Dr. Laura Wood Alexander

Dr. Laura Wood Alexander’s multi-talented career can best be described as “Versatile”. Her path has flowed from speech language therapy to K12 and higher education teaching and administration. Through her publishing company, Hello Voice, Laura writes children’s picture storybooks and expressive language materials under the author name, Dr. Wood. Hello Voice also publishes In A Word and In A Thought magnetic bookmarks, 10 seconds feedback cards, Pet Love greeting cards, and Natural Beauty note cards. Laura is also a voice over artist reading children’s books, narration, and commentary.  She enjoys mentoring, coaching, traveling, gardening, and walking.

Laura’s educational background includes speech therapy, learning disabilities, and educational policy and administration.  She has three adult children, four grandchildren, and two lovable standard poodles that take Laura on daily morning and evening walks.

Ten Pretty Parrots

Ten Pretty Parrots tells the story of ten colorful parrots sitting in a tree then flying away one by one to different destinations. The story highlights counting in descending order, colors, and rhyming language skills. The imaginative illustrations by Tim Haggerty add to the fun of this story. An activity page is included at the end of the book. This is a wonderful book to add to the library for preschool and primary age children.

The Speechless Chimpanzee

Children learn to speak the English language by putting consonant sounds with vowel sounds to make words. In the African rain forest two African Grey Parrots find their chimpanzee friends sad because one of them has lost his speech due to the cutting of rain forest trees. The parrots help him to regain his speech using speech articulation exercises. The beautiful acrylic illustrations by Wooyeon Park add to the beauty of this book. It is a great book for speech pathologists, reading teachers, preschool and primary teachers to add to their teaching resources. Information about African animals, culture, and rain forests can be found at the end of the story.

God Loves Me

You can reach Laura through Hello Voice at 2750 New York Drive, Pasadena, California, 91107, by email hellovoice@ hellovoice.net, or by calling 626-318-2416. Product information can be found at the Hello Voice website, www.hellovoice.net.

Barbara Ardinger

Secret Lives, now available on Amazon and as a Kindle edition, is acclaimed author Barbara Ardinger’s newest novel … twenty years in the making and filled with magical realism. Her last nonfiction book, Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives, was critically hailed as “a delightful and enlightening book [written] with wit and panache, as well as with deep scholarship.” Her numerous books, Quicksilver Moon, Goddess Meditations and Finding New Goddesses among them, have elicited equally high praise.

Secret Lives is a big novel about big issues—aging and death, the way our society treats its senior citizens, women’s friendships, the powers of love, the theory and practice of magic, the rebirth of the Goddess and Her ancient religion. It’s about the untidy mysteries of human life. See http://www.facebook.com/pages/Secret-Lives/140993335978461 and http://www.barbaraardinger.com/secret-lives for the FREE READER’S GUIDE.

Set in Long Beach’s historic Rose Park neighborhood, Secret Lives tells the adventures in a year in the lives of a circle of crones, mothers, and a maiden. Among the other characters are the Green Man, an ageless Neolithic shaman, a ghostly inquisitor, the Norns gone mad in the modern world, and a lost goddess who reminds us of Red Riding Hood. And then there’s Madame Blavatsky, the talking cat that is the circle’s too-familiar familiar. There are both love and cosmic war in Secret Lives.

As the baby boom generation ages, the issues addressed in Secret Lives become more significant to readers. Also more recognizable. Issues that used to matter only to their parents are now starting to pop up in the boomers’ own lives. This novel will thus appeal not only to the large audience that reads pagan fiction, but also to mainstream readers who love a good, complicated story and may be curious about pagans and gods and goddesses. As they read, they will learn a great deal.

Ms. Ardinger has been a freelance manuscript editor since 2003. Editing manuscripts for published authors, would-be and wannabe authors, graduate students, and professionals in many fields. “Go-to” editor for two small on-demand publishers for several years. On-going editor for the American Holistic Health Association. Projects include fiction, nonfiction, and academic discourse, all on a wide variety of topics by diverse authors around the U.S. and in Europe, Africa, and Australia. Also screenplays and poetry. More than 250 manuscripts edited to date. Freelance writer/editor and owner of I Can Write It For You (a consulting service), 1983–2003. Primary clients: small and mid-size businesses, corporate communications departments, and entrepreneurs. Projects: articles, proposals, user and procedures manuals, reports, collateral marketing literature, and other efforts.

Freelance book editor Barbara Ardinger’s newest book is Secret Lives (CreateSpace, 2011), which is a novel of magical realism set in Long Beach in 1989-90. As an editor, Barbara has put her Ph.D. in English to good use during the past decade as she’s edited 250 books. She has worked with beginning authors (on five continents) who have good ideas but don’t want to embarrass themselves in print. The 250 projects include novels in all genres (from romance to science fiction to grand guignol), nonfiction books on many topics (memoirs, New Age and metaphysics, business, health, religion, etc.), academic theses and dissertations, screenplays, and poetry.

See http://www.barbaraardinger.com/straighttalk for her comments about working with on-demand and vanity presses.

As an author whose books have been published by both traditional and POD publishers, Barbara is able to guide smart people with good ideas through the maze of writing a book—dialogue, punctuation, spelling, logical and narrative flow, subject-verb agreement, adverbs, and other matters of gooder English, plus some basic fact-checking—without running into quite all the dead ends. Her aim is to help authors not embarrass themselves in print.

In his comedy, The Clouds, Aristophanes sends a young Athenian man to school at the Thinkery, which is run by Socrates. I wouldn’t even begin to compare myself to Socrates, but I have a pretty good idea what it’s like to live in a Thinkery. I live a wonderful life working and playing with words. I’m blessed to have edited something over 250 books, which—counting the people who have come back to me with their second or third or fourth project—means I’ve helped maybe a couple hundred people make their dreams of holding in their own hands a published book they wrote come true. If holding your published book in your hands is your dream, I can help you.

Send me an email at bawriting@earthlink.net, and we can start talking about what you want to write. Read more.

Ph.D. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
Major: English Renaissance literature (emphasis on the drama)
Minors: Restoration/18th century drama, modern continental drama M.A.

Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Major: English
Minor: Psychology Extensive study of history and comparative religion

Ellie Burmeister

How to Get a Literary Agent in Two Murders or Less is the story of aspiring novelist Amanda Anderson who has never had any luck, but she hopes that's about to change. She goes to a writer's conference to find an agent, but ends up with a husband. After a whirlwind courtship, she elopes with Jonny Goodsnuff, a bestselling suspense writer and single father of two.

Soon she discovers that her husband's only good on paper. Between his sleazy associates, a draconian pre-nup, the hunky romance novelist neighbor, and daddy's little princesses (his daughters she didn't know about, who are both in their 30's and living at home with no intention of welcoming a newcomer) Amanda learns the meaning of "wed in haste, repent at leisure."

Her husband has a deadly secret, and before she can walk away Amanda finds herself in a desperate game of cat and mouse. But who are the cats? And who are the mice? And most importantly, will any of this bring her closer to a publishing contract?

