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Steven Walker has
approximately 1,500 published credits to his name. He was born
in Heidelberg, Germany and
started freelancing professionally in 1989, beginning mostly with short horror fiction
pieces for small press publications. In 1996, Walker had his first horror novel, “Desmodus”
published. Shortly after that, he opened up the Bucks County, PA chapter of Active Voice
International, and was pivotal in the creation of The Writers Room of Bucks County and Bucks
County Writer magazine.
Walker founded the Lehigh Valley Writers Academy in 2001.
He worked as a reporter for The Morning Call newspaper (a division of The Tribune Company)
for three years. He has had nonfiction pieces published in newspapers and magazines and has
received several awards for his macabre style of poetry. His latest book, “Blood
Trail” is a true-crime story about a confessed serial killer from Indiana.
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Patrick Ryan's first book, Send Me, was published in
February by
the Dial Press, and was chosen by Barnes & Noble for their "Discover New Writers"
series. His work will be included in the upcoming Best American
Short Stories 2006.
He is the recipient of a 2006 Literary Fellowship from the National
Endowment for the Arts, and the Smart Family Foundation Prize for Fiction.
His stories have appeared in The Iowa Review, The Yale Review, One
Story, Ontario Review, and elsewhere. He lives in New York City.
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As a young child in the rural
areas of Ohio, Daniel-Gary Holderman spent
much of his time alone, trumping around and
exploring anywhere that he could. It is a formula that makes for a wondrous imagination.
Currently, Daniel resides in
Sayreville, New Jersey. By day he works forty plus hours per week at a medical device
company in Plainsboro, where he is the administrative assistant to the Vice President of
Global Marketing. By night, he devotes his time to writing and six weeks out of every
semester, he teaches a non-credit course called "The Process of Creative Writing" at
Mercer County Community College.
Daniel is the author of THE
HERITAGE OF TERRA: THE ENDEAVOR, released in December of 2004, from Author House. http://www.authorhouse.com/
The Endeavor is a story that is influence by such artists as James Redfield, George
Lucas, Gene Roddenberry and George Bernard Shaw. This somewhat social commentary
includes space travel, hyperspace, an alien virus and a marooned crew. The book can be
purchased online at http://www.terraseries.com (or
at the Amazon.com link below).
As of late, Daniel has been
vigorously working on the second book of the series, THE HERITAGE OF TERRA: THE OBLIGATION.
War comes to Terra, when two societies meet each other for the first time. One society
is starving, and is led by an ambitious monarch and a power hungry general. The other
society displays intriguing abilities. For the first time in nearly four hundred years,
Cason DelAmbora, once "The Savior of the Earth System," comes out of his
self-inflicted isolation to influence the outcome of the war. The second book looks to
publish by the end of 2006.
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Jim Lynch is the author
of THE HIGHEST TIDE, a debut novel starring
a
13-year-old boy who turns into an awkward
celebrity after he makes a
series of discoveries on the tidal
flats near his home in Puget Sound.
The Highest Tide is being marketed as a
novel for adults and children
throughout Europe and North America. http://www.thehighesttide.com/
Jim has won national
journalism awards for his newspaper writing
in the United States. The Highest Tide just
received the 2006 Pacific Northwest
Booksellers Book Award and has been a
regional bestseller since it was released in
September. Jim writes, sails and explores
tidal flats from his home in Olympia,
Washington where he lives with his wife and
12-year-old daughter.
"People usually
take decades to sort out their view of the
universe, if they bother to sort at all. I
did my sorting during one freakish summer in
which I was ambushed by science, fame and
suggestions of the divine..." --excerpt
from The Highest Tide
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Scott Virtes has had about 350 stories & poems published since 1986. Look for them in
Analog, Space & Time, Ideomancer, Dreams & Nightmares, Cafe Irreal, Planet, and many more.
http://tales.scvs.com
In Feb 2006 he had two new stories published on Amazon.com, part of their new Amazon Shorts
program.
His story collection "Year of the Twist" is now available on Amazon, and a new collection
("Blank Space & other dangers") is coming soon from RageMachine Books.
His new poems in print this month: "drunk with life" (with Terrie Leigh Relf) in Bondage
anthology http://www.samsdotpublishing.com No, it's not a sexual bondage book, just a provocative
theme with some interesting works inside.
His new acceptances include, "Kara's Jungle" (poem) accepted by Abyss & Apex for their April
2006 issue, "Clawfoot Tub" (poem) accepted by Tapestry, "Boundaries" (poem) accepted by
Beyond Centauri for their April 2006 issue, "For the Dogs" (poem) accepted by Beyond
Centauri for their July 2006 issue, "Adam Inquistive" (poem) accepted by Ideomancer for a
2006 issue, "Harrod Runs his Mouth" (flash) and "Other Monsters"
(flash) accepted by FlashShot.
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Darlene Hartman, who writes as 'Simon Lang,' has written for Star Trek,
Combat and The Fugitive, as well as having published five science-fiction novels; several
essays for college textbooks; PSAs for such organizations as the US State Department, The
Cardinal Cooke Council on Pro-Life, and The Heart Association, and is a frequent columnist for
www.CatholicMom.com/.
