Catsam, Derek
Derek Charles Catsam is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas Permian Basin. After receiving his PhD from Ohio University, where he was a student in the Contemporary History Institute, he spent a year as a postgraduate student at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, where he was a Rotary fellow. He is the author of FREEDOM'S MAIN LINE: THE JOURNEY OF RECONCILIATION AND THE FREEDOM RIDES and BLEEDING RED: A RED SOX FAN'S DIARY OF THE 2004 SEASON. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s, the Ole Miss integration crisis, South Africa in the 1980s, and sports and politics in South Africa. He writes about African affairs for the New York-based Foreign Policy Association and he also has contributed columns on both American and African politics to many newspapers and other publications. Catsam lives with his wife, who is also a historian in Odessa, Texas, and maintains his lifelong love for Bostonsports teams.
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Dyson,Marianne
Marianne Dyson is currently writing a historical account of what it was like to be one of NASA's first female flight controllers and her first young adult science fiction book. She has a degree in physics and has won the Golden Kite and American Institute of Physics science writing awards. A full-time writer, she also teaches astronomy part-time in the Clear Creek Independent School District gifted and talented program. Her book titles include SPACE STATION SCIENCE; HOME ON THE MOON; and SPACE AND ASTRONOMY. In addition, she has written many science fiction stories and magazine articles available through libraries and online through her website. Proceeds from her writing and speaking support several demanding cats, a husband with a flying habit, and the occasional stray alien.
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Edge, Laura
Laura Edge was born just north of Chicago in Waukegan, Illinois. She grew up in a big Italian-Irish family with lots of brothers and sisters. She loves to read, travel, dance, ride horses, and watch basketball games. Laura received her bachelor's degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin and studied abroad with the American Institute of Foreign Study. She has taught reading and writing in elementary schools, middle schools, and at a community college. In addition to teaching, Laura has worked as a computer programmer, owned and operated a computer training company, and taught ballroom dance. Laura is the author of eleven nonfiction books for teens, including FROM JAZZ BABIES TO GENERATION NEXT: THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER; WE STAND AS ONE: THE INTERNATIONAL LADIES GARMENT WORKERS STRIKE, NEW YORK, 1909; AND STEPHEN SPIELBERG: DIRECTOR OF BLOCKBUSTER FILMS. She is currently working on on her first novel.
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Graves, Keith
Keith Graves
is the award-winning author and illustrator (and sometimes just the illustrator) of many hilarious picture books for children. His picture book titles include CHICKEN BIG; FRANK WAS A MONSTER WHO WANTED TO DANCE; THREE NASTY GNARLIES; PET BOY; DESERT ROSE AND HER HIGHFALUTIN HOG; MOO WHO?; and TOO MANY FROGS! Graves’s first middle-grade novel - THE ORPHAN OF AWKWARD FALLS - is spooky, funny, and loaded with creepy illustrations. Another of his books – LORETTA: ACE PINKY SCOUT - is featured on a fun movie on YouTube and can be reached by entering Loretta Ace Pinky in the search slot. Keith works well with children, teachers, and parents. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Nancy and twins Max and Emma. |
Jillson, Cal
Professor Cal Jillson, Department of Political Science. Southern Methodist University, received his PhD in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He taught at Louisiana State University and the University of Colorado and chaired the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder, before joining the faculty of Southern Methodist University in July 1995. He served as chair in the Department of Political Science and director of the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU. Dr. Jillson is the author of six books and editor of six more. His more recent books are PURSUING THE AMERICAN DREAM; TEXAS POLITICS: GOVERNING THE LONE STAR STATE; and LONE STAR TARNISHED: A CRITICAL LOOK AT TEXAS POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, published this year to high acclaim. He speaks frequently to civic groups and to financial professionals and their clients.
