Ben Beard is the acquiring editor for NewSouth Books. NewSouth specializes in Alabama history, civil rights history, African American studies, Fiction, Poetry, Southern history, and Native American history. Ben has worked on over 100 titles. His recently published titles include Muhammad Ali, a children's biography, and King Midas in Reverse, an extended short story. 

Ben is an avid reader of the great modern writers and will evaluate and provide helpful criticism in all areas of fiction, other than Romance or poetry, in addition to the nonfiction areas published by NewSouth. 

Session topic: "What Small Presses Are Looking For In Manuscripts"

Doris Booth is the owner and editor-in-chief of Authorlink.com and of Authorlink Press. 

Before creating Authorlink she was an award-winning newspaper editor for 11 years. She also owned a Dallas-based advertising and marketing agency which served Fortune 1000 accounts, as well as projects for McGraw Hill, Adweek Magazine, Boys Life, D Magazine, and others. An interactive multimedia/ video producer, Ms. Booth earned New York and Chicago Film Festival awards for her work. She has also written for the imminent LeCroy Center for Educational Telecommunications. The programs have been aired to target audiences by PBS Television. She is past vice president of international board of the International Interactive Communications Society. 

Her new book, Writer’s Handbook of FAQs (Authorlink Press) was released in June, 2001 and provides answers to frequently asked questions about publishing, from preparing and submitting a manuscript to industry etiquette, sales and profitability. 

Authorlink Press has just rolled out the first volume of its new literary magazine New American Review, a digest of selected short contemporary fiction, essays, and poetry. Volume 1 (Premiere issue): July, 2002, Southern Voices features stories from and about the South. 

Session topic:  "In Search of That Mysterious Element Called Voice"  (What editors really want)

Tom Colgan is Executive Editor at The Putnam Berkley Group of Penguin Putnam, Inc. He is a native New Yorker who has worked in the publishing business for seventeen years. He started at Berkley books in 1985 and has worked there ever since except for a five year sojourn at Avon/Morrow. He has worked with authors such as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, and Ed McBain. Tom has edited a new book coming on this spring called Last Man Down, about one of the last firemen out of the WTC after the 911 attack. Tom acquires mystery/ thriller/ suspense, so-called "boy books," i.e., Clancy, and nonfiction. He is interested in everything other than romances, science fiction, children's books, screenplays and poetry. 

Session topic: "What was he thinking?" A look at the editorial decision making process and how understanding it can help you sell your book. 

Associate Editor working with both children's and nonfiction manuscripts for Peachtree Publishers in Atlanta, Georgia, Ms. Deardorff also coordinates the handling and reading of the 20,000 unsolicited manuscripts that Peachtree Publishers receives each year and the awards submittal program of the publisher.  As with other members of the editorial department, she works with the acquisitions committee to make decisions regarding the contracting of new books for each season's list.  Ms. Deardorff has degree in English Literature with an English Grammar concentration from Indiana University.  She also received a second degree in Political Economy from Agnes Scott College.  She resides in Decatur, Georgia. 

Session topic: "How to get your children's book manuscript successfully published" Now that you have manuscript in hand, what to do next;  how to know where to submit, how to improve your chances of getting read and getting published; the "inside" story of what happens after your unsolicited manuscript arrives at the publisher; what publishers want (and don't want). 

David Ebershoff's most recent novel, PASADENA, was just published by Random House. His first novel, THE DANISH GIRL, was a New York Times Notable Book and won the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Lambda Literary Award. His book of short stories, THE ROSE CITY, was named one of the best books of 2001 by the Los Angeles Times and is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. His books have been published in more than a dozen countries to widespread critical acclaim. Since 1998, he has served as the Publishing Director of the Modern Library, a division of Random House, where he oversees the publication of more than 100 books a year. Ebershoff has taught writing at NYU and is presently a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University. 

David will review literary fiction and serious history and biography, but no genre fiction or memoirs. 

Session topic: "Historical Fiction: Why and How"

Melody R. Guy is an editor with Villard, a publishing division of Random House, Inc. as well as the editor for Strivers Row, an imprint that publishes quality African American literature.  Her responsibilities include acquiring and editing books for publication for Villard, Random House, and Strivers Row as well as overseeing the publishing program for the Strivers Row imprint. 

Ms. Guy joined Random House in July of 1997 as Publishing Associate.  In 1998 she was promoted to Assistant Publishing Manager and as such she tracked the publishing and marketing plans for the Random House, Villard and Modern Library publishing groups.  Prior to her tenure at Random House, she was employed at Simon & Schuster where she worked on editorial projects such as The Children’s Book of Virtues by William Bennett and Andre Talks Hair by Andre Walker. 

