2007 Guest Authors

A through F | G through L | M through R | S through Z

 

D.J. MacHale

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series, specials and movies. D.J. first broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC Afterschool Specials. After moving to Los Angeles, he made the fulltime switch from informational films, to entertainment. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: Are You Afraid of the Dark?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years, making it one of the longest running live-action family programs on television. He wrote and directed many of the episodes including the CableAce nominated The Tale of Cutter's Treasure starring Charles S. Dutton. He was nominated for a Gemini award for directing The Tale of the Dangerous Soup starring Neve Campbell. D.J. also wrote and directed the movie Tower of Terror for ABC's Wonderful World of Disney which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series Chris Cross was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series. D.J. lives in Manhattan Beach, CA with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are a Golden Retriever, Maggie; and a Kitten, Kaboodle.

Steve McDermott

Steven J. McDermott is the editor of the literary journal STORYGLOSSIA and the bibliographer for the International Raymond Carver Society. His short stories have appeared in numerous online and print journals. Winter of Different Directions, his debut collection of short stories, is available via podcast at http://www.stevenmcdermott.com/ and will be released in May 2007.

Cammie McGovern

Cammie McGovern, author of The Art of Seeing, was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and received the Nelson Algren Award in short fiction. Her work has been published in Redbook, Seventeen, Glimmer Train, TriQuarterly, and other publications. She is a co-founder of Whole Children, a non-profit resource center that runs after-school classes and weekend programs for children with special needs. McGovern lives with her husband and three children, the oldest of whom is autistic, in Amherst, Massachusetts. EYE CONTACT is her second novel.

Denny McLain

In 1968 24-year-old Denny McLain turned the baseball world upside down by winning 31 games for the Detroit Tigers. He won both the MVP and Cy Young Awards in ’68. He was driven by an insatiable thirst for attention and adventure. By 1972 the pain and inflammation of a torn rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder became overwhelming, and at age 28 Denny McLain was washed up as a major league pitcher.

Kathy J. Marsh

Kathy J Marsh was born and raised in Wilmington, NC. She attended several NC colleges and graduated with honors from Johnson C Smith University in Charlotte. Writing is a recently discovered passion and as with everything about which Kathy is passionate, she devoted many hours to learning her craft and writing her first novel while working at a local university. Currently residing in Charlotte, Kathy is hard at work on her second novel, Suddenly Younger.

Sylvia Meloche

The University of Michigan International Institute Folkdancers, consisting of staff from the Institute and the Schools of Social Work and Education, will demonstrate folkdances from around the world and help Festival goers to learn some easy dances. Group leader, Sylvia Meloche, is a long-time folkdancer and teacher, member of the Ann Arbor Folkdancers, and outreach coordinator at the Institute.

Samantha Misiak

Samantha Misiak is the new Market Manager for The Sunday Artisan Market. Nine months out of the year you can find her there on Sundays, under the market pavilion. Previous to this fantastic and wonderful position, she had a small shop inside of Kerrytown for two years. She is mom to two great kids, Mikey (6) and Mikayla (4).

Ander Monson

Ander Monson lives in Michigan where he edits the magazine DIAGRAM and the New Michigan Press. He is the author of three books: Neck Deep and Other Predicaments: Essays (Graywolf Press, February 2007), Other Electricities (a sort-of novel, Sarabande Books, 2005), and Vacationland (poems, Tupelo Press, 2005).

Cyd Moore

CYD MOORE, accomplished and experienced children's illustrator, has produced artwork for over twenty picture books, including the renowned Stinky Face collection. Her latest includes Jeanie Franz Ransom's What Do Parents Do When You're Not Home? - a new Spring 2007 book. Raised on a farm in Georgia, Moore went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Georgia. After college, she began creating artwork for various national magazines, record labels and greeting card companies. Moore's professional graphic design experience also includes work with McDonald's Happy Meals ®, Burger King advertising campaigns, and various baby food manufacturers. According to School Library Journal, her watercolor and prismacolor paintings are "amusing… in muted, dreamy shades [that] spill out over the pages." She currently resides in Michigan with her two grown sons.

Daniel Mulhern

Daniel Granholm Mulhern is the "First Gentleman" of the State of Michigan. In addition to the personal support and counsel he offers his wife, Governor Jennifer Mulhern Granholm, Dan contributes his services, spearheading leadership development being a model for the nation in offering a governmental work place that is a "great place to do great work!" He also serves as Chairman of the Michigan Community Service Commission, which promotes and coordinates volunteer efforts across the state.

Sara Nelson

As editor-in-chief of the trade magazine Publishers Weekly, the venerable, 136-year-old international news magazine of the $23 billion book industry, Sara Nelson's views on the state of the publishing industry are read around the world. She will moderate what is sure to be a stimulating discussion at the Book Festival about the Future of the Book and the publishing landscape. Sara is the author of So Many Books, So Little Time. She formerly worked as a book reviewer and book-world commentator for the New York Post and the New York Observer.

