The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books 2008

The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society
at the
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Joan Friedman at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society Sheila Finch has been writing since the late seventies, and first published professionally (in FANTASY BOOK and ASIMOV'S) in the early eighties.

Her series of stories and novels about a Guild of Xenolinguists, allowed her to use her love of all things to do with language in the future and on other planets. First contact with an intelligent alien, and the language problems that will surely result, is often overlooked in science fiction, taking a back seat to other plot points. Her most recent publication is a collection of stories about these lingsters, "The Guild of Xenolinguists", is published by Golden Gryphon Press. http://www.sff.net/people/sheila-finch/

She is also on the Board of Directors of SWFA, the Science Fiction Writers of America and appears at writing conventions including Loscon in Los Angeles, and around the country. She also teaches writing in her workshops. http://www.sheilafinch.com/

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Joan Friedman at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

Joan A. Friedman, Ph.D is an identical twin who has over thirty years of experience as a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of twin-related issues. Using her personal experience as well as her research working with mothers of twins, she comes to the topic with unmatched depth and breadth of experience. She is currently working on a book about adult twins and attachment issues. The mother of five children, inlcuding twin boys, she lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband.

Ms. Frieman's new novel, "Emotionally Healthy Twins" is a comprehensive guide on how to raise twins who are self-realized and distinct individuals. Unlike other parenting books, this book helps parents understand each twin's emotional needs. It outlines seven key concepts to help twins appreciate their distinct selves while nurturing their unique sibling bond.

Charles Domokos has taught post-production classes at the University of Southern California (U.S.C.) School of Cinema & TV and at the U.S.C. Summer Production Workshop from 1988 to 2003 (various Avid platforms). He has also taught TV and post-production courses at Loyola Marymount Univ. (Avid & FCP) and (currently) at Los Angeles City College School of Cinema-TV. He has served as an Avid consultant to TV post-production houses and edited short-form and long-form projects including TV documentaries and independent features. His most recent film RETURN TO VIETNAM won a 2007 Silver Telly (highest award) in the feature tv documentary category.

“Non-linear Editing: The Cutting Edge” provides the foundation for the college-level media student to make the leap into the world of film and HD-based professional post-production, as practiced in the Hollywood media community. This soft-cover text covers basic techniques and generic procedures fundamental to popular visual non-linear editing software from AVID, ADOBE and FINAL CUT and PRO TOOLS audio editing software. This book teaches the basic procedures including synchronization of audio to visuals, film-to-tape conversion, output to tape, output to film, standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) conversions, and everything in between. There is special emphasis given to sound editing techniques to achieve professional level sound quality. “Non-linear Editing: The Cutting Edge” has been chosen to be part of the Los Angeles Public Library film book collection.

Gardner’s Guide to NLE: The Cutting Edge: ISBN 1589650212; available from www.Amazon.com, www.Barnes & Noble.com, and the Garth Gardner Publishing Company, 1 866 GO GARDNER or www.GoGardner.com

Keith Kowalczyk earned his Masters of Professional Writing Degree at the University of Southern California. Afterwards, Keith optioned several screenplays, had a few small films produced and was previously represented by Bondesen Management and Foundation Management.

Fiction has always been Keith’s first and true love, and several years ago he set out to write the story that got planted as a seed in his head years ago when living in Japan. It was the early 90s and Keith was staying with his girlfriend’s family when a news story flashed across the TV about an ancient soldier recently found on a small South Pacific Island. No one showed much surprise at this event, as in the decades following the War, countless numbers of these forgotten Japanese soldiers who had been scattered across the Pacific had been found . Keith was more than surprised by this story. In fact, he immediately thought: what would happen if someone was on vacation and came across one of these soldiers who still thought it was WWII?!?...

John Mehrmann, Author at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

John Mehrmann is a freelance author of "The Trusted Advocate", a motivational speaker, industry expert and President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital. www.ExecutiveBlueprints.com provides free resource materials for trainers, sample Case Studies, educational articles and references to local affiliates for consulting and executive coaching.

As a published author, John’s works have appeared in numerous trade magazines including Pros Communications, Reverse Logistics Magazine and Essential Advantage. He contributed to “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 3” with such notable authors as Ken Blanchard, Mark Victor Hansen, Byron Katie and Les Brown. John Mehrmann is a freelance author, contributing many articles for use on web, publications, and radio. Electronic copies of these articles are available at www.JohnMehrmann.com

Leslie Ann Moore at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society Booth 715 at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Leslie Ann Moore has been a storyteller since childhood. A native of Los Angeles, she received her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University Of California and continues to practice veterinary medicine in the L.A. area. In addition to fiction writing, Leslie Ann enjoys travel, reading, and attending science fiction/fantasy conventions. She also practices the beautiful and ancient art of belly dance.

