JRW Conference 2006
Panelist Bios

Chuck Adams: is currently Executive Editor at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, having moved there from Simon & Schuster where he worked for fifteen years as Senior Editor. Prior to that he worked at Delacorte/Dell (now Random House) and Macmillan. He has edited more than 100 New York Times bestsellers, by authors such as Mary Higgins Clark, James Lee Burke, Sandra Brown, Joe McGinniss, and Jackie Collins. In addition, he has edited many books by celebrities and public figures, including Richard Nixon, Cher, Sarah, Duchess of York, Charlton Heston, Kitty Dukakis, Neil Simon, Elizabeth Taylor, and, most recently, Tab Hunter. Born and raised in southern Virginia, he is a graduate of Duke University and the Duke School of Law.

Stacy Hawkins Adams released her debut novel Speak to My Heart in 2004.  Before becoming a full-time author, she spent thirteen years as a newspaper reporter.  She has worked for the Richmond Times-Dispatch as a social issues reporter and inspirational columnist.  In 2000, the Richmond Association of Black Journalists named her Journalist of the Year.  Her second novel Nothing but the Right Thing was released this past April.

Sharon Baldacci spent many years working as a freelance writer for a variety of regional publications.  In 1994, her battle with multiple sclerosis forced her to limit her journalism career, but she continues to write.  Her first book A Sundog Moment was published by Warner Books in 2004.

Michelle Blake Michelle Blake has a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School.  Her first novel The Tentmaker was published in 1999.  She’s currently working on the fourth novel in her Lily Connor Mysteries series.  Her poetry has also appeared in a variety of publications including Southern Review and Ploughshares.

Bill Blume is a fantasy writer whose short stories have been published in Spinetingler Magazine.  He served on the organizing committee for this year’s James River Writers Conference and is a member of the “Ten Page Club.”  Bill earned a BA in Journalism from University of South Carolina and worked as a news producer for WTVR-TV in Richmond until 2001.

Sheri Blume, a fantasy writer and member of the "Ten Page Club," is the chair of the 2006 James River Writer's Conference organizing committee.

Clay Chapman (JRW board member) is the creator of the Pumpkin Pie Show, a rigorous storytelling session backed by its own live soundtrack. He is the author of rest area, a collection of short stories, and miss corpus, a novel -- both published by Hyperion.  Chapman’s 2006 New York production of “Pearls,” part of an evening of one-act plays, was called "an assured bit of storytelling" that "brings to mind the cracked intensity and delusions of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver," by The New York Times, while the Village Voice called Chapman "enormously talented."

Martin Clark currently serves as a circuit court judge for the Virginia counties of Patrick and Henry and the city of Martinsville, Virginia, a job he has held since 1995. Martin's first novel, The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living, was a New York Times Notable Book for the year 2000, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, a finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award and appeared on several bestseller lists. The New York Times Magazine called Many Aspects "arguably the funniest legal thriller ever written" and declared Martin to be "the thinking man's John Grisham." Additionally, the film rights to Many Aspects have been purchased by Tad Floridis Productions for screenwriter Tobias Perse.  Martin's second novel, Plain Heathen Mischief was chosen as a selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club and, prior to release, appeared on both Amazon's and Barnes and Noble's Top 100.

Susann Cokal is the author of two critically praised novels, Mirabilis and Breath and Bones, and of short stories that have appeared in numerous journals. She holds two PhD's: one from Berkeley in comparative literature, and one from Binghamton University in creative writing, and she has published critical work on writers such as Jeanette Winterson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Georges Bataille. She also reviews fiction for The New York Times Book Review. She moved to Richmond in 2004 to teach creative writing and contemporary literature at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Andrew Corsello  is a staff writer for GQ magazine. His story “The Wronged Man,” about a wrongfully imprisoned man exonerated by DNA evidence 22 years after his conviction for raping a child,” was nominated for a National Magazine Award and was anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing 2005 (Columbia University Press). Corsello’s "The Vulgarian in the Choir Loft" was in the 2004 anthology.