Isabella Nicoletti

Isabella Nicoletti is a native of Trissino, Italy, a small village, dating back to 1583 outside of Vicenza in the Veneto region. Isabella was formally trained at the Istituto Alberghiero Professionale Di Stato/Culinary Institute in Recoaro Terme, Italy and worked under great Italian chefs at four different restaurants in Italy before coming to Michigan. In 1998, she began her inspiring Italian cooking at Paesanos. Never forgetting the traditions of her Italian heritage, she seasons the recipes with her cherished childhood memories of cooking with her family. Isabella is author of perbacco isabella! Italian country cooking from your good friends at paesanos.

Kristin Nitz

Kristin Nitz became very familiar with Italian culture after living with her family in the Italian Alps, and likes to use Italy as a setting in her novels. As a child, Nitz was shy, so books were easier to relate to than people. She always wanted to be a writer and attempted her first novel in fifth grade. Nitz lives in Zeeland, Michigan. For more information, visit her website www.kwnitz.com.

Meghan O'Rourke

Meghan O'Rourke is from Brooklyn, New York. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Poetry, The Kenyon Review, and other venues. She writes reviews and essays for publications including The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, and Slate, where she is also culture editor. She is a poetry editor at The Paris Review, and was the recipient of the 2005 Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Award for poetry. Meghan O'Rourke is the author of Halflife, a collection of poems due out in April.

Marylen Oberman

Marylen Oberman, a clinical psychologist from Ann Arbor, Michigan has worn the hats of teacher, counselor, and consultant. She graduated from the University of Michigan with B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Her expertise is in child-parent relationships, early childhood education and the emotional problems of college students. Most recently she worked at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). In her book, Crash Course - Life lessons That Got Me Back on my Feet, Marylen records two tragic events that have so altered the past fifteen years of her life, how they came about, how she dealt with the initial shock and how she kept both her physical and emotional well being intact. The first trauma came in a flash of a second when she almost lost her legs. The second event, the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, came over a longer period of time. Each had an effect on her outlook on life. She used many techniques to help her through the good days and the bad days, but she credits her technique of journaling to be the most helpful of all.

Peter Osnos

Peter Osnos, founder and editor-at-large of PublicAffairs Books, was a foreign correspondent and editor at The Washington Post and an editor and publisher at Random House before starting PublicAffairs in 1997. He is executive director of The Caravan Project, which is developing multi-platform publishing for books, vice-chairman of The Columbia Journalism Review and a member of the board of the Knight-Wallace Fellows at the University of Michigan where he was a fellow in 1973-74.

Jim Ottaviani

A trail-blazer in non-fiction comics, Jim has published five graphic novels about scientists to date, and has five more in the works. His first career was as nuclear engineer, and he currently works as a librarian. He's given talks about graphic novels at venues ranging from conferences in California to libraries in Michigan to the Nobel Museum in Stockholm.

Alana Paluszewski

Alana Paluszewski is a respected historian and has previously written The Pride of Wyandotte: The History of Roosevelt High School 1921-2003, a legacy honoring the unique building located in Wyandotte, Michigan. Ann Marston's talent, courage, and tragedy inspired Paluszewski to write Shooting Star: The Amazing Story of Ann Marston.

Jeff Parker

Jeff Parker's novel Ovenman will be published in August 2007. The Back of the Line, a short story collection done in collaboration with artist William Powhida, is out now. His short fiction has appeared in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Ploughshares, Tin House, Columbia, Hobart, and other pubs. He teaches creative writing at Eastern Michigan University and is the Russia Program Director of Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg.

Nancy Pearl

Having worked as a librarian and bookseller in Detroit, Tulsa, and Seattle, Pearl's knowledge of and love for books is unmatched. In 1998, Pearl developed the program "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book," which spread across the country to Madison, WI; Buffalo, NY; Palm Beach, FL; Chicago, IL; New York City, and beyond. In 2004, Pearl became the 50th winner of the Women’s National Book Association Award for her extraordinary contribution to the world of books. Pearl continues to bring her recommendations and knowledge of books to students of her "Book Lust 101" course at the University of Washington. She is also the host of the television show Book Lust on the Seattle community channel. In the moments when Pearl finds herself without a book, she is an avid bicyclist and happy grandmother of two. She also serves on the boards of Humanities Washington and the Seattle Public Library. She lives in Seattle with her husband Joe.

Chuck Pfarrer

Chuck Pfarrer is a screenwriter, novelist and former US Navy SEAL. Pfarrer's Hollywood credits include screenwriting on seven major motion pictures. His acclaimed 2003 autobiography Warrior Soul (Random House) has been called one of the finest memoirs of modern Special Operations Forces. Released in April of this year, his debut novel, Killing Che, (also for Random House) has garnered critical acclaim, winning stars from Booklist and Publisher's Weekly. Pfarrer has lectured widely on writing and screenwriting. He lives in Northern Michigan.

Daniel Piccolo

Dan Piccolo is a drummer and percussionist who has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada. He has been performing and teaching in Ann Arbor for ten years, where he also studied both concert percussion and drum set at the University of Michigan. He has been studying tabla for 2 years with his guru, Kuber Nath Mishra of Varanasi.