'Griffin's Daughter', a novel of romantic fantasy published by Avari Press, is Leslie Ann's first published work. You can read a synopsis as well as link up to Leslie Ann's podcast to hear the first two chapters at:

Matthew J. Pallamary's work has appeared in Oui, New Dimensions, The Iconoclast, Starbright, Infinity, Passport, The Short Story Digest, Redcat, The San Diego Writer's Monthly, Connotations, Phantasm, Essentially You, The Haven Journal, and many others. His fiction has been featured in The San Diego Union Tribune which he has also reviewed books for, and his work has been heard on KPBS-FM in San Diego, KUCI FM in Irvine, television Channel Three in Santa Barbara, and The Susan Cameron Block Show in Vancouver. He has been a guest on the following nationally syndicated talk shows; Paul Rodriguez, In The Light with Michelle Whitedove, and Environmental Directions Radio series. Mr. Pallamary has also appeared on the following nationally syndicated television shows speaking about fading cultures; Bridging Heaven and Earth, Elyssa's Raw and Wild Food Show, and ECONEWS.

His first book The Small Dark Room Of The Soul is in its second printing and has been e-published by Alexandria Digital Literature. It has also been mentioned in The Year's Best Horror and Fantasy. His second short story collection, A Short Walk To The Other Side, was published as an e-book, by Mystic-Ink, an imprint of the Digital Literature Institute. Dreamland a novel about computer generated dreaming, written with Ken Reeth was also published as an e-book by Mystic-Ink and won the 2002 Independent e-Book Award in the Horror/Thriller category.

He has taught a fiction workshop at the Santa Barbara Writers' Conference for the past nineteen years, has lectured at the Getting It Write conference in Oregon, the Southern California Writers' Conference in San Diego, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles, the Saddleback Writers' Conference, the Rio Grande Writers' Seminar, the National Council of Teachers of English, The San Diego Writer's and Editor's Guild, The San Diego Book Publicists, and he has been a panelist at the World Fantasy Convention, Con-Dor, and Coppercon. He was also Chief of Staff for the Mystic-Ink Writers' Conference.

His historical novel of first contact between shamans and Jesuits in 18th century South America, titled, Land Without Evil, has been published in hardcover by Charles Publishing, and has received rave reviews along with a San Diego Book Award for mainstream fiction. It is also recommended and required reading in over a dozen high school and college English departments throughout the United States and was chosen as a Reading Group Choices selection. Mr. Pallamary also received the Man of the Year 2000 from San Diego Writer's Monthly Magazine. His memoir Spirit Matters detailing his journeys to Peru, working with shamanic plant medicines was published in early 2008 by Mystic Ink Publishing. He is presently under contract to write an original screenplay. He frequently visits the jungles, mountains, and deserts of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shamanism and ancient cultures.

Robin Reed is published in a number of print anthologies and online publications. She is also a cartoonist and gag writer, and she performed with a comedy group every week for three years. She has also written screenplays, and produced short comedy films that appear on You Tube.

Xanthan Gumm is her first novel. The second book in the series is scheduled to appear late in 2008. Get your copy here.

Synopsis: Earth - The Forbidden Planet! Where hard working creatures called Humans labor to make stories that are loved throughout the Galaxy. Stories called The Movies! One young alien dreams of going to Earth to perform in The Movies and become famous like his idol, E.T. Xanthan Gumm is his name, and he longs to be a movie star, live in Hollywood, and meet the King of Earth!

Mike Robinson is the author of seven novels and two collections. Mike has been writing since age 7 and professionally since age 19, having sold roughly a dozen short stories to a number of formats including print and electronic magazines, anthologies and podcasts.

Although he writes in an eclectic variety of genres, often his subjects touch on philosophical or psychological issues with an undercurrent of the fantastic. He lives in Los Angeles.

"Too Much Dark Matter, Too Little Gray" is a collection of 43 speculative fiction stories spanning all regions of a dark and surreal mindscape.

Barbara Schnell at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

Barbara Schnell has dedicated her life to full-time employment avoidance. She’s been an actress, renovated a 1921 California Bungalow, ‘won’ a set of golf clubs on Jeopardy, and set a cash-winning record on $25,000 Pyramid. Barbara lives in Los Angeles with her patient husband and two cats.