Ms. Guy hails from Boston, Massachusetts where she attended Boston Latin Academy.  She has a BA in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Ms. Guy will evaluate nonfiction specialties: self-help, inspirational self-help, and memoir. She will review most types of fiction other than science fiction and horror.

Session topic: "Listen To Your Own Voice" One thing that I'd like aspiring writers to do is write the book they want to write.  Don't write a book like a best-selling author or try to be the next whoever. Just be true to their own voice. 

Judy Long is Editor in Chief of Hill Street Press, a publishing company in Athens, Georgia whose editorial goals are to present the best in new writing from the South and to revive and restore to print southern classics. Hill Street publishes literary fiction, women's fiction, nonfiction, mystery-especially anything with a southern flavor. 

Session topic: "What is Southern, Anyway?" New York and Hollywood say that Southern is hot . . . but what is it? What is it that makes Southern writing Southern? Is it only the weirdness, social deviance, psychopathic personalities, cultural backwardness, ignorance and general meanness portrayed in Deliverance, and the works of O'Connor and Faulkner? The silliness and absurdity of The Beverly Hillbillies, or the Confederacy-that-will-never-die? 

Judy was scheduled to deliver this session at last year's conference, but was called away unexpectedly at the last minute. Nevertheless, the reprint of her prepared presentation has been one of our most requested documents ever. So, don't miss Return of "What is Southern, Anyway?" Now in DynaRama. 

Susan Malone is an award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction books. Intensive studies into psychology, spirituality, and mythology permeate her writing. She is a contributing editor to Authorlink.com, and an associate editor of The Literary Magazine, an international literary quarterly. She also operates Malone Editorial Services, providing in-depth manuscript editing. 

Session Topic: "Surviving Publishing's Maelstrom: Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Becoming Successful in an Elite Business" Malone clearly and succinctly explains the mistakes writers make while trying to break into publishing. She provides guidance and insight into how to be successful, and weather the inevitable storms -- both technical and emotional -- along the way. 

Don O'Briant - a 30-year newspaper veteran who writes about books and publishing for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  He is a graduate of Clemson University and a native of McCormick, S.C.  Don is the author of TravelSmart Georgia, Backroad Buffets and Country Cafes, Looking for Tara and  Atlanta.  Under his nom de plume of Sonny Bubba Ferguson, he is the author of Sonny Bubba's Southern Fried, Semi-Low Calorie Cookbook and The Hapless Handyman's Weekend Project Guide. 

Session topic: "Don O'Briant and Ronda Rich at Eavesdroppers Corner" Don and Ronda will discuss the business of book reviews and publicity.

Amanda Patten is an editor at Simon & Schuster Trade Paperbacks (Fireside/Touchstone/Scribner Paperback Fiction).  She began her career as an intern at Viking Penguin in 1995, where she worked for several years before joining Plume, another imprint of Penguin Putnam.  She acquires in the areas of fiction (particularly women's commercial fiction,  women's historical fiction, and twentysomething fiction), pop culture (music/television/film), gay/lesbian, and history.  Some of the books Amanda has edited include BACKPACK by Emily Barr, BITCH GODDESS by Rob Rodi, DEBT-FREE BY 30 by Jason Anthony and Karl Cluck, and LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS by Rosamond Halsey Carr.

Session topic: "Is Your Book a Trade Paperback?"  Many aspiring authors zero in on pursuing a hardcover publishing deal, regardless of the fact that their book might be best published as a trade paperback original.  Here, I will discuss the differences between hardcovers and trade paperbacks; the subjects best suited for trade paperback format with examples of recent successes; the increasing popularity of trade paperback original fiction; and then the procedures of the early stages of the publishing process (how to put together a proposal, how to find an agent, etc.) as pertains to trade paperbacks.

Chris Roerden is a freelance book consultant who specializes in editing mysteries and most nonfiction. During her 40+ years in publishing she's edited more than 1,000 manuscripts, taught writing and publishing at the college level, and produced 8 books and a game -- all but one of which their publishers requested that she write. Her work, highlighted at www.MarketSavvyBookEditing.com, has helped authors win 21 awards, including mystery writers Alex Matthews and Agatha-winner Jeanne Dams. Specialties: Mystery fiction and nonfiction in any genre. No literary fiction or short stories. 

Session topic: "Self-Edit Your Book" Techniques that make or break mystery and nonfiction writing, from a longtime editor of both.

