Check out the scheduled Authors for the 2010 Collingswood Book Festival!
Alicia Bessette
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Alicia Bessette was born and raised in central Massachusetts and graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia. A pianist and freelance writer, she and her husband, novelist Matthew Quick, live near Philadelphia with their adopted racing greyhound, Stella. Simply From Scratch (Dutton) is Alicia's first novel.
Jeff Cohan / E.J. Copperman
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Jeffrey Cohen is the author of the Double Feature Mystery series, most recently with A Night At the Operation, and the Aaron Tucker Mystery series, most recently with As Dog Is My Witness. As E.J. Copperman, he writes the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series, beginning with Night of the Living Deed and continuing in 2011 with An Uninvited Ghost. Cohen is a native New Jerseyan, a Rutgers College graduate, and anything else you can think of that has to do with New Jersey. He still lives here, with his wife and children, most of the time.
Heidi Durrow
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Heidi W. Durrow is the author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, a poignant and haunting coming-of-age story set in the 1980s, explores biracial and bicultural identity. Inspired by true events, its heart-wrenching narrative and emotional honesty have already earned raves from many writers. This debut novel was awarded the 2008 Bellwether Prize for Fiction, and has been called a Top 10 Buzz Book of 2010 by the Boston Herald. Heidi is a graduate of Stanford, Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism and Yale Law School. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Heidi has worked as a corporate litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and as a Life Skills trainer to professional athletes of the National Football League and National Basketball Association. She is the co-host of the award-winning weekly podcast Mixed Chicks Chat; and the co-founder and co-producer of the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival, an annual free public event, that celebrates stories of the Mixed experience. Her writing has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Literary Review, Smokelong Quarterly, Callaloo, Poem/Memoir/Story, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Essence magazine, and Newsday.
Peggy Ehrhart
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Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor who lives in Leonia, New Jersey, where she writes mysteries and plays blues guitar. She holds a doctorate in Medieval Literature, and her publications include a prize-winning nonfiction book. She has also won awards for her fiction. Her stories have appeared in Future Mystery Anthology Magazine, Crime and Suspense, Flashing in the Gutters, Spinetingler, Crime Scene: New Jersey 2, Murder New York Style, and several other venues. As a guitar player, she has performed with numerous bands in the New York City area. Her blues mystery, Sweet Man IS Gone, was published by Five Star/Gale/Cengage in 2008. The sequel, Got No Friend Anyhow, will appear in January 2011.
Ru Freeman
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Ru Freeman is the author of the debut novel, A Disobedient Girl. Ru was born into a family of writers and many boys in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After a year of informal study at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, she arrived in the United States with a Parker ink pen and a box of Staedler pencils to attend Bates College in Maine. She completed her Masters in Labor Relations at the University of Colombo, and worked in the field of American and international humanitarian assistance and workers' rights. Her political writing has appeared in English and in translation. Her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in Guernica, Story Quarterly, Crab Orchard Review, World Literature Today, WriteCorner Press, Kaduwa and elsewhere and has been nominated for the Best New American Voices anthologies in 2006 and 2008. She has been awarded four consecutive writing scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference from 2006-2009 and she will be a fellow at Yaddo in the Fall of 2010. She was selected to represent the United States, along with four other American poets and writers in China during the summer of 2010, through the Iowa University, International Writing Program's Life of Discovery Initiative. She is a contributing editorial board member of the Asian American Literary Review. A Disobedient Girl is published by Atria Books/Simon & Schuster in the USA and Canada, is also published in the UK and territories by Viking. The novel has been translated into Dutch, Italian, Simplified and Complex Chinese, Portuguese, Turkish and Hebrew, and is available in audio from Tantor Media. Ru calls both Sri Lanka and America home and writes about the people and countries underneath her skin.
