Lauren E. Abramo, Agent

Lauren E. Abramo joined DGLM after earning an M.A. in Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Prior to attending NUIG, she completed a B.A. in English at New York University.

With two particularly impractical degrees under her belt, Lauren sought work in publishing, and DGLM has turned out to be a great fit. In addition to agenting her own diverse client list that runs the gamut from commercial to literary fiction and practical to narrative nonfiction, she works on subsidiary rights for the agency. She is an avid reader of both literary and commercial fiction, especially anything smart and fun, as well as non-fiction designed to make you think or laugh—particularly history, politics, current affairs, music, pop culture and philosophy. She also enjoys books on science, though she cannot claim she always understands them. DGLM does not represent poetry, plays or screenplays, but Lauren will consider just about anything else.

Born in New York City and raised not far outside it, she now lives in Brooklyn.

Kaylan Adair, Editor

Kaylan Adair is an associate editor at Candlewick Press, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She works with such authors and illustrators as Mark London Williams, Valeri Gorbachev, Lisa Moser, Jill Murphy, and Lucy Cousins (of Maisy fame). While her interests run the gamut from picture books to young adult, she is particularly keen to add more middle grade and young adult titles to her list. Kaylan is looking for strong, original voices and compelling, engrossing stories.

Jenoyne Adams, Agent

As a writer herself, novelist, Jenoyne Adams knows what it takes to create and launch a successful work of fiction or non-fiction. Her first novel, Resurrecting Mingus (Simon & Schuster, The Free Press, 2001), a critically acclaimed, national bestseller, explores the effects divorce, sibling rivalry and the loss of self-love have on the human psyche. Her second novel, Selah's Bed (Simon & Schuster/The Free Press,2003) is a sexy patchwork of secrets done in the dark coming to light.

Whether adult fiction, YA, or nonfiction, Jenoyne is attracted to works that grab her emotionally. In the realm of nonfiction, she is interested in narrative nonfiction, writing books and work that deals strongly with women's issues and parenting. In adult fiction, she is a fan of fluid, literary novels that make her want to read each word aloud. What grabs her in a commercial or chick lit novel is a great storyline with assessable themes and a soul—she believes commercial fiction should make you laugh, and entertain you, but it should also make you think. She LOVES ethnic fiction of all kinds—take her to China or to a Brazilian village, introduce her to the zaniest Jewish family or to a divorced Latina mother negotiating the dating scene for the first time in a decade. A person who can often be found buying books out of the middle grade and YA sections (for her own entertainment), she is interested in developing and working on projects that run the gamut—fantasy, urban/edgy, serious, bling-blingy? SURE. She loves it all. She hasn't found it yet, but as a fan of anime and martial arts flicks, she is looking for the perfect graphic novel. And though she loves literature in general, it is very unlikely that she would take on many thrillers, poetry or short story collections.

Kelley Armstrong, Author

Kelley Armstrong is the author of the Otherworld paranormal suspense series, which started with the werewolf novel, Bitten, in 2001. This year will see the release of book 7 and the first novel in a new crime series. She also recently signed to write a young adult urban fantasy trilogy, to begin in 2008. Armstrong grew up in Ontario, where she still lives with her family. A former computer programmer, she"s now escaped her corporate cubicle and hopes never to return. Her website is www.KelleyArmstrong.com.

Bev Boissery, Author

A native Australian, Dr. Beverley Boissery knows the writing world from many angles – editor, teacher, publisher, scholar and author. Mostly, though, she is a writer of 11 books ranging from academic history to young adult fiction. In 2006 she was awarded the Surrey International Writers Conference Chamber of Commerce Award for Special Achievement.

Her young adult Sophie series published by the Dundurn Group's Boardwalk imprint is based on the 1838 Lower Canadian rebellion and marries her love of fiction with history. Sophie's Rebellion won a national award in 2006 and the second book, Sophie's Treason was selected as an "Our Choice" by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. In April 2007, Bev received a Canada Council Award for Literature.

A third Sophie book, Sophie's Exile, will be published in the Spring of 2008 by Boardwalk. She is also completing an historical fantasy (The Convict's Thumbprint) and working on another young adult trilogy (The Three Jays) which deals with the history and effects of World War II's holocaust.

Bev has also been a scholar-in-residence at Regent College and U.B.C. She lives in Vancouver with her quiet cat and enjoys the company of her many rambunctious friends.

Doris Booth, Agent

Doris Booth is the manager of Authorlink Literary Group, which operates as a separate division of Authorlink.com. The relatively new agency represents true crime, thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, and a wide range of nonfiction. Among recent sales have been hardcover/softcover rights for THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND MAN, to Berkley Books/Penguin USA (October 2008); BEYOND CRUEL by Stephen Michaud (June 2007, St. Martin’s Press); hardcover rights to Barnes & Noble Publishing for THE ONLY LIVING WITNESS and TED BUNDY: CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER, by New York Times bestselling authors Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, In her separate role as the CEO of Authorlink.com, Ms. Booth has facilitated the sale of numerous fiction and nonfiction properties, including a six-figure deal to HarperCollins, and direct sales to Scribner/Simon & Schuster, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, and others. Authorlink.com is the news, information, and marketing site for editors, agents and writers, attracting nearly one million visitors per year. Ms. Booth has close ties with a broad range of editors and publishers, primarily in New York. Authorlink Literary Group is selectively seeking new clients. She is selectively looking for new clients in the areas of nonfiction, true crime, women's fiction, and some children's projects.

Michael Bourret, Agent

Michael Bourret joined Dystel & Goderich Literary Management after studying film and television production at New York University. Los Angeles wasn't calling, so he decided to try his hand at another love–books. The fit couldn't have been better.

After living in Connecticut, Illinois, and upstate New York, Michael decided that New York City was home. He currently resides in Brooklyn, which is like Manhattan, only better.

Michael is interested in a wide range of books, from middle grade and young adult fiction, to arts and entertainment, to serious nonfiction. He is a politics and news junkie, as well as a connoisseur of fine wine and reality television.

John Brady, Author

A native of Dublin, John is a naturalized Canadian, and lived just north of Toronto. Trained as a teacher, he divides his time between teaching, writing and raising a family with his wife Hanna. With a mother from the west of Ireland, and a father from Dublin, John"s home growing up was one where imagination and character were at the core of life. He continues to visit and stay in Ireland and Austria. Both in writing and in teaching, John keeps on stubbing his toe on Yeats" aphorism: "Only that which is useless, or can’t be taught, is irresistible."

To date, John has written eight Minogue books, all set in Ireland, and the first of an Austrian series Poacher"s Road, a police procedural centered around Felix Kimmel, an officer in the (rural) Austrian Gendarmerie.