Ellie Burmeister is a native Californian and a graduate of SDSU. She has worked and traveled extensively in Europe. Sheís also done some acting for movies and television, and would do more, if she could find the time. Her hobbies include reading, travel, hanging out at the beach, and fine dining. Sheís a vegetarian who eats fish, but if she says she ís a pescetarian, people assume it ís a religion and offer her carrot-shaving sandwiches instead of halibut. Beyond that, she leads a fairly simple life.

Mario Bernheim

"Michael's Reward" is the story of a wealthy executive who gives his church going family an abundant lifestyle, and is a faithful lover of God. Satan notices Michael and contests God that Michael only loves Him for His gifts, and that if they were taken away, Michael would course God. Over the next month, he loses his children, job, house, wife, and all his assets. He is forced into homelessness because of the boils over his body.  But he never loses his faith. After appearing to him, God restores Michael to an even more abundant life, and he lives a long and prosperous life.

Mario Bernheim began his career as an assistant to film director, Joel Schumacher on the Universal studio lot.  He worked for Joel in various capacities for several years before moving to New York City where he got involved with the story department’s of CBS, Fox and MGM as a story analyst. After which he returned to Universal Studios in Hollywood to be director of development for producer Topper Carew. 

In the late-eighties he became a founding staff member of Comic Relief (hosted by Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) as seen live on Home Box Office. Over the course of twelve years, he rose in ranks to be Co-Producer for many of the specials including; “Comic Relief  ’90” at Radio City Music Hall, “Hurricane Relief”, for Showtime, “A Comedy Salute to Michael Jordan”, for NBC, and many other specials on HBO, ABC, FOX and COMEDY CENTRAL. As Co-Producer he was involved with the gamut of responsibilities that range from the creativity of the shows and production, to the administering of the $50 million dollars in donations throughout the nation. 

Since Comic Relief, Mario has been in active development with projects with such companies as Icon Entertainment, The Pitt Group and as Director of Development for Hit Entertainment, his principal objective was to search out and develop quality screenwriting properties. 

Mario is considered by many writers, story consultants, producers and production executives to excel in developing screenplays and has a keen intuition for story development. Recently, Mario has been a featured guest on panels at screenwriting expos and seminars in aiding up-and-coming screenwriters in their pitch and story techniques.

He’s completed two feature screenplays and finished a novel, Michael’s Reward.

An avid traveler, with an interest in cross-cultural and spiritual similarities, Mario has visited more than twenty-two countries on multiple continents. 

David Paul Collins

Fifteen-year-old Jack Sligo runs away from a loving Boston Irish family hoping to get a summer job on a cruise ship. He has no luck on the gritty docks of New York and hitchhikes to a seaport in Alabama. While looking for a ship Jack meets two German seamen and accepts their invitation for drinks and a taste of night life. Hours later, Jack wakes up racked with pain on a ship far at sea, drugged, kidnapped, shanghaied aboard a monstrous African freighter, the SS Iron Prince. He has no idea how he got there, where he’s going, how he’ll ever get back, and is too terrified to ask. With only the clothes on his back, he must contend with strange people, different languages and the challenges of working, unwanted, among sailors who don’t know he is an American. The chief mate and the coal passer know and have plans to get Jack alone and offer a life or death bargain.

The ship’s first port is a remote river town in Venezuela populated by thieves, bums, easy women and surrounded by impenetrable jungle. There is no opportunity for escape. When the ship’s cook disappears, Jack stuffs his ethics and helps to shanghai a replacement. Winston, a Jamaican, on the ship since he was twelve, becomes his friend. They defend their honor together against knife wielding sailors, hurricanes, and the disaster of a shipwreck. Jack is unaware that the ship’s Bo’sun, Manor Nelson and Chips, the gnarled, old ship’s carpenter, have become his protectors. When he learns that the ship’s next port of call is Odessa, USSR, Jack drowns his hopes with a sailors’ best “friend”, rum, and he is shanghaied again.

Shanghaied is based on a true story lived by David Paul Collins as a merchant seaman. The events he survives, the compelling characters in the crew are woven into reality and authenticity by a skilled storyteller.

Mr. Collins was born with a thirst for adventure. As a teenager, he set out to go to sea on his own, working aboard merchant ships sailing under African, Asian and Central American flags and later, on American ships as a member of the National Maritime Union. SHANGHAIED is a fictionalized memoir based on his experiences on a Liberian freighter and the dangerous ways of life at sea in the 1950s. The fictional protagonist, fifteen-year-old Jack Sligo, is looking for a summer job when he is shanghaied on an African freighter. By the time September school bells rang, Jack had learned lessons that would never have been taught at St. Peter’s Central Catholic High School.

http://www.shanghaiedthebook.com/

Victoria Wilson Darrah

Victoria Wilson Darrrah was raised in a loving Christian home, but in a country that was fast spiraling into violence and war. In 1974, she and her family escaped Uganda and found refuge in California. A year later her family returned to East Africa and she stayed in America to go to college. In 1980, she graduated from USC with a degree in Cinema/Television Production and returned to Kenya briefly before continuing her education at UCLA, graduating in 1983 with a MA degree in African Studies with an emphasis in Third World Film and Theatre. She has since worked in a variety of media positions and produced several video productions both in America and in Africa, including a 40-minute documentary on her father’s life called VISIONS AND HARVESTS. She also created a calendar entitled AFRICA THE WOMAN depicting thirteen different ethnic groups from across the continent. She is most known for her popular television program, EYE ON UGANDA, which aired on Uganda Television (UTV), now Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), in the late 1990’s, and in which she combined her training in television and her international experience to showcase Uganda through Ugandan eyes and Ugandan stories. In June, 2010, she returned to Uganda to begin production on 12 brand new episodes of EYE ON UGANDA. She is currently on a short-time visit to the US and is staying in Arcadia with her 22-year old son, Jordan.

Her first book. My Father’s Daughter: Continuing the Dream for Peace and Reconciliation, is written as a tribute to the author’s father, the late Rev. John Wilson, a famous, award-winning Ugandan evangelist who traveled around the world speaking about peace and reconciliation. In 1986, John Wilson was murdered in his homeland of Uganda while trying to reconcile the warring factions, and it was then that his daughter decided that his message and his example were too important to die. At his funeral, Darrah promised her father she would continue his dream and keep his legacy alive. In her refreshingly frank narrative style, Darrah takes us on an adventure that spans several continents, challenges her faith in God, and celebrates the beautiful relationship she shared with her father. Partly autobiographical, partly a biography on his life, it is the author’s personal experience of the most wonderful father a woman could ever ask for, and an in-depth look at his uncompromising commitment to God, his famlly, and his fellow human beings. Darrah hopes fathers with daughters are inspired, and daughters without fathers will find their worth in their relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Darrah’s second book Journey to Healing for the Brokenhearted: Holding on to Heaven while you go through Hell is an extraordinary book for extraordinary times. As a peacemaker, Darrah learned her greatest lesson on reconciliation when her husband declared he was gay, dissolved their 12-year marriage and left her with a broken heart and a young son to raise. Darrah shares her own story of divorce in a deeply personal way. Her unique combination of narrative and personal journal entries gives us a close-up view into her relationship with Jesus and how His constant presence in her life helps her to navigate through her pain and feelings of rejection to forgiveness, healing and restoration. It is Victoria’s prayer that the book will inspire women to journal and record their own journeys to healing for their broken hearts.