In her debut novel, "First Year", Stevie O'Neill, a young LA actress, recklessly marries visiting Robert Anderson and follows him to South Dakota. There, she discovers that her Hispanic/Irish ancestry doesn't bother her blue-eyed blonde in-laws, but her lack of domestic skills does--a situation Mom Anderson is determined to correct. This orphaned, metropolitan smartass becomes an unwilling Martha Stewart in a student trailer park--but her life is not all drudgery, in Los Angeles she's a grunt in an army of wannabe celebrities, in South Dakota she's a star because of a beer commercial. Her brief fame even gets her a teaching job at the University. Stevie's new existence is filled with adventures most city girls never experience--or want to. She goes pheasant hunting; she survives blizzards; she drives the Hereford Queen in the Homecoming parade. She's thrown into an extended family circle and learns to deal with all that goes with family life. In the first year of an impulsive, hormone-driven marriage punctuated by misunderstandings and reconciliations, Stevie discovers that her Prince Charming has skid marks in his tights. Should she stick with him? At least for one more year?

“…engaging and believable. Stevie is an appealing heroine”—Kirkus Discoveries
“Fantastic! Sidesplitting comedy…guaranteed to generate smiles.”—Romantic Times
“…”epic” of the ordinary…very American, very universal, and very entertaining.”—James Koenig, Director/Founder of Scandinavia/LA Film Festival Visit Barbara Schnell at: www.bagmlit.com

Tony N Todaro is an author, brand strategist and creative consultant, writing for a wide range of organizations, from non-profits to Fortune 1000 companies and more recently, Hollywood unions and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center / Department of Defense.

He is vice-president of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, a member of the Los Angeles Science Fiction & Fantasy Society, and a consultant to ConDor on their writers program. He is a regular speaker at the Los Angeles Regional Science Fiction Convention, the San Diego Science Fiction Convention and other national events, where he has appeared on many notable writer panels. He will also speak at BayCon in 2008.

Tony has written for national ad campaigns, investment groups, and collateral for major corporations. He was awarded a grant to strategize and author the branding and website for Los Angeles Valley College’s Cinema and Broadcast programs, including screenwriting.

His novels include "True Light" and "Nexus of Swords" in the Lightriders Saga series, and the forthcoming "What Comes Around" his new time-travel murder mystery in the Xander Hunt series. He is perennially authoring novels. short stories, and articles on the craft of writing. He also edits the work of others.

Tony writes as T.N.Todaro and lives in Redondo Beach, California, with his wife Lillian, an award-winning jewelry artist and author, whom he describes as his “personal inspiration.” When not writing, Tony and Lilly can be found at writer’s conferences, fine art shows, or snorkeling in Hawaii.

Dr. Maxine Thompson at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

Dr. Maxine Thompson is the owner of Maxine Thompson's Literary Services, Black Butterfly Press and the founder of non-profit, Maxine Thompson's Literary and Education Services. Dr. Thompson joined with Sheba Media as an independent literary agent brokering book-to-film deals. She has conducted 1,000 of hours of live Internet radio interviews and is also a host with Artistfirst.com. She launched her own Internet Radio network on March 1, 2005 at www.maxineshow.com.

Dr. Maxine Thompson is the author of novels, The Ebony Tree, No Pockets in a Shroud, Short story collection, A Place Called Home, Ebooks, The Hush Hush Secrets of Creating a Life you Love, The Hush Hush Secrets of Writing Fiction That Sells, How to Write, Market and Sell your book Via e-book Publishing, and included in anthologies, Saturday Morning, (Published under Black Butterfly Press), Proverbs for the People, Secret Lovers, Never Knew Love Like This Before, and All in the Family.

2007 Honoree Leimert Park First Book Fair
2006 Best-selling Black Expression's Book Club Author
2006 Included in new book, Literary Divas; The Top 100+ Most Admired
African-American Women in Literature. (www.amberbooks.com.)
2005 Winner of Metro Lit Detroit Writing Collective Award: Literary Spirit in
Motion: Business Supporting New and Upcoming Writers.
2005 Literary Award Winner from _Marguerite Press_
(http://www.margueritepress.com/) .
2004 Best Interviewer World Wide Award from www.disilgold.com

John Weiskopf at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

Enilde "Ginger" Ingels-Van Hook is the author of "The Kingdom of Nuts and Bolts", is a story about a families living in Argentina in the 1930’s told from the perspectives of a fly, a witch, a seagull, an angel, a demon and two little boys. This story explores the fictions and mythologies of the South American culture of Argentina’s rich grasslands and spiritual histories. This is a comedic look at the eccentricities of vivid human characters interplaying with colorful imaginative creatures from the spirit world. It is a journey through rich folklore and magical realism as the characters go about their lives in community activities where magic spells go wrong on occasions and the Virgin Mary makes appearances.

The themes throughout the novel explores nuts and bolts in a delightful approach to how things are invented and produced. The spirit of invention (Hector) conflicts with the spirit of destruction (Torech). By the end of the battle between the two forces, there are new chairs, tapestries on the walls and cutting boards all created out of thin air. This story is the first in a series of adventures.