Anthony Gargano
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Anthony Gargano has been the host of the midday show for Philadelphia's top sports radio station 610-WIP since 2000. He does pregame and postgame analysis on the local FOX affiliate for the Eagles and the Phillies in addition to weekly commentaries and sit down interviews for the 5 and 10 pm news and Good Day Philadelphia. Formerly Gargano was a sportswriter for the NY Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and the AP, as well as a columnist for MSNBC.com
Gargano is the author of A Sunday Pilgrimage: Six Days, Several Players and the Super Bowl and co-author (with Glen Macnow) of The Great Philadelphia Fan Book. In his latest book, NFL Unplugged: The Brutal, Brilliant World of Professional Football, Gargano draws on firsthand accounts from more than thirty coaches and NFL players including Mark Schlereth (Denver Broncos), Jon Runyan (Philadelphia Eagles) and Michael Strahan (NY Giants), all talking candidly about everything it takes to play football.
David Hart and John Calu
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David Hart and John Calu are the authors of Trenton: A Novel"...the story of a reluctant hero who discovers that the key to Trenton's future lies in a secret from its past."
A lifelong Trenton area resident, David A. Hart received his Bachelor of Arts in history and political science from Rider College (now Rider University) where he also earned a master's degree in the school's graduate program for administrators. A published author and poet, he has won several national songwriting awards and other honors. In 1985, he organized the highly successful JAM For Hunger benefit concert held at Trenton's City Gardens with all proceeds going to famine relief. He lives in West Trenton, where he is an executive for a major New Jersey insurance company.
Born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, John P. Calu left as a young man to pursue his muse in Santa Barbara, California, where he established SongFactory - a workshop funded by Jane Fonda that led to a critically acclaimed children's album. In addition to performing as a jazz singer and traveling throughout the Americas, he has been a California Artist in Residence, a Dramatic Arts Director for La Casa de la Raza, and a New Jersey Playwright through the Arts Council of Princeton. He currently resides in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Hart and Calu have enjoyed a productive collaboration as novelists since 2003. Their published work includes a contemporary adventure series featuring enigmatic Garden State sites, obscure local legends, and everyday mysteries along the Jersey Shore and in the Pine Barrens. They are currently at work on a novel set in historic Princeton, New Jersey.
Robin Hathaway
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Robin Hathaway is the author of mystery novels. Winner of the 2009 David Award for Sleight of Hand, she wrote her first in the Fenimore series, The Doctor Digs a Grave, after she had turned fifty. An Agatha Award winner, Robin launched a new suspense series with Scarecrow, introducing Jo Banks, a young woman doctor. Jo's first adventure involved smugglers that exploited immigrants using them for slave labor. Workers who didn't produce ended up as food for buzzards. In the sequel, Satan's Pony, a motorcycle gang invades Jo's motel. When a biker is murdered, Jo defends an innocent suspect and helps find the real murderer. In the name of research, for this novel, Robin enticed a biker to let her sit on his Harley. When Robin isn't writing, she does free-lance editing, teaches mystery writing, and lectures on the mystery novel at schools, libraries, and other institutions. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Arthur Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Death Knell. Robin divides her time between Philadelphia and New York City.
Nelson Johnson
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Nelson Johnson is a Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court, sitting in the Civil Division of Atlantic County. He is the author of Boardwalk Empire. An HBO series of the same name is based on the book. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the series will premiere on Sunday, September 19. Mr. Johnson, whose family's presence in Atlantic County predates the founding of Atlantic City, is a lifelong resident of Hammonton, New Jersey. He practiced law for 30 years and was active in Atlantic City and Atlantic County politics through much of that period. As attorney for the Atlantic City Planning Board at the time of the approvals for many of the casinos, he was inspired first to make sense of Atlantic City and later to write an objective political history. The interviews, research, and writing involved in preparing Boardwalk Empire span nearly two decades.
