Our Keynote Speaker, Editors and Agents

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Carolyn Haines Carolyn Haines always knew she wanted to be a writer. In a colorful career that included being a photojournalist, this Pulitzer nominee has over 50 books published. She now resides in the Missippi Delta area which provides the setting for her ficitonal "Bones" series. Her foray into the published world began with Summer of the Redeemer (published in 1994). Touched soon followed in 1996. Other works receiving notable recognition include: Fever Moon-- Book Sense Notable Pick Penumbra-- One of Top 5 Mysteries of 2006--Library Journal Revenant (2007, Romantic Times 4 1/2 stars) -- Top Pick in mystery, suspense and thrillers

PUBLISHER: Bleak House Books
EDITOR: Ben LeRoy
www.bleakkhousebooks.com

Benjamin M. LeRoy grew up in Madison, WI where he founded what would ultimately become Bleak House Books in the winter of 1995. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2000) majoring in English and Philosophy. Bleak House Books published its first novel, John Galligan's Red Sky, Red Dragonfly in 2001. In 2005 the company was acquired by Big Earth Publishing (recently named by Publishers Weekly as one of the fastest growing companies in the industry). Bleak House publishes approximately 20 titles annually in the crime and dark literary fiction genres. Three selections from the 2007 catalog were selected as finalists for the prestigious Edgar Award (Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Short Story categories). Their niche is pretty tight. They do not publish cozies, sci-fi, westerns, thrillers, suspense, horror, paranormal, vampires, or children's. They do publish hardboiled/noir books with real type protagonists who are usually quite flawed, maybe not even always "good" guys/girls. In Ben’s words, "Our books are much more about the people in them and the way they live in the world. There is usually an element of crime. Sometimes there is not." LeRoy still lives in Madison where he works on his own writing and is endlessly fascinated by the history of baseball and what it has meant to the fabric of America. He also travels constantly and goes nowhere without taking a sizable music collection with him.

PUBLISHER: Mundania Press
CEO & Editor: Bob Sanders
www.mundania.com

Founded in 2002, Mundania Press selects books based on the quality of writing, story, entertainment value, and sales potential. They encourage first-time authors, as well as those who have been previously published and want to put their books back into print. Mundania Press currently publishes works of science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror and historical fiction. Mr. Sanders is presenting “How to Get a Publisher to Say Yes,” at one of our sessions.

LITERARY AGENCY: Larsen & Pomada
Literary Agent: Michael Larsen
www.larsen-pomada.com

Born and educated in New York City, Michael Larsen worked in promotion for three major publishers: William Morrow, Bantam, and Pyramid (now Jove). He and his wife, Elizabeth Pomada, moved to San Francisco in 1970. They started Michael Larsen - Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents, Northern California's oldest literary agency, in 1972. Since then, the agency has sold books, mostly by new writers, to more than 100 publishers. He is a member of AAR and represents non-fiction.

LITERARY AGENCY: Larsen & Pomada
Literary Agent: Elizabeth Pomada
www.larsen-pomada.com

Elizabeth Pomada worked at David McKay, Holt Rinehart & Winston, and the Dial Press in New York City before moving to San Francisco in 1970 with her partner and husband, Michael Larsen. Elizabeth is a member of the Association of Author's Representatives, and co-founder with Michael of the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Writing for Change conference. She travels extensively, speaking at conferences, universities and in front of other groups of writers. She represents narrative non-fiction (memoir), adult commercial and literary fiction, women's fiction, romance, and mysteries

LITERARY AGENCY: Spectrum Literary Agency
Literary Agent: Lucienne Diver
www.spectrumliteraryagency.com

Lucienne Diver has been an agent with Spectrum Literary Agency for nearly fourteen years and represents over forty authors of commercial fiction, primarily in the areas of romance, fantasy, mystery, suspense and erotica. She's a member of the Association of Authors Representatives, RWA, MWA and SFWA.She currently works for Spectrum from a home-office in Land O Lakes, Florida.