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Johnson, Varian
Varian Johnson writes novels for young adults. TheTexas Library Association named his first novel - MY LIFE AS A RHOMBUS - to the Tayshas High School Reading List. The New York Public Library put that novel on its Stuff for the Teen Age list. The book also was among the finalists for a Texas Institute of Letters award. His latest novel, SAVING MADDIE, was recently
named a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of 2011. Johnson holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has taught and presented at St. Edward’s University, Texas State University, and Austin Community College among other venues. |
LinCecum, Jerry
Jerry Bryan Lincecum is a sixth-generation Texan and professor emeritus of English at Austin College where he earned accolades for his teaching and writing. He has received many honors as a folklorist and specialist in Texas and Southwestern literature and history and remains active in scholarship and also in teaching classes for out-of-school adults. He and his wife, professor Peggy Redshaw, co-direct the Telling Our Stories (TOS) program. They have co-authored several scholarly books and have published over 30 volumes of memoirs by local writers. Their books include ADVENTURES OF A FRONTIER NATURALIST; SCIENCE ON THE TEXAS FRONTIER; and GIDEON LINCECUM'S SWORD: CIVIL WAR LETTERS FROM THE TEXAS HOME FRONT. Among their TOS books are FIRST-BORN; MIDDLE CHILD; CABOOSE:STORIES ABOUT BIRTH ORDER AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS; and TWENTY YEARS OF TELLING OUR STORIES.
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Preble, Joy
Joy Preble is the author of the DREAMING ANASTASIA series (Sourcebooks), which blends paranormal romance with historical fiction. The
second book, HAUNTED, is out now, and the final installment, ANASTASIA FOREVER, will be out just in time for the East Texas Book Fest 2012. Another paranormal story – about a 16-year-old stoner who returns from a fatal car accident as his sister’s guardian angel – THE SWEET DEAD LIFE – is set in Houston and slated for distribution in May 2013 from Soho Press. The author grew up in Chicago, where she dreamed of being a back-up singer, but settled for becoming a writer so she could get paid for making up stuff. She now lives with her family and a crazy half-basset/half- boxer dog in Texas, where she frequently gets into wild rumpuses and other mischief. When she’s not writing, you can find her eating guacamole, watching trash TV, and planning her next adventure. |
Stevens, Taylor
Taylor Stevens is the critically praised New York Times bestselling author of THE INFORMATIONIST and THE INNOCENT. These international thrillers feature a super intelligent, strong, determined, daredevil woman –Vanessa Michael Munroe. The author's own life story is unusual and inspiring. Born into an apocalyptic religious cult, Stevens was raised in communes around the globe. Separated from her family at age 12, she was denied an education beyond sixth grade. The majority of her adolescence was spent begging on city streets at the behest of cult leaders or caring for younger commune children, washing laundry, and cooking meals for hundreds at a time. In her 20s, Stevens broke free in order to follow hope with a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond. She now lives in Texas and juggles fulltime writing with fulltime motherhood. Her third novel in the series is scheduled for publication next year.
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Tafolla, Carmen
The internationally renowned author of more than twenty books and one of the most highly anthologized of Latinawriters, Dr. Carmen Tafolla has published an impressive array of works for both children and adults. Much in demand as a poet, an actress, a teacher, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, Dr. Tafolla is clearly one of the madrinas of Chicana Literature. Her TAMALES, COMPADRES & THE MEANING OF CIVILIZATION sold out in three days and is now available in its second edition. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Americas Award, presented to her at the Library of Congress in 2010; a Tomas Rivera Book Award for her latest collection of short stories THE HOLY TORTILLA AND THE POT OF BEANS; a Charlotte Zolotow, the Art of Peace Award; and many more honors Recently, Mayor Julian Castro named her the first Poet Laureate of the City of San Antonio. She is currently at work on the adult biography of early civil rights organizer Emma Tenayuca.
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Wortham, Reavis
Reavis Z. Wortham is an award-winning writer and photographer. The Kirkus Review lists his first Red River mystery novel - THE ROCK HOLE as one of the Top 12 Mysteries of 2011. Publishers Weekly gave BURROWS, the second in the Red River series, a starred review, noting, “Wortham combines the gonzo sensibility of Joe R. Lansdale and the elegiac mood of To Kill a Mockingbird to strike just the right balance between childhood innocence and adult horror." Wortham has always been an outdoor sportsman and a writer. More than 1,500 newspaper and magazine articles bear his byline, and he received many awards for this work. He was educated in Texas (Eastfield Community College and East Texas State University) and was a Texaseducator for 35 years. His first novel - DOREEN'S 24 HR EAT GAS NOW CAFE - is still making people laugh. He and his wife now live in Frisco, Texas. www.reaviszwortham.com,
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