Jan Burke, Author

Jan Burke is a critically acclaimed and national best-selling author of novels and short stories,and winner of the Edgar® Award for Best Novel. Her mystery series, featuring Southern California newspaper reporter Irene Kelly, includes Goodnight, Irene; Sweet Dreams, Irene; Dear Irene,; Remember Me, Irene; Hocus; Liar; Bones; Bloodlines; and Kidnapped. She is also the author of Flight, featuring Irene"s husband, homicide detective Frank Harriman; Nine, a standalone thriller; and a collection of her short stories, entitled Eighteen.

Jan was born in Texas, but has lived in Southern California most of her life, often in coastal cities — several of which combine to make up the fictional Las Piernas, where Irene Kelly works and lives. She and her husband, Tim, share their home with two dogs, Cappy and Britches.

Anthony Dalton, Author

Anthony Dalton is an author and public speaker. He writes non-fiction books about the sea and about exploration. His illustrated non-fiction articleson diverse subjects have been published in magazines and newspapers in twenty countries and ten languages. As a public speaker he has appeared at conventions, conferences and meetings across Canada, the USA, and in the United Kingdom.

A British-born Canadian adventurer and author he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Explorers Club. His expeditions have taken him across the Sahara many times, through the deserts of the Middle East, into the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, on dangerous Arctic waters, and canoeing wilderness rivers in northern Canada. He was the organizer and leader of a CBC-TV filming expedition to the Saharan salt mines of Taoudenit in northern Mali, and participated in a television documentary on great Canadian rivers for the Discovery Channel.

Magazine assignments have taken him to the Australian Outback, the Falkland Islands, Namibia, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, among others. Plus, Dalton has tracked Royal Bengal tigers on foot through the dense Sundarbans jungle of Bangladesh, survived a small-boat capsize in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska"s north-west coast, and sailed as crew on the mighty windjammers of the Russian and Ukrainian tall-ship fleets. Dalton is President of the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Authors Association www.canauthorsvancouver.org and a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

Maggie de Vries, Editor

Maggie de Vries is an author, editor and a teacher. Her adult non-fiction book, Missing Sarah, was shortlisted for a Governor General's Award and her most recent book, Tale of a Great White Fish: a Sturgeon Story won the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award. Maggie has edited children's books since 2000 and has taught university courses in children's literature, education and creative writing since 1989. She lives in Vancouver with her husband, Roland, and their two cats, Misha and Sophie.

Michael DeFreitas, Author

Travel writer and photographer Michael DeFreitas has specialized in North American, Caribbean and Latin American adventures for more than 20 years. He has authored three guidebooks and has contributed to five others. The Caribbean Tourism Organization recently honoured him with their 2006 Canadian Travel Writer Of The Year Award. His award-winning stories and photos appear in many publications including, Caribbean Travel & Life, Diver, Islands, National Geographic Traveler, New York Post, Outside, Sport Diver and Voyageur.

Shana Drehs, Editor

Shana Drehs is a senior editor at Sourcebooks, Inc. She started her career at Crown/Random House, where she acquired/edited three New York Times bestsellers (THE BOYS OF WINTER, YOU'LL NEVER NANNY IN THIS TOWN AGAIN, and AMERICA'S CHEAPEST FAMILY GETS YOU RIGHT ON THE MONEY). After more than five years she moved to Sourcebooks, where she's currently looking for a wide variety of nonfiction. This includes parenting and pregnancy, business, self-help, reference, humor, sports, green books, pop culture, language and writing, books about books, and potential series. Prescriptive/reference approaches to almost any topic are also of interest. And on the fiction side, she's looking for commercial women's fiction.

Diane Duane, Author

DIANE DUANE has been making her living writing fantasy and science fiction for more than a quarter century, and has written for Star Trek in more media than anyone else alive. Born in Manhattan, a descendant of the first Mayor of New York City after the Revolutionary War, she initially trained and worked as a psychiatric nurse; then, after the publication of her first book in 1979, spent some years living and writing on both coasts of the US before relocating to County Wicklow in Ireland, where she settled down with her husband, the Belfast-born novelist and screenwriter Peter Morwood.

Her work includes more than forty novels — a number of which have spent time on the New York Times Best-Seller List — and much television work, including story-editing stints on the DiC animated series Dinosaucers and the BBC educational series Science Challenge, a co-writer credit on the first-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Where No One Has Gone Before, and (most recently) another on the SciFi Channel miniseries Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, written in collaboration with her husband.

When not writing, she conducts an active online life based around her weblog (http://outofambit.blogspot.com) , her popular "Young Wizards" novel series (www.youngwizards.com), and her European recipe collection (www.europeancuisines.com) — while also stargazing, cooking, attempting to keep the cats from eating all the herbs in the garden, and trying to figure out how to make more spare time.

kc dyer, Author

kc dyer is the author of four historical and contemporary novels for young adults published in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, most recently MS. ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK, published earlier this year. In 2002, kc dyer was awarded the Surrey International Writers' Conference Chamber of Commerce Special Achievement Award for her contributions to the local writing community. She continues to be involved with the Surrey International Writers' Conference as the Conference Coordinator and Writing Contest Coordinator.

Her second novel, THE SECRET OF LIGHT, was nominated for a Chocolate Lily award and her third, SHADES OF RED, was voted an 'Our Choice' selection by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. kc dyer has spoken to thousands of students in schools around the Lower Mainland and this fall will tour Ontario for Book Week as a selected author in the Toronto Dominion Book Week tour. kc dyer lives with an eclectic collection of children and animals north of Vancouver, British Columbia, where she is currently writing a new series for teens set in the UK.

Hallie Ephron, Author

Hallie Ephron is the author of Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock "Em Dead with Style (Writers Digest Books, 2005), the book about mystery writing that cracks the code. The book was nominated for a 2006 Edgar award for Best Critical/Biographical and for a 2006 Anthony Award for Best Critical/Nonfiction.

Hallie is the crime fiction book reviewer for the Boston Globe and winner of the Ellen Nehr Award for Excellence in Mystery Reviewing. She is also co-author of five Dr. Peter Zak mystery/psychological thrillers by G. H. Ephron, including GUILT.

Sorche Fairbank, Agent

Sorche Elizabeth Fairbank established Fairbank Literary Representation in 2002, when she moved to Cambridge, MA. Since then, Ms. Fairbank has had the pleasure of working with a wide, dynamic, and varied list, representing best-selling authors, Pulitzer Prize finalists and winner, Edgar recipients, award-winning journalists, and of course her favorite kind of client – the first-time author.

Subjects of interest include: literary fiction, topical or narrative non-fiction, women's voices, class and race issues, architecture, and works addressing the meeting of art and science. We are most actively seeking select new fiction voices, biographies, one-subject narrative non-fiction (a la Mark Kurlansky), topical works (politics, current affairs), true crime, sports. Updated information on Fairbank Literary can be found at www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/SorcheFairbank/.