Michael Seidman, called by Publishers Weekly one of "the industry's more wry and quotable editors" and credited with having created an "intelligent but accessible mystery list that is rare for a house of any size," is an editorial consultant serving both publishers and individual writers.  He most recently signed to be a consulting editor with Forge Books.  He is the recipient of several awards for both his editing and writing and is the author of two currently available books for writers:  FICTION: THE ART AND CRAFT OF WRITING AND GETTING PUBLISHED (Pomegranate Press) and THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO EDITING YOUR FICTION (Writer's Digest Books).  He can be contacted at mseidman@aol.com. 

Michael will evaluate anything that falls under the broad spectrum of crime fiction: suspense, mystery of any kind; literary fiction and general mainstream are also favorites. He will not review BFYR or YA, genre romance, genre fantasy, sf, or action/adventure.  Anything else is fine.

Question: what does it take to break out a new author? 

Michael Seidman answers: "A better book and a lot of luck. Advertising, promotion, all that stuff can only put the name out there. But if there's no word of mouth, if there aren't enough reviews . . . . I still opt for a book that makes a difference to me as a reader, on some level. If it does that, fine: I'll buy it. If I can't see anything in the book to make it in any way different from the book next to it on the shelf, I don't waste my time or energy. That's as a reader and as an editor." 

Session topic:  “A Thousand Words: Seeing it, Saying it” discusses ways of making both dialogue and description stronger, offering exercises that the writer may do on her own, after the conference.... 

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Liza Bolitzer was born in Brooklyn and raised on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Following graduation from Vassar College with a B.A. in Film and English Literature, she immediately began work at St. Martin's Press, assisting Marc Resnick in Mass Market Editorial, editing and acquiring nonfiction books on popular culture and film in addition to mainstream fiction. Her titles included REEF DANCE By John DeCure, MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN MOVIE by Lloyd Kaufman, founder of TROMA films, and THE BLIND DATE GUIDE TO DATING by Frank Thompson. 

Liza is now walking the other side of the street. Enthusiastic about switching sides and joining the literary agency of Carlisle and Company. Liza is the assistant to Christy Fletcher. Her interests inside and outside of work include poetry, documentary film, and literary fiction. 

"We represent a strong list of award-winning and best-selling authors of fiction and nonfiction, yet remain genuinely committed to the discovery of new writers." 

Session topic: "Words of Advice Before You Submit" Some questions you need to ask yourself before you use your one and only opportunity to have your manuscript considered by a literary agency or publisher.

Cricket Pechstein, founder of The Christina Pechstein Agency (www.agentcricket.com), embraces her clients' books – but also the writers themselves, and their careers. She connects with writers. For more than a decade 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's discriminating in what she takes on. She is interested in:

· Creative nonfiction with a twist
· Juicy memoirs
· High concept nonfiction
· Commercial mainstream fiction
· Edgy suspense and crime novels
· Thrillers of all flavors

"All of these must be powered by a distinguishing sense of place; a crackerjack, highly-seasoned author's voice; and characters with a lot to lose. Creative nonfiction and novels must have a unique and telling sense of place, depth of plot, rich language, and compelling characters. We want to feel the breeze of the place on our faces, hear the clang of its machinery and swish of its whispers, understand the hopes, hates, and desires of its people. To paraphrase E. L. Doctrow, convey to us, not the fact that it's raining, but what it feels like to be rained upon."

Cricket is not seeking poetry, short story collections, science fiction, fantasy, children's, westerns, textbooks, genre romance or personal manifestos.

Session topic: "WRITING AEROBICS: Writing Exercises to Pump Up Your Muse" Bring your paper and pen to limber up your imagination, stretch your creativity, and exercise your muse through our own writing. Learn devices to make your muse tap dance, your prose sing, and to get you out of the writer's dismal swamp when you find yourself quagmired. Oh, yeah, we'll have fun, too. 

Formerly a music promoter for many nationally known country and popular music celebrities, Bob left the music industry in 1976 to form the literary agency of Bob Robison & Associates in Nashville, Tennessee. The agency maintains a short list of producing writers who have among their credits Emmys, Sylvanias, Peabodys, Spurs, Paperback Originals, Porgies, Military Writers, and Pulitzer nominations, to name but a few.  Works of his writers have appeared on the New York Times best seller list, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, USA Today and others. Bob will consider manuscripts in most genres other than science fiction, fantasy or biographies. 

Session topic:  "The Business of Books"  (with Robert Vaughan)  "The publishing process, from submission to acceptance, to printing, to warehouse, to truck driver, to bookrack, to reader, to royalties."

Jacky Sach is cofounder of Bookends LLC, an innovative literary agency representing a diversity of authors, from spirituality, self-help and business writers to mystery, romance and literary novelists. Jacky has worked in publishing for the past 17 years. Prior to starting BookEnds,   Jacky was senior managing editor at Berkley Books, a division of  Penguin Putnam Inc., and managing editor of Penguin Putnam Inc.'s  eBooks division.  She is an author and coauthor and speaks widely on publishing topics throughout the country. 