Dennis Danvers (JRW board member) is the author of seven fantasy and science fiction novels, Wilderness (nominee for Locus and Bram Stoker first novel awards), Time and Time Again, Circuit of Heaven (New York Times Notable Book for 1998), End of Days, The Fourth World, The Watch (New York Times Notable Book for 2002; named by Booklist as one of 10 best sci-fi novels of 2002) and The Bright Spot. He holds a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Texas at Arlington and an MFA in fiction writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and has taught writing and literature at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He lives in Richmond and Williamsburg, Virginia with his significant other, Sarah Weisiger, and dog, Alice.

C.S. Friedman Celia S. Friedman has written seven science fiction and fantasy novels since her first book In Conquest Born was released in 1986. Her books have been published in more than a half dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia. She lives in Northern Virginia, where she also teaches creative writing. DAW Books plans to release her eighth novel Feast of Souls in spring of next year.

Kate Garrick worked as an agent with PMA Literary and Film Management for two years before joining DeFiore and Company in 2002.  She earned a MA in English and American Literature from New York University and a BA in Literature from Florida State and has represented such writers as Stephen Graham Jones and Jen Lancaster, author of Bitter is the New Black.

Elena Georgiou The author’s first book of poetry, mercy mercy me won a Lambda Literary Award for poetry and was a finalist in the Publishing Triangle Award.  She also co-edited (with Michael Lassell) the poetry anthology, The World In Us.  She has received a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts fellowship, and the Astraea Emerging Writers Award.  mercy mercy me was reissued by the University of Wisconsin Press in the spring of 2003.  She teaches poetry in the MFA program in writing at Goddard College, Vermont and at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Brian Haig After 22 years in the U.S. Army, Brian Haig has drawn on his experience to become the writer of a half dozen military legal thrillers.  Armed with a master’s degree from Harvard in military strategy, Haig served as the Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the four years before his retirement from the Army.  Man in the Middle, the sixth book in his popular “Sean Drummond” series, is being published by Warner Books.

Chuck Hansen Chuck is a motivational speaker, pens a regular humor column for Home Style magazine and a quarterly column for WorkMagazine, and his humor appears frequently in other publications such as Richmond Magazine, Richmond Bride magazine and Welcome Inc. magazine. His motivational presentations are based on his book, Build Your Castles in the Air: Thoreau's Inspiring Advice for Success in Business (and Life) in the 21st Century, and on his manuscript, "Set Sail: Getting from Point A to Point B on the Big Ocean of Life."

Brian Henry has published four books of poetry: Astronaut, which appeared in the U.S., England, and Slovenia and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize; American Incident; Graft; and Quarantine, which received awards from the Poetry Society of America and Prairie Schooner. His fifth book, The Stripping Point, will appear in spring 2007. His poetry and criticism have appeared in numerous magazines around the world, including the Times Literary Supplement, New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, and The Kenyon Review. He has edited the international magazine Verse since 1995. He teaches creative writing and literature at the University of Richmond.

Phaedra Hise (JRW board member) has written four books, most recently Pilot Error: Anatomy of a Plane Crash, called “a compelling page-turner" by the Boston Globe. Her work has appeared in national publications including Inc. (where she was on staff for five years and wrote the cover story for the month of March ‘06), Forbes ASAP, Glamour, Salon, Ladies’ Home Journal, Smithsonian Air & Space and The Boston Herald. She has given radio commentary and interviews, appeared on national television, and speaks regularly at conferences and universities. She lives in Richmond with her husband and daughter.

