KEYNOTE SPEAKER - KAREN MARIE MONING

Karen Marie Moning (rhymes with 'awning') is the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of 12 novels, including the Rita-award winning Highlander novels and the internationally bestselling urban fantasy Fever series. Her books have been published in 21 languages, and her events draw fans from all over the world.

Moning began her career writing paranormal romance set in Scotland but as she became increasingly fascinated with Celtic mythology, she switched genres to Urban Fantasy and location to Dublin, Ireland, so she could focus on the Tuatha de Danann, or Fae--an ancient race of immortal beings who have lived secretly among humans for millennia.

Moning is currently completing a graphic novel for Del Rey, featuring an original story about MacKayla Lane and Jericho Barrons, and has contracted with Random House Publishing Group for three more books set in the Fever universe. She divides her time between the mountains of Georgia and the beaches of Florida.

 

FEATURED PRESENTER - LEANNA RENEE HIEBER

Author, actress and playwright Leanna Renee Hieber graduated with a BFA in Theatre, a focus in the Victorian Era and a scholarship to study in London. While acting professionally she adapted works of 19th Century literature for the stage and her one-act plays have been produced around the country.

Her novella Dark Nest won the 2009 FF&P Prism Award for excellence in the genre of Futuristic, Fantasy or Paranormal Romance. Her debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in the Strangely Beautiful series of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels, hit Barnes & Noble's Bestseller Lists, won two 2010 FF&P Prism Awards (Best Fantasy, Best First Book) and has been optioned for musical theatre adaptation currently in development. She was named the 2010 RWA NYC Chapter Author of the Year. Her YA Gothic Victorian Paranormal saga with Sourcebooks Fire debuts with DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul (11/11).

A member of Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America, Romance Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers, she's also a proud member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Leanna resides in New York City and works often in television and film. She has taught workshops for RWA NYC, COFW Ohio, WIS-RWA Milwaukee, RWA Women's Fiction, Ohio Valley RWA, The Buffalo Book Fair, Elements of RWA, Chicago-North RWA, Capital Region RWA, NJRWA, has spoken and presented in schools and conventions around the country, written articles for the RWA NYC Keynotes newsletter and Dramatics magazine, as well as teaching theatre and adaptation workshops for the Guthrie Theatre and the International Thespian Festival.

 

FEATURED PRESENTER - KRISTEN PAINTER

Kristen Painter is a former college English teacher, who has held a crazy mix of other jobs including maitre'd for Wolfgang Puck, personal trainer, and sales for Christian Dior Bijoux. On the writing side of things, she's a two-time Golden Heart finalist and has been on the board of three different RWA chapters.

Her forays into writing have been as varied as the jobs she's held. She's written poetry, articles for magazines, short stories, paranormal romances (that include fantasy, contemporary and steampunk genres) and now she's found a home with urban fantasy. She loves worldbuilding and few genres give her the kind of license urban fantasy does.

She's also the co-founder of the award-winning writer's site Romancedivas.com. She blogs occasionally at www.fictionistas.blogspot.com and tweets at twitter.com/Kristen_Paintermore often than she should. You can also find her on her Facebook author page www.facebook.com/KristenPainterAuthor.

She lives in Florida with her retired Air Force husband and a horde of feline dependents.

 

FEATURED PRESENTER - BOB MAYER

NY Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has over 50 books published. He has sold over four million books and is in demand as a team-building, life-change, and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins:  The Green Beret Way concept which he translates into Write It Forward: a holistic program teaching writers how to be authors. He is also the Co-Creator of Who Dares Wins Publishing, which does both eBooks and Print On Demand, so he has experience in both traditional and non-traditional publishing.

Born in the Bronx, Bob attended West Point and earned a BA in psychology with honors and then served as an Infantry platoon leader, a battalion scout platoon leader, and a brigade recon platoon leader in the 1st Cavalry Division. He joined Special Forces and commanded a Green Beret A Team. He served as the operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and with Special Operations Command (Special Projects) in Hawaii. Later he taught at the Special Forces Qualification Course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, the course which trains new Green Berets. He lived in Korea where he earned a Black Belt in Martial Arts. He's earned a Masters Degree in Education.

Bob draws on all of these experiences to write his novels and his nonfiction books, including WHO DARES WINS: The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear & Succeed; The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide To Writing Great Fiction; and Write It Forward: From Writer to Successful Author. His novels include the bestselling Area 51 books and collaborations with Jennifer Crusie. His books have hit the NY Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and numerous other bestseller lists. His last release, The Jefferson Allegiance, was released independently and reached #2 overall in sales on Nook.

Bob has presented for over 1,000 organizations both in the United States and internationally, including keynote presentations, all day workshops, and multi-day seminars. He has taught organizations ranging from Maui, to Whidbey Island, to San Diego State University, to the University of Georgia, to the Romance Writers of America National Convention, to Boston SWAT, the CIA, Fortune-500, Microsoft, the Royal Danish Navy Frogman Corps, Microsoft, Rotary, IT Teams in Silicon Valley and many others. He has also served as a Visiting Writer for NILA MFA program in Creative Writing. He has done interviews for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, PBS, NPR, the Discovery Channel, the SyFy channel and local cable shows. For more information see www.bobmayer.org.

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