Workshop Leader Biographies

Jeff Carlson is the author of the internationally acclaimed thrillers Plague Year, Plague War, and the forthcoming Mind Plague. His short stories and nonfiction have appeared in a variety of top publications such as Boys’ Life, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and Writers of the Future XXIII. To date, his work has been translated into six languages, and Plague Year will also be released as an audio book in July.

Jeff welcomes correspondence at: www.jverse.com

Kevin Clark’s book of poems In the Evening of No Warning earned a grant from the Academy of American Poets, and his poetry has appeared widely in such journals as The Iowa Review, Antioch Review, Kestrel, Gulf Coast, and Black Warrior Review. His new poetry writing textbook The Mind’s Eye is published by Pearson Longman.

For more information, go to:
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~kclark/

James Dalessandro founded the Santa Cruz Poetry Festival, the nation's largest literary event. He has sold more than 20 feature films in his 25 year career in the Writer's Guild of America, and published four books, including Citizen Jane (true crime), Bohemian Heart (contemporary noir fiction) and the novel 1906 (an epic view of the great San Francisco Earthquake). He wrote the screenplays for all of his books: the latter is in production at Pixar with Brad Bird making its live action debut for a fall, 2009 Warner Brothers release.

Visit his Web site at: www.1906earthquake.com

Diane Halsted has taught writing and literature at several colleges and universities for twenty-five years. Now she teaches the writing of poetry, creative nonfiction, and memoir in the Cuesta College Emeritus College program. Her poetry and essays have been published in journals around the United States. She is working on a poetry collection and a memoir.

See Jamey’s Web site at: www.jameyhecht.com.

For more information about Red Hen Press, go to: www.redhen.org

Paul Levine is a lawyer and literary agent. He’s practiced entertainment law for 25 years, specializing in the representation of writers, composers, authors, and more in the fields of motion pictures, television, interactive multimedia, live stage, recorded music, concerts, the visual arts, publishing, and advertising. The Paul S. Levine Literary Agency specializes in the representation of book authors and the sale of motion picture and television rights in and to books. Since starting his agency, Paul has sold over 80 fiction and non-fiction books to at least 30 different publishers and has had many books developed as movies-for-television and feature films.

For more information, visit his Web site at: www.paulslevine.com.

Elizabeth Lyon, author of Manuscript Makeover, 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, is a twenty-year freelance book editor, writing teacher, and speaker, and has been a contributor to The Writer & Writer’s Digest magazines and others.

Check out her websites at:   

 www.manuscriptmakeover.com

www.elizabethlyon.com

www.4-edit.com

Stephen Blake Mettee, publisher of Quill Driver Books is the author of The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal. Quill Driver Books publishes award-winning nonfiction books, two of which are Book-of-the-Month Club selections and one is a New York Times bestseller. Mettee is always in the market for exceptional nonfiction books.

Visit his Web site at: www.quilldriverbooks.com

Dennis Palumbo was formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year; Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.) and is now a licensed psychotherapist specializing in creative issues. He’s the author of Writing From the Inside Out, and his work helping writers has been profiled in The Los Angeles Times, GQ, Premiere and other magazines, as well as on CNN. His new collection of mystery short stories, From Crime to Crime (Tallfellow Press), has just been released.

Get more information at: www.dennispalumbo.com

See her Web site at: www.cryanhyde.com

Sally Warner has published more than 20 novels for children and young adults. Her works include three series and many “stand-alone” novels. While her books are known for their humor, Sally has been described as “one of the most emotionally honest authors of adolescent fiction writing today.” To date, her books have been published in 8 foreign countries.

Visit her Web site at: www.sallywarner.com

Caryn Wiseman has been an Agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. since early 2003. She handles children's books only: young adult and middle-grade fiction and non-fiction, chapter books, and picture books. Caryn's recent deals include middle-grade fiction to Dial and HarperCollins; YA fiction to Clarion, Dutton, Delacorte and Atheneum; chapter book series to Hyperion and Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky; and picture books to Abrams, Clarion and HarperCollins; and non-fiction to Chronicle, Charlesbridge, FSG, Millbrook, Walker and Houghton Mifflin. Caryn is a member of SCBWI and WNBA, and a frequent speaker at writer's conferences.

Visit her Web site at: www.andreabrownlit.com

Victoria Zackheim wrote The Bone Weaver, a novel, and edited anthologies The Other Woman (Warner/Grand Central) and For Keeps (Seal/Avalon). She teaches Creative Writing in the UCLA Writers’ Program and is the writer/developer of the documentary Suffer the Little Children: Frances Kelsey and the Story of Thalidomide.

Visit her Web site at: www.victoriazackheim.com

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