W. Mae Kent
W. Mae Kent was born in New Jersey and raised in the small town of Cedarville. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences and History from Thomas Edison State College and a Master's in Social Work from Rutgers University. Ms. Kent is a licensed clinical social worker and a psychotherapist. In March 2010 she received an award for excellence from 101 Women Plus and a Commendation from the City of Atlantic City for her contribution to the Arts in the area of Literature. She has hosted her own radio talk show and is an accomplished public speaker, having conducted numerous workshops on woman and family issues. She provides workshops to schools, libraries and civic organizations throughout the state. Currently, she is the only Titanic historian of color in the country. Titanic: The Untold Story is Mae's first published book and the second novel she has completed. She says of her inspiration to write a story featuring the only Negro aboard the Titanic: "This is a story that had to be told. Although my book is fiction, it illuminates the fact that there was indeed a Black man onboard. In fact, there were lots of minorities on the ship, a fact that historians, filmmakers and writers have ignored for nearly 100 years." Mae is still a Jersey girl. She enjoys all kinds of music and dates with her husband, Lee. She teaches fiction writing and is currently working on her next novel. _
Dr. Nancy K. Loane
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Nancy is the author of Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment (Potomac Books, Inc. 2009), which has been nominated for two book awards. Soon after moving the Pennsylvania from Miami, she visited Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge National Historical Park. She asked a park ranger, "Did Martha Washington sleep here?" The surprising answer was "Yes." And so began an odyssey - it has become a passion - to research the ladies and women of the 1777-78 Valley Forge encampment.
Tom McAllister
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Tom is the author of Bury Me in My Jersey, a touching, funny memoir - not only a marvelous tribute to a father, a way of life, and a team and its devoted followers but also a love letter to the city of Philadelphia. Tom is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and La Salle University in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in several publications, including Barrelhouse, Black Warrior Review, and Storyglossia. A Lecturer in the English Department at Temple University, he lives with his wife and two dogs in New Jersey, a ten minute drive from Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles play their home games.
Arika Okrent
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Arika Okrent is the author of In the Land of Invented Languages. She was born in Chicago and became fascinated with languages at an early age. She flitted from language to language in school, wondering why she couldn't just settle down and commit to one, until she finally discovered a field that would support and encourage her scandalous behavior: Linguistics. After some lengthy affairs with Hungarian (she taught in Hungary after college) and American Sign Language (she earned an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet, the world's only university for the deaf), she began a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago, where she fell hard for Psycholinguistics. She first worked in a gesture research lab, and later took up with a brain research lab, where she conducted the experiments that would earn her a degree in 2004. By that time she had begun to spend long afternoons with the languages that even linguists think they're too good for -- the artificial languages, losers like Esperanto and Klingon. Initial feelings of pity and revulsion gave way to fascination and affection, and she embarked on a whirlwind romance with the history of invented languages. The love child of this passion is her book. She lives in Philadelphia.
Matthew Quick
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Matthew's debut young adult novel Sorta Like A Rock Star (Little, Brown & Co.) has already received a starred review from School Library Journal. He is the author of The Silver Linings Playbook (Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus & Giroux), which was a 2009 PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention and lauded by People, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Publishers Weekly, and others. Matthew earned his BA through La Salle University and his MFA through Goddard College. He lives in Collingswood with his wife, novelist Alicia Bessette.
Roberta Rogow
Roberta Rogow has written four mystery novels, in which Mr. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle meet and solve mysteries together. Her most recent fiction is the story "Death in the Gardens" in the Sisters In Crime anthology Murder Across the Map. Roberta is a frequent panelist at both mystery and sci-fi conventions. She is filk singer (sci-fi folk songs) and has several CDs to her credit. She is a member of MWA and is the current President of Sisters in Crime Central Jersey.