Her Mission:  Darrah’s story has been featured on the 700 Club, and her rallying cry has been heard in schools, churches, conferences and groups across the nation. With one foot in her motherland, and one foot in America, she crosses seamlessly between her two continents spreading her vision of The Restoration Generation – a movement to raise up a new generation of Christians that will bring Africa, America and the rest of the world, back to God.

With keen insight and a great sense of humour, Darrah brings a new voice to the dialogue on peace and reconciliation, beginning with our individual relationships with God. Following her father’s example, Victoria Wilson Darrah is passionate about Jesus, and is bold in her proclamation of that love. If you are yearning for a closer walk wth God, she will inspire you and make you think deeply about the urgent spiritual needs of our times.

www.acnproductions.com | wltec2000@aol.com | 1 626 244 5363

Facebook: Victoria Wilson Darrah | The Restoration Generation  

Charles Domokos has taught post-production classes at the University of Southern California (U.S.C.) School of Cinema & TV and at the U.S.C. Summer Production Workshop from 1988 to 2003 (various Avid platforms). He has also taught TV and post-production courses at Loyola Marymount Univ. (Avid & FCP) and (currently) at Los Angeles City College School of Cinema-TV. He has served as an Avid consultant to TV post-production houses and edited short-form and long-form projects including TV documentaries and independent features. His most recent film RETURN TO VIETNAM won a 2007 Silver Telly (highest award) in the feature tv documentary category.

“Non-linear Editing: The Cutting Edge” provides the foundation for the college-level media student to make the leap into the world of film and HD-based professional post-production, as practiced in the Hollywood media community. This soft-cover text covers basic techniques and generic procedures fundamental to popular visual non-linear editing software from AVID, ADOBE and FINAL CUT and PRO TOOLS audio editing software. This book teaches the basic procedures including synchronization of audio to visuals, film-to-tape conversion, output to tape, output to film, standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) conversions, and everything in between. Special emphasis is given to sound editing techniques to achieve professional level sound quality. “Non-linear Editing: The Cutting Edge” has been chosen to be part of the Los Angeles Public Library film book collection.

Gardner’s Guide to NLE: The Cutting Edge: ISBN 1589650212; available from www.Amazon.com, www.Barnes & Noble.com, and the Garth Gardner Publishing Company, 1 866 GO GARDNER or www.GoGardner.com

S.P. Hendrick

S. P. Hendrick is the author of two acclaimed fantasy series, The Glastonbury Chronicles and Tales Of The Dearg-Sidhe which so far have five books in publication with release dates for another four this year and next.

A third companion series to those two, The Glastonbury Archives in the works, along with a deck of Tarot cards based on Celtic mythology, British folklore, and the worlds and characters she has created.

SON OF AIR AND DARKNESS

Tales of the Dearg-Sidhe Volume I

Dubhghall is a mighty warrior, trained by Scathach herself.  What is more, he has been made immortal by The Morrigan, Celtic Goddess of Battle and Sovereignty, who has taken him as a foster-son and paramour and taught him to feast on the blood of his enemies.  And because he is the grandson of Lugh, no fire or light can harm him.

But in this time of Roman occupation the Britons cry out for justice and Dubhghall must decide whether to answer their call when he finds himself caught between the soldiers of Rome and the warriors of Boudicca.

THE GREAT QUEEN’S HOUND

Tales of the Dearg-Sidhe Volume II

Dubhghall mac Cu finds himself in the midst of the 12th Century anarchy and rivalry between Stephen of Blois and Empress Mathilda.  Both claim the right to rule England after the death of Henry I, but there are darker forces at work than mere politics, forces which have been lurking for centuries, forces which Dubhghall first encountered during Boudicca’s rebellion against Rome.

The fall of the Roman Empire has been followed by the rise of the new Holy Roman Empire.  With the Old Faith hidden underground, will The Morrigan and Her foster-son Dubhghall be able to protect Britain against this old evil which threatens annihilation of all that stands in its way, or will the Dark Ages return in an even darker, even more sinister fashion?

UNEASY LIES THE HEAD

The Glastonbury Chronicles Volume I

In this first volume of the companion series set in the future, Stephen Windsor is a private citizen in a post-monarchical Britain celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday on his estate in Scotland.  When a red-haired young woman arrives on a white horse during a thunderstorm he finds ancient forces have chosen him to play a pivotal role in history, one which he realises he has played again and again throughout time with a familiar group of friends, one which will eventually mean his certain death…

If he can just keep someone from murdering him in the mean time.

S.P. Hendrick holds a degree in English from the former San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge).  During the mid 1960s or as she puts it “in a past life” under the nom de plume Jennifer Starkey she did publicity for several rock bands and was a columnist for a national magazine.  Her first novel under that name, Sunset Offramp was published during that era.

She lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband Jay T. Mayer, entirely too many cats, and thirty-two overflowing bookcases.

She can be found on her Amazon author’s page,which also carries her blog, and on Facebook.

Hiram L. Johnson

REASON TO FIGHT is a Memoir of Race, Injustice, and the Search for Truth by Hiram Johnson

The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, but for centuries women in prison have been subjected to one of the most heinous crimes – sexual assault. The abuse of women in prison has rarely been written about, but a new book, REASON TO FIGHT: A Memoir of Race, Injustice, and the Search for Truth, brings this critical issue out of the shadows and into the light.

REASON TO FIGHT is the story of Bernice Johnson, who in 1926 acted in self-defense but was sentenced to two years of hard labor in the Mississippi State Penitentiary – the infamous prison plantation called Parchman Farm. Bernice Johnson’s incarceration was the first injustice.

The second injustice occurred a few months later, when Bernice was raped and impregnated by a white authority figure while serving time. Her baby was born on November 19, 1928, three days after she was released from prison. The child, Fred Douglas Johnson, grew up to be the father of Hiram Johnson, author of REASON TO FIGHT.

REASON TO FIGHT is based on court transcripts of Bernice Johnson’s trial, a Mississippi Supreme Court appeal, and other documents that Hiram Johnson uncovered during his search. Along the way, he pieced together his family’s story – Bernice’s imprisonment, Fred’s birth, the family’s exodus to Chicago, and Fred’s years in the Armed Services.

REASON TO FIGHT is written in first person narratives from Bernice, Fred, and Hiram Johnson – and focuses on the personal aspects of the story, while shining a light on the broader social issues of race, gender, crime, and justice.

REASON TO FIGHT is both compelling and timely; racial conflicts continue to dominate the news, and – according to Amnesty International – the sexual assault of women in prison remains a leading human rights issue.

Available on Amazon.com ISBN-10 #145655901X

Kim Gottlieb-Walker

Bob Marley And The Golden Age of Reggae [Titan Books, November 2010, $29.95/£24.99] is a testament in rare, previously unpublished pictures to some of the greatest years of Bob Marley’s career, and the history of reggae and dub music.

