Having grown up within a rich storytelling tradition of hearing traditional ballads and stories, Jess Montgomery found herself pursuing writing at an early age. Now, as a historical mystery author, she pens stories that feature strong female leads and deep universal themes. Listen in as she shares her thoughts about character arcs, inviting the Muse in, and the important of “not thinking about the gold.”
Transcription available on request.
Tony Marr has a master’s degree in storytelling and has won numerous awards for storytelling and well, for lying, being a championship liar from the state of South Carolina numerous times. He has performed throughout the country and consulted with many businesses on storytelling and communication.
Transcription available on request.
Jeff Ayers has been a freelance writer and reviewer since 1999. He has reviewed for Library Journal, where he is a former Fiction Reviewer of the Year, for Booklist, and for The Associated Press.
Jeff recently retired from his reference librarian position after almost 30 years after interviewing hundreds of authors in print, audio, and video, including James Patterson, Harlan Coben, and Dan Brown. In addition to this and moderating panels at BookExpo America, ThrillerFest, and various other conferences, he has published several titles in both fiction and nonfiction, including Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion, where he covered over 550 novels and interviewed over 350 people, including William Shatner. He currently has several manuscripts out for submission and is under contract for a nonfiction book for Grand Central Publishing.
Jeff is a Co-Executive Director of ThrillerFest, the annual conference for the International Thriller Writers.
Transcription available on request.
Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in the United States, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She studied English at the University of Oxford and later completed a Creative Writing Masters at the University of East Anglia. Ward is a multi-award winning horror writer who won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel for her debut, Rawblood, and again for Little Eve, making her the first woman to win the prize twice. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed novel The Last House on Needless Street, which was a runaway international bestseller and is currently in development for film. In addition, her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. She lives in London and Devon.
Transcription available on request.
A former journalist, Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of numerous cozy and historical mysteries and was president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Her Mas Arai series, which includes Summer of the Big Bachi, won the Chicago Tribune’s Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers and Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Book of the Year. She is an active member of the Japanese-American community in California as well as an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and Crime Writers of Color!
Transcription available on request.
Born Iain Middleton in Falkirk, Scotland, Euan Morton has been acting on stage since childhood and continued to work in theatre after graduating from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. His breakthrough role was that of Boy George in the 2002 West End production of George’s autobiographical musical “Taboo,” for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. In 2003, the musical moved to Broadway and Morton went on to win Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League Award nominations. Other theatre credits include musicals such as “Sondheim on Sondheim,” “The Who’s Tommy,” “Chess,” “Parade” (for which he won a Helen Hayes Award), “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” and “Hamilton,” in which he currently plays King George III.
In addition to his work in theatre, he has read a number of audiobooks, voiced the male Sith Inquisitor in the MMO game Star Wars: The Old Republic, and released two musical albums. Morton has been married to theatre producer Lee Armitage since 2004. The couple’s son is theatre critic and actor Iain Armitage.
Transcription available on request.
Brian Bird is the co-creator and has served as show runner and executive producer for nine seasons of the top-rated scripted cable show, WHEN CALLS THE HEART. His 30-plus years as a writer and producer feature more than two dozen feature films and documentaries, including the Paramount feature film Captive and more than 350 network television episodes from shows such as TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, STEP BY STEP, and EVENING SHADE.
Transcription available on request.
Gillian Bronte Adams is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, wander-loving fantasy author who is rarely found without a coffee in hand and is rumored to pack books before clothes when she hits the road. Working in youth ministry left her with a passion for journeying alongside children and teens (and also enhanced her love of coffee!). Nowadays she writes novels that follow outcast characters down broken roads, through epic battles, and onward to adventure. And at the end of a long day of typing, she can be found saddling her wild thing and riding off into the sunset, seeking adventures of her own.
Transcription available on request.
Windell Campbell taught school for 41 years and was selected as Teacher of the Year. As a storyteller, he has performed at hundreds of summer reading program events and at storytelling festivals throughout the south, as well as been featured at prestigious conferences and events in Florida. He also appeared at the Exchange Place at the eNational Storytelling Festival. His storytelling shows reach both children and adults with their memorable tales, including the expert use of puppets.
Transcription available on request.
Michael Koryta is the best-selling and award winning author of sixteen crime thrillers and writes horror fiction under the pseudonym Scott Carson. Prior to becoming a novelist, he worked as a private investigator and newspaper reporter. His latest Carson novel is Where They Wait.
Transcription available on request.