James Rosin
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Born and raised in Philadelphia, James Rosin graduated from Temple University's School of Communications with a degree in broadcasting. He has written stories and teleplays for network television series including Quincy M.E. (NBC), Capitol (CBS), and Loving Friends and Perfect Couples (Showtime). His full-length play, Michael in Beverly Hills, a comedy-drama, premiered at American Theater Arts in Los Angeles and was later presented off-off Broadway, at the American Musical Dramatic Academy's Studio One Theater. James has written and produced two one-hour sports documentaries, which have aired on public television: Philly Hoops: The SPHAS and Warriors (about the first two professional basketball teams in Philadelphia) and The Philadelphia Athletics 1901 - 1954 (about the former American League franchise). His first book, Philly Hoops: The SPHAS and Warriors, was published in October of 2003, followed by Rock, Rhythm & Blues, in 2004, and Philadelphia: City of Music (2006). In recent years, he began to author books about classic TV series, revisiting shows he felt were unique, entertaining, and enjoyed by millions of viewers: Route 66 The Television Series 1960 - 1964 (2007), Naked City: The Television Series (2008), Wagon Train: The Television Series (2008), Adventures in Paradise: The Television Series, Quincy ME: The Television Series (both released in 2009), and The Invaders: A Quinn Martin TV Series (2010). He has also been a contributing writer to Classic Images and Films of the Golden Age Magazine.
C. (Cheryl) Solimini
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C. (Cheryl) Solimini's first novel, Across the River, won the Best Unpublished Mystery Award at the 2007 Deadly Ink conference and was published by Deadly Ink Press in 2008 - thus killing her chances of ever winning another best unpublished mystery award. Featuring Baby Boomer tabloid reporter Andie Rinaldi, ATR went on to become a Best First Novel finalist at the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and a Best Mystery/Thriller semifinalist for the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards. (Yes, it's an honor just be finalized!) A former Features Editor of Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine, Cheryl is currently a Consulting Editor for Mystery Scene and has profiled Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, Tana French, Tony Hillerman, Lisa Lutz, Louise Penny, Sara Paretsky and Jacqueline Winspear, among other best-selling crime writers.
Mitch Williams
Mitch Williams is a former All-Star relief pitcher who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997. He is the author of Straight Talk from Wild Thing, the story of his career and a view of baseball seen from many perspectives. Williams twice led his league in games pitched. Williams was a National League All-Star in 1989 with the N.L. East Champion Cubs, with whom he earned the nickname "Wild Thing." He posted a career-high 43 saves in 1993 and then went 2-0 with two saves in the N.L. Championship Series, helping vault the Phillies into the World Series. After his playing career, Williams joined the Philadelphia radio station 610 WIP AM as a part-time co-host of the Angelo Cataldiand the morning team show. In April 2007, Williams joined Comcast SportsNetPhiladelphia as a post-game analyst for broadcasts of Philadelphia Phillies baseball games. In January 2009, Williams joined MLB Network as a studio analyst and color broadcaster for MLB games. He's currently providing on-going baseball analysis for WPHT in Philadelphia and Sirius/XM on their MLB radio channel. Outside of baseball, Williams has also entered the food industry with his own salsa known as "Wild Thing Southpaw Salsa." He has a wife and five children and resides in Medford, New Jersey.
Tony Abbott
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Tony Abbott has written more than eighty books for young readers aged 6 to 14, including the long-running series, The Secrets of Droon, and The Haunting of Derek Stone. In addition, Tony has written several novels for older readers, including Kringle, Firegirl, winner of the 2006 Golden Kite Award for Fiction, and, most recently, The Postcard, winner of the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. He is a frequent conference speaker and visitor to schools, and presents workshops to creative writers of all ages.
Gregory Frost
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Gregory is a writer of best-selling fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers. His latest work, the YA-crossover duology Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet, voted one of the best fantasy novels of the year by the American Library Association, was a finalist for the James Tiptree Jr. Award in 2009. It received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. His previous novel was the historical thriller, Fitcher's Brides, a finalist for both the World Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for Best Novel. He has published over fifty short stories as well. Publishers Weekly called his Golden Gryphon short story collection, Attack of the Jazz Giants and Other Stories, "one of the best of the year." He has been a finalist for every major award in the fantasy genres. Currently, his short fiction appears in Full Moon City, an anthology of werewolf tales (Simon & Schuster); in the YA anthology The Beastly Bride edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Viking), and in the Lovecraftian anthology Chtulhu Reigns (DAW Books). He also directs the fiction workshop at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA, and is a member of the Liars Club.
