KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
We are pleased to announce that our keynote speaker is Elana K. Arnold. Ms. Arnold writes books for and about children and teens. Her novel WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF was a 2017 National Book Award Finalist, and her middle grade novel, A BOY CALLED BAT, is a Junior Library Guild selection. She holds a master's degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis where she has taught Creative Writing and Adolescent Literature.
We are pleased to announce that our keynote speaker is Elana K. Arnold. Ms. Arnold writes books for and about children and teens. Her novel WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF was a 2017 National Book Award Finalist, and her middle grade novel, A BOY CALLED BAT, is a Junior Library Guild selection. She holds a master's degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis where she has taught Creative Writing and Adolescent Literature.
Aleta Barthell - Aleta’s play, Window of Shame, was a finalist for the 2016 HUMANITAS/CTG Playwriting Prize. She is currently developing a television series--Eleanor of Aquitaine. Aleta is a teaching artist with Playwrights Project, drama teacher at St. Patrick Catholic School and founder of Kids Act at New Village Arts Theatre.
Kristin Clark - Kristin Elizabeth Clark is the author of FREAKBOY, (2013, FSG Macmillan) which received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly, was named to the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2014 Top 10 Best Fiction for Young Adults list, as well as the American Library Association's Top 10 Rainbow List. Her second novel for young adults Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity, (2017, also from Macmillan) was featured in USA Today, received a starred review from Michael Cart in Booklist, and was named to ALA’s Rainbow list. Clark speaks at local and national conferences, presenting programming on literature, LGBTQ themes, and Social Justice. She lives in San Francisco, where she writes, teaches craft workshops, and when time permits, boogie boards, moonlights as a bookseller, and studies healing arts. You can visit her online at kristinelizabethclark.com or follow her on Twitter @KristinClarkYA
Lee Coulter - Lee Coulter’s soulful acoustic performances and powerful songwriting have landed him opening for Tom Jones, Chuck Berry and Martin Sexton, on stage with Jason Mraz, and had Sirius XM’s Coffee House channel dub him “the discovery of the year.”
Originally from Brisbane, Australia and now based in San Diego, California, he uses the combined power of lyrics and music to promote the idea that human connection is what separates us from the rest of the matter in the universe. As it is summed up in one of his songs, “Stardust and forces of attraction, that’s all we are.” He is a classic songwriter in the modern age.
• "The singer-songwriter discovery of the 2011" - Sirius XM The Coffee House.
• "The world needs more Lee Coulter songs" - Martin Sexton.
• Opened for Tom Jones, Chuck Berry, Martin Sexton and Griffin House.
• Go to www.leecoulter.com for the latest music, videos and show dates.
Originally from Brisbane, Australia and now based in San Diego, California, he uses the combined power of lyrics and music to promote the idea that human connection is what separates us from the rest of the matter in the universe. As it is summed up in one of his songs, “Stardust and forces of attraction, that’s all we are.” He is a classic songwriter in the modern age.
• "The singer-songwriter discovery of the 2011" - Sirius XM The Coffee House.
• "The world needs more Lee Coulter songs" - Martin Sexton.
• Opened for Tom Jones, Chuck Berry, Martin Sexton and Griffin House.
• Go to www.leecoulter.com for the latest music, videos and show dates.
Tim Floreen - Tim Floreen writes young adult science fiction. The New York Public Library named his first novel, Willful Machines, one of the best teen books of 2015, and in a starred review, Kirkus described it as "gothic, gadgety, and gay," which is an accurate assessment. Booklist called his second novel, Tattoo Atlas, "incisive, startling, and intense." Tim lives in San Francisco with his partner, their two cat-obsessed daughters, and their two very patient cats. To find out more about Tim and his secret love of Wonder Woman, visit him online at timfloreen.com.