Session topic: "The Rejection"  Why you're rejected, what it means, and how you can keep it from happening again.

Lynn Whittaker is a literary agent with Graybill & English in Washington, DC. She teaches writing and editing at George Washington University. She is also a UGA graduate with a master's in English -- Woof! Woof! Lynn represents literary fiction, including short story collections; mysteries; all kinds of creative and narrative nonfiction; and serious nonfiction, including history and biography. No children's or young adult, romance, how-to/self-help, or commercial fiction other than mysteries. She says she is especially attracted to women's stories, anything having to do with race and multicultural topics, including international, nature and science, history, sports, and animals. She is definitely looking for Southern stories. 

Session topic:  "Query Letter Workshop" Bring your query letter to the conference for a workshop critique. 

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Jill Lamar is Director of the Discover Great New Writers program at Barnes & Noble. Discover Great New Writers was founded in 1990 in an effort to bring to the reading public's attention emerging literary talents that might otherwise be overlooked in a crowded bookselling marketplace. The Discover program chooses roughly 16-22 titles to highlight each publishing season (four seasons a year). Books chosen for the program receive special face-out treatment in a special "bay" dedicated to the Discover program, with accompanying signage and brochures with individual reviews of all titles chosen. The Discover seasonal selections are promoted for an entire "season" spanning three months. 

In 1993, Barnes and Noble announced a Discover Great New Writers Award to be granted to a American first novelist. This award has since been expanded to include all fiction (with the exception of translations) selected for the Discover program during the calendar year. Beginning this year, the Award program will have a category for nonfiction, which will be chosen from among our nonfiction selections for 2001. Our 2000 Discover Award winner was Tracy Chevalier, for her novel GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING.

Previous Discover Great New Writers selections have included Frank McCourt, Sebastian Junger, Terry McMillan, Barbara Kingsolver, Chang-rae Lee, David Guterson, Jhumpa Lahiri, Zadie Smith, Myla Goldberg, Jonathan Franzen, and many more. 

Session topic: "The Discover Great New Writers Program" Jill Lamar discusses the selection process and the impact of the Discover program on authors who have been selected. 

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Elaine Marie Alphin is an award winning author of 16 books for young and teen readers; over 300 magazine pieces for children, teens and adults (twice winner of the Society of Children's Book Writers Magazine Merit Award, for both Fiction and Nonfiction); one book on writing for adults who want to write for kids; and "Commentary" columnist for Children's Writer. Counterfeit Son, her suspense thriller about the son of a serial killer, won the 2001 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery, and her latest novel, Ghost Soldier, has just been nominated for the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. Ghost Soldier is a companion book to her popular Ghost Cadet, which was nominated for awards in 13 states and won the Virginia Best Book Award. More details can be found at Elaine's website. 

Session topic:  "Creating Characters Kids Will Love" Whether your character is the hero who solves the mystery, the villain who plots it, or the victim trapped in the middle, they all need to come to life on the page to draw the reader into your story or novel. Find out how to add depth to your characters as you develop your plot - and how to achieve a lasting impact on young readers (and adult readers as well) along the way. (Ms. Alphin's book Creating Characters Kids Will Love is available in the References section of the HAWC bookstore) 

Joan Broerman writes for all ages and stages and leads an interactive writers' wordshop in schools and libraries. A graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, she won the first Pockets magazine fiction contest, is Regional Advisor of Southern Breeze, a region of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and has written extensively about writing for children. Her credits have appeared in The Writer, Children's Writer, Children's Writer Guide, Children's Magazine Market, and Children's Book Market. She and her husband, Neal, both took pictures for her recent book, Weekend Getaways in Alabama, published by Pelican Publishing Co., but Neal was the brave one who took the cover picture from a hot air balloon. They have seven children and seven grandchildren and live in Birmingham, Alabama. See the author's web page at http://www.joan-broerman.com/

Session Topic: "How Do You Write For Kids When You Are A Grown-up?"  Take plenty of Vitamin A(ction) and get ready for roller coaster writing. Who should buckle up for this wild ride? Children's writers and adults itching to leap from writing and publishing for adults to writing and publishing for children. 

David Clark grew up in Macon, Georgia, with an appreciation for craftsmanship, kinfolk, soul food, and Sundays. He left the city (population 150,000) eight years ago and put down roots in the rural cotton country near Cochran, Georgia (population 3,000). 