Marie Lamba
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Marie is author of the humorous young adult novel What I Meant (Random House Books for Young Readers), which Publisher's Weekly has dubbed "an impressive debut." In addition to her fiction, Marie has written and published more than 100 articles, including features in national magazines such as Garden Design, Your Home, and Sports International. Her piece, "Plotting a Novel Group," appears in the February 2008 and in the 2009 Yearbook issues of Writer's Digest. Marie's essay "The View from the Outside" is published in the anthology Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing). She is a member of the Liars Club
Jonathan Maberry
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Jonathan is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His novels are Ghost Road Blues (Pinnacle books; Bram Stoker Award), Dead Man's Song, Bad Moon Rising, Patient Zero (St Martins Press; in development for TV); The Wolfman (NY Times bestseller from Tor,), The Dragon Factory (St Martins Griffin), The King Of Plagues, Rot & Ruin (Simon & Schuster) and Dust & Decay, The Others, and Dead Of Night. His nonfiction books include: Vampire Universe (Citadel Press), The Cryptopedia (Citadel, winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Nonfiction); Zombie Csu: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Winner of the Hinzman and Black Quill Awards and nominated for a Stoker Award), They Bite!, and Wanted Undead Or Alive. Marvel Comics: Black Panther, Wolverine, Deadpool, X-Men, Fantastic Four, the NY Times bestselling Marvel Zombies Return, Doomwar, and Marvel Universe Vs Punisher. He has written over 1200 features articles, plays, video scripts, greeting cards, poetry, and over twenty nonfiction books on topics ranging from martial arts to the paranormal. He teaches Experimental Writing for Teens in Doylestown, runs the celebrated Writers Coffeehouse monthly networking event, and is the co-founder of the Liars Club
Wendy Mass
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Wendy Mass is the author of ten novels for young people (which have been translated into 12 languages and nominated for 35 state book awards), including A Mango-Shaped Space (which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association), Leap Day, the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (which earned a starred review in Publishers Weekly magazine), and her newest book, The Candymakers. Wendy tells people her hobbies are hiking and photography, but really they're collecting candy bar wrappers and searching for buried treasure with her metal detector. Wendy lives with her family in northern New Jersey.
Matthew Quick
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Matthew's debut young adult novel Sorta Like A Rock Star (Little, Brown & Co.) has already received a starred review from School Library Journal. He is the author of The Silver Linings Playbook (Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus & Giroux), which was a 2009 PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention and lauded by People, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Publishers Weekly, and others. Matthew earned his BA through La Salle University and his MFA through Goddard College. He lives in Collingswood with his wife, novelist Alicia Bessette.
Kieran Scott
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Kieran is a young adult author who was born, bred and still resides in New Jersey along with her husband Matt and her two-year-old son. A graduate of Rutgers University with a double-major in English and Journalism, Kieran worked as a YA editor for several years before striking out on her own as a writer. Her current novel, She's So Dead to Us, was released in May 2010, and is the first in a trilogy about having it all, losing it, and finding love along the way. The sequel, She's So Over Him, is due out next summer an is set at the Jersey Shore. Kieran's first hardcover novel, Jingle Boy (Delacorte Press), was published in 2002. Her next book, I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005) was an ALA Quick Pick, an NYPL Book for the Teenage, and was featured on the Texas Library Association's TAYSHAS Reading List for 2006-2007. The book spawned two sequels, Brunettes Strike Back(2006), and A Non-Blonde Cheerleader in Love (2007).
