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.
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.
Peter T. Masson is the author of Passages of Time (2007), a contemporary
science fiction novel about Jon Smith. Orphaned at birth, Jon has grown
up to lead a very ordinary life—until the headaches begin, and then the
apparitions. The visions haunting Jon drive him to seek the truth—that he
possesses an inherited talent for crossing over to other times and other
places. As Jon struggles to gain control over his newfound ability, he is quick
to discover the sorrows that await those who meddle with time gone by. The
secret of his past and the fate of the future will culminate at an ancient
cathedral in Renaissance Italy. There he will discover his roots and root up an
evil that he could have never imagined existed. It will follow him through the
passages of time with disastrous results.
Peter’s
unpublished manuscript is a supernatural thriller entitled The First Coming.
It tells the story of Pete Stein, a wayward Chicago detective, who is no
stranger to secrets. An investigation into a mysterious traffic accident puts
Pete on a collision course with a man who walks our streets, no longer wishing
to live, but unable to die. Intrigued by this immortal, Pete embarks on an
adventure that stretches to a battle on the very steps of the Vatican, where
ultimate evil is making a clandestine effort to keep the enigma hidden forever.
Visit
Peter’s website at www.petertmasson.com to find out about his additional works in progress, as
well as his inspirations and life aboard a sailboat in Seattle.
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.
Michael
T. Miyoshi – is a high school teacher and coach. He works on his middle grade
and novel writing when he is not working, spending time with his family,
or writing his weekly column, Musings. Musings appears periodically in The
River Current News (Duvall, WA) and weekly on Michael’s website, MediocreMan.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.
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.
Nancy Owens Barnes - Nancy’s travel
narrative/memoir titled SOUTH TO ALASKA is due for release by New Leaf Books
October 2007. The book is the story of her father who, in 1926, sees a
photograph of the Alaska wilderness in his fourth-grade geography book and
dreams of living there. Nearly fifty years later he constructs a
47-foot-boat in his backyard and begins a mostly-solo, 10,000-mile watery
journey from Arkansas to Alaska by way of the Panama Canal. The
author not only watched her father’s dream weave its way through the lives
of her family, but she boarded the Red Dog for the first leg of its
journey along the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. Nancy Owens Barnes
received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Vermont College of Norwich
University where she studied creative writing. She is a member of the
Idaho Writers League and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. SOUTH
TO ALASKA is her first book.
Colleen Patrick - Colleen Patrick is a Seattle
writer, film director, camera acting and writing coach who loves to sing!
Larry Patten - is a United Methodist pastor
and writer. Living in Fresno, California, he regularly updates the website
vainly named after himself. On his site, he writes, “faithful and foolish
reflections served weekly.” His irreverent reverent essays have been published
in DiscipleWorld (“Where Are Your Candles” - Jan/Feb 2008) and, later in
2008, The Lutheran (“Wounded Angels”). Currently he’s working on a mystery
novel entitled, ORDINARY TIME.
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.
Eric Penz - Eric Penz is a partner
in an insurance and financial services agency. He earned his
Bachelor of Science degree in environmental biology from Eastern
Washington University in 1995. His postgraduate work was done at the
University of Washington where he completed a two-year program in
commercial fiction. Between managing his clients' portfolios and
writing, he spends his spare time as an amateur adventure athlete.
He and his wife and their two boys make their home in Sammamish,
Wash. To learn more about his work or his recent novel, Cryptid:
The Lost Legacy of Lewis & Clark visit his website.
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.
Anna Richenda - a writer, preacher, and historian with a fascination for monastic
history. Her historical fiction book The Saint and the Fasting Girl (www.annarichenda.com) will be available summer 2009.She maintains the website historyfish.net and the Saltwater Scrolls blog www.historyfish.net/bloghf, and has
published two photographic history books on the pioneer histories of Washougal
and Fishers Landing, both early communities on the Columbia River. She lives in
the Pacific Northwest within sight of three volcanoes: Mt. Hood, Mt.
Jefferson, and Mt. St. Helens. These behemoths are
constant reminders that life is ferocious, fragile, and magnificent
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.
Jennifer Sokol – is
a freelance violinist in the Seattle area, who has performed with such
groups as the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera. She is the founder
and first violinist of the Cameo String Quartet, and teaches a large
number of violin students. As a writer, Jennifer has just had her first
book published, Six Years of Grace: Caregiving Episodes With My Mother (Tate
Publishing), and is a regular freelance writer for The Catholic
Northwest Progress. In addition, Jennifer received the 2004
President's Award for Literary Excellence from the National Authors
Registry, and continues to have articles and essays published in various
periodicals.
Carole Stevens Bibisi - Singer/Songwriter
Carole Stevens was born and raised in New Zealand, and gained a
wealth of experience working in Advertising. It's only since coming
to live in America and attending her first Writer's Conference
in 2004 with PNWA, that Carole seriously began to write and
illustrate Children's Books. 'Tails' of American Bronte was her first
book, written from her crazy, inspiring black cat's perspective.
Bronte teaches the Alphabet in her next book, followed by an American
Bronte Calendar. Carole's latest book The Rainbow's Dream and Song,
is an audio/visual, color delight.
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.
Christopher
L. Vaughn - known as C. L. Vaughn in his writing, is a lifetime resident of
the Puget Sound and currently lives with his wife in the Sky Valley. Chris
is currently working on two books, ‘The Baltazara Plateau: An Owen Ruger
Novel’, and ‘The X-Files of the BSA’ a history book that takes a look at
the unusual and sometimes paranormal history of the Boy Scouts of America.
Chris is a contributor to the online magazine Americanchronicle.com and 21
other affiliated online magazines. He is also the owner and editor of a
new online magazine, ArmedForcesMagazine.us, which is scheduled to open
December of 2007. In addition to his online work Chris is the
author/editor of a small newsletter titled ‘The Y Knot Monthly’ and has
several short stories posted on writing.com. Chris’ writing is inspired by
his life experiences, heroes, and an interest in the paranormal.
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.
Award-winning author, Susan Wingate, writes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and plays. In
2007, her mystery novel, OF THE LAW, was released. She lives in Washington
State with her husband, Bob, where she writes full-time.