T. Greenwood - T. Greenwood is the author of twelve novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and, most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council. She has won three San Diego Book Awards. Five of her novels have been BookSense76/IndieBound picks. BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award. Her twelfth novel, RUST & STARDUST, will be published in August 2018. She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer's Ink and online for The Writer's Center. She and her husband, Patrick, live in San Diego, CA with their two daughters. She is also a photographer. More information on T. Greenwood can be found at her websites: http://www.tgreenwood.com and http://www.ephemerafiles.com ( less)
Christopher Hamilton - Christopher Hamilton’s second-grade teacher called home to verify his reading log because, “No one could be reading that many books.” In high school he kept his obsessive reading a secret from his friends on the soccer team, discussing Jane Eyre discreetly after school with his favorite teacher, Mrs. Teegarden. This love of Literature led to graduate degrees in English Literature at UCLA, specializing in 18th and 19th century British Literature and Critical Theory. Christopher Hamilton taught hundreds of college students at UCLA in courses ranging from Introduction to Literature to seminars on Crime Fiction, and earned awards for his scholarship and his teaching. Christopher jumped ship from academia to commercial magazine writing, eventually becoming Editorial Director of a magazine focused on food, wine, and cooking. After gaining a few pounds but missing the energy and atmosphere of the classroom, Christopher became a partner in an international college consulting and test-prep company, and eventually went on to create additional companies devoted to helping ambitious student find a path to great colleges. In 2014 he founded Hamilton College Consulting, helping local and international students apply to selective colleges.Christopher Hamilton has helped literally hundreds of students gain access to Ivy-level universities, and thousands find a path to colleges of all descriptions.
James Hebert - James Hebert is the chief theater critic/correspondent for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He has covered the arts for more than two decades, both in San Diego and nationally — reporting from such events as the Academy Awards, the Tony Awards and the Sundance Film Festival, as well as writing about Broadway premieres. Hebert earned his master's degree in journalism at Columbia University in New York and worked as a magazine editor in Boston before joining the U-T. His awards include a national arts-writing prize from the Society for Features Journalism (for a profile of the choreographer Twyla Tharp), and some two dozen local and regional journalism honors. His work also has been republished in two college writing textbooks, and he has served on the five-member jury for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
M.G. Hennessey - M.G. Hennessey loves Star Wars, the San Francisco Giants, strawberry ice cream, and dancing. A supporter of the Transgender Law Center, Gender Spectrum, and the Human Rights Campaign, she volunteers as a mentor with the LA LGBT Center’s Lifeworks program, helps to organize the LA Gender Odyssey Conference, and is the Dean of Camp Transcend. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. She/Her. The Other Boy by MG Hennessey is a beautifully heartfelt story about a transgender boy’s journey toward acceptance. A book that Jill Soloway, the award-winning creator of Transparent, called “a terrific read for all ages” and Ami Polonsky, author of Gracefully Grayson, called “an emotionally complex and achingly real read.”
Henry Herz - Henry Herz has written ten picture books: MONSTER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES (Pelican, 2015), WHEN YOU GIVE AN IMP A PENNY (Pelican, 2016), MABEL AND THE QUEEN OF DREAMS (Schiffer, 2016), LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH (Pelican, 2016), CAP’N REX & HIS CLEVER CREW (Sterling, 2017), HOW THE SQUID GOT TWO LONG ARMS (Pelican, 2018), ALICE'S MAGIC GARDEN (Familius, 2018), GOOD EGG & BAD APPLE (Schiffer, 2018), TWO PIRATES + ONE ROBOT (Kane Miller, 2019), and SHERLOCK CHICK & BUNNY WATSON (Schiffer, 2019). He moderates author panels at San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon. He is represented by Deborah Warren of East/West Literary Agency. Visit his blog at www.henryherz.com.
Kathy Krevat - Kathy Krevat is the author of the GOURMET CAT MYSTERY series by Kensington Books featuring cat food chef Colbie Summers and her demanding cat Trouble. Kathy also writes the bestselling CHOCOLATE COVERED MYSTERY series by Berkley/Penguin Random House under the pen name, Kathy Aarons. Kathy lives in San Diego with her husband of twenty-five years in the perfect location – close to Philz Coffee and the beach, and within visiting distance of her two grown daughters. When she’s not writing, she’s an advocate for youth arts education and president of Partners in Crime, the San Diego Chapter of Sisters in Crime. You can follow Kathy on Facebook or Twitter or visit her at: www.kathyaarons.com.