Sara Shepard
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Sara is the author of the New York Times bestselling eight-book Pretty Little Liars novels, which have been adapted into a series on ABC Family. She is also the author of the upcoming The Lying Game, a series for young adults, and The Visibles, a novel for adults. She lives with her husband outside Philadelphia, and is a member of the Liars Clu
Tony Abbott
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Tony Abbott has written more than eighty books for young readers aged 6 to 14, including the long-running series, The Secrets of Droon, and The Haunting of Derek Stone. In addition, Tony has written several novels for older readers, including Kringle, Firegirl, winner of the 2006 Golden Kite Award for Fiction, and, most recently, The Postcard, winner of the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. He is a frequent conference speaker and visitor to schools, and presents workshops to creative writers of all ages.
Marcie Aboff
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Marcie is the author of many published picture books, elementary and middle grade readers, chapter books, and activity books. Her short stories have been featured in a variety of children's magazines. Along with her own three children - two in college and one in high school - and her work at a state university, days are never dull! When she's not writing or visiting schools, she likes to play tennis, jog, read, listen to music, see really good movies, learn something new, and eat as much chocolate as she can.
Kim & Danny Adlerman
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Authors, illustrator, and musician Kim & Danny Adlerman have ten books published (and an eleventh on the way!), have produced three award winning children's albums, and have combined close to 50 years in children's book publishing professionally. They collaborate in some way on every effort, not the least of which is their three children. The future holds more books, games, and CDs, mulitple pairs of sunglasses, but no more kids, as far as they know.
Nicole Bailey-Williams
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Mercer County Mom Nicole Bailey-Williams juggles many titles, among them mother, wife, author, teacher, publisher, and dance school founder/director. For nine years she hosted a book review show on a popular Philadelphia-based radio station, and she was convinced to put pen to paper in the summer of 1999. The result was her award-winning debut novel, A Little Piece of the Sky. Since then, she has written articles for magazines, contributed to numerous anthologies and penned two more novels, Floating and The Love Child's Revenge, as well as a spoofy self-help book written under the pseudonym Ivana B. Rich. The book of which she is the proudest is her new children's book, The Shelby Series: The Day the Plums Disappeared, which was inspired by her 6-year-old daughter Shelby. A graduate of Hampton University and Temple University, Nicole currently resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband, Judge Gregory E. Williams, and their two daughters, Shelby and Sydney.
Luigi Borda
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Louis "Luigi" Borda is the author of the series Andiamo! (Let's Go!) Luigi Gets Around (One State at a Time)- designed to help teach U.S. geography. He uses his "Philly Phiat," a little red 1967 Fiat 500, "to help young readers 'travel' across the country, stopping at notable destinations along the way," he explains. Luigi is a geography teacher at Masterman, Philadelphia's celebrated academic magnet school for accomplished students.
Irene Breznak
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Irene wrote stories as soon as she could print; however, she made them up long before that. Her parents called them fibs; she preferred "fiction writing in the making."
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Irene is the third of six children. Her father, a first generation born American of Czechoslovakian descent, and her mother, an immigrant from Greece, provided her with a culturally rich and diverse childhood that led to her love of other cultures.
Irene's background is in Consumer Product Development, Copywriting and in Education. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and a Master of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development from Montclair State University.
Sneezy Louise, released by Random House in 2009, is Irene's debut picture book. It made the 2010 Children's Choices Booklist, a joint project of the International Reading Association and the Children's Book Council. Sneezy Louise was also nominated for the 2009 Cybils and featured in the NYC stage production of Books Cook! which was created, composed and directed by Liz Swados
Daryl Cobb
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Daryl's newest book, Do Pirates Go To Schools, is a fun story about a young boy who finds a pair of boots that turn out to be a little out of the ordinary. Past favorites include Bill the Bat Baby Sits Bella, Bill the Bat Finds His Way Home, and Bill the Bat Loves Halloween. Daryl lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children. Daryl's writing began in college as a Theatre Arts major at Virginia Commonwealth University. He found a freshman writing class inspiring and, combined with his love for music and the guitar, he discovered a passion for songwriting. This talent would motivate him for years to come and the rhythm he created with his music also found its way into the bedtime stories he later created for his children. The story "Boy on the Hill," about a boy who turns the clouds into animals, was his first bedtime story/song and was inspired by his son and an infatuation with the shapes of clouds. Through the years his son and daughter have inspired so much of his work, including Daniel Dinosaur and Daddy Did I Ever Say? I Love You, Love You, Every Day. Daryl spends a lot of his time these days visiting schools promoting literacy with his interactive educational assemblies "Teaching Through Creative Arts." These performance programs teach children about the writing and creative process and allow Daryl to do what he feels is most important - - inspire children to read and write. He also performs at benefits and libraries with his "Music & Storytime" shows. He is a member of the SCBWI.
