Featured Speakers
Hilari Bell calls herself the poster child for persistence. Songs of Power, the first novel she sold, was the fifth novel she'd written, and when it sold she was working on novel thirteen. She has since published six more books, all science fiction and fantasy, mostly for middle grade and YA audiences, and just over a year ago she had the pleasure of quitting her day job to write full time. http://www.sfwa.org/members/bell/
Becky Clark Cornwell is the author of An Uncivil War – The Boys Who Were Left Behind and Reading Maniac – Fun Ways to Encourage Reading Success as well as four manuscripts in various stages of finding homes. She loves school visits, where she's amazed and delighted every time someone hands her a check just for talking. She's also proud to be the creative force (and equally proud to have avoided any of the real work) behind "Find An Author" at www.ColoradoBook.org, which is a FREE searchable database for schools and librarians to find authors for their programs. http://www.beckyclark.net/
Dorothy Donohue has authored 4 picture books and illustrated 15 books. Her book, Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe,Maybe, was an American Library Association Notable Book and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Her most recent book, If Frogs Made Weather, was written by Newbery Honor winner Marian Dane Bauer. Dorothy and her husband James recently adopted two babies from Guatemala. Needless to say, Dorothy is piling up ideas for future books! http://www.author-illustr-source.com/DotDonohue.htm
Alane Ferguson became interested in writing for children mostly, she says, to follow the example of her mother who had launched her own successful writing career years earlier. Her mother, Gloria Skurzynski, is the author of fifty books for children, while Alane is completing her twenty-sixth. Alane and her mother are currently co-authoring a series for National Geographic's Children's Book Division. Their novel, Wolf Stalker, was the first work of fiction National Geographic had published in its 109 year history, and was nominated for the 1998 Mystery Writer's of America 's Edgar Allan Poe Award. A recipient of the 1990 Edgar Allan Poe award as well as the Belgium 's Children's Choice Award for Show Me the Evidence, Alane was also nominated for an Edgar on her second young-adult mystery, Overkill. She won the Children's Crown Classic Award for Cricket and the Crackerbox Kid, American Booksellers Association's "Pick of the List" for her picture book entitled That New Pet, and has been on numerous ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers lists and Young Adults' Choice lists. http://www.alaneferguson.com/
Olgy Gary is an author, game designer, editor, ghostwriter and consultant from Colorado Springs. Her cross-cultural simulation, The Luna Game, has been extensively used by trainers worldwide. She has worked as a ghost writer in 20+ books, all of which became best sellers for the publishers. She is originally from Cuba and holds an M.A. in Instructional Design, with an emphasis on experience-based learning resources and cross-cultural communication. She also maintains several author and educational sites, including her own, www.childrencomefirst.com.
Lisa Lodholm Gilman is a marketing professional and award-winning writer with more than 200 published articles. For three years she has enjoyed her role as managing editor of Kite Tales for RMC-SCBWI. She teams with her illustrator husband to write picture books (two in the works) and an animated children's show based on core values and science. She's addicted to HGTV, enjoys singing and is pursuing her MBA at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Claudia Cangilla McAdam has seen her work published in dozens of magazines and newspapers for nearly 30 years. She has won Highlights for Children 's annual fiction contest and has received the magazine's "Arts Feature of the Year Award" for her nonfiction work. Claudia has authored or co-authored nine books, including a two-volume middle-grade nonfiction series about heroes, Portraits of Character (Kagan Publishing). Her latest work is her self-published picture book, The Christmas Tree Cried (Two Sons Press, Inc.), which reached the local best sellers list in December, 2005. A resident of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Claudia and her husband are the parents of two grown sons. http://www.twosonspress.com/
Shirley Lamb Sternola was a classroom teacher and later an elementary school librarian for a total of 33 years in Colorado, California and Alaska. She retired from Jefferson County, CO schools in the spring of 1990 and opened her bookstore, Bo Peep Books, in October of 1990.