Mark Holmberg is a columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he started working in 1984 as a freelance writer.  The paper hired him as a full-time reporter two years later.  He was named a finalist in the 2003 Pulitzer Prize awards for his column, which he started in 1998.

d.l. Hopkins There are presently only three African-American men who have received a key to the City of Richmond, Virginia: Marvin Gaye, Arthur Ashe, and d.l. Hopkins. As poet, teacher, and award winning actor d.l. is driven to inspire young people to harness, hear, understand and appreciate their individual artistic voice. Through many charitable acts and organizations d.l. has worked with youth throughout the Commonwealth to accomplish this goal. d.l. has had the fortune to work on every major stage Richmond has to offer with an array the most talented professionals. d.l. cut his performance teeth as a seventeen year old stand-up comedian where he toured up and down the east coast. He is known as one of the fathers of the Richmond spoken word movement and creator of the Just Poetry Slam and numerous other poetic ventures. He has appeared in many television and movie productions and starred in Yellowhouse's first feature length film "HITIRO: the Peasant".  d.l. is one of the founding members of Ernie McClintock's Jazz Actors Theatre and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond. He is a husband and a father and he proudly serves on the Board of Directors of James River Writers.

Evans D. Hopkins works as a freelance writer, dividing his time between Richmond and his hometown of Danville.  His first full-length book was published this past April.  Life After Life chronicles his childhood in the segregated South, his time with the Black Panthers, the rage that led him to a life sentence in Virginia’s prisons and the redemption gained from a renewed passion to write.  His writings have appeared in several anthologies and other publications, including The New Yorker and The Washington Post.

Emyl Jenkins wrote an author’s dozen non-fiction books, a monthly column for Art & Antiques, a syndicated antiques column, and countless magazine articles before turning her hand to fiction.  But when she did, she followed the advice often heard: Write what you know about.  Her first novel, Stealing With Style (Algonquin, June ’05), follows a Virginia antiques appraiser as she uncovers the greed and duplicity that heirlooms and cultural icons can inspire among thieves, antiques professionals, and just nice people.  Stealing With Style received a starred review from Booklist, was a Mystery Guild Book Club selection, has been translated into Japanese and Korean, and is available in large print.

Charles (Chip) Jones The son of a Marine Lieutenant General, Chip Jones is the author of Boys of '67, published earlier this year by Stackpole Books, which tracks the lives of some young second lieutenants from Vietnam to Iraq.  Boys of '67 was a main selection in March of the Military Book Club. Jones also works as a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where has won numerous state and national journalism awards. He is a graduate of the Hollins College writing program and the University of Kansas.

Greg Jones Rev. Samuel Gregory “Greg” Jones attended the Sidwell Friends School, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the General Theological Seminary in New York, where he graduated with honors in 1999.  He served as an Episcopal missionary in Honduras in the mid-1990’s.  He also served as the Associate Rector of St. James’s in Richmond, Virginia, for five years before being called as Rector of St. Michael’s in Raleigh early in 2004.  His book Beyond Da Vinci (Seabury Books, 2004) provided an in-depth examination and critique of the spiritual and historical issues raised by the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code.

Tony Jones was born in Kenbridge, Virginia, and worked as a stockbroker for fifteen years before the desire to write forced him to quit and pursue his dream.  His book Operation Smokeout was released in 2004.  Prior to that, he self-published The Book ofWhat Is It(s)? and provided contract work for New Millennium Studios for the novel adaptation of For Real.

Kelly Justice Kelly Justice is the manager of the Fountain Bookstore in downtown Richmond.  She has worked as a bookseller since 1989.

Alex Kershaw Alex Kershaw has written two WWII books, the New York Times bestselling Bedford Boys and his recent release, The Longest Winter. He’s also the author of the biographies Jack London and Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa.  The film rights to his newest book The Few, which comes out in 2008, have already been bought by Tom Cruise.

Caroline Kettlewell (JRW Co-Chair) is editor of the JRW e-newsletter Get Your Word On and is the author of two critically praised non-fiction books: the memoir Skin Game (St. Martin’s, 1999), and Electric Dreams (Carroll & Graf, 2004). Called "a can't-miss true story reminiscent of the movie Breaking Away," in a Publishers Weekly starred review, Electric Dreams has been optioned for feature film by Participant Productions. Kettlewell is a freelance writer and regular contributor of travel, adventure, and other stories to the Washington Post, and her work has appeared in two anthologies. She maintains a blog, Welcome to the Hinterlands, dedicated to narrative nonfiction.