Jesse Finkelstein, Publisher

Jesse Finkelstein is the Associate Publisher at Raincoast Books, a Vancouver-based book publisher, distributor and wholesaler. Prior to taking on her current role, Jesse sold subsidiary rights and negotiated publishing contracts for the Raincoast list. She began her publishing career in her home town of Montreal, where she worked for Vehicule Press and the Montreal Review of Books. Jesse came to Vancouver in 1999 to enroll in the Master of Publishing Program at Simon Fraser University She and her family have lived here ever since.

Lee Edward Fodi, Author

Known as the "Wizard of Words," Lee Edward Födi has been writing and illustrating stories about magic, monsters, and mystery for as long as he can remember. Growing up on a farm, he was subjected to horrible chores (such as cleaning the chicken coop) and was often in trouble for his constant daydreaming. There was a time when his father harboured hopes that his son would take over the family business—but these aspirations came to an abrupt end when the young author accidentally ran the tractor over his dad’s outhouse (thankfully, his dad was not inside at the time). As a result, Födi went on to pursue his love of art, mythology, and storytelling, all of which (luckily) do not require any skill in operating heavy machinery. Födi is the author and illustrator of the forthcoming Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger, Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers (2005) and Corranda’s Crown (2002). He has also illustrated several picture books for other authors.

Födi lives in Vancouver.

Dennis Foon, Author

Dennis Foon has won awards and honours throughout the world for his plays, screenplays and novels. As Artistic Director of Vancouver’s acclaimed Green Thumb Theatre for Young People for twelve years, he produced a body of plays that are frequently produced internationally and for which he has won the British Theatre Award and two Chalmers Awards. He has received the Gemini, two WGC Top Tens, and the Robert Wagner Award for his screenplays, which include Little Criminals, the international Emmy nominee White Lies, Scar Tissue, Torso, and Terry, the acclaimed CTV movie about Terry Fox. Foon’s novels for young adults include Double or Nothing and the Sheila A. Egoff award-winning Skud. His newest book is The Keeper’s Shadow, the final volume of the evocative fantasy trilogy, The Longlight Legacy. www.dennisfoon.com

Diana Gabaldon, Author

Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, NYT-bestselling OUTLANDER novels, described by Salon magazine as "the smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting "Scrooge McDuck" comics."

The adventure began in 1991 with the classic OUTLANDER ("historical fiction with a Moebius twist"), continued through four more New York Times-bestselling novels--DRAGONFLY IN AMBER, VOYAGER, DRUMS OF AUTUMN, and THE FIERY CROSS--and a nonfiction (well, relatively) companion volume, THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, which provides copious details on the settings, background, characters, research, and writing of the novels, and has most recently produced A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES, winner of the 2006 Corine International Fiction Award, and the 2006 Quill Award for <ahem> "Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror."

Steven Galloway, Author

Steven Galloway is the author of two novels, Finnie Walsh and Ascension. His work has been published in 10 countries and 7 languages, and has been nominated for the Amazon.com First Novel Award and the Ethel Wilson Prize. He currently lives outside of Vancouver and teaches Creative Writing at UBC and SFU.

Diana Gill, Editor

Executive Editor Diana Gill has edited a variety of books, from science textbooks to fantasy novels. After she started her publishing career at W. H. Freeman she moved to Morrow in 1998, where she now oversees Eos, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of HarperCollins. The authors with whom she has worked include Mario Acevedo, USA Today bestseller Trudi Canavan, C. J.Cherryh, William Gibson, New York Times bestseller Kim Harrison, Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, USA Today bestseller Vicki Pettersson, Mary Stewart, Steph Swainston, Kristine Smith, Karen Traviss, and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. In addition to sf and fantasy, her interests include commercial and historical fiction, science-based adventure thrillers, and historical and travel nonfiction.

Bruce Hale, Author

Edgar-nominated author Bruce Hale has written or illustrated over 20 books for children, including the popular Chet Gecko Mysteries series and the forthcoming graphic novel hybrid, Underwhere. An actor and Fulbright Scholar (in Storytelling), Bruce is in demand as a speaker, having presented at conferences, universities, and schools across North America. His acting resume includes regional commercials, community theater, and an independent film, The Ride. Currently, he lives in Santa Barbara and performs with Vocal Point, an a cappella jazz choir.

Cecelia Holland, Author

Cecelia Holland has been writing since she was 12 years old. Since then, she's spent a good deal of every day writing. She writes historical fiction, because, history seems to hold an endless fund of material. "I like novels, because they are long and wide and deep. Every once in a great while, I try to write a poem, and, now and then, I write a short story, but I prefer novels."

Since having her first story, The Firedrake, published in 1966, Cecelia has written a lot, read a lot and raised three wonderful daughters. She lives in northern California, in the country. Once a week, she teaches creative writing at Pelican Bay state Prison, 2 hours away in Crescent City, and, every day, takes care of a small menagerie of little animals.

Joan Johnston, Author

Joan Johnston is the New York Times bestselling author of 47 novels and novellas, with more than ten million copies of her books in print in 25 countries and 19 languages. Joan has a B.A. and M.A. in Theatre and a J.D. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. She has worked as a director of theatre, drama critic, newspaper editor, college professor (most recently at the University of Miami, Florida) and attorney (with Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia, and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Miami, Florida) on her way to becoming a full-time author. She has raised two fairly normal children and splits her time between homes in Florida and Colorado. You can find out more about Joan at www.joanjohnston.com.

Peter Joseph, Editor

I started at Thomas Dunne Books as Tom Dunne's assistant after a short stint at Smithsonian Books and since then have acquired a wide variety of both nonfiction and fiction. My nonfiction list includes history, biography/autobiography, narrative nonfiction, travel, humor, and pop-culture. I'm particularly interested in film, music, and social history. A few recent titles include the authorized BOGIE: A Celebration of the Life and Films of Humphrey Bogart, LEGACY OF HONOR: The Values and Influences of America's Eagle Scouts, BABYLON'S ARK: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo and Nobel prize-winner Dario Fo's memoir MY FIRST SEVEN YEARS (Plus a Few More).

In fiction, I edit and acquire mysteries and thrillers under the Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur imprint, including CRITIQUE OF CRIMINAL REASON by Michael Gregorio, INVISIBLE ARMIES by Jon Evans, and HEAD GAMES by Thomas B. Cavanagh. I also edit some historical and literary fiction for the general Thomas Dunne Books imprint, including THE SIDEWALK ARTIST by Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk, BEAUTIFUL DREAMER by Christopher Bigsby and GARCIA'S HEART by Liam Durcan.

In addition to my regular editorial work I also manage the recently announced Tony Hillerman Prize for first mysteries set in the Southwest.