Jason Edwards
In addition to storyteller and monster hunter, Jason Edwards is also a teacher, father, coach, and an authority on children's anxieties who possesses a B.S. in Psychology and a M.A. in Education, with more than 20 years of experience helping children. He wrote his first humorous fantasy/mystery chapter book, Will Allen and the Great Monster Detective, to help his own daughter overcome some debilitating anxieties. As Will grows from a boy trapped by his fears into one who conquered them, so may children everywhere be inspired to do the same. Jason's talent for illuminating this issue for children and adults alike has been featured in print and on radio and TV, including locally on Talk of Connecticut and WVOX radio, and WCBS TV in New York. His published works have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet sites of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America and the national anxiety advocacy group Freedom From Fear.
Carol Erickson
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Meteorologist Carol Erickson is one of the market's most versatile television personalities. Erickson first came to CBS 3 in 1978 as a weathercaster, serving as weekend news anchor and New Jersey beat reporter before leaving the station at the end of 1984. Erickson rejoined CBS 3's news team in May, 1991 and now forecasts weather for both CBS 3 and The CW Philly and is a news reporter.
She began her career in broadcasting at Tucson, Arizona's KOLD-TV as a weathercaster. Later, she moved on to WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas where she served as news reporter, weathercaster and talk show host until joining CBS 3 the first time. Active in the community, Erickson is a passionate advocate for family pets and other animals. She often includes "pet advisories" in her weather forecasts, hosts a "pet page" on CBS 3's website and reports on animal-related stories. For years, she has also hosted the popular "Ask the Vet" segment with Dr. Jerry Geffen which airs on Eyewitness News Sunday mornings. Recently, Erickson expanded her media career by publishing a children's book, Not A Used Dog, At All, a book encouraging adoption of shelter dogs. Profits from the book benefit animal shelters and rescue groups locally. The book is also on the recommended summer reading list for the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
Erickson has been nominated for numerous Emmy Awards, including for weather anchoring, writing and spot news reporting. In 2004, she won an Emmy for "Carol's Story," her courageous reports on her personal battle with breast cancer. The series generated enormous public response and her online diary of her experiences is still available online. She also won an Emmy in 2009 for Outstanding Special Event Coverage - Live as Anchor-Host of "Race for the Cure". As a survivor, Erickson also volunteers her time locally to support the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure held each Mother's Day in Philadelphia.
A native of Seattle, Washington, Erickson has also lived in Oregon, California, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania but made the beautiful Garden State of New Jersey her home! She resides in Burlington County with assorted animals. Her daughter Lexie is in her 3rd year of law school.
Alison Ashley Formento
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Alison's first picture book, This Tree Counts!(Albert Whitman & Co.), proves that trees are for more than just climbing. Alison has written for several publications including The New York Times, The Writer, and Parenting. Besides writing everyday and climbing trees, Alison stays busy keeping house with a supportive husband and two great kids. A portion of all of proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to AmericanForests.org to help plant more trees.