She has spoken at schools and conferences around the country on such
subjects as Being There, Raising Handicapped Children, Teaching the Unborn, The Handicapped
Child in School, Fun With Sign Language, Remember That! and Imagine That! and has been
artist-in-residence at a magnet school in Orlando, Florida. She has also written several dozen
short stories, articles, and poetry for various magazines. Her latest venture is a
completely different sort of a writers’ course called “Think Like a Writer.”
She is a Eucharistic Minister, a Master Gardener, a gourmet cook, does
children’s murals, and keeps a busy speaking schedule re: writing, parenting and Sign
Language. Hartman has 20 (grown) children and 42 grandchildren (so far), and has been married
almost 51 years to the love of her life.
Darlene does not do floors or windows.
Check out Darlene's website at
www.simonlang.net
If you are interested in Darlene's free
monthly teleseminar, simply send an email to
simonlang@harthaven.com with "Teleseminar" in the Subject line. |
Selina Rajani has been at Raincoast Books for
almost 6 years now. She did time in the Sales, Marketing and BookExpress wholesale divisions,
which has been very helpful in her current role as Publicist. Raincoast distributes for US, UK
and Canadian publishers, and also publishes titles in-house, so she gets to play with all
sorts of books, from international blockbusters to the most niche poetry.
Selina is the current Chair of the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia's Trade
Committee, a group created to raise the profile of BC-published books. She is also the Western
VP for the Book Promoters' Association of Canada. As such, she organizes professional
development seminars that bring media and publicists together, as well as social events.
She has a double BA in Religious Lit and English and was going to go back for more, but
decided that making books was as fun as studying them, and slightly more profitable.Selina also designs clothes and is a runner.
And she likes black.
Related links:
Book Promoters' Association of Canada: www.bpacanada.org
Assoc. of Book Publishers of BC: www.books.bc.ca
Raincoast Books: www.raincoast.com
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| C.L.
Russo works with people with developmental disabilities in Baltimore.
He lives with his wife and two daughters in southern Pennsylvania.
He cites Gene Wolfe, Stephen King, Ursula K. LeGuin, and legions of speculative fiction
short story authors as influences on his work. C.L.’s
work has appeared in Neo-Opsis Science Fiction Magazine, DawnSky.com, The Twilight Times, and
AlienSkin Magazine.
His
story “Key Man” is included in the recently released anthology Chimeraworld 3,
edited by Micheal Philbin.
Another
story “Dogs of War,” will be released in April of 2006 as part of the serial novel Liquid
Laughter Project: Medicine Show, edited by Hiedi Lampietti and published by RedJack
Publishing.
Other
stories will appear in Red Scream Magazine and the anthology Strange Pleasures 6, published
by Prime/Wildside.
In
addition to writing, C.L. is addicted to reading and is a degenerate poker player.
C.L. Russo's blog: There's not much writing content on it at this point, mostly
dedicated to poker.
www.clrusso.blogspot.com
Chimeraworld 3, including a link to a short commentary C.L. wrote about
"Key Man."
http://www.horrorquarterly.com/chimericanabooks/
A review of the story "Putting Off 'Til Tomorrow," which appeared in Neo-Opsis
Science Fiction Magazine.
http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=476&Itemid=261
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Christine
Senter is the Queen of Writing Prompts! She joins us at The Writer's Chatroom on a regular
basis, to kick our creativity into high gear.
Christine
wrote her first story in the fourth grade. The assignment was to create something around your name and her last
name at that time was Wickwire. So, she created a burglar alarm consisting of 100 ft. of candlewick and 100 ft. of barbed wire. It earned her an A and a desire to keep writing. She
continued writing through high school. As an adult, she moved into websites, short stories and
articles.
In March of 2002 she had to set her writing aside and join the workforce, but she continued
writing articles and short stories. In December 2003 she started a newsletter offering writing
prompts, writing articles and website links. In November 2004, she started www.thepromptwriter.com
. A month later she was able to quit her job and go back to writing full-time.
Currently she is working on a series of e-books based on her newsletter. The first of these books is titled "Written
Promptly Everyday" and contains seven different categories of fifty-two prompts each.
The second will be titled "Promptly Seasoned" and will contain ten writing prompts for
each month of the year, based on the world holidays of each month.
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Maureen McMahon was born in Niles, Michigan. She studied English and
creative writing at Western Michigan University where she earned an English Major/Creative
Writing Emphasis and obtained a teaching certification. She has been named by Western
Michigan University as one of eleven noteworthy alumni in 2001 for her creative writing
achievements.
Fascinated with her mother’s country of birth, she traveled to Australia
in 1981 where she now resides with her husband and a menagerie of pets. Her two children are
now grown.
Maureen’s website, Moonspinners Writer’s Page, has recently been voted one of the ‘101 Best Sites, 2006’ by Writer’s Digest Magazine.