Barry Jowett, Editor

Barry Jowett has been with Dundurn Press since 1996. An editor of fiction and non-fiction, in 2000 he spearheaded the revitalization of Dundurn's Young Adult Fiction imprint, Boardwalk Books. Under this imprint, he has signed such award-winning authors as Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Valerie Sherrard, kc dyer, and Lesley Choyce. He also acquires books for Dundurn's literary and mystery lines, including award-winners Elizabeth Ruth, Ann Ireland, Cordelia Strube, and Kim Moritsugu. Jowett is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, and Centennial College's Book and Magazine Publishing program.

Bernice Lever, Author

A thirty year plus member of Canadian Authors Association, Bernice Lever is now their Grievance Chair and the Vancouver branch's Writer in Residence. Today she is a free lance editor and marketing advisor. She was V.P. & Treasurer of the League of Canadian Poets, and still is active in the Canadian Poetry Association, B.C. Federation of Writers and local groups. As she has also published in prose genres and taught from Grade One to University classes, her numerous writing workshops on creativity and marketing have helped many writers be published or broadcast. She edited WAVES, Fine Canadian Literature, from 1972-1987. She worked for Dundurn Press in Toronto for 4 years. Now living on Bowen Island, BC and having read her poetry on 5 continents, she still gets high on words.

Elizabeth Lyon, Editor

Author, editor, and teacher Elizabeth Lyon, sometimes described as the writer’s midwife, has been an independent book editor for the last twenty years. Scores of her clients and students have been published and won awards. A few have secured movie options. She has also trained half a dozen writers in the fine art and craft of editing, including Candy Davis, a conference presenter, who was one of her students. Elizabeth has been a contributor to The Writer & Writer’s Digest magazines and to several anthologies and other publications. She has served as a judge to literary contests including, for many years, the Surrey International Writers contest.

Elizabeth is the author of five highly regarded books for writers: A Writer’s Guide to Fiction, A Writer’s Guide to Nonfiction, Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write, The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit, and National Directory of Editors and Writers. She is presently under contract to write two more books for writers, one on self-editing fiction and the other on self-editing nonfiction. Tips, techniques, and client successes are posted at her author website: www.elizabethlyon.com.

As a traveling workshop teacher, she has held the post, for the last seven years, as instructor of the Master Classes for novelists attending the much acclaimed, annual Writers Retreat Workshop in Kentucky. She also teaches many two-day workshops for writing organizations and clubs and has frequently led Thursday master classes for the Surrey conference. 

Elizabeth lives in Springfield, Oregon where she also operates her company, Editing International (www.4-edit.com). Her beloved Border collie, Riley, beats her at Scrabble and, as the newest editorial apprentice, has recently mastered three four-letter words: Show don't tell.

Photo credit: www.akarnophotography.com

Donald Maass, Agent

Donald Maass is president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York, which he founded in 1980. He represents more than 100 fiction writers and sells more than 100 novels per year to top publishers in America and overseas. He is himself the author of fourteen pseudonymous novels and of the books The Career Novelist (Heineman, 1996), Writing the Breakout Novel (Writers Digest Press, 2001) and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (Writers Digest Press 2004). He is a past president of the Association of Authors' Representatives, Inc. (AAR).

Phillip Margolin, Author

Phillip Margolin grew up in New York City and Levittown, New York. After graduating from the American University in Washington, D.C. Phillip was a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, West Africa. In 1970, he graduated from New York University School of Law. His first job after law school was a clerkship with Herbert M. Schwab, the Chief Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. In practice from 1972 until 1996, he specialized in criminal defence and appeared at trial and appellate courts including the US Supreme Court. As a trial attorney, Phillip represented nearly three dozen people charged with homicide, including several who faced the death penalty. He was the first Oregon attorney to use the Battered Women's Syndrome to defend a battered woman accused of murdering her spouse.

Since 1996, Phillip Margolin has written full-time, with every one of his novels a best seller. His novels have been nominated for and won awards as diverse as the Oregon Book Award and the Edgar, have been Literary Guild and Book of the Month Club selections, and have been made into movies and television series. In addition to my novels, he has published short stories and non-fiction articles in magazines and law journals. Also since 1996, Phillip has been the President and Chairman of the Board of Chess for Success, a non-profit charity that uses chess to teach study skills to elementary and middle school children.

Tonya Martin, Editor

Tonya Martin has been in the publishing industry for over 20 years, 15 of which have been spent as a trade children's book editor specializing in middle-grade and YA fiction (but she has much love for picture books, early chapter books, and licensed product, too). Tonya is best known for her work at Scholastic, Incorporated in New York City, which included K.A. Applegate's top-selling series Animorphs, Everworld, and Remnants, as well as R.L. Stine's Goosebumps franchise (Give Yourself Goosebumps), the Ripley's Believe It or Not license, and many a teen "Thriller."

Tonya has also worked in production at Temple University Press and as an editor for Current Science, a UK-based medical publisher.

Although she is a children's book editor and writer at heart, Tonya recently had a "grown-up" short story accepted for publication in an anthology, which will be released in Spring 2007.

Tonya was born in the US city of Baltimore, went to university in Philadelphia where she earned a BA in Communications/Journalism, and ultimately landed in NYC's children's book publishing world. A couple of years ago, Tonya left fabulous Manhattan, New York, for stunning Vancouver, British Columbia.

She's decided to stay here for a while.

Jeffery McGraw, Agent

Jeffery McGraw directs the New York operations of The August Agency LLC, a literary and media management firm he co-founded with fellow agent Cricket Pechstein Freeman in 2004. He brings to the company a wide range of experience in both publishing and television, with a concentrated background in the areas of editorial, legal, publicity, public relations, advertising and promotion, and feature reporting. Throughout his career he has had the privilege to work with many different types of books and an equally diverse roster of remarkable authors and artists — among them Elizabeth Berg, Patricia Gaffney, Michael Lee West, Olivia Goldsmith, Al Hirschfeld, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Bill O'Reilly, and Betty Rollin.

Jeffery currently seeks prescriptive nonfiction projects with a full-bodied narrative command and an undeniable contemporary relevance, as well as fiction defined not so much by a novel's category as by its extraordinary power to resonate universally on a deeply emotional level. He has an enormous passion for well written melodramas (consider Fannie Hurst's BACK STREET and IMITATION OF LIFE or Michael Cunningham's THE HOURS) and sarcastically witty comedies-of-manners (think Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ALL ABOUT EVE). His other favorite areas of publishing interest include political science, history, biography, self-help, health, lifestyle, and the social sciences, et al.

He does not handle science fiction, fantasy, poetry, or horror.

Don McQuinn, Author

Don McQuinn is the award-winning author of nine novels and a teacher dedicated to the goal of helping others publish their work.

