Priscille grew up loving the rocky coast of Maine, her family, and babies. Now a neonatal intensive care nurse, she has the privilege of caring for infants so small that they fit in her hand. She lives with her husband, three tall teenaged sons, and their Wheaton terrier. Her website is www.priscillesibley.com

For Carrie, extraordinary fiction and non-fiction share the abilty to transport readers to new and exciting places. As a history and mythology buff, she is intrigued by books that introduce her to another culture or time period. She is looking for description and detail that will make her feel like she is inside the story and interest her in a subject she never thought she would want to read about or, conversely, introduce her to startling facts about something or someone she believed she already knew everything about.

Some of Carrie’s favorite books include:

• Kim by Rudyard Kipling
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
• Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Wal-Mart’s Green Revolution by Ed Humes
• The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer
• Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
• Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• First Comes Marriage: Modern Relationship Advice from the Wisdom of Arranged Marriages by Reva Smith

Carrie is currently seeking non-fiction, narrative non-fiction, general non-fiction, and some biography and memoir. She is looking for authors that have a strong platform, such as a popular blog, published articles, or related professional experience. Topics such as New England architecture, modern Native American culture, the history of colonialism in literature, or different Cinderella variants throughout different time periods and countries would excite her. She also seeks mainstream prescriptive non-fiction, for example she would love to see a book about the benefits of locavore eating, or a completely cutting edge relationship book.

In the fiction arena, she is looking for literary fiction, historical fiction, and mature YA. She would love to see a thriller/mystery about Elizabeth Bathory, otherwise known as “Lady Dracula,” or a novel about a young teacher at a private high school who finds herself attracted to one of her students.

She is not currently interested in romance, science fiction/fantasy, or picture books

Authors with whom she’s worked include Herman Wouk, Andrew Weil, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Joel Fuhrman, Donna Britt, William Poundstone, and Roy Peter Clark. She began her career in the publishing industry at the Association of American Publishers, where she worked on programs like Get Caught Reading and Latino Books Month.

At Little, Brown, she is interested in acquiring a range of serious and narrative nonfiction, with a focus on history, biography, journalism and current events, women’s issues, memoir, popular and natural science, politics, ideas books, music, food, and humor. She loves, in particular, social and cultural histories, amazing tales lost to the annals of time, edgy investigative reporting, and other fun and lively nonfiction.

Laney gravitates toward “book club fiction,” (i.e. novels with substance that you’re eager to talk about); novels with a great voice; character-driven stories; and smart, psychological thrillers and novels of suspense. She is open to practical non-fiction and memoir, but only if the author has a strong platform. She’s always on the prowl for narrative nonfiction, (especially from journalists or experts).

She does NOT represent romance, cozy mysteries, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal or dystopian fiction, nor does she handle YA, children’s, middle grade or poetry.

Laney’s authors have made the New York Times, national and International bestsellers’ lists. A graduate of Northwestern University, and a native Ohioan, Laney is married and the mother of two grown children. She enjoys reading, writing, playing tennis, (watching) baseball, sewing and snuggling with her pooch.

Questions we’ll address as part of the discussion:

1) What kind of inner resistance have you experienced in trying to write fiction based on true events and real people in your life?

2) How do you show respect for your family while honoring the need to tell your own story in an open and truthful way?

3) What is the worst thing you imagine might happen if you wrote “the truth?”

4) If you choose to censor some of your material for fear of hurting others, how do you make sure you are not censoring so much as to dilute the impact of your art?

5) Though you’ve published your work as “a novel,” the first question in nearly every interview and book club visit is whether the book is based on a true story. How do you answer in a way that doesn’t further intrude on the privacy of your family?

BIOS

Jessica Anya Blau’s newest novel, DRINKING CLOSER TO HOME, has been called “a raging success” and “unrelentingly side-splittingly funny.”  It was featured in Target stores as a “Breakout Book” and made many Best Books of the Year lists for 2011. Her first novel, THE SUMMER OF NAKED SWIM PARTIES, was picked as a Best Summer Book by the Today Show, the New York Post and New York Magazine.  The San Francisco Chronicle and other newspapers chose it as one of the Best Books of the Year. Jessica’s third novel, THE WONDER BREAD SUMMER, was just purchased by HarperCollins. Jessica wrote the screenplay for FRANNY, a film staring Frances Fisher and Steve Howey.  Franny is now in post-production in Los Angeles. Currently Jessica is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Goucher College.  She also teaches at Johns Hopkins University where she attended The Writing Seminars. 