Clark began writing letters to city-friends about life in his adopted town. These friends encouraged him to record the stories, especially since he had a natural ear for the country-folks' vernacular cadences. His many experiences as a musician, mechanic, recording studio engineer, newspaper publisher and graphic designer began mixing together. Clark rediscovered his love of storytelling. 

Today, guitarist and writer David Clark shares his insightful tales with "city-friends" all over the nation. His weekly newspaper column appears in 28 papers in ten states. His written essays have appeared in nationally recognized newspapers and magazines. Several radio shows, including National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," have broadcast his spoken-word essays. His stories appear on Georgia Public Radio's "Georgia Gazette" and Mount Washington Observatory's "Weather Notebook." 

Clark produced two CDs featuring his material in 1997. "Kindly Curious" -- the title refers to the Cochran expression for eccentric or weird -- covers sixteen stories which aired on Georgia Public Radio. "Dawg, It's Christmas" presents five holiday stories and five seasonal acoustic guitar selections. A third recording of his live performances has followed since then. Clark released a CD entitled "Myth America" in January, 2001. "Myth America" celebrates our culture through vibrant stories and songs. 

In December, 2001, Clark released "Tales from Uncle Remus, Volume 1." This live recording contains a dozen of the old favorite tales originally published by Joel Chandler Harris in the late 1800's. Clark tells these African wisdom stories in the original dialect. 

Clark also released his first book, "The Peanut Farmer Stories," in March, 2002. This book is a collection of essays Clark wrote for "Peanut Farmer Magazine" from 1998-2001 and covers a period of time when Clark journeyed through his Mother's Alzheimer's Disease, the death of both his parents, and the period thereafter when he came out from under the shadow of those experiences. 

David's heartfelt work shines with clarity and insight. Guided by his Father's wisdom and enlightened by his Mama's Alzheimer's disease, David digs into families, faith, flags, football -- and nearly everything else. You can't help but nod your head and know exactly what he means. 

An avid organic gardener, he often finds inspiration from the land and the people whose lives depend on it. His stories illustrate the basic stuff of life -- sometimes funny, sometimes sad and always memorable. Mixed with his heartfelt guitar playing, the vivid words especially connect with audiences at Clark's live performances. 

Session: "Connecting The Dots" David talks about his view of the sacred nature of writing, where writing comes from, what it means to the writer and the reader. He encourges writers to find the things in themselves which will connect them and their stories to the present-day readers and the readers yet to be born. 

Rosemary Daniell’s recent collection of essays is Confessions of a (Female) Chauvinist (Hill Street Press, March, 2001).  Her memoir, Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex and Suicide in the Deep South (Hill Street Press, 1999; Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1980) received the 1999 Palimpsest Prize for a most requested out-of-print book (Raleigh News & Observer reviewer Marianne Gingher recently described it as reading as if “you were watching the author perform open-heart surgery on herself”).  Along with her second memoir, Sleeping with Soldiers (Hill Street Press, 2001; Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1984), Fatal Flowers was a forerunner of the contemporary memoir trend. 

For the past 21 years Rosemary Daniell has led Zona Rosa, a series of creative writing workshops in Savannah, Atlanta, and other cities.  (Her other five books of poetry and prose include The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: Writing and Living the Zona Rosa Way; Faber and Faber, April, 1997).  The workshops were instigated in honor of her mother, Melissa Ruth Connell, a talented writer who never reached her full potential. 

Rosemary is currently as work on a sitcom based on Zona Rosa, as well as a second book about Zona Rosa entitled Stars in the Zona Rosa: Stories of People Who Changed Their Lives Through Creative Writing. 

Among her many awards are two NEA grants in poetry and in fiction.  Her life and work, along with that of authors Conrad Aiken and Flannery O’Connor, is the subject of Native Voices, a play set in her home of Savannah, Georgia. 

Session topic: "Turning The Tough Stuff Of Life Into Art" A Memoir Writing Workshop. For the past 21 years Rosemary Daniell has led Zona Rosa, a series of creative writing workshops in Savannah, Atlanta, and other cities throughout the world.  She has learned through her workshops that many writers have a burning story to tell, but that the Five Fears (and more) often keep them from writing their personal stories, or at least, writing them honestly and well.  In her workshop, Rosemary -- the author of four renowned memoirs -- will address these fears, as well as advise you on how to Break through Blocks; Jump Start your Writing; tap into new material; battle the Common Forms of Self-Sabotage; recognize Flaws, Fatal flaws, and Fabulous Flaws; and enhance your own unique voice and style. She will also discuss the Fung Shei of Grammar, or Why Syntax Matters and the Emotional Tai Chi of Getting Your Work Out There.  Most importantly, in reflection of her belief that "there are no writing blocks, only feeling blocks," Rosemary will seek to help each participant discover the story within his or her own personal history, and the means through which that story can be best be shaped into a work of literary art.
 