George McWhirter, Author

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and educated at Queen's University Belfast, where he was a classmate of Seamus Deane, Seamus Heaney and the Irish children's writer, Robert Dunbar—on March 13th, 2007 George McWhirter was inaugurated as Vancouver's first Poet Laureate. He is the author of eight books of verse, editor and translator of poetry by major Mexican poets and has won the Commonwealth Prize for poetry, the FR Scott Prize forTranslation, and the Ethel Wilson Prize at the BC Book Awards for fiction. For almost thirty years he was the Advisory Editor of PRISM international magazine. He is a translator of his verse and friend of Homero Aridjis, who has just been appointed as Mexico's Ambassador to UNESCO. At UBC he won two Killam prizes, one for Teaching and one for Mentoring, as well as the Sam Black award for his contribution to the Creative & Performing Arts. His web site is www3.telus.net/GeorgeMcWhirter.

Jacquelyn Mitchard, Author

Jacquelyn Mitchard is the author of the number one New York Times bestselling novel, The Deep End of the Ocean — chosen as the first book for Oprah Winfrey's Book Club. She subsequently wrote five other bestselling novels, The Most Wanted (1998), A Theory of Relativity (2001), Twelve Times Blessed (2003), Christmas, Present (2004), The Breakdown Lane (2004), Cage of Stars (2005) as well as an essay collection, The Rest of Us: Dispatches From the Mothership (1997). The film version of The Deep End of the Ocean, starring Michelle Pfeiffer was released in March 1999. A Theory of Relativity, from HarperCollins, now is in development for a feature film at Paramount and The Breakdown Lane for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Mitchard has published three children's books – two young children’s novels, Starring Prima! (2004) and Rosalie, My Rosalie (2005) as well as a children's picture book, Baby Bat's Lullaby (2004). Her next novel, Still Summer will be published in August 2007. Her first Young Adult novel Now You See Her, will be out in February 2007 and her newest picture book Ready, Set, School will be out June 2007.

A syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services, Mitchard’s column appears in 128 newspapers nationwide, and she is a contributing editor for Wondertime magazine, Her screenplays include A Serpent's Egg, with Amy Paulsen, and Doing Fine, with John Roach.

Mitchard served as speechwriter for former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, and was until 1984 a metro reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A Ragdale Foundation Distinguished Fellow, she has also written two non-fiction books, Mother Less Child: The Love Story of a Family (W.W. Norton) and Jane Addams of Hull House (Gareth Stevens Press). Her essays on parenthood and social issues have been widely anthologized; and she has received the Maggie Award for Public Service Magazine Journalism, a nomination for Britain’s Orange Prize for fiction; and served on the 2002 jury for the National Book Award for fiction.

Jacquelyn Mitchard lives in Wisconsin with her husband Christopher Brent, and their seven children.

Peter Morwood, Author

Peter Morwood, novelist, screenwriter and recipient of the Polish Silver Cross of Merit, was born in 1956 in Lisburn, Co.Antrim, a town near Belfast in Northern Ireland. He attended Friends' School, Lisburn, and then went on to Queen's University, Belfast, where he studied English Language and Literature, Law, and Medieval History.

While at university he was a Officer-Cadet of the Queen's University Air Squadron ( R.A.F.V.R.), but was forced to choose between academics and the RAF. The groves of academe won, and he graduated from Queen's with a B.A. (Hons.) degree in 1979. With his degree in hand, Peter took a job as an officer in H.M. Customs and Excise, a job he was utterly overjoyed to relinquish in 1986.

He has been writing for as long as he can remember about such varied subjects as tanks and knights, fighter-planes and pirates, dragons and spaceships, all of which sometimes appeared in the same story. He wrote his first novel at nights while still working for Customs and Excise, despite such minor impedimenta as being told by skeptical superiors that he would never come to anything as a writer, and should concentrate on being a good civil servant. Under the circumstances, Peter was immensely gratified when his first novel, THE HORSE LORD, was quickly accepted and published to critical acclaim in 1983.

It was soon followed by several sequels (THE DEMON LORD, THE DRAGON LORD and THE WAR LORD'S DOMAIN), resignation from the Civil Service, and marriage to fellow writer Diane Duane. While continuing to work in his particularly vivid and unsettling branch of fantasy with novels like PRINCE IVAN, FIREBIRD, THE GOLDEN HORDE, and the first two "Clan Wars" novels, GREYLADY and WIDOWMAKER, he also turned his attention to other forms of writing, particularly comics (for Epic Comics' FUSION) and screenplays (initially for animated series such as BKN Productions' THE LOST CONTINENT, Warner Brothers' BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, Walt Disney's GARGOYLES and Fox's SPIDERMAN UNLIMITED). Later he and Diane went on to work on live action film projects such as their epic miniseries of German legend, DARK KINGDOM: THE DRAGON KING, and their present joint project, the Imperial Roman-based miniseries, GAMES.

Peter's present novel-writing projects include the first in a military/political science fiction series, DEEPFLEET; the first in an historical fantasy series, BLOOD'S RUBY; and a stand-alone epic fantasy, THE CLOVEN HOOF. He is also outlining the third in his "Clan Wars" fantasy series and his fifth "Horse Lord" novel. In the works as well are screenplays for another miniseries and a feature film.

Kristin Nelson, Agent

Kristin established the Nelson Literary Agency in 2002. In such a short time, she has sold more than 60 books to such publishers as Random House, Hyperion, Harlequin, Simon & Schuster, Hachette/Warner and the Penguin Group. She has landed several film deals and has contracted foreign rights on behalf of her clients in all the major territories. Her authors are RITA-award winners and USA Today bestsellers. She specializes in representing commercial fiction (romance, women’s fiction, science fiction, fantasy, young adult) and high caliber literary fiction. She also considers a few nonfiction projects that tend to be story-based, such as memoir and narrative nonfiction. Member: AAR, RWA, SFWA.

Cricket Pechstein Freeman, Agent

Cricket Pechstein Freeman, The August Agency LLC, www.augustagency.com.

Cricket connects with writers. For more than two decades she's banked on words to bring home the bacon. First as a writer, book editor, writing instructor, magazine editor, book designer, publicist, and then as an agent, she's savored many pieces of the publishing pie.

Cricket embraces her clients' books, but also the writers themselves -- and their careers. She is discriminating in what she takes on: edgy crime fiction that focuses on how the crime works the characters, not how the characters work the crime, and creative high-concept nonfiction with a twist. This year Cricket is looking for writing powered by a distinguishing sense of place; a crackerjack, highly-seasoned author's voice; and characters with a lot to lose. However, she'll happily listen to you pitch any book and help you with how to market it. So save up your questions!

Tina Pehme, Producer

Canadian producer Tina Pehme believes in making feature films that engage, entertain and resonate with audiences the world over.