Moonspinners Writer’s Page is dedicated to assisting creative writers and her Ask The Experts
page, run in partnership with Fran Silverman, provides over 100 authors and experts who have
volunteered to answer any marketing queries.
She is co-director of BooksWeLove.net
and co-moderator of Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) Authors. She is a member of the Victorian
Writer’s Centre and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA). She has freelanced for many
magazines and was staff writer for Australian Runner Magazine for several years.
Maureen is a certified instructor and teaches creative writing at various
venues, including Writer’s Online Workshops.
Her two suspense novels, SHADOWS IN THE MIST and RETURN OF THE GULLS are
likened in writing style to Mary Stewart and Barbara Michaels.
The sequel to RETURN OF THE GULLS, a novella entitled GHOSTS OF AULD LANG
SYNE, is included in a six author anthology entitled ENCHANTED HOLIDAYS.
Maureen’s award winning short fiction is published in an anthology
entitled A NIGHTINGALE IN THE SYCAMORE.
http://www.maureenmcmahon.com/order.html
Visit Moonspinners Writer’s Page:
http://www.maureenmcmahon.com or Maureen’s Books We Love page at:
http://www.bookswelove.net/mcmahon.html
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Born and raised in Dungarvan, Ireland,
Kealan Patrick Burke is an award-winning author described as "a newcomer worth watching" by Publishers
Weekly. Some of his works include the novels Currency of Souls and The Hides
(Bram Stoker Award nominee, 2005), the novellas The Turtle Boy (Bram Stoker Award
Winner, 2004) and Vessels, and the collection Ravenous Ghosts. He has also sold
fiction to a number of publications, including Postscripts, Cemetery Dance, Grave
Tales, Shivers II, Shivers III, Shivers IV, Looking Glass, Masques V, Subterranean #1,
Evermore, Inhuman, Horror World, Surreal Magazine, and Corpse Blossoms.
Aside from his accomplishments as an author,
Kealan also edited the anthologies: Taverns
of the Dead (recipient of a starred review in Publishers Weekly), Brimstone
Turnpike, Quietly Now: A Tribute to Charles L. Grant (International Horror Guild
Award & Bram Stoker Nominee, 2004), the charity anthology Tales from the Gorezone and
Night Visions 12. He is also an associate editor for Subterranean Magazine.
A movie based on his short story "The Quiet" is currently in post-production at Artificial
Films in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Sophfronia Scott grew up in Lorain,
Ohio, a hometown she shares with author Toni Morrison. Her father was a Mississippi-born
steelworker who never learned how to read and her mother was a stay-at-home mom who always
made sure there were books in the house. As a result of her mother’s attentions, Sophfronia
was able to read long before she started school . That early push set her on an academic path
that led her straight to Harvard. Initially she dreamed of becoming a doctor until one of her
writing teachers informed her, “You know, you’re good enough to get paid for this.” This
revelation motivated her to change majors, from Biology to English, in her junior year.
Just one month after graduating in 1988 Sophfronia went to work for Time Magazine. She started
off as a researcher but, in early 1990, she and colleague David Gross conceived a cover story
that came to be known as “Twentysomething”. They became the magazine’s youngest cover story
writers and in the process sparked a worldwide social examination of the phenomenon then known
as Generation X.
Steady on her course, Sophfronia moved to People Magazine in 1995 where she immediately began
organizing the constellation of celebrities. She wrote about the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow,
George Clooney and John F. Kennedy Jr. for the ever-popular special issues: The 50 Most
Beautiful People, Sexiest Man Alive and The 25 Most Intriguing People. By 2000 she started
separating the fashion icons from the fashion victims as People’s Style Watch editor. She also
represented the magazine in numerous television appearances on CNN, “Entertainment Tonight”
and E! The Entertainment Network.
Most recently Sophfronia served as senior entertainment editor for Teen People, but she left
that post in January 2003 to focus on achieving “true success by her own standards.”
She has started her own company, Creative Coaching Plans, and worked with scores of
individuals using the same proven model that she has used to help them work towards achieving
true success by their own standards. Sophfronia is also a well-received speaker, presenting
speeches such as Using Your Natural Talents and Values to Achieve True Success
to professional associations nationwide.
Sophfronia’s first novel, “All I Need to Get By,” was published by St. Martin’s
Press in March 2004 and has been on bestseller lists and the topic of much discussion at book
clubs across the country. The novel continues to receive accolades and Sophfronia herself was
nominated for the African American Literary Awards as best new author.
Desiring to combine her coaching skills with her knowledge of the publishing industry,
Sophfronia in 2005 launched The Book Sistah,
a brand under which she creates programs and provides coaching for aspiring authors. Her
e-newsletter, Ask The Book Sistah! reaches thousands of writers weekly via
email.
Sophfronia resides in Newtown, Connecticut with her husband, Darryl, and their son Tain. She
practices yoga and loves gardening. These days she’s happily at work on her next novel,
tentatively titled “A Family of Widows”.
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THE
WRITER'S CHATROOM