Janice Daugharty is the author of six novels (HarperCollins) and a story collection (Ontario Press), edited and published by Joyce Carol Oates, who Daugharty calls her fairy godmother. Janice has received literary acclaim from such notable news sources as Washington Post, Boston Globe, and the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, as well as feature reviews and photos in People Magazine and USA Today. All six novels have been published in hardcover and trade paper. Two have sold in Germany. Her fist novel was purchased by Hallmark Entertainment, and another novel is now being adapted for Arena Stage Theatre in Washington, D.C. Earl in the Yellow Shirt, Daugharty's fourth novel, was nominated by HarperCollins for a Pulitzer in 1997. In addition to her novels, she has published numerous short stories to top-notch journals and magazines, including Story, Georgia Quarterly, Oxford American, Ontario Review, and Denver Quarterly. Two of her stories have been anthologized in New Stories From the South: The Year's Best. A new and interesting form for her is the essay, which she has translated into radio commentary for Peachstate Public Radio. "Some writers vacation between novels," says Daugharty, "I write stories." Daugharty is currently at work on her second historical novel. Her novels and short stories are taught in numerous high schools and universities. She is writer in residence at Valdosta State University, near her home in South Georgia. 

Her fiction details the often turbulent lives of rural south Georgians who live near the Okefenokee swamp. Often compared to Eudora Welty and William Faulkner, she carries on the strong literary tradition of the South in her highly regarded books including Earl in the Yellow Shirt, Going Through the Change, Dark of the Moon, and Pawpaw Patch. 

Session topic:  "Writing as Discovery" I feel most strongly about persevering. Few writers make it on a first book -- can you keep writing and submitting in spite of rejection? How much are you willing to give? Also, I believe in the discovery process, writing as you would read, not knowing the middle or the end -- that's what keeps writing exciting, that's what keeps you doing what you love and loving what you do. 

Susan Spaeth Kyle, aka Diana Palmer, is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. She began selling romance novels in 1979 and now writes as Diana Palmer for three New York publishing houses: Mira Books (mainstream romances), Silhouette Books (contemporary series romances), and Fawcett Books (historical romances). Kyle has over 95 books in print, translated and published around the world. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards. In 1998, a Japanese Harlequin reader poll gave her Silhouette Desire novel, The Patient Nurse, its favorite book of the year award. 

Session topic:  "Moving from Series Romance to Mainstream Romance" 

Bob Mayer has twenty-three books published under his own and pen names including Robert Doherty, Greg Donegan, Bob McGuire and Joe Dalton.  His AREA 51 series has been a USA Today bestseller the last four years and has been optioned for feature film development with the screenplay written by the co-creator of ALIEN.  He has over two million books in print and has been published in ten foreign countries.  Eight of his other novels have been optioned for film.  He has taught novel writing for numerous colleges, workshops and conferences.  Before writing full time, Bob graduated from West Point and served in the military as a Special Forces A-Team leader.  He currently lives on Hilton Head Island, SC. 

Dinner topic: "The Publishing Business from the Writer's Perspective"  E-books, print-on-demand, shrinking mid-lists, corporate mergers; where does all this leave the writer who often feels on the outside?  You hear agents and editors talk about the business but it's important to understand a writer's point of view.  It's also important to know what not to do.

Session topic:  "The Original Idea"  The foundation for keeping focus and successfully writing the novel and for marketing it.  It is the one thing that cannot change in the course of writing.  The good news is you had one.  The bad news is most writers lose it along the way.  We'll talk about how to recover it and package it so that it is the opening line of your query letter and ends up on the cover of your published novel.  Participants will have a chance to present their idea and have it worked on. 

Hubert H. McAlexander, author of three books and numerous essays and reviews, as well as the editor of two volumes, is particularly interested in Southern literature and culture and literary biography. His latest book, Peter Taylor: A Writer's Life (Louisiana University Press, 2001) was judged in the New York Times Book Review as "fascinating, sometimes amusing, and often heartbreaking, not only in its examination of Peter Taylor's life but in its revelations of the victories and torments of three generations of his friends and colleagues." Professor of English at the University of Georgia, Dr. McAlexander is a native of Holly Springs, Mississippi, and a graduate of the University of Mississippi, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. His teaching honors include two General Sandy Beaver teaching professorships and the Josiah Meigs Award for Distinguished Teaching. 