Dean King (JRW Co-Chair) is a Richmond native and the author of Skeletons on the Zahara (Little, Brown, 2004), a national bestseller and Salon.com Top-Ten Books of the Year selection, which the San Francisco Chronicle called "one of the most absorbing and satisfying books to come out in a very long time." While researching the book, King crossed Western Sahara on camels and in Land Rovers. Skeletons is being developed as a feature film by DreamWorks. King is the author of nine books, including the biography Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed. His writing has appeared in such publications as Esquire, Mens' Journal, National Geographic Adventure, New York Magazine, and the New York Times.

Dave Kuzminski is the owner and editor of “Preditors & Editors” based in Petersburg since 1997.  P&E provides an online resource for writers, best known for its list of trustworthy publishers and scam artists.  He’s also written more than a dozen science fiction novels, including Censored by Earth Command, Volume 1: Bullets & Lasers (Double Dragon Publishing) which was released this past March.

Marcela Landres is an editorial consultant who works one-on-one with writers providing developmental editing for manuscripts, critiques for book proposals, and strategic advice on how to launch and maintain a successful writing career.  She works with writers of all backgrounds in fiction and non-fiction, and specializes in helping Latino writers get published.  She is also the Publisher of “Latinidad,” a free career advice newsletter for Latino writers.  She was an editor at Simon & Schuster for seven years, where she acquired and edited the bestselling authors Karen Rauch Carter and Dora Levy Mossanen, as well as oversaw the award-winning Spanish language imprint Libros en Español.

Mark Lazenby (JRW board member) is executive communications director at Dominion Resources, a $26 billion national energy company. Mark has directed company programs in the U.S., Latin America and Great Britain.  Publications and speeches written by him or under his direction have won national awards and been used in university classrooms and professional writing seminars. Prior to his service at Dominion, Mark was a journalist for United Press International and for dailies in North Carolina and Virginia.  He is a 1978 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Byrd Leavell A graduate of the University of Virginia, Byrd Leavell began his career at Carlisle & Company and then served as an agent at InkWell Management and Venture Literary.  He currently works for the Waxman Literary Agency in New York.  His clients include The Modern Drunkard, Tucker Max, and The Phat Phree.  A fan of writing that makes an impression, he specializes in books that attempt to push the publishing envelope to reach new audiences.

Don Mancini Hollywood screenwriter and director, has written or co-written every movie in the Child's Play series to date. He wrote his first film script as an undergrad at UCLA.  His film credits include: Cellar Dweller (1988, Child's Play (1988), "Tales from the Crypt" aka HBO's Tales from the Crypt , Fitting Punishment (1990), Child's Play 2  aka Chucky's Back, Child's Play 3 aka Look Who's Stalking, Bride of Chucky (1998), and Seed of Chucky (2004). Recognized as the franchise creator and writer of the five Child's Play horror comedy series, Mancini also directed his latest script.  His approach to films has allowed him to toy with subversive material in mainstream movies.

Cathy Maxwell is a romance writer who first came to Virginia during her six years in the US Navy. She has worked as a news broadcaster, sales rep, and watch factory manager. A NY Times bestselling author, her novels include: The Price of Indiscretion, The One That Got Away, All Things Beautiful, and Treasured Vows,  The Marriage Contract, A Scandalous Contract, The Seduction of an English Lady, and  Temptation of a Proper Governess.

Cameron McClure joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2004 and handles the agency's foreign and film rights.   Prior to this, she worked as an assistant agent for Curtis Brown, a bike messenger, and a high school teacher in Los Angeles. She represents mostly fiction, and is especially looking for literary mysteries.  She's also interested in seeing literary fiction, suspense, urban fantasy, women's fiction, and projects with multi-cultural, international, and environmental themes. Sports books work too.  Her clients include mystery writers Elizabeth Sims (the Lillian Byrd series) and Elizabeth Bloom See Isabelle.  Some recent sales for first time authors include Brian Slattery's urban fantasy Spaceman Blues, David Sundstrand's mystery Shadow of the Raven, and Lina Maria Simoni's love story The Scent of Rosa’s Oil.

