3rd Annual Kerrytown BookFest

Speakers and Presenters at the 2005 BookFest

List as of 30 August 2005

Tom Biblewski is a life long resident of Toledo, Ohio. He received his graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Toledo. Along with being a mystery fan, since 1990 he has owned and edited the Baker Street Dispatch, a Sherlock Holmes newsletter. He is a teacher, as is his wife (and fellow mystery fan), Janet. (Judge, Sherlock Holmes contest).

Patti Cheney, a librarian for the Romeo District Library, has been a reader her whole life. She became a librarian originally to bring books and children together, and worked as a children's librarian for eight years. In 2001 she moved into adult services and found her place in fiction and in readers' advisory, now bringing adults and books together. When you can get her away from books, she enjoys spending time with her significant other, Ken, walking, and dining out with friends. (Moderator - women's mystery panel)

Jeanne M. Dams, author of the Dorothy Martin mysteries, is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and has been an elementary school teacher, advertising copywriter, and university administrator. A life long lover of the English Mystery and England, she lives with her husband, Ed, and their two cats in her birthplace of South Bend, Indiana.
www.jeannedams.com

David Ellis's novel LINE OF VISION won the Edgar Award for best first novel. He is a partner in a Chicago Law Firm and has served as deputy counsel to the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.
www.davidellis.com

Loren D. Estleman is the author of more than 50 novels, many of which feature Hamtramack P.I. Amos Walker. His latest mystery, Little Black Dress, was published this spring. He is the winner of three Shamus awards for his Walker novels and four Golden Spur awards for his western fiction, and has also been nominated fot the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Whitmore Lake with his wife, author Deborah Morgan. (Sherlock Holmes Contest Judge).

Terence Faherty is the author of the Shamus winning Scott Elliott private eye series set in the golden age of Hollywood. He also writes the Edgar nominated Owen Keane series. Faherty lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife Jan. (Private Eye Panel)

Rhonda Gowler Greene is an award-winning children's author from West Bloomfield, MI. She currently has 11 books out, with 6 forthcoming. Her book BARNYARD SONG (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum) was the first-ever winner of the Michigan Reads, One State, One Preschool Book program (2004). The program, co-chaired by Governor Granholm, promotes childhood literacy throughout the state. Rhonda, a former teacher, is a frequent speaker at conferences and schools.
www.rhondagowlergreene.com (children's lit panel)

Erin V. Helmrich is a Teen Services Librarian at the Ann Arbor District Library. She had 7 years as a youth librarian under her belt in Royal Oak, MI before coming to Ann Arbor 2 years ago. She has written the "Teen Pop-Culture Quiz" for the journal Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA) for over 6 years and is an avid reader/listener/watcher of ALL types of media. In addition to the scads of teen novels she reads - she listens to adult books during her long commute from Ferndale to Ann Arbor - and obsessively reads online news, magazines, newspapers, blogs and more to feed her need for information. Her most recent quiz can be found at http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200508PopCultureQuiz.pdf

Sharon Iverson is a Teen Services Librarian for the Ann Arbor District
Library. She also has worked several years as a school librarian in Kansas
and Michigan. Sharon enjoys bringing teens and current teen literature
together through booktalking. This year she has every excuse to keep her
nose in a book as she reads for the Thumbs Up! Award, which recognizes and celebrates quality young adult literature

M.G. Kincaid, a decorated former marine, resides with her husband in Michigan. The Last Victim in Glen Ross is Kincaid's first book, and she enjoys hearing from readers. A second novel will be published in November. (Moderator, Cops & Lawyers)

J.A. Konrath, author of the Jack Daniels mysteries, has written for cable TV and performed improvisational comedy. He currently teaches fiction writing at the College of DuPage in Illinois.
www.jakonrath.com

Michael Koryta's novel, Tonight I Said Goodbye, was the winner of the St. Martin's press prize for best first PI novel of 2004.He lives in Bloomington, Indiana. While in high school he began to work both for a private investigator and for the local newspaper, and he still has those jobs. That work experience benefitted his fiction writing greatly. He hopes to complete his degree at Indiana University in 2005.
www.michaelkoryta.com (The Private Eye panel)

William Kent Krueger is the author of the Cork O'Connor mysteries set in the Boundary Waters area of northern Minnesota. His novel, IRON LAKE, was the winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. He has worked as a logger, construction worker, freelance journalist, and a researcher in child development. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife and family.
www.williamkentkrueger.com

Lee Meadows spends his time as a Professor of Management at Walsh College. He is an avid mystery reader and loved the idea of writing a novel. Though originally from Detroit, Ann Arbor has been his home for eleven years. He is a proud graduate of Michigan State University, proud husband of Phyllis and proud father of Garrison. His Lincoln Keller mystery series is based in Detroit and the character represents all the things he's not, but wished he could be. (Moderator, The Private Eyes).

Alice Nigoghosian is the retired acting director of Wayne State University Press. She has editorial and book production experience at WSU Press, and is a past president of the Book Club of Detroit

P.J. Parrish, the author of the Louis Kincaid mysteries, has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, arts reviwer, black jack dealer, and personnel manager in a Mississippi Casino. The author currently resides in Southaven, Mississippi and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She is married with three children, three grandchildren, two cate and a dog.
www.pjparrish.com

Eric S. Rabkin, author or editor of more than thirty books, is Professor of English at the University of Michigan where he currently teaches courses in fantasy, science fiction, and technology and the humanities. He co-leads the Genre Evolution project, a pioneering research team that combines qualitative and quantitative methods on the study of the evolution of American culture. He has lectured on these subjects and on humor, language, pedagogy, and academic administration in North America, Europe and Australia.

Tim Smith has 7 years of experience with vacuum facility testing of advanced spacecraft propulsion systems (ion engines and Hall thrusters), 15 years of experience with optical diagnostics for fluid dynamics, and about 35 years of experience in reading science fiction. His science fiction efforts tend to be titled "Technical Proposal," and his fantasy efforts tend to be titled "Cost Proposal" or "Schedule." Though he holds degrees in aerospace, nuclear and ocean engineering, he finds that his colleagues tend to be most impressed by his marriage to a successful science fiction and fantasy author (Sarah Zettel).

Jessica Speart , author of the Rachel Porter mysteries, writes about enviornmental and wildlife issues. Jessica lives in Connecticut with her husband and their two dogs, Max and Tallulah.
www.jessicaspeart.com

Denise Swanson, author of the Scumble River mysteries, has worked as a school psychologist for more than twenty years. She lives in Illinois with her husband, Dave, and their cool black cat, Boomerang.
www.deniseswanson.com

Debbie Taylor is the author of the picture book SWEET MUSIC IN HARLEM. Her work has appeared in magazines including Spider Magazine, New Moon Magazine and Pockets.
(Children's Lit Panel)

Hope Vestergaard grew up in Ann Arbor, went away to college, and came home to work at Gretchen's House, where she read hundreds of books aloud to children. A picture book class with Nancy Shaw and Tracy Gallup put her on the road to publishing her own books, and she now has three books in print as well as the most recent, HELLO, SNOW.

Sarah Zettel was born in Sacramento, California in 1966. Since then, she has lived in ten cities, four states, and two countries. She currently lives in Ypsilanti with her husband, Tim, their son Alexander, and her cat, Buffy the Vermin Slayer. Her latest book, The Firebird's Vengeance, is just recently out in paperback from TOR.