Dan Gutman
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Dan is the author of many children's books, including Roberto & Me (2010), My Weird School, and The Talent Show (2010). Some of his other books are The Christmas Genie, Return of the Homework Machine, Satch & Me, Casey Back at Bat, The Million Dollar Putt, and Jackie Robinson and the Big Game. When he is not writing books, Dan is very often visiting a school. He lives in Haddonfield, NJ, with his wife and children.
Lee Harper
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Lee Harper is a children's book author/illustrator living with his family in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Lee is the illustrator of Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, and Snow! Snow! Snow! which he both wrote and illustrated. Lee recently completed the illustrations for a book entitled Looking For The Easy Life by Walter Dean Myers, (HarperCollins 2011). Several new projects are in the works including: The Emperor's Cool Clothes (Marshall Cavendish 2011) and Turkey Claus by Wendi Silvano (Marshall Cavendish 2012). Besides writing and illustrating Lee loves to visit schools.
Bobbie Hinman
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Bobbie's series of whimsical fairy books are written with one important premise in mind: "Who better to blame it on than a fairy?" The Knot Fairy is the mischievous little fairy who visits children while they sleep and is responsible for the knots and tangles in their hair when they awaken. The Sock Fairy is the playful little fairy responsible for missing socks, mismatched socks and the occasional hole in the toe. The Belly Button Fairy is the grandmotherly fairy responsible for making sure that every child has a belly button, and that it's "always in the middle". The Fart Fairy is a new release. It is the tale of the mischievous little fairy we love to blame for the sounds and odors that are a part of everyday life. The books are written in rhyming verse and are fully illustrated in original watercolors. Each book includes an audio CD of the story and an original fairy song. Bobbie grew up in Baltimore and has a B.S. degree in Elementary Education. With her experience as an elementary teacher, along with the joys of reading to her ten grandchildren, Bobbie is right at home in the world of children's literature. Bobbie has been a guest presenter at many schools, libraries and major book festivals. Her books have received numerous awards. Bobbie's Fairy Events continue to delight would-be fairies everywhere.
Dar Hosta
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Award winning New Jersey author/illustrator Dar Hosta is the creator of four children's picture books: I Love The Night, I Love The Alphabet, Mavis & Her Marvelous Mooncakes, and If I Were A Tree. Dar grew up in Columbia, Missouri as the daughter of an artist and enjoyed a childhood where creativity was happening all the time. Today, she lives with her husband, her two sons, and two big dogs in a little house on a sunny hillside.
Jeff McCloskey
Jeff McCloskey is the illustrator of Not A Used Dog, At All, a book encouraging adoption of shelter dogs. Jeff is an Emmy winning graphic designer and graduate of the Art Institute of Philadelphia. He has been designing and animating graphics for television since 1986. This is the first time he has illustrated a children's book. Jeff currently works and lives in Philadelphia with his wife Lori and their 2 dogs and 4 cats.
Denise Dowling Mortensen
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Denise is the author of the award-winning picture book Good Night Engines, as well as Ohio Thunder, Wake Up Engines, and forthcoming books, Bug Patrol and a board flip-book version of both Good Night Engines and Wake Up Engines, all due out in Spring 2011. She is the mother of five children and, in addition to being an author, is a Montessori teacher of elementary students. Her stories are inspired by her five children and reflect her passion for lyrical verse and sensual imagery.
Matt Phelan
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Matt is the illustrator of many books for young readers, including Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli, Always by Ann Stott, and the Newbery Medal-winning The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. He is the author/illustrator of the graphic novel The Storm in the Barn, which won the 2010 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Matt lives in Philadelphia, PA.
Timothy Young
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Timothy Young is the author, illustrator and pop-up engineer of I'm Looking For A Monster! (Random House) He majored in illustration at Pratt Institute and has over 25 years experience as a professional artist. He has worked as a toy designer, illustrator, sculptor, puppetmaker, and a graphic designer, was design director for 2 toy companies and has created the iPhone App Creatures & Characters Mix-Em-Ups. His illustrations have been seen internationally, including the covers of Popular Science and Golf Digest.