Tina has recently completed the epic period romance Partition, a classic love story set against the 1947 British partition of India, a film she developed and produced with Sepia Films, a company she co-owns with producing partner Kim Roberts and Director Vic Sarin. Partition, directed and written by Sarin, follows the love story of Gian Singh (Jimi Mistry), a Sikh soldier and a Muslim refugee (Kristin Kreuk) during the tumultuous early days of Indian independence at the end of British Colonial rule. The film also stars Neve Campbell, John Light and Irrfan Khan.

Also recently completed is the post 911 thriller Civic Duty starring Peter Krause and Richard Schiff and directed by Sundance Grand Jury nominee Jeff Renfroe, which Pehme and Roberts produced alongside Landslide Pictures. Civic Duty had the distinction of being the New York Post's #1 film pick at its world theatrical premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2006 and is slated for its North American theatrical release in early 2007.

In 2004 Tina produced the touching romantic comedy Love on the Side, starring Jennifer Tilly, Barry Watson and Marla Sokoloff and Dave Thomas.

Tina began her producing career when she joined Sepia as a partner in 1994. She has also worked with IMX Communications in the development and production of international feature film co-productions. Prior to this Tina was involved in the field of line production/production management in both the feature film and television genres in Canada, the US and internationally.

Up next for Pehme & Roberts is the UK/Canada co-production A Shine of Rainbows, a magical coming of age story, based on the beloved novel by Lillian Beckwith slated to shoot in Scotland in spring 2008. Projects in development include the high-concept horror/action thriller Golem, the rock and roll drama James Dean Garage Band in partnership with David Ward (The Sting) and the action/adventure Jack of Diamonds in partnership with Force Four Productions (Human Cargo).

Submissions Tina is interested in:
Suspense
Thrillers
Family/ 'Tween'
Music movies

Anne Perry, Author

Anne Perry lives in Scotland and is the author of several finely-wrought and entertaining mysteries set in the Victorian Era. She writes the highly praised William Monk and Inspector Pitt series. Millions of her books have been sold worldwide. Visit her official site at: www.anneperry.net

Lois Peterson, Author

Long-time conference presenter, Blue Pencil Cafe volunteer, contest sponsor and attendee Lois Peterson is known for her informative and engaging presentations.

Her short stories and articles have appeared internationally, and her personal essays have been published in the Vancouver Sun, Maclean's Magazine and The Globe and Mail.

She runs operates the writing, editing, and consulting business LPwordsolutions (www.lpwordsolutions.com), is Coordinator of the Surrey Creative Writing Diploma Program, works as Development Officer for Surrey Public Library, and in her 'spare time' is writing two linked novels for children.

Vicki Pettersson, Author

A Las Vegas native, Vicki Pettersson always loved to write, but a post-college stint in public relations convinced her that "working on assignment" was not the career for her; so she did what any self-respecting Vegas girl would do: she became a showgirl by night . . . a closet novelist by day. A decade and a handful of manuscripts later she became an instant bestseller with the March '07 release of her dark urban fantasy THE SCENT OF SHADOWS. Her second book, THE TASTE OF NIGHT, followed in April, and she'll appear in the anthology HOLIDAYS ARE HELL, due out November 1. She's currently signed for four more books with HarperCollins. To learn more, visit: www.vickipettersson.com

Johanna Raisanen, Editor

Johanna Raisanen has worked for Harlequin Enterprises for over ten years. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Johanna also received a diploma from the Book and Magazine Publishing Program from Centennial College. Starting in the proofreading department at Harlequin, Johanna quickly learned all about category romance. In 2002 she became an editor and has worked on a variety of series, including Harlequin American Romance, Superromance, NEXT and Love Inspired Suspense. She loves to read, so it’s lucky for her she has a job where she gets to read all the time! Johanna lives in Toronto.

Jenny Rappaport, Agent

Jenny Rappaport is a literary agent who joined Lori Perkins at the L. Perkins Agency in 2006. Prior to joining the L. Perkins Agency, she worked as an associate agent with Paige Wheeler at both Creative Media Agency and Folio Literary Management. She attended Carnegie Mellon University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. She is a 2002 graduate of Orson Scott Card's Literary Boot Camp, and is also the author of the anime review column, Far East Alchemy, for Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show.

She is actively acquiring in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, horror, and romance, and is particularly interested in novels that excel at storytelling. Her client list includes, among others, John Joseph Adams, Carl Frederick, Alethea Kontis, Joshua Palmatier, Jeff Strand, Jordan Summers, and debut author Nathalie Mallet.

She is not interested in picture books, literary fiction, inspirational fiction, and most non-fiction.

Lisa Rector-Maass, Editor

Lisa Rector-Maass is an award-winning writer and independent editor in New York City.

At 17, she became the youngest writer at BC Woman magazine in Vancouver, Canada. Lisa has since worked as a journalist, publicist, agent and editor. She has served on the Surrey International Writers’ Conference committee and teaches fiction and editing workshops worldwide.

Through her company, Editing Express, Lisa helps authors develop, revise and polish their work. She specializes in late stage story development, intensive brainstorming techniques and the third draft. She works primarily with thriller, mystery and suspense writers as well as authors of women’s, mainstream and literary fiction.

"It's exciting to see a book take shape, to become what you envision it could be in the early drafts."

Janet Reid, Agent

Janet Reid, Imprint Agency, began agenting with one client and a rolodex of publicity contacts after a 15 year career in book publicity. Five years later her client list numbers more than 20 and includes an Edgar winner, a special effects costume designer for the movies, and a host of other captivating writers. Recent books include The Electric Church by Jeff Somers (Orbit); Master Detective by John Reisinger (Kensington) Dreaming of Gwen Stefani by Evan Mandery (ig); Grave Imports by Eric Stone (Bleak House).

Looking for: mysteries, literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, cross genre work
Doesn’t consider: poetry, screenplays, romance, prescriptive non-fiction (self help topics)

Wendy Roberts, Author

Wendy Roberts is an armchair sleuth, fan of all things mysterious and a huge chicken at heart. Although her mind is often in a cloak and dagger world of intrigue, her physical presence is usually required in more motherly duties like chauffeur, chef and referee to her four children. Wendy hogs the family computer writing mysteries for Penguin Books. You can visit her on the web at www.wendyroberts.com.

Barbara Rogan, Author

Born in New York City, Barbara Rogan started out in publishing as a copy writer for Fawcett Publishing House. In 1974, she moved to Israel, where, after a brief stint wrangling horses in the Galilee and a longer one working for an Israeli publisher, she established the Barbara Rogan Literary Agency. From 1981-1985 Barbara served on the board of directors of the Jerusalem Book Fair. In 1980 she married; in 1982, during the war in Lebanon, their first son was born; and at the same time Barbara's first novel, Changing States, was published simultaneously in England, the U.S., and Israel.