Kevin Pilkington

Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He also teaches a workshop in the graduate department at Manhattanville College. He is the author of five collections: his collection Spare Change was the La Jolla Poets Press National Book Award winner and his chapbook won the Ledge Poetry Prize. His collection entitled Ready to Eat the Sky was published by River City Publishing as part of their new poetry series selected by Andrew Hudgins and was a finalist for the 2005 Independent Publishers Books Award. In addition, a new chapbook entitled St. Andrew's Head was published by Camber Press. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies including Birthday Poems: A Celebration, Western Wind, and Contemporary Poetry of New England. Over the years, he has been nominated for four Pushcarts and his poems and reviews have appeared in numerous magazines including: Poetry, Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Boston Review, Yankee, Hayden’s Ferry, Columbia, Greensboro Review, The Louisville Review, Gulf Coast, Valparaiso Review.

Eileen Pollack

Eileen Pollack is the author of a story collection, The Rabbi in the Attic, a novel, Paradise, New York, and a work of creative nonfiction, Woman Walking Ahead: In Search of Catherine Weldon and Sitting Bull. A new collection of stories and novellas called In the Mouth will be out later this year. She is the Zell Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan.

Francine Prose

Francine Prose is the author of fourteen books of fiction, including A Changed Man (winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize), and Blue Angel (a finalist for the National Book Award). A distinguished critic and essayist, she has taught literature and writing for more than twenty years at major universities. Her most recent book is a work of non-fiction, Reading Like a Writer, which explores the works of the best writers and what we, as readers and writers, can learn from their enduring work.

Roger Rapoport

Roger Rapoport, the author of Citizen Moore: The Life and Times of An American Iconoclast and Hillsdale: Greek Tragedy in America's Heartland is the author, co-author or editor of eighteen books. They include Saving Our Schools: The Case For Public Education In America and the I Should Have Stayed Home trouble travel series. He is currently finishing King of The Road: Trouble Travel Made Easy. Rapoport lives in Muskegon. More information can be found at his website: www.rdrboooks.com.

Theresa Reid

Theresa Reid will be a guest author at the Ann Arbor Book Festival. Her biography is not available.

Cynthia Furlong Reynolds

Cynthia Furlong Reynolds discovered her calling at an early age, during a visit with her grandmother. An award-winning journalist, Reynolds juggles writing time with motherhood. She has written a series of histories as well as children's books, which include The Far-Flung Adventures of Homer the Hummer, Rascal Makes Mischief on Mackinac Island, S is for Star: A Christmas Alphabet, and a number of state alphabet books. Reynolds loves to visit schools and tell students what Grammie once told her: they have all the tools they need to become fine writers - they just need to learn what those tools are and how to use them. A native of Maine and a graduate of the College of William & Mary, Reynolds lives beside a dirt road in the country outside Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her husband, three children, and two dogs.

Keith Richburg

Detroit native Keith Richburg, U-of-M class of 1980 and a former senior editor of The Michigan Daily, has been a Washington Post reporter since his first summer internship there in 1978, while still a student at Michigan. He started full time at the Post immediately after graduating, and, except for a year off for graduate school at the London School of Economics (1983-84), he has worked there ever since in a variety of capacities, mostly overseas. After stints as a police reporter and covering DC City Hall and Maryland state politics, Keith Richburg covered national education, and became a foreign correspondent in 1986. His first posting was Manila, covering Southeast Asia, and he has since been posted in Nairobi, Hongkong, Jakarta, and Paris. He has reported from Israel and the Palestinian territories at the start of the 2001 intifada; from Afghanistan at the time of the fall of the Taliban in 200, after arriving by horseback over the Hindu Kush; and from Iraq at the start of the American invasion in 2003, when he was an un-embedded journalist following the U.S. troops in his own vehicle. Besides war reporting, Keith Richburg has written about political and immigration trends in Europe, the Asian economic collapse of 1997, and a variety of news pieces, op-eds, and features. He returned to the U.S. in 2005 as Foreign Editor of The Washington Post and hosts a weekly radio program, "Foreign Hour," on Washington Post Radio. He is the author of Out Of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa (1997, Basic Books).

Jacqui Robbins

Jacqui Robbins has filed resumes, sold children's books, written grants, driven a truck, worked the grill at a snack bar, and taught students from ages 6 months to 65 years. She spent 13 years in Chicago and Philadelphia teaching reading and writing to second graders and college students. Currently, when not chasing her own two children, she is a full-time writer in Ann Arbor. Jacqui's first picture book was The New Girl…And Me, (Atheneum/Richard Jackson books). It will be followed by Two of a Kind and Desmond's New Shoes.

Nicola Rooney

Nicola Rooney is regularly seen at the store in Westgate pretending to be a bookseller. Originally a Chemical Engineer, she has owned Nicola's Books since 1995. Her personal reading tastes run to historical fiction, historical biographies and books related to food and cooking. Nicola's Books tends towards books for pleasure, with an ever expanding childrens section, and all genres of Fiction.

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