for writing all her life. A WSU graduate with a BA in
Speech/Drama and Music, Chellis spent over 25 years as singer/entertainer
Rhinestone Rose, appearing throughout the country with the music and nostalgia
of the late 1800's to the end of World War II. In addition her life has
included helping build over 60 house for Habitat for Humanity, restoring a 33
foot 1950 Fletcher cabin cruiser, playing french horn in a community
orchestra, and 20 years on the WSU Alumni Board. She has four
children, 9 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. She and her
husband, Chuck Jensen, live in the northend of Tacoma and are active at Immanuel
Presbterian Church. Her website is www.chellisjensen.com, and
meant for both children and adults.
Published internationally, Michele Torrey is the author
of ten critically acclaimed books for children, including the Chronicles
of Courage seafaring series for middle-grade (Knopf), and the Doyle and
Fossey: Science Detectives chapter book series (Dutton). Among other
awards, Torrey has twice won the PNWA Literary Contest in her category (YA
and Adult Non-Genre), was a category judge in 2003 and in 2007, and has
twice been nominated for the Thurber House Residency in Children's
Literature. Torrey is a regular presenter at conferences and schools. She
lives in South Bend, WA, with her husband, a vocational rehabilitation
counselor.
John Treat - Has a novel, The
Rise and Fall of the Yellow House, he'd like to publish. It's a book
about Seattle in the 1980s and the lives of some new and old residents of
the city who came together back then in the Capital Hill neighborhood.
Raised and educated on the east coast, Treat taught at the University of
Washington for eighteen years and has published four nonfiction books
through academic presses, one of which, Great Mirrors Shattered
(Oxford UP, 1999), is a memoir which also talks in part about Seattle in
the 1980s. His website, still very much under development, is www.johntreat.com,
and his email is johntreat@johntreat.com.
Kaki Warner - is an award-winning author and resident of the Pacific Northwest.Although now living in the Cascade Mountains
of Washington State, she grew up in the Southwest where she worked as a
commercial artist, a high school teacher, a reluctant collection agent and a
surly secretary.Her years spent camping
and riding horses in the wide-open spaces of Texas and New Mexico gave her the
inspiration for Pieces of Sky, Book I of her Blood Rose Trilogy.Now retired, Kaki spends her time writing,
reading, gardening, hiking, and soaking in the view from the deck of their
hilltop cabin with her husband and floppy-eared hound dog.Pieces of Sky, a western-themed
historical romance will be released by Berkley Trade on January 5, 2010.Book II, Open Country, will be out in
June of 2010, and the third book in the trilogy will be released in January
2011.
Julie W. Weston - Award-winning writer Julie W. Weston lives part of her time in Idaho and
part in Seattle. Following her career as a lawyer in Seattle, Julie began
writing stories and essays, many of which have been published in journals such
as The Threepenny Review, River Styx and Clackamas Review. She has won awards
from the PNWA, Prose for Papa (Hemingway), Willamette Fiction Contest and Red
Hen Press.
Julie’s creative nonfiction book, THE GOOD TIMES ARE ALL GONE NOW,
Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town, released in 2009 from the
University of Oklahoma Press, is a memoir of place, weaving the story of hard
rock mining and labor strife, leavened with gambling, drinking and prostitution,
together with the tale of teenage love and heartbreak in a juxtaposition of life
in Kellogg, Idaho in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Margaret Whitesell is a writer living in Seattle. Like the gray gloomy days of the
Pacific Northwest, her stories deal with the gothic grit of realism in much the
same way as Ontario writer Alice Munro dealt with her region of Canada. Living
on the edge of the continent with its increased darkness and less population,
does afford more time to think and consider. Margaret's stories deal mainly
with the reality of loss; loss of love, trust, family, and ideals as well as
the burdens of conformity and pain. But all depict an added sense of wonder
when the sun does finally come out to brighten her world.
Margaret has written many successful technical
works but is now entering the realm of fiction, using the format of the short
story. Her goal is to make her fiction as real as possible. Using the short
story format allows her to enter the worlds of many different people, adult
women and men as well as younger adults.Click here to read her short stories for 2009, she canbe reached at margaret@dhed.net.
Lorraine
Wilde is a freelance journalist with 15 years experience as an environmental
scientist, activist, and educator. She writes a blog called Egg Mama, that chronicles her journey
toward publication of her memoir, Egg
Mother: An Egg Donor and Her Unconventional Family. Currently,
Lorraine is
polishing her book proposal to send to the agents and editors she met at this
year’s PNWA conference.Lorraine
holds a master’s degree in Environmental Toxicology from WesternWashingtonUniversity where she has taught for the
past three years. Lorraine enjoys the outdoors with her husband,
Mike, and their twin five-year old boys.
Arleen Williams has written her life in
journals since leaving home at seventeen. Her wanderings took her to
Mexico City where she completed her bachelor’s degree through the
University of California while earning a teaching certificate at the
National University of Mexico. Arleen has taught the English
language for over thirty years. She taught international students
living in dorms in Seattle, and migratory workers in her living room in
Santa Cruz, California. In Caracas, Venezuela she faked an Irish
accent to land a position in the British Embassy School, and in Mexico
City her high school students encircled her for protection during an
anti-American protest. The disappearance of her youngest sister
brought her back to Seattle in 1984. She later completed a M.Ed. at
the University of Washington and accepted the teaching position she still
holds at South Seattle Community College. For the past seventeen
years she and her husband have been remodeling a small 1941 home in West
Seattle where they have raised their only daughter. Her memoir, The
Thirty-Ninth Victim, was published in April 2008 by Blue Feather
Books, Ltd.
David Wilma – specializes in history. He
drafted the centennial histories of Seattle City Light and Children’s
Hospital and Regional Medical Center as well as several hundred essays
posted at www.HistoryLink.org the
online encyclopedia of Washington State History. His script of a history
of the Snoqualmie Falls power station for Puget Sound Energy is currently
in production. David also writes fiction. Down The River is a
historical novel set on the Kentucky frontier and is based on a real
family story in which two of his ancestors were murdered in an argument
over the ownership of slaves. Tiny Details is a mystery featuring a
retired homicide detective who runs an early childhood education center in
central Los Angeles.