Since returning to New, Barbara has written seven more novels and co-authored a nonfiction book on the assassination of Lebanon's Bashir Gemayal. She teaches writing at Hofstra University, conducts workshops, and appears regularly at writers conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

Her novels have been translated into 10 languages, optioned by leading film studios, featured in book clubs, and reissued in trade, mass market, and audio. They include: SUSPICION, HINDSIGHT, and ROWING IN EDEN, all published by Simon & Schuster. Barbara has recently completed her latest novel and a non-fiction book, THE NEXT LEVEL, on editing one's own fiction.

Vic Sarin, Producer

A passionate and diverse filmmaker, Vic Sarin is one Canada's most distinguished Directors and Cinematogaphers with over 150 films to his credit including award winning feature films, documentaries and Emmy Award winning television movies. With more than thirty years of experience as a Director of Photography, Vic has received numerous accolades including the prestigious Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award for having created some of Canadian cinema's most moving and memorable images. His celebrated work in feature films such as Margaret's Museum, Whale Music, Bye Bye Blues, Dancing in the Dark and On My Own have earned him world renown as one of Canada's premier cinematographers. Vic then turned his eye toward directing, where he is known for his unique storytelling ability that seamlessly weaves together the emotional and visual aspects of a film. Vic's films also have a distinct visual texture; a rich look and larger than life feel enhanced by his many years spent behind the lens. As a Director, Vic has won recognition for films such as the feature film Cold Comfort starring Maury Chaykin and Paul Gross which garnered five Genie (Canadian Academy Award) nominations including Best Picture. He received an Emmy nomination for his acclaimed television movie In His Father's Shoes starring Lou Gossett, which received a total of five Emmy nominations including Best Direction and took home two awards including Best Picture and Performance. His television movie Sea People starring Hume Cronyn, was also nominated for four Emmy Awards including Best Direction and Best Film and won a Writer's Guild of America Award amongst others. Vic also continues to contribute as Director of Photography for many of the films he directs.

Vic Sarin was born in Kashmir and spent his teenage years in Australia where his father was a diplomat. It was here where his love for the cinema was born. Originally wanting to pursue a career as an actor, Vic felt his accented English could stand in his way. Knowing his son's passion for the cinema, his father fortuitously gave Vic a 16 mm camera for his 16th birthday and Vic found his niche. As he tells it "I fell in love with the visual side of storytelling, because movies transcend all barriers, pictures are understood in every language. I felt that as an artist and a storyteller, it was through images that I could create something unique that would touch people and move the heart or provoke a thought."

Vic has had extensive experience in filming overseas, particularly in India where he shot the features Bye Bye Blues, and The Burning Season and directed numerous documentaries including the acclaimed documentary series Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World for which he also received Emmy Award recognition. Vic has also recently returned from Shanghai where he has just wrapped up directing and creative producing the high concept television series Flatland starring Dennis Hopper.

Partition (2007) is a film that that deals with issues close to Vic's heart, written from stories and experiences that Vic has both heard and witnessed first hand. As Vic tells it, the film is: "An epic Romeo and Juliet love story between a Sikh and a Moslem, during the last days of the British Raj. Set on the vast canvas which is India, amidst the turmoil of the 1947 partition, it is a compelling opportunity to give the film a larger than life quality, and one that will make accessible to the world's film viewers the beauty, complexity and humanity of this part of the world. It is my hope that it will also and shed a little light on the conflict still going on today. Though the setting is in India, the subject is universal and something that many people the world over will appreciate.

Michael Slade, Author

Michael Slade is an alter ego who conjures up dark thrillers. He lurks in the mind of a criminal lawyer who has acted in more than 100 murder trials, including the last death penalty case. From HEADHUNTER (1984) and GHOUL (1987) to SWASTIKA (2005) and KAMIKAZE (2006), the twelve Slade chillers have fused the genres of police procedure, whodunit, suspense, horror, historical, legal, western, romance, adventure, and science fiction in differing proportions. HEADHUNTER is in film development. Best review description? "Literary bungee jumping with Agatha Christie's bastard son." Slade collaborates with Rebecca Clarke. Website: www.specialx.net.

Patricia Smiley, Author

Patricia Smiley earned a BA in Sociology from the University of Washington in Seattle. She also holds an MBA with honors from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Her debut novel FALSE PROFITS about Los Angeles management consultant Tucker Sinclair received a starred review from Booklist and was a Book Sense recommendation. Her follow-up novel COVER YOUR ASSETS was a RomanticTimes Top Pick. Both novels were Los Angeles Times Bestsellers. SHORT CHANGE, the third in the series, will be released July 3, 2007.

Patty is Vice President of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and a member of Sisters in Crime, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She is also a Specialist Reserve Officer for the Los Angeles Police Department and a regular contributor to NakedAuthors: the naked truth about literature and life, a crime writer’s blog located at www.nakedauthors.com. She lives in Los Angeles where she is at work on the fourth in the Tucker Sinclair series.

Elaine Spencer, Agent

Elaine Spencer joined The Knight Agency as Manuscript and Foreign Rights Coordinator in August, 2005. A lifetime booklover, she graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelors degree in Comparative Literature and English, paired with an intense focus on Economics. Her past work experiences include dealing with legal contracts and executive management, as well as writing, editing, and publishing.

Established in 1996, The Knight Agency has sold more than seven hundred books for its one hundred-plus clients. Though it specializes in romance and women's fiction, the agency also represents commercial fiction, science fiction, fantasy, middle grade and young adult titles, along with a diverse list of African American, religious, financial, self-help, and health nonfiction. Knight Agency authors have produced bestsellers featured on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Barnes & Noble Bestseller, Amazon.com Hot 100 lists. Awards received by clients include the RITA, Gold Medallion, Walden Books Award for Best New Author, and numerous others.

In early 2006, Elaine began aggressively building her own client list as the agency's newest associate agent, and her first sale followed weeks later. She is looking to acquire novels in a variety of categories, including women’s fiction (light paranormals, romance, contemporary mainstream, romantic suspense, comedic, historical), young adult, mystery, and suspense. Elaine is a member of the AAR, Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. In her spare time, Elaine loves shopping, cooking, and autumn Saturday afternoons where she can be found in Sanford Stadium cheering on her beloved Bulldawgs.