Through portraits, performance and personal shots, photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker charts the rise of reggae with an unparalleled insight into the genre’s most iconic artists. Captured in Jamaica in the mid 1970s and never before published, this collection of powerful and pivotal pictures features Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Hepstones, Inner Circle and Jacob Miller, Jimmy Cliff, Jr Murvin, Toots and The Maytals, George Harrison, Burning Spear and Third World,

Featuring a foreword from Hollywood filmmaker and former Rolling Stone journalist Cameron Crowe, this deluxe hardback collection also includes commentary from Island Records’ Jeff Walker, and founding editor of The Beat magazine, Roger Steffens.

“Kim’s pictures not only capture the humanity of these iconic figures but they also show a sense of intimacy that only photographs by a true artist can convey” – Steven Poster, ASC President of the International Cinematographers’ Guild.

Kim Gottlieb-Walker’s incredibly varied career has covered everything from classic rock and roll, reggae and politics in the 60’s and 70’s to working on major motion pictures and television shows. While still at UCLA (where she received a BA in Motion Picture production) and shortly thereafter, she shot for underground LA newspapers and magazines like Crawdaddy and Music World. Her classic portrait of Jimi Hendrix was shot when she was only 20 and her High Times cover of Bob Marley remains their most popular cover, ever.

She also shot the stills for John Carpenter’s “Halloween", “The Fog”, “Christine”, and "Escape from New York.” She worked at Paramount for nine years as the production photographer for “Cheers” and five years for “Family Ties.”

She is one of the elected representatives for still photographers on the National Executive Board of IATSE Local 600, the International Cinematographers Guild. Her coffee-table photo book "Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae" was published by Titan Press (UK) distributed by Random House (USA) last November and she recently had her first solo gallery show of photos from the book in London at the PROUD Camden. Her website is www.Lenswoman.com <http://www.Lenswoman.com>

About the book:

BOB MARLEY AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF REGGAE

“Kim was the first “outsider” to photograph Marley and the young Jamaican masters around him”–Cameron Crowe

“Herein are stunning images of off-guard moments that only Bob’s closest friends would have been privy to.”-Roger Steffens, founding editor, The Beat

Paul Krehbiel

Shades of Justice
Coming of Age in the 1960's

Dismissed by a high school guidance counselor in 1966 as unqualified for anything except foot soldiering in the war in Vietnam, Paul Krehbiel disproved the "experts."
From apolitical factory worker and aspiring artist to one of the many leaders of the huge anti-war movement in Buffalo, New York, Krehbiel takes us on a wild ride through the searing sixties in this coming-of-age memoir.

Along the way, he introduces us to the music and culture of the times, to his art, to the woman he loved, the camaraderie of close friends, an endearing group of workers, and a colorful cast of fellow student anti-war organizers who helped shut down over 400 college campuses in a national General Student Strike in 1970.

In this compelling love story and personal political history, Krehbiel is tormented and outraged by the needless deaths, lies and contradictions of the war, and is drawn deeply into the campaign to end it. Yet, he found himself torn between acting on his moral beliefs, and struggling to save his relationship with the young woman he deeply loves. Krehbiel paints an insiders picture of that tumultuous but inspiring era, and does it with a captivating mixture of stories, warmth, seriousness and humor.
Most importantly, Krehbiel's tale reveals how one of the most powerful social justice movements in American history was built, and how it helped topple two presidents, end a war, and changed America.

Born in Buffalo, Paul Krehbiel was one of many leaders in the peace movement of the late 1960‚s and early 1970‚s to end the war in Vietnam. He was a union auto parts worker and aspiring artist. He earned BA and MS degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo in the mid and late 1970‚s where he wrote for the student newspaper and taught in Social Sciences College at SUNYAB.

In the early 1980's, while working as a Teamster, he was active in the Colorado Coors Boycott which helped win a $1.2 million jobs creation program for blacks and Latinos. While involved in the Nuclear Freeze movement, he worked on a campaign that ended nuclear weapons production at a major arms manufacturer in Colorado. In 1985, he became the managing editor of the Furniture Workers Press, national newspaper of the United Furniture Workers, AFL-CIO, in Nashville, and assisted union organizing in the south.

In the early 1990‚s, he worked as a Senior Assistant to the Majority Whip of the Assembly in the California Legislature. He was also president of Los Angeles Health Access, and a founder and vice president of Health Care for All, California‚s state-wide organization working for universal single-payer health care.

In 1998, he went on staff with Service Employees International Union, Local 660, in Los Angeles County, where he organized work-site Stewards Councils. He was also the chief negotiator for over 5,000 Registered Nurses, and helped lead a campaign that improved hospital staffing. He was elected president of United Union Representatives of Los Angeles for five consecutive terms.

Since 2003, he has been active in the campaign to end the war in Iraq, working with the Coalition for World Peace, US Labor Against the War, and the Iraq Moratorium.
He is one of 70 authors of A Troublemaker‚s Handbook 2 (2005), a guide for employees seeking to improve their working conditions.

In 2007, he became a local coordinator for Step it Up, a national environmental organization working to stop global warming. He lives, works and writes in southern California. Shades of Justice is a coming-of-age memoir.

Hiram Johnson is a law-enforcement officer with a major metropolitan police agency in the Greater Los Angeles area. He is the grandson of Bernice Johnson and the son of Fred Douglas Johnson, married with two daughers. Hiram an dhis wife Donelle make their home in Lakewood, California. Hiram holds two AA degrees, one in liberal arts with an emphasis in criminal justice an done in biblical studies. He is working towards a B.A. degree in criminal justice. He enjoys working out and is a certified Use of Force instructor for his department.

Shades of Justice is available at autumnleafpress.com.

Leslie Ann Moore

Ms. Moore is the author of Griffin's Daughter, her debut novel and the first in her romantic fantasy Griffin's Daughter trilogy, was named 2008 IBPA Ben Franklin Award Winner for Best First Fiction.

Griffin's Shadow, the second book in the series, has been officially endorsed by both Publisher's Weekly and The Library Journal. Both books are available online at Amazon.com and at local booksellers everywhere.

A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Moore received her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University of California at Davis in 1988. Dr. Moore lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and in her spare time, she practices the beautiful and ancient art of belly dance.

Griffin's Destiny, the third and final volume of the Griffin's Daughter Trilogy is now available in paperback direct from the publisher. Order a signed personalized copy at www.ridanpublishing.com

Visit Leslie Ann's website at www.leslieannmoore.com/

Gloria Shell Mitchell enjoys writing skits and personalized poems. Her raps, There’s A Time, I Say and Can You Imagine That, have been presented in churches, youth rallies and schools. She wrote and directed church plays Gimme That Old Time Religion and Jesus Is Alive. An advocate for social justice, she writes about real-life issues and talks about them every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on radio station KTYM AM 1460. Her greatest inspiration for sharing her thoughts with the world came from reading her first published piece, a letter to the editor of Ebony magazine, at age 12. Seeing her first published article, Let Yourself Have Fun, in a youth magazine inspired her to pursue her passion for writing. 