Jonathan Maberry - JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, and comic book writer. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for TV. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including The X-Files, V-Wars, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Kingdoms Fall, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. He lives in Del Mar, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com
Jill Marr - Jill is an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency in Southern California. She is interested in upmarket, commercial fiction, with an emphasis on mysteries, thrillers and horror, women's commercial fiction and historical fiction. She is also looking for non-fiction by authors who are getting their work published regularly and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience. Jill is looking for non-fiction projects in the areas of history, narrative non-fiction, sports, politics, current events, health & nutrition, pop culture, humor, and music. Jill has over 15 years of publishing experience. Prior to starting her career in publishing she worked in television, in the creative services department--writing and scheduling of all on-air promotions, helping her learn quickly about demographics and what appeals to specific markets. She also wrote features and publishing ads for Pages, the literary magazine for people who love books. After writing ad copy and features for published books for years, she knows how to find the "hook" and sell it. A big part of what Jill likes about her job is teaching workshops and lecturing at writers conferences. She genuinely enjoys guiding writers through the entire publishing process, from query letters, to signing with an agent, the pre-submission editorial process, selling your project to a publishing house, promoting your book and more.
Jim Moreno - Jim Moreno is an Artist-in-Residence teaching poetry with Arts 4 Learning where he was voted the Arts 4 Learning Residency Teacher of the Year for 2016-2017. Mr. Moreno has taught poetry classes at the Juvenile Court & Community Schools since 2005 where he was the Poet In Residence. Jim was an original member and coordinator of San Diego's Langston Hughes Poetry Circle and a board member of the African American Writers & Artists. Moreno was the director of the Encanto Boys and Girls Club Children's Poetry Choir and the Language Arts teacher at the All Tribes American Indian Charter School on Rincon Reservation. Mr. Moreno is on the Advisory Board of the Poetic Medicine Institute in Palo Alto, California. He is on the Program Committee and a Teaching Artist with San Diego Writers, Ink in Liberty Station. Jim is the co-host with Theresa F. of 2nd Tuesday Jihmye Poetry Open Mic at the Cafe Cabaret in Normal Heights.
Abdi Nazemian - ABDI NAZEMIAN’s first novel, The Walk-In Closet, won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Debut. His debut YA novel, The Authentics, was released by HarperCollins, and received two starred reviews, as well as being featured in People Magazine as their "Teen Pick." His screenwriting credits include Menendez: Blood Brothers, The Quiet, Beautiful Girl, and Celeste in the City. Abdi is an alumnus of the Sundance Writer’s Lab, has been a mentor at the Outfest Screenwriter’s Lab, and has taught screenwriting at UCLA Extension. As the head of development for Water’s End Productions, he has served as an executive producer or associate producer on a number of films, including Call Me By Your Name. He lives in Los Angeles with his fiancé and two children. You can find him online at abdaddy.com.
Laura Preble - Laura Preble is the award-winning author of the young adult series, Queen Geek Social Club (Penguin/Berkley Jam), which includes the novels Queen Geeks in Love and Prom Queen Geeks. Her novel, Out, dealt with the concept of LGBTQ rights within a young adult dystopia; Alex Sanchez, author of Rainbow Boys says "Out explores an intriguing, mind-bending, and challenging portrait of an upside-down world that turns the tables on homophobia, acceptance, and lovebook editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Laura has also written the script for the musical Dracul, which was produced at the San Diego Repertory Theater. She has also won a Kurt Vonnegut Fiction Prize, and has been published in North American Review, Hysteria, and NEA Today. Laura’s next novel, Anna Incognito, will be published in 2018.
Amen Ra - Amen Ra is an international spoken word poet from North Carolina. He was a member of the 2016 San Diego Poetry Slam team that took 2nd place in the National Poetry Slam in Decatur, Georgia. Last August, Ra was invited to Buenos Aires, Argentina to share his work in front of 100 college students from 30 different countries. Ra also hosts multiple poetry open mics and events in San Diego. His powerful and heartfelt work focuses on enlightenment, personal narrative, and the world around him.
James Matlack Raney - James Raney grew up all over the world, in Europe, Latin America, and Africa, leaving him with a lifelong love of adventure that escapes through his daydreams and lands on the pages of his stories. He is the author of the Jim Morgan series and Lord of the Wolves, is a two-time Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Finalist for Juvenile Fiction, and is the winner of the 2015 Writer's Digest Book Award for YA/Middle Grade Fiction. He is currently working on a new novel and visiting as many schools and bookstores in Southern California as will put up with him. James loves spinning yarns he would have howled at when he was a boy, eating sushi, strumming his guitar, and wishing he had a dog to play frisbee with on the beach.