Timothy Taylor, Author

Timothy Taylor is the author of three works of fiction: Stanley Park (2001), Silent Cruise and other Stories (2002) and Story House (2006). The novel Stanley Park was a national bestseller and was short-listed for numerous prizes including the Giller Prize, the Writers Trust Fiction Prize, and both the BC and Vancouver Book Awards. Silent Cruise was runner up in the Danuta Gleed literary award, which recognizes the best first collection of short fiction for the year. Taylor’s much anticipated second novel, Story House, was an immediate national bestseller on publication in April 2006 and received widespread critical acclaim. Taylor is also the winner of three National Magazine Awards and the Journey Prize. He lives in Vancouver where he splits his time between fiction, writing for screen, and journalism. He is a Contributing Editor at enRoute Magazine and Vancouver Magazine. His writing on arts and culture has also appeared in Saturday Night, Food & Wine, Institutional Investor, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Nephele Tempest, Agent

Until the age of ten, Nephele wanted to be a ballerina. Then she wrote her first short story and began to consider a career that would allow her to eat chocolate. An avid reader from the age of three, she decided writing books was as close as she was going to get to reading for a living, and set off to fill stacks of school notebooks with her scribbling. In high school, Nephele wrote her first novel (which will never see the light of day), and served as editor of the school literary magazine. She majored in English Literature at the University of Chicago, where they further encouraged her to embrace her love of all things impractical. Then she graduated in the middle of a recession and discovered that creative writing skills only get you so far when you’re working on a resume.

In her ongoing quest to pay the rent while supporting her book habit, Nephele has worked as an editorial assistant at Simon and Schuster, an area manager at a major east coast department store, a paralegal, a stockbroker, and a marketing writer/web site manager for a financial services firm. Other skills in her arsenal include the ability to scoop the perfect ice cream cone, organize a charity auction, code a basic web site, and drive a person insane with her insistence on correcting their grammar.

Nephele quit her well-paying job in New York in 2002, packed up her Honda Civic, and moved to Los Angeles, where she planned to set up her laptop by the pool and to never shovel snow again. She worked as a freelance writer until her good friend Deidre, whom she knew from an online writing group, approached her with the idea of opening a west coast office of The Knight Agency. After several discussions, and approximately six months of helping screen submissions, Nephele joined the agency fulltime in January, 2005. She currently belongs to the Association of Authors' Representatives and Romance Writers of America. Although she still loves to write, she is ecstatic to have finally found a career that allows her to read for a living. She is currently accepting submissions in the following fiction genres: literary, women's, romantic suspense, paranormal/urban fantasy, sf/f, and YA.

Meg Tilly, Author

MEG TILLY is the author of two adult novels, Singing Songs and Gemma. Her first YA novel, Porcupine is to be released by Tundra in Sept 2007. Tilly is also known for her work in her former career as a film actress. Some of her better known films include, The Big Chill and Agnes of God, for which she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar. At present she is working on her second YA (Untitled). She lives in Vancouver, B.C with her family.

Website: www.officialmegtilly.com

Bob Tyrrell, Publisher

Bob Tyrrell founded Orca Book Publishers in 1984, almost accidentally, when he co-authored and published Island Pubbing, A Guide to Pubs on Vancouver Island. Initially a publisher of regional history and travel guides, the company’s move into children’s literature began in the early 1990s and has been a resounding success.

Over the course of the past 17 years Orca Book Publishers has grown to become one of this country’s largest and most successful Canadian-owned publishers of children's books. The company now releases approximately 60 titles a year (picturebooks through teen fiction). Orca titles are consistently well reviewed, receive frequent award nominations and appear on many of the annual "Best of" lists for children's literature in both Canada and the US.

Orca prides itself on publishing Canadian authors and bringing them to a wider market. The international recognition garnered has shown that Canadian creators can compete successfully on the world stage while writing for, and about, Canadians. Submissions guidelines available at www.orcabook.com.

Rachel Vater, Agent

Rachel Vater is a literary agent with Lowenstein-Yost Associates. She represents writers of commercial and literary fiction, especially with paranormal elements. She is especially looking for adult urban fantasy, young adult fiction dealing with contemporary teen issues, and young adult fantasy.

Eric Walters, Author

Eric Walters began writing in 1993 as a way to entice his grade 5 students into becoming more interested in reading and writing. Each day he would read to his students the story he was writing which was set in their school, in their community and with some of the students as characters. At the end of the year – and the end of the novel- one of the students suggested that he try to have this story published. This book, Stand Your Ground, became Eric’s first published novel.

Since that first creation Eric has published over 40 novels. His novels have all become best-sellers, have won over thirty awards, and have been translated into several languages including French, Japanese, Dutch, Chinese and German. Eric writes in a variety of genre including historical/fiction, contemporary, humour, first chapter books, a picture book, sports, and mystery, but often his stories incorporate themes that reflect his background in education and social work and his commitment to humanitarian and social justice issues. He donated all the royalties from his book about Terry Fox, Run, to The Terry Fox Foundation, and was the person who conceived, and then actively promoted, The National Run Day in 2005 to mark the 25th Anniversary of Terry’s run.

Eric stopped teaching in 2003 but continues to work, one night per week, as a social worker in the emergency department in a community hospital. He is actively involved in youth basketball, mentoring community youth and promoting literacy. He is a tireless presenter, speaking to over 70,000 students per year in schools across the country. One of his most common themes involves the Canadian heroes featured in his novels and helping students to become aware of the greatness of their country.

Eric lives in Mississauga with his wife, Anita, and three children, Christina, Nicholas, and Julia. When not writing, or playing and watching sports, he enjoys listening to jazz, playing his saxophone, and eating in fine restaurants.

Nancy Warren, Author

Nancy Warren is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than thirty sexy, humorous novels and novellas for Harlequin and Kensington publishers. Nancy has won many awards for her writing, including Romantic Times Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Award. In 2004 she was a double RITA award finalist from Romance Writers of America. Nancy holds an honors degree in English literature and worked in journalism and public relations before selling her first novel in 2000. She was the launch author for Harlequin’s officially licensed NASCAR series of romances. Speed Dating includes a cameo by NASCAR superstar Carl Edwards and launched the 2007 series at the Daytona 500. Her second NASCAR title will wrap up the 2007 series. Turn Two will be published in November 07. For more please visit www.nancywarren.net

Jack Whyte, Author

Jack Whyte likes to think that he’s been around long enough by now to have done most of the things he ever wanted to do . . . most of them, but by no means all, for he still thinks he has much to achieve. The author of a nine-book, internationally published cycle of novels on the Arthurian legend, he has now completed the second novel in a successful trilogy on the history of the Knights Templar, and is working on the third while looking around for his next project.

In more than twelve years of attendance at this conference, Jack has become one of our stalwarts, using his many gifts and his passionate enthusiasm to entertain, enlighten and instruct an entire generation of emerging writers in the craft of storytelling.

Daniel Wood, Author

Vancouver's Daniel Wood is one of Canada’s best-known magazine writers, and winner of 31 regional or national writing awards. He's also the author of 14 books. His stories often deal with conflicts around social justice, environmental abuse, and the outsider's role in a doctrinaire world. He has taught writing at Simon Fraser University for 20 years, and is one of the founders of the Federation of B.C. Writers. In recognition of his work, the Western Magazine Awards gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, the only writer so honoured.