In The Garbage Man’s Daughter Series, Gloria, an educator, minister and former certified public accountant, pleads with readers to let go of the garbage they carry from childhood into adult relationships. In addition to tutoring mathematics and teaching social skills, this retired educator facilitates divorce recovery groups in her efforts to save the world, one family at a time. She also works with the Los Angeles Coalition for Protection Against Elder Abuse.

Rev. Dr. Gloria is a 2009 graduate of the University of Southern California’s Passing The Mantle (PTM) Program and The Institute for Violence Prevention. Combining her passion for helping hurting people and using research methods acquired while completing her dissertation for a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Formation, she published Book 1 Letting Go of Shame. Book 2 in the trilogy, Letting Go of SECRETS, is ready for publication and Book 3, Letting Go of SCARS, is almost complete. 

In the Garbage Man’s Daughter Series, Gloria Shell Mitchell writes based on true stories about the impact of family dysfunction and divorce on the inquisitive child, Davida Kincaid, who struggles to escape impoverished living conditions in rural America, understand her mother of eighteen children, and adjust to life without her beloved father, a garbage man. Davida vividly shares how her teachers throughout her school years and her faith help her to triumph over every crushing blow to her heart.

“Everyone has trash. It is where and how you discard it that makes all the difference in your life and how you continue on. Read this book and your faith and hope will grow too.”   Fran Lewis: Reviewer

Gayl Murphy is a Veteran Hollywood Correspondent, Media and Presentational Coach, Speaker and Author of the just-released, revised “Interview Tactics! How to Survive the Media without Getting Clobbered! The Insider’s Guide to Giving a Killer Interview!”

As a Media Expert, Gayl CELEBRITIZES entrepreneurs, entertainment industry pros, CEO’s, authors, experts, inventors, doctors, engineers, lifestyle gurus and celebrities in business and entertainment how to dodge media bullets and CELEBRITIZE themselves and their brands so they can TELL IT TO SELL IT! http://www.InterviewTactics.com

As a veteran Correspondent, Gayl’s has reported on entertainment and show business for ABC News, ABC TV, SKY News, BBC Radio, BBC TV, E! Entertaintment, HollywoodToday.net and BigMediaUSA among others. She has personally interviewed over 14,000 of the biggest celebrities and newsmakers in the world.

About Gayl Murphy’s “Interview Tactics!” Working with the press and the media and getting the word out about who you are and what you do on TV, radio, print and online is about as good as it gets!

One hot story can bring you an avalanche of new clients and even more coverage. And, having an arsenal of engaging, media-savvy and sticky soundbites to get you there is the best news of all!

In today's highly competitive, time-crunching and media-morphing world, you’ve gotta tell it to sell it! And, having stockpile of “Interview Tactics!” to get you there is about knowing the lay of Media Land - and being a MEDIA STAR in ANY situation that requires stepping up, answering questions, telling your story, peaking your listener's interest and wrapping it up in 20 seconds or less...because sometimes that's all you’re going to get.

Go one-on-one with the press, or any gatekeeper/decision-maker and tell the world about who you are, what you do and what’s next using “Interview Tactics!” Learn REAL insider strategies for navigating the media and pitching any business, any product, any service, anytime, anywhere! Because when the going gets tough, the tough use the media!

Learn more at: http://InterviewTactics.com

Mark Nicholas

I Come First: How the Individual Ego Rules Every Business Decision

Mark (M.H.) Nicholas is an attorney and educator in the field of negotiations and human behavior. He has practiced law for nearly twenty years specifically focusing on the fields of corporate/securities, intellectual property and technology. Mr. Nicholas speaks regularly on a variety of business-related subjects, particularly on human behavior in business, business negotiating/politics, legal issues, and so forth. In the financial services industry, Nicholas is a regular panelist on legal issues related to privacy, advertising/marketing and social media.

He is licensed in CA, MA and PA, certified as a Senior Professional in Human Relations (SPHR), a Voting Member of the Grammy's, a National Press Photographers Member (NPPA), educator for California Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, VIP Mentors and the Children's Defense Fund. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and 2 year old daughter.

Synopsis of I Come First: How the Individual Ego Rules Every Business Decision: What if we actually understood each other? I Come First aspires to encourage all of us to do just that. I Come First is a discussion of human behavior in business and the story of how each person (including ourselves) see the world from our their (our) own perspectives. As we become more objective and controlled, mastering our understanding of others' perspectives and points of view, along with their needs, wants and fears, we can be far more effective. This is about perception, negotiation and politics; and is the very framework for our own personal success.

When we boil down emotion, politics and group dynamics, working together can really be quite manageable.

Links to the website: www.icomefirst.com

Peter Paddon

Peter is a Brit of Welsh ancestry who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Linda, where he is Magister of Briar Rose, a small Coven of modern Cunningfolk. Aside from being an author, Peter also created the Craftwise series of spellcasting DVDs, and is the host of the Crooked Path podcast.

Having many years of experience in various forms of Occult Studies, including Alexandrian Wicca, the Egyptian Mysteries, Rosicrucianism and Enochian magick, Peter finally found what he had been looking for all his life in the two Traditional Covens he became a member of in the US. The first was the Roebuck (1734, Clan of Tubal Cain), under Ann and Dave Finnin, and the second was Wildewood Grove (Welsh Celtic Tradition), under its Mistress, Raven Womack.

A Grimoire for Modern Cunningfolk

A practical manual of Traditional non-Wiccan Witchcraft. While there are a lot of texts that cover advanced and academic subjects of interest to traditional Crafters, all of the introductory books tend to focus on Wicca... until now.

In this Book Peter Paddon - Magister of Briar Rose and host of the popular Crooked Path podcast - covers his particular path of Witchcraft from scratch. He goes over the basics of his personal Path, along with examples of alternatives from other traditions, covering philosophy, lore and practical techniques.

The Crooked Path is a way of Crafting based on experiencing the Mysteries of Ancestors and the Sacred Landscape first-hand, and Peter guides the seeker through the basics with competence and humor.

Visceral Magick

Ever had a "gut feeling" that proved to be correct? Ever gathered up your courage in the form of "intestinal fortitude"? Modern science has discovered that our digestive organs have a rudimentary form of consciousness that corresponds to these sayings, and this would be old news to our Celtic ancestors, who believed the human form contained three cauldrons that directed energy, inspiration and wisdom.

This book explores a set of basic experiences, ideas and techniques that used to be at the heart of every magical Tradition, but which are frequently overlooked or ignored in modern times. But they are the very things that breathe life into magical systems, the secret key that makes the magic actually work.

Peter Paddon, author and Witch, has had the fortune to encounter these techniques and practices in several forms, and here he documents his own journey - and the results - as well as laying out exercises and practical applications to enable the reader to stop visualizing and just plain see. Magic is a real force, one that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck, and become a living breathing part of your everyday life. This book will show you how to get there.