Dennis McFarland New York Times  bestselling author for his first book The Music Room , McFarland’s most recent novel, Prince Edward, was published in 2004 by Henry Holt & Company.  His stories have appeared in a variety of publications including The New Yorker and Best American Short Stories.

Ann McMillan is a renowned Civil War-era mystery writer. She has written a series of Civil War novels: Dead March (1998), Angel Trumpet (1999), Civil Blood (2001), Chickahominy Fever (2003), and is currently working on a fifth novel in the series. McMillan has a Ph.D from Indiana University.  She lives in Hanover County with her husband and daughter.

Elizabeth Seydel “Buffy” Morgan is the author of three collections of poetry from LSU Press.  Her first book, Parties, has been reprinted.  Her fourth book, Without a Philosophy, will be published in Spring 2007.  Morgan has also written short stories collected in the annual New Stories from the South in 1993 and 2006, and in other anthologies.  A screenplay, Queen Esther, adapted from her VQR short story, won the Governor's Award for Screenwritng at the Charlottesville Film Festival.  She is a recipient of the Teresa Pollak Award for writing and the Carole Weinstein Poetry Award.

Howard Owen (JRW board member) has eight published novels, including Harry & Ruth and Littlejohn. Rock of Ages was released in June. He is currently at work on his ninth novel. He is deputy managing editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and has lived in and around Richmond with his wife, Karen, for 28 years..

Cheryl Pallant (JRW board member) is the author of four published books of poetry and short stories. Her nonfiction book on dance, Contact Improvisation, is due out in Fall 2006.  Poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous print and online journals such as Fence, HOW2, Women's Studies Quarterly, Cafe Irreal, and Oxford Magazine. She teaches in the English and Dance departments at the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Christian Peet is author of the chapbook, The Nines, forthcoming fromPalm Press. His poetry and prose appears in Bird Dog, Drunken Boat, Fence, Octopus, Parakeet, Pom2, SleepingFish, Spinning Jenny, Word For/Word, Unpleasant Event Schedule, and elsewhere. He teaches poetry and creative writing courses at Brooklyn College and at Hunter College, CUNY, and is the editor of Tarpaulin Sky (www.tarpaulinsky.com).

Joshua Poteat The author’s first manuscript Ornithologies won the 2004 Anhinga Poetry Prize, and his chapbook was awarded the Poetry Society of America’s 2004 National Chapbook Award. Over the last few years he has won prizes from American Literary Review, Bellingham Review, Columbia, Marlboro Review, Nebraska Review, River City, San Francisco State University/American Poetry Archives, Vermont Studio Center, and others. Recently, he was awarded the Ruth Stone Prize in Poetry from Hunger Mountain, and has work appearing in Virginia Quarterly Review. Currently, his work is part of an international traveling exhibition entitled Pivot Points, featuring three interconnected generations of painters and poets. Joshua lives in Richmond, where he works as an editor of assorted texts.

Stephen Previtera A founding and current JRW board member, Stephen Previtera is an author and graphic designer who runs his own publishing company, Winidore Press, known worldwide for its specialization in military history reference books. Combining a love of writing, design, collecting and history, Previtera has created new studies related to military artifacts and their relation with historic events. He is a contributing writer to World War II magazine and an advisor to the American Historical Foundation. His works on military decorations are found in history museums around the world. Stephen has also helped design many of JRW’s posters and other printed materials.