Kendall Sherwood - Kendall Sherwood is an LA-based playwright/screenwriter who spent the last four years writing for TNT’s “Major Crimes.” She's represented by CAA and The Cartel Management Group. Kendall’s theatre credits include a workshop production of The Record Breakers in Denver (Athena Project), a month-long run of Devil May Care in Chicago (Wishbone Theatre Collective) and the honor of being named a finalist two years running for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference for Found Religion and The Record Breakers. She received a BA in Theatre from Clemson University and an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage at Northwestern University.
Brie Spangler - Brie Spangler is an author-illustrator originally from the Boston area and now finds herself, sometimes inexplicably, on the west coast. She loves clambakes and baseball. When not drawing pictures or writing words, she can be found avoiding direct sunlight, drinking too much coffee, and snuggling with her husband and daughter. Her debut YA novel, BEAST, was nominated for a Lambda Award and named one of Publishers Weekly’s and Kirkus' Best Of 2016.
Daniel Sweren-Becker - Daniel Sweren-Becker is an author, television writer and playwright living in Los Angeles. He has written for ABC, USA, MTV and Nickelodeon, and his play Stress Positions premiered in New York at the SoHo Playhouse. He grew up in Manhattan, mostly in and around pizzerias, basketball courts, and the gem room of the Museum of Natural History. From there, he attended Wesleyan University and then graduate school at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Nowadays he spends his free time beaching it up, chasing down all of LA’s new ice cream sandwiches and teaching creative writing at 826LA’s community center. Depending on the weather, Daniel’s favorite book is Lonesome Dove, The Sun Also Rises, The Road, or Hatchet. If he had the chance to genetically re-engineer himself, he would tweak the genes related to procrastination, impatience and appetite frequency. Other than that, he’s perfict.
Karri Thompson - Award-winning author Karri Thompson, a native of San Diego, California, grew up hanging out at the beach, playing sports, and eventually attending San Diego State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degree in education. When she’s not nerding out at San Diego Comic-Con or watching Star Wars and The Lord of the Ring’s movies for the umpteenth time, she can be seen doing normal people stuff like cooking delicious meals for her family (she attributes all her culinary skills to the Food Network) and watching her son’s football games. In her spare time, she writes young adult fiction, loves listening to hard rock music, and going to concerts. She hopes to live long and prosper, and that you will, too.
Greg van Eekhout - Greg van Eekhout lives in San Diego, California with his astronomy/physics professor wife and two dogs. He grew up in Los Angeles and studied English literature and creative writing at UCLA. His books range from middle-grade to adult and include the California Bones trilogy, Kid vs. Squid, The Boy at the End of the World, and coming in September 2018, Voyage of the Dogs, a middle-grade novel about dogs on a spaceship. His work has been nominated for the Nebula Award for best short story and the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. You can find more about Greg at his website: www.writingandsnacks.com.
Kiersten White - Kiersten White is probably shorter than you, but she doesn't resent you. (That’s a lie, she totally does.) When not busy resenting you, she writes books, including the NYT bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, the And I Darken trilogy, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, Slayer, and more. As revenge for being taller than her, she hopes her middle grade novel, Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales, makes you pee your pants laughing. Young Adult Author Extraordinaire, Or, more accurately, Exhaustionaire kierstenwhite.com
Taylor Williamson - Taylor Williamson is a comedian and second place winner Season 8 of America's Got Talent! He was named one of AGT's 4 favorite acts of all time in their recent 10 year anniversary special. Taylor started performing stand-up comedy while he was a senior in high school at Torrey Pines. He now lives in Los Angeles and travels around the world telling jokes. Taylor has performed at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada and was the youngest comedian to ever perform on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He has also appeared on MTV's TRL, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, Last Call with Carson Daly and was a semi-finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing. He was a comedy album called "Laughter? I hardly know her!" and has just released his first comedy special titled "Please Like Me"!
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore will be selling speakers’ books with a portion of the proceeds going to the conference.