Books published:
The Book of the Veil (Capall Bann, 1995)
Through the Veil (Capall Bann 1996)
The Crooked Path: Selected Transcripts (Pendraig, 2009)
A Grimoire for Modern Cunningfolk (Pendraig, 2011)
Visceral Magick (Pendraig, 2011)

DVDs:
Craftwise Vol 1: Candle Magick
Craftwise Vol 2: cord Magick
Craftwise Vol 3: Talismans
Craftwise Vol 4: Herb Magick
Craftwise Vol 5: Oils and Crystals
The Sight: Getting It, Using It, Dealing With It
Making a Traditional Witches' Besom
Making And Using Ritual Masks

Jon Pearson

JON PEARSON is a writer, cartoonist, speaker and international creative thinking consultant.  He has worked with more than one million people and one thousand schools and businesses worldwide.  He has been a cartoonist on the Oakland Tribune, an author, and a keynote speaker (not to mention a piano mover and an extra for the New York Metropolitan Opera). Secretly, though, Jon is still five years old and believes in the genius of ordinary things.  He believes that love will conquer everything and that courage, creativity, and caring just might save the world.  Jon has written two hefty unpublished novels: “In the Nostrils of an Icon” and “Memoirs of a Gorilla” and over three hundred stories.  He is certain that his two latest books: “Jeff and Dave” and “Carol and Tina” will save the world.

“THE ADVENTURES OF JEFF AND DAVE” is a laughing good time designed to unhinge a normal mind.  It is a careening ride through the lives of two married guys who end up, well, I won’t say.  The book won’t “change your life” but it will add years to it.  You will definitely feel younger afterwards.  I promise.  It is 88 pages of funny drawings and text, full of broken trains of thought and shattered expectations that will leave you feeling smarter and happier than ever before. 

“CAROL AND TINA” is a book women will love, women everywhere, men too.  It is about hope and dreams and love and tears and friendship and mothers and, well, the circus.  It’s a breath of fresh air. It’s a non-stop feeling of the palpitations and joys that only a risk-filled life held together by pure friendship can bring.  The book is 78 pages of clever drawings and text that will leave you radiant and satisfied.  The book, basically, is a piece of cake that will make you feel and look like a million bucks.  Guaranteed.

Jon Pearson pearsonjon@aol.com
310-922-6878

Kathy Porter

Kathy Porter grew up in Endicott, NY the birthplace of IBM and only a short distance away from where one of her favorite TV series creator, Rod Serling was raised. Kathy’s lifelong interest in Science Fiction ignited when her father, a science teacher, showed her craters on the moon and taught her the constellations. She grew up watching science fiction movies and TV shows. Ray Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles” was her first delve into a science fiction novel and she has been hooked ever since.

“I think I was born telling stories,” Kathy explained during a recent interview. “As second to the oldest of seven children, my sisters and I shared a bedroom. I loved making up bedtime stories, with an eerie edge and frightening my sisters. Things about fairies, leprechauns, and aliens even back then. If they couldn’t sleep I knew I succeeded.”

In September of 1961 reports of Barney and Betty Hill’s alien abduction claims took the media by storm. Kathy has been fascinated by their story and any story that delved into the “we are not alone” theory ever since.

Earth's Ultimate Conflict is the first novel in Kathy Porter's Gray Guardians Series. Escape From Nuur, the second in the series will be released next year.

What if the treat of a world-wide pandemic, increased seismic activity, and global warming, were all linked to alien abduction?

In the near future this frightening senerio forces Rosa De Angelo t flee Earth with her three alien hybrid children. In doing som she leaves behind Tony, her soul-mate and husband. Ellen McCarthy is faced with the agonizing choice of abandoning her love-starved hybrid children or finding a way back to her three-month-old human child Griffin, before it’s to late.

With Earth’s inhabitants faced with seemingly insurmountable illness and destruction, two rival alien species offer them salvation. United States President Barbara Unger will make the ultimate decision of who to trust the Grays or the Guardians.

www.grayguardians.com
http://www.booktour.com/author/kathy_porter

Deborah M. Pratt is a significant force in Hollywood. She is a five-time Emmy nominee, a Golden Globe nominee, and the recipient of The Lillian Gish Award from Women in Film, The Angel Award, The Golden Block Award, and Six B.E.N. Awards. From the award-winning series Quantum Leap to the internationally acclaimed Masterpiece Theatre's Cora Unashamed, Deborah M. Pratt’s vision is an inspiration to audiences worldwide. A master storyteller with a spiritual dream for a better world, Deborah M. Pratt breaks the mold of science fiction and creates a genre of science fantasy with the soul of the universe and a key to the human heart. Intricately layered with scientific fact and fascinating detail, The Vision Quest is a riveting journey.

The Vision Quest Trilogy opens when the harmony of Book One’s The Age of Light is torn into factions of the beings—human and the array of new species that now share our planet—who must grapple with forces and technologies at once ancient and frighteningly new. Here we find seventeen-year-old Cole “Lazer” Lazerman, a young man bent on both revenge and redemption. With his beloved father murdered and his Atlantian home under the control of the biodroid Black Guards and their evil leader, Five, Lazer enters a series of explosive battlefields—spiritual, virtual and real. His personal fight to control his own emotions can ultimately bring salvation or the world’s impending doom.

In Book Two’s The Odyssey Lazer, along with his friends—and the newfound love of his life—must master the Visionistic Arts, harness the limitless power of the human mind and spirit, survive the perilous odyssey to get home in time to save himself, his mother, his war torn home in Atlantia and ultimately the world from Five and his biodroid army.

The Vision Quest is an action-packed, Science Fantasy adventure based on the science and technology of today--projected into a very probable tomorrow. Get your books here »»

Jill Robinson

Jill Robinson’s first book, With A Cast of Thousands, was about growing up in LA when her father, Dore Schary, was running MGM Studios.  Since then, Jill has written 10 books.  The New York Times called Bed/Time/Story, her best seller, a classic.  In his New York Times review of Perdido, John Leonard said, “Jill Robinson knows how to tell us terrible things in a funny tone of voice…”  And Cathy Cash Spellman said, “Falling In Love When You Thought You Were Through is the love story for the twenty-first century.” 

Other books have been glowingly reviewed by Dominick Dunne, John Lahr and Ann Beattie.  Robinson’s Vanity Fair story on Roman Polanski was chosen by George Plimpton as one of the year’s best.  She’s written about Nicole Kidman for Vogue and covered Barbra Streisand’s latest wedding. Jill has developed a strong following and loyal fan base, and through the years, has reached over 30 million readers and viewers with her books and television appearances. She also gives lectures and writing seminars on cruise ships all around the world. 

Today, with the help of a $1 million teaching grant, she has established the Wimpole Street Writers and Blue Coyote workshops, guiding over seventy writers in London, New York and Los Angeles toward publishing their plays, screenplays and books. The Wimpole Street Writers Anthology, a collection of short works from her best writers, called due to be published in November.

Jill is also working on her latest book, My Husband is Dying and It's Taking Too Long, currently at St. Martin’s Press, as well as Z.B. The Blue Coyote, an illustrated children's book. She continues to contribute to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Huffington Post.