Written works by Enilde Ginger Ingels-Van Hook:
Waiting in the Wings Poetry - 1991,
The Trilogy of Private Showings: Poetry - 1992,
Gypsy Spurs, Twisted Rainbow, The Haughty Naughty Tipsy Gypsy
A Magnetic Attraction Poetry - 2004, By Ginger & Luke Van Hook
The Kingdom of Nuts & Bolts - A novel - 2004
A Sliver of My Private Thoughts - 2007

Sandra Walter is the author of The Creator State, a provocative novel where a group of Chicago actors discover a unique state of consciousness where art can change reality. They attempt a shocking worldwide experiment with unanticipated results. The Creator State offers a story of depth and acute poetic perception. Through her challenging tale of modern life, love, and friendship, Sandra Walter confronts the classic quest of artistic purpose with a fresh and expansive vision of possibility.

Sandra Walter is a freelance writer, actor, designer, painter, and poet with unique theories about the purpose of creativity. Her novels explore how art can change reality through utilization of the Zero Point Field. She lives in Santa Barbara, California. Visit Sandra at www.sandrawalter.com

***** A wonderful journey, March 8, 2008
By J. D. Jefferys (Chester Springs, PA USA)
What a fast, fun read! Anyone who has ever ventured into any creative field, and often wondered about where their inspiration might have come from will love going where this joyous story takes you. Started reading it at takeoff from Philadelphia, and before I knew it I was in San Francisco, book and trip complete. The well developed characters provided the suspension of disbelief from the very original and ingenious premise, and I was left wanting more.

***** Intriguing Story and Experiment, February 28, 2008
By S. Zimmer (Santa Barbara, CA)
It's a wonderful story that held me from beginning to end. As an artist and novelist myself, I took particular pleasure in the experiment. It's an exciting concept and a great climax. I think it's very possible that if a group of artists got together and tried it, the results would be similar if not the same as those that occurred in the novel. I recommend it to anyone interested in the power of art and the potential we humans have to determine our reality.

John M. Weiskopf is an author and teacher. His first novel The Ascendancy was recently published by iUniverse, where it received excellent reviews and sold out at several southern California Barnes & Nobles retailers.

He taught literature and writing for ten years in private schools and colleges. He has a B.A. in literature, a M.F.A. from UCLA Graduate Film Program and wrote eight screenplays. He produced two documentaries, which aired on national PBS, one for which he appeared as a guest filmmaker on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He was hired by the U.S. Embassy to teach two screenwriting and producing seminars in South America.

He worked as a professional photographer. His photos have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, The Washington Redskin Review, the MTA Metro News & Metro Quarterly, and the Orange County Register.

For his writing and photography, he traveled extensively through Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Galapagos Islands. He has filmed at Machu Picchu, Galapagos Islands, at Lake Titicaca, in the Andes and climbed the glaciers of Salkantay and Ausangate Mountains.

His daughter lives and works in Manhattan. He and his wife and son live in Los Angeles.

"John's book should hold a place of honor on any book shelf, preferably between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings." -- Reverend Ronald D. Culmer

"An inspiring and compassionate 21st century epic adventure, part Paradise Lost and part Wizard of Oz. . . .An evolutionary and cultural vision that blends the grim equations of survival and extinction with the regenerative powers of courage and hope." (Dr. Thomas Allen Nelson, author of “Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze”)

“This book should firmly fix John Weiskopf's star in the heavenly constellation of great authors. He is more than just a master writer: he is a healer. While The Ascendancy has all the makings of an epic tale, it is a story that heals with hope that can be transported from its pages into the very hearts of people everywhere. This book should hold a place of honor on any book shelf, preferably between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings." (Reverend Ronald D. Culmer, Rector, St. Clare's, Pleasanton, CA)

Vic Wright was out of his record deal in 1992 and wondering where to best use his talents. After the demise of his band, Johnny Crash, he formed a new group called The Real McCoy’s and played many live shows around Southern California, Nevada and Arizona, but with the Grunge movement still going strong, and being unable to capture the interest of any major labels, the band disbanded in 1994.

Still inspired and engrossed in music, Vick was looking for something new; he turned to DJing and ultimately wound up at the world famous Crazy Girls in Hollywood. To Vick’s surprise, Crazy Girls was a strip club with more inner turmoil and seedy Tinseltown drama than he could have ever imagined. It turned out to be an unexpected learning experience for Vick. The girls and customers at the club were a treasure trove of stories; both fact and fiction ultimately inspiring him to start writing notes that originally were to become a screenplay.

Over the years, Vick would DJ in clubs from New York City to Las Vegas, all the way back to LA again, where he began writing his debut novel, originally entitled “The Life and Crimes of a Strip Club DJ” before being renamed “South of the Pole.”