Session topic:  "The Writing of Biography"

J. L. Miles's (Jackie Lee) first novel, Roseflower Creek debuted in September 2001.  The author, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, is a former System's Engineer for Baker/AudioTelecom, one of the premier forerunners of voice mail.  In addition to systems application, she provided voice tracks for several major companies, including Delta Airlines and Frito-Lay Corporation.  A former Miss Racine, Wisconsin, Ms. Miles made television, print, and fashion appearances, and participated in various stage productions, including Joan of Lorraine, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and The Miracle Worker.   Ms. Miles resides in Lilburn, Georgia, along with her husband, Robert, and devotes full time to writing.  She is currently at work on her next two novels, Copper Ridge Mountain and Blackwater Moon, the sequel to to Roseflower Creek. 

Session topic:  "5 Things That Make a Good Story Great"  Discuss the essentials of a great story, learn about three vital decisions to make during the writing process, and discover how to make the reader care about what you're writing.

Charlotte Miller’s first novel, and the opening of her Southern trilogy, Behold, This Dreamer, was a regional success story, selling out in hardcover in just six months, and has since been released in trade paperback.  The second volume, Through A Glass, Darkly, was released in September 2001 by NewSouth Books, and was hailed by Publishers Weekly as “intriguing” and by the Chattanooga Times as “a committed writer at her best”.  The final volume in the trilogy, There Is A River, will be released by NewSouth Books in October 2002. 

Charlotte is a native Alabamian, and has never lived outside the South.  She is presently working on her fourth novel, which will also be set in the fictional Eason County of her trilogy.  In addition to her writing, she travels extensively doing book signings and promotional events, and works as a certified public accountant (yes—even though “creative” and “accounting” are not supposed to be spoken in the same sentence). 

Session topic:  "The Sense of Place in Southern Fiction." Nothing has characterized Southern writing and the Southern author so much as the sense of place, the ties to the past, to family, and to home.  Place is much more than setting, it is the 'where', the 'when', and possibly even be the 'why' of your story, infusing characters, dialog, and even plot. Come explore with Charlotte the use of place in your writing, and how the very specifics of place can bring a more universal feel to your work.

When not busy tossing around bad puns or spouting one liners no one thinks are funny save himself, Bobby Nash writes. Bobby has written for a couple of indy comic book companies. He even penciled for some of them until an Inker friend told him that with art like his he’d make a heckuva writer. Following his friend’s advice, Bobby continued to write, stopping only to draw the occasional comic strip for his local newspaper and to doodle on blank scraps of paper. He’s even managed to finish a couple of novels and dozens of comic book stories. Now, if only he could sell them.

Bobby has actually managed to find some steady work these days. As writer, he puts words into the mouth of Marat Mychaels’ Demonslayer from Avatar Press as well as work on Threshold, Avatar’s anthology magazine and Demonslayer/Pandora and a few other projects in the works. For the past nine years Bobby has written and drawn the monthly comic strip R.O. for Keeping Up With Kids Magazine. Former strips for KUWK included Night Glider and Onyx Inc.  He is also writing two animated series for the Internet: Puma Grrl [www.renaegeerlings.com] and The Paradox [www.tudec.com]. Oh, and he sleeps at least once a week whether he needs it or not. 

Session topic:  "Holy Word Balloons:  Comics, Cartoons, and Collaborating"  One of the greatest misconceptions about comic books is that anyone can write "oof!"  and "Pow!"  This session will (hopefully) shed some light on the multiple steps involved in creating those fantastic four-color images.  From plotting to penciling, inking to scripting, lettering to editing, coloring to animation, publishing to promotion. 

Ronda Rich is a Southern belle first known for her bestselling What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should Know), Putnam 1999, but her latest release, My Life In The Pits (Living and Learning On The NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit), HarperCollins, May, 2002, is poised to supersede her first in popularity. Purchased by editor Tom Dupree in a preemptive six-figure deal, My Life In The Pits is the feature title for Harper Entertainment for spring/summer and will be launched by an 11-city national publicity tour beginning in Los Angeles. The book, a strong-hearted look at a male-dominated world through a woman's eyes (with the foreword written by the sport's top car owner Richard Childress) has received considerable buzz in the publishing and media worlds. Prior to publication, Turner South, a cable division of Turner Broadcasting, filmed a pilot for a proposed weekly show with Ronda as host and based on the book's look at Life In The Pits. 