When Jill Schary Robinson started to write her first book, her father, Oscar-winning writer and playwright Dore Schary, gave her a deadline: three pages a week.

When she moved to London in the early 80s, she had published five books and had a deal for a new one. Then, she had a seizure and lost her memory. Doctors declared she’d never write again. But just like in good stories when you think things are hopeless, Schary Robinson was asked to join the Fulbright Commission and to grant the Raymond Chandler Award every year. At Fulbright-Scholars’ gatherings, she met young writers who were as unsure of themselves as she was.

She remembered how her father had screenwriters over for brunch on weekends, and they’d read their work to each other. She may have forgotten how to write, but she hadn’t forgotten how to cook. So she asked the young Fulbright students to bring over three pages each week, in exchange for dinner.

And so, in 1991, the Wimpole Street Writers’ group was born. By the time Schary Robinson moved back to Los Angeles from London, about 40 writers had been coming to her house on Wimpole Street. Twenty-five of them have been published.

Today, Jill has two groups in California and over 100 writers under her wing in both Great Britain and the United States. Many of them have been published or had their works produced professionally. The Wimpole Street Writers meet at her home near UCLA, and the Blue Coyote group meets at the Will and Ariel Durant Library in Hollywood. Some of the original Wimpole Street Writers still meet in London. The Wimpole Street Writers Anthology is a collection of the best selected writings from all of Jill's writers.

Jesse Rhines

Jesse Rhines is the author of Black Film/White Money and Black Harvard/Black Yale.

BLACK FILM/WHITE MONEY, Rutgers University Press, 1996, 2000, Winner, 1997 Gustavus Mayer Human Rights Award, http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Money-Algeron-Rhines/dp/0813522676

BFWM answers the questions: Why are there so few Black filmmakers who control their own work? Why are there scarcely any Black women behind the camera? What happens to Black filmmakers when they move from independent production to the mainstream? What does it mean for whites to control Black images and their distribution globally? And, was it always so? Could it be different?

BLACK HARVARD/BLACK YALE, Memoirs of college days. Self-Published, June 10, 2011. Https://www.createspace.com/3615992.

• W. E. B. Du Bois, H'1890--A Negro Student at Harvard at the End of the Nineteenth Century
• William Pickens, Y'1904--Yale The Henry James Ten Eyck Oratorical Contest
• Muriel Sutherland Snowden, H'1938The Right to Participate
• Robert J. Randall, Y'1943--Affirmative Action And Me
• Charles Payne, Y'1952—Retribution
• John Woodford, H'1963--My Years at Harvard
• Yale Memories: A Look Back, By yolanda joe,Yale Class of 1984,Trumbull College.
• Ernest L. Wilson, III, H'1970-- The Reform of Tradition, the Tradition of Reform
• Ronald Machett, Y'1970
• Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Yale, '1973--How To Join The Black Overclass
• Charles Martin, Y'1974—Tentacles and Sting
• Carlton Bush, H'1976—Bicentennial Blues
• Monique Burns, H '1977—Beyond the Black Table           
• Robin Walker, Y'1984--My Yale Experience
• Brotherman--By David Thomas, Y 1987
• Farah Griffin, H'1985--On Hair and Harvard
• Denise Byrd, Y'1988
• Susan Marie Jenkins, Y'1989--A Part of the Yale Tradition
• Erica S. Turnipseed, Y’1993--My first semester as a woman

Born in Washington DC Mr. Rhines graduated from Coolidge High School then attended Yale University’s Summer High School and Transitional Year Program after failing the 12th grade.  He worked as first janitor then photography instructor as he earned a BA at DC based Antioch College-BHP (Center for the Study of Basic Human Problems) in 1974.  He completed an MA in African American Studies at Yale in 1983 after teaching English with the YMCA in Asia and leading students in Mali, French West Africa with Operation Crossroads, Inc., in 1980.  While at Yale he worked as an IBM Systems Engineer before earning a Film Production Certificate at NYU.  

He earned a Political Science MA at UCLA in 1986 and a UC Berkeley PhD in Ethnic Studies in 1993.  He was Assistant Professor of Political Economy in the African American Studies Department at Rutgers University-Newark when Rutgers University Press published his dissertation, BLACK FILM/WHITE MONEY, in 1996 and it won a Gustavus Mayer Human Rights Award in 1997.  Since denial of tenure in 2003, he has been disabled with hip replacements, heart disease and cancer, which combined strongly encouraged his return to the warmer, flatter terrain of Los Angeles, CA.  He taught English near Madrid, Spain with Vaughantown in 2006 and in La Rioja, Spain with Auxiliares Norteamericanos de Conversación in November 2010.

Leonard Szymczak

The Roadmap Home: Your GPS to Inner Peace is an inspirational Amazon bestseller that helps you plug into your inner GPS, Guiding Power of Spirit. Drawing upon his personal challenges and professional experience, Leonard Szymczak maps out a route of conscious living and steers you through the stages of spiritual awakening.

With your trustworthy GPS and this powerful guide, be prepared for a transformational adventure where problems and pain become opportunities for personal growth, forgiveness and love. Life is a journey, but inner peace is the real destination. Welcome Home!

“The Roadmap Home is an intelligent and highly accessible book that blends practical psychology with heart-opening spirituality. If you are ready to heal on all levels, read this book.” – Arielle Ford, author of The Soulmate Secret

Cuckoo Forevermore is a zany novel that introduces psychotherapy in a hilarious way! The setting is Sydney, Australia with a cast of lunatics who put the “fun” back into dysfunctional.

Dr. Peter Pinowski, approaching the big 30, still lives with his neurotic Polish parents. He lands his first job at a children’s psychiatric department where he finds paranoids, perverts and pandemonium, not from the patients but from the staff! The characters are rivetingly strange and the dialogue is lovingly eccentric. Appealing and appalling, surprising and sexy, and always outrageously funny, Cuckoo Forevermore presents a shocking perspective on therapy. And with the sequel already written, the zaniness will continue forevermore.

“It's about time an insider blew the whistle on an industry that has its own special scams, frauds, and rogues.” - Asa Baber, Men columnist, Playboy Magazine

Leonard Szymczak is no stranger to mental health, the Land Down Under, or writing. He has been psychotherapist and educator for more than 35 years, both in Australia and America, and has been writing articles and books for the past 25 years. An inspirational speaker, he has appeared on television and radio. He currently writes, conducts seminars on personal growth and writing, and maintains a therapy practice in Southern California. He is the proud father of two adult children.

Leonard’s websites:
www.theroadmaphome.com
www.leonardszymczak.com
Email: leonard@leonardszymczak.com

Morgan St. James

WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE
39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction

Inspired by Morgan St. James' popular Writers Tricks of the Trade column, this book is like the appetizer table at a writing buffet seasoned with humor. It is packed with tips, techniques and tricks all written in lively, entertaining prose, and is a valuable addition to any aspiring or published writer's bookshelf.