Susan Henderson is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, the recipient of an Academy of American Poets award, and author of the bestselling novel, UP FROM THE BLUE. Her work has been included in the World Trade Center memorial, THE FUTURE DICTIONARY OF AMERICA (McSweeney’s Books, 2004), THE BEST AMERICAN NON-REQUIRED READING (Houghton Mifflin, 2007), NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING (HarperPerennial, 2008), ONLINE WRITING: THE BEST OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS (Snowvigate Press, 2009), and DRINKING DIARIES: WOMEN SERVE THEIR STORIES STRAIGHT UP (Perseus, 2012). She blogs at LitPark.com, The Nervous Breakdown, and Huffington Post. Her husband is a costume designer, filmmaker, and Chair of a university drama department. They live in NY with their two boys. 

Jessica Keener’s fiction has been listed in The Pushcart Prize under “Outstanding Writers” and published in numerous literary reviews. Writing awards include a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist’s Grant Program, a Joan Jakobson Scholarship from Wesleyan Writers Conference; a Chekhov Prize for Excellence in Fiction by the editors of Wilderness House Literary Review; and second prize in Redbook magazine’s fiction contest. For more than a dozen years she’s also been a features writer for The Boston Globe, Design New England, O, the Oprah Magazine and other national magazines. She has taught writing and literature at Brown University, University of Miami, and Boston University. Night Swim is her debut novel.

Leora Skolkin-Smith was born in Manhattan in 1952, and spent her childhood between Pound Ridge, New York, and Israel, traveling with her family to her mother’s birthplace in Jerusalem every three years. She earned her BA and MFA and was awarded a teaching fellowship for graduate work, all at Sarah Lawrence.

Ms. Skolkin-Smith’s first published novel, EDGES was edited and published by the late Grace Paley for Ms. Paley’s own imprint at Glad Day books. EDGES was nominated for the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award by Grace Paley. 

THE FRAGILE MISTRESS, a feature film based on EDGES, is currently in pre-production, scheduled to begin shooting on location in Jerusalem, Jordan, and New York, produced by Triboro Pictures, directed by Michael Gunther. http://www.thefragilemistress.com

Excerpts from HYSTERA were first published by Persea Books, and recently appeared in The Hamilton Stone Review. Recent publications include a piece from THE FRAGILE MISTRESS, which appeared in Guernica Magazine in 2010.

Leora was recently a panelist, at The Haitian Cultural International Book Festival, The Miami International Book Fair, The Virginia Festival of the Book, and The National Women’s Association. She is currently a contributing editor to readysteadybook.com. and her critical essays have been published in The Washington Post, The National Book Critic’s Circle’s Critical Mass, Conversational Reading, the Quarterly Review, and other places.

Jessica Anya Blau’s

Her first novel, THE SUMMER OF NAKED SWIM PARTIES, was picked as a Best Summer Book by the Today Show, the New York Post and New York Magazine.  The San Francisco Chronicle and other newspapers chose it as one of the Best Books of the Year.

Jessica’s third novel, THE WONDER BREAD SUMMER, was just purchased by HarperCollins. Jessica wrote the screenplay for FRANNY, a film staring Frances Fisher and Steve Howey.  Franny is now in post-production in Los Angeles. Currently Jessica is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Goucher College.  She also teaches at Johns Hopkins University where she attended The Writing Seminars.

Leora Skolkin-Smith 

Ms. Skolkin-Smith’s first published novel, EDGES was edited and published by the late Grace Paley for Ms. Paley’s own imprint at Glad Day books. EDGES was nominated for the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award by Grace Paley. 

THE FRAGILE MISTRESS, a feature film based on EDGES, is currently in pre-production, scheduled to begin shooting on location in Jerusalem, Jordan, and New York, produced by Triboro Pictures, directed by Michael Gunther.

Ms Skolkin-Smith recent novel, HYSTERA, was published by The Fiction Studio Books in November, 2011.

Excerpts from HYSTERA were first published by Persea Books, and recently appeared in The Hamilton Stone Review. Recent publications include a piece from THE FRAGILE MISTRESS, which appeared in Guernica Magazine in 2010.

Leora was recently a panelist, at The Haitian Cultural International Book Festival, The Miami International Book Fair, The Virginia Festival of the Book, and The National Women’s Association. She is currently a contributing editor to readysteadybook.com. and her critical essays have been published in The Washington Post, The National Book Critic’s Circle’s Critical Mass, Conversational Reading, the Quarterly Review, and other places.

What attendees will learn:

• The difference between self-publishing and traditional publishing for fiction and non-fiction
• The benefits and drawbacks of each route
• What to expect along the way
• How to avoid mistakes that can cost you time, money and readers

Have questions? Bring them!