Session topic:  "A Beginner's Guide to Getting Published"

Robert Vaughan sold his first book when he was nineteen.  That was 42 years 200 titles, and twenty million books ago.  Writing under 35 pseudonyms, he has hit the NY Times, and PW Bestseller lists twice: (In 1981, Love’s Bold Journey, and Love’s Sweet Agony were both Number One on the NY Times and PW mass market list, with sales of 2.2 million each.)  His book Survival won the Spur Award for best western novel, (1994)  The Power and the Pride won the Porgie for best paperback original, (1976) and Brandywine’s War was named by the Canadian University Symposium of Literature as the best iconoclastic novel to come from the Vietnam War. He was inducted into the Writers’ Hall of Fame of America in Springfield, MO in 1998.  His current book TOUCH THE FACE OF GOD is an inspirational novel about missions flown over Europe by the B-17 crews during World War II. 

In the 1970s Robert was an on-air television personality, hosting EYEWITNESS MAGAZINE, for WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, VA and doing a cooking show for PHOENIX AT MID-DAY on KPHO-TV in Phoenix. 

During his military service he was selected by ARMY AVIATION DIGESTas having written the  “Best Article of the Year” for six consecutive years.  He also wrote and produced several training films for use in the Aviation Maintenance Officers’ Course.  Robert is a retired army warrant officer, a helicopter pilot who served in Germany, Korea, and did three tours in Vietnam.    For his combat tours he was awarded: The Distinguished Flying Cross, The Air Medal with the “V” Device, The Purple Heart, The Bronze Star, The Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. 

Keynote address: "Getting Published is a Crapshoot......HOW TO LOAD THE DICE!" How to avoid the slush pile and get your manuscript on an acquisition editor's desk. 

Session topic:  "The Business of Books"  (with Bob Robison)  "The publishing process, from submission to acceptance, to printing, to warehouse, to truck driver, to bookrack, to reader, to royalties."

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Special Agent Terry Cooper - Crime Scene Specialist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.  Specially trained and equipped with the latest technology for crime scene analysis and reconstruction. With 28 years in law enforcement and over 480 (and counting) death investigations, Agent Cooper will discuss actual processing and collection techniques in his session:  "How is a crime scene really processed?"  Before the DNA, Bullets, Fingerprints, Fibers, or Body can be analyzed, the evidence has to be identified and properly collected. 

Session topic:  "How is a Crime Scene Really Processed?"

Dr. Emily Craig - State Forensic Anthropologist of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with a worldwide reputation as an expert in the recovery, identification, and analysis of human skeletal remains, decomposed bodies, body parts, and charred fragmented remains. She was a key member of the team that discovered and analyzed the fatal gunshot wounds in the Branch Davidians in Waco, and she helped identify victims of the Waco incident, the Oklahoma City bombing, and at the NY World Trade Center attack. One of her more recent cases was the Noble, Georgia, crematory site. 

Dr. Craig works full-time for the Kentucky State Medical Examiner's Office, and a large majority of her cases originate in remote areas of Eastern Kentucky. Crime scenes here include abandoned coal mines, marijuana fields, steep mountain ridges and raging rivers. These venues provide colorful and informative material to Dr. Craig's scientific presentations. 

Session topic: "Forensic Anthropology: From The Field to The Courtroom". 

Marla Lawson has served as a Forensic Artist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for six years. Prior to that she was a Police Artist with the Atlanta Police Department for fifteen years. Her work has been featured on America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries, Beyond Chance, appeared in People Magazine, Time Magazine, has been featured in Atlanta weekly magazine, Readers Digest, and has been written about in many state and local newspapers across the country. Perhaps her most famous work was the composite sketch of 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park bomber suspect Eric Robert Rudolph that appeared around the world. 

Marla applies her talents and skills to putting faces on bare bones and creates sketches of suspects from eyewitnesses. In her forensic reconstruction workshop, she will discuss and demonstrate the techniques used by modern forensic reconstruction artists. 

She will share how she fell into this line of work 25 years ago and show samples of her composite drawings and the suspects' photos after arrest. You will see reconstructed skulls and examples of people that were identified from clay reconstructions, and photos of deceased victims and sketches of these people drawn for circulation through the media. 

Marla will be joined by Doctor Carol A Terry and Sgt. Tina Miller. Dr. Terry is with the Fulton County Medical Examiners Office, a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta with a degree in Pathology, who will lecture with her slides of homicide victims and unidentified skeletal remains. Dr. Terry has assisted in the identification of numerous unidentified individuals not only while on duty at the morgues and hospitals around the metro Atlanta area, but also after hours in downtown Atlanta neighborhoods where skeletal remains were located, combing the areas with photos of missing persons, looking for family members or friends who might identify them. 

Sgt. Tina Miller, Atlanta Police Missing Persons Unit, has been employed with APD for 15 years and will tell about several missing persons cases she has solved. 

Session topic: "Forensic Reconstruction Techniques and Establishing Identification"

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