Professionals in the industry who previewed the book say it best: "Writers' Tricks of the Trade is a treasure trove of practical advice. Morgan St James covers all aspects of fiction writing from original concept through to publication, networking and publicity. Her voice is experienced, encouraging and sincere."
Gayle Sutherland, Convenor, Partners in Crime, Sydney, Australia

"Fiction writer Morgan St. James has been there, done that and she shares her best insider tips in Writers Tricks of the Trade. An alphabet soup-to-nuts compendium of useful advice with no belabored prose, her tips get right to the point, so you can get on with the writing." ~Carolyn Hayes Uber, Publisher, WorkingTitlez.com

"Keep it handy whenever you are blocked. A great book."
~John Brantingham, Professor of English

"Get smart. Get inspired. Get this book."
~Tony N. Todaro, Author, President Greater Los Angeles Writers Society.

We all need a few tricks up our sleeves and St. James is the one to give us a few.in a warm, readable style."
~Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author How To Do It Frugally

"You'll find this book so full of vital information, you'll want to explore every page."
~Maralys Wills,author,Damn the Rejections--Full Steam Ahead

“Writers' Tricks of the Trade is a no nonsense approach to the basics all writers must know to become well-known authors. After all, as the old adage says, 'You have to know the rules before you can break them."
~Jo A. Wilkins, President, Henderson Writers' Group

Morgan St. James splits her time between homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and is a member of Henderson Writer’s Group, Sisters in Crime/LA, Greater Los Angeles Writers Group, Las Vegas Writers Group and Public Safety Writers Group.

As if that wasn’t enough, her new Silver Sisters comical crime caper, “Vanishing Act in Vegas,” the third book in the award-winning series, was released in August as well. Morgan writes Silver Sisters Mysteries with her real life sister, Phyllice Bradner. The Silver Sisters are silver-haired Mae West lookalikes who are as different as Goodwill and Gucci. Goldie Silver, an over-the-hill hippie, lives in Juneau, Alaska, dresses in mismatched vintage ensembles and owns an antique shop on Franklin Street near the cruise ship docks. Her twin, Godiva Olivia DuBois is a wealthy, manipulative Beverly Hills widow who writes the syndicated advice column, “Ask G.O.D.” (her initials). Add their mother and uncle, 80 year-old former vaudeville magicians who love to dress in disguise and sleuth undercover and you have the recipe for riotous fun.

Both books are currently available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle. The paperback and eBook are beginning to appear at a multitude of online bookstores and can be ordered at most of your favorite local bookstores. Reviews on Amazon and blogs are appreciated.

Morgan’s short stories have won awards and garnered recognition from Writers’ Digest and appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, as well as many other anthologies.
Her “Spotlight” and “Writers Tricks of the Trade” columns appear weekly in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas editions of www.examiner.com and were the inspiration for her new book, Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction, released in August 2011. In this first book in the Writers’ Tricks of the Trade series, she presents a compendium of information in a casual prose style, similar to her free-flowing teaching style.

A self-described workaholic, Morgan is an entertaining speaker, and frequently appears on or moderates author’s panels and presents writing workshops at conferences and meetings.

Morgan’s websites are www.morganstjames-author.com,
www.silversistersmysteries.com
and http://writerstricksofthetrade.blogspot.com.

She can be contacted at stjameswriter@gmail.com.

Olivia Villa-Real

Olivia Villa-Real is a writer, composer, singer and pianist, who combines her passion for writing with her artistry in music. She infuses both genres with the sensitivity and sentimentality that permeate the Asian culture, having spent her childhood and her early adult life in the Philippines where she was born. After immigrating to the United States and settling in Los Angeles, the melting pot of different cultures, her creativity brought into her work an amalgamation of Asian, European, Latin and American sentiments and rhythms. This enabled her to capture the inflections in the dialogue of her novel, The Velvet Thorn, providing authenticity to its characters. It further enhanced her capacity to describe more accurately the actions and motivations of the characters to reflect the idiosyncrasies of the Asian culture. Moreover, her experiences as an immigrant and her studies of Western culture and literature requisite to her completion of a Master’s degree in English have enabled her to write this novel with clarity and precision.
             She has performed in a variety of concert halls in the United States and abroad, including two solo concerts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center, the latter of which was a benefit for the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles. Her favorite places to perform at are churches and other places of worship where she can have a soulful communion with God through her music. It is also this exposure to the church environment that has allowed her to write with brilliance and accuracy about the rituals and ceremonies described in her novel, The Velvet Thorn.
            With the publication of The Velvet Thorn, she has completed the first part of a trilogy. She is now currently working on the second part, The Stirrings of the Heart, which is a classical recording of her piano and vocal compositions, expected for release in 2012. The third in her trilogy is a collection of verse and prose poetry entitled Murm’rings of the Heart, to be published in late 2012.

Her other published works include a book-length treatise entitled A Critical Study of Ernest Hemingway’s Philosophy of Meaningful Existence as Revealed in His Four Major Novels, and a line of English and ethnic greeting cards published by her own company, Creative Spectrum Publishers

She belonged to the English faculty of the Los Angeles City College and Glendale College for twenty years. As a composer, publisher and performer, she is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Screen Actors' Guild, American Guild of Variety Artists, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to name a few and, as a music instructor, she is a member of the Music Teachers' Association of California and the National Guild of Piano Teachers. She now lives with her husband in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, where she maintains a school, The Olivia Villa-Real School of Music, which offers Piano and Voice lessons. |

Websites and links:

www.thevelvetthorn.com | www.oliviavillareal.com | http://on.fb.me/thevelvetthorn

Katya Yesayan

Catherine Yesayan grew up in Tehran, Iran. Since her young age she had a vivid and active mind for bringing innovative ideas. But the Islamic Revolution and the changes that occurred in her life made her a stay-at-home-mom in American society. With an active mind and a passion for teaching, through PTA, she started a parent education program at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Glendale, where her children attended. In 1990, in the same school, she created an Armenian club, so that Armenian children could learn about their own heritage, culture, and current events.

In 2002, she created another club where youngsters could learn about the ecosystem and how to keep our planet clean. The City of Glendale's Neighborhood Services Department adopted the club under the name of Junior Ambassadors, and for the last 9 years it has been an active youth program for the middle schools in Glendale. The program has won accolades from the national organization of Keep America Beautiful. In 2000, another brainchild of Catherine was realized: Shades of Culture, a women's club was formed to unite women of all ethnic backgrounds and to break down the existing cultural barriers. At monthly meetings members learn about the history and ethnic heritage of different cultures.

At present Catherine is writing her memoir about growing up in Iran under the Shah and coming to America and facing day to day challenges in raising a family. Recently Catherine Yesayan became a columnist at Asbarez, an Armenian newspaper. She also blogs and posts her personal essays on "Beyond the Blue Domes"

http://beyondthebluedomes.blogspot.com/

Her next project is to publish an anthology under the name Shades of Culture. On October 2 at the West Hollywood Book Fair at GLAWS' boot she will solicit submissions of travel narratives for the book and also will promote her newest project of a Writers' retreat on a Cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

Book Fair Website

Author Schedule

Maps and Parking