Virginia Pye (JRW board member) is a fiction writer and poet. Her stories and poems have appeared in The North American Review, Streetlight, Perogi Press and other literary magazines. In 2005, she completed a novel set in West Philadelphia, which a literary agent is currently trying to place with a publisher. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York and a BA from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Virginia has taught writing and literature at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania. She moved to Richmond seven years ago with her husband, VMFA Modern & Contemporary Art Curator John Ravenal, and their two children. 

David L. Robbins David L. Robbins is a co-founder of JRW. He was born in Richmond and received his undergraduate and Juris Doctorate degrees from William & Mary. He has published seven novels, including several international bestsellers. His latest novel, The Assassins Gallery, was released earlier this year as one of Random House’s lead titles. The film version of his novel Scorched Earth is in movie development at Warner Brothers.

Leslie Shiel's poems have been published in The Southern Review, Crab Orchard Review, New Zoo Poetry Review, and other magazines. She teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, as well as offering private workshops in poetry and nonfiction.  She curated the reading series at the Eric Schindler Gallery, and has received an Individual Artist's Grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. She was a guest on James River Writers' Writing Show in May of 2005.

Hampton Sides says that with the story of the Bataan Death March, he realized that he had what was perhaps the ultimate human endurance story, the ultimate survival tale.”  Sides won the 2002 PEN USA award for the book, Ghost Soldiers, which is currently being made into a feature film.  He is also the author of Americana and Stomping Grounds, a book about American subcultures.  A native of Memphis, Sides is editor-at-large for Outside magazine, and was nominated in 2003 for a National Magazine Award.  He lives in New Mexico with his wife Anne and their three sons.  Currently Sides is working on a narrative history about the conquest and exile of the Navajo Indians.

Ron Smith (JRW board member) is Writer-in-Residence at St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia. He is the author of two books of poems, Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery (University Presses of Florida) and Moon Road (forthcoming from L.S.U. Press). He has been awarded a number of prizes, including the $10,000 Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry, the Theodore Roethke Prize in Poetry, and the Guy Owen Poetry Prize. He is the regular poetry reviewer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch; his reviews and articles have appeared in The Kenyon Review, San Francisco Review of Books, Georgia Review, and many other periodicals and reference works.

Jason Tesauro In lieu of a law degree, Jason Tesauro(JRW board member) pursued wine school and his Junior Sommelier Certification.  By day, he serves as marketing director for Barboursville Vineyards.  By night, he is coauthor of The Modern Gentleman: A Guide to Essential Manners, Savvy & Vice (Ten Speed Press, 2002) and The Modern Lover: A Playbook for Suitors, Spouses & Ringless Carousers (Ten Speed Press, 2004).  Tesauro also pens a weekly wine & spirits column for The Sunday Paper (Atlanta,  GA) and manners/dating/relationships columns for Men’s Health, Match.com, and  Cosmopolitan.  As a media spokesman, he has partnered with Johnnie Walker Blue, Orient-Express, and The Ritz-Carlton, where Tesauro is currently leading The Modern Gentleman seminar series in  Tysons Corner, VA.  In 2006, Tesauro co-hosts a new television series debuting on TLC.

Jeannette Walls is the author of the memoir The Glass Castle, a New York Times bestseller.  She’s a regular contributor to MSNBC and has worked at several publications, including Esquire,  USA Today, and New York.

Susan Winiecki became editor in chief of the award-winning Richmond Magazine in 1996. She has previously worked as a layout editor and news reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. She also serves on the Virginia Press Women Scholarship Foundation and is a former VPW president.

Irene Ziegler (JRW board member) is the author of a collection of linked short stories, Rules of the Lake, which was tapped by the New York City Public Library as a Best Book. Irene has completed five books for actors: collections of monologues culled from literature, movies, and plays.  As an actor, Irene has performed in numerous regional stage productions.  She has had recurring roles or guest starred in many notable TV series and films including Dawson’s Creek, The Contender, and Runaway Jury. As a voice-over artist, she has recorded books on tape, narrated the documentary film, Word and Deed, a biography of Ronald Reagan, and provided the voice for a talking Mercedes Benz. She is currently completing a novel.

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