We have secured our Guests of Honor! We are especially delighted to announce that we have two very special and prolific authors gracing our conference next year: Anne Perry and Steve Berry.
Anne Perry has been writing the well-known Victorian crime/mystery series about detective Thomas Pitt and his aristocratic wife Charlotte since 1979, and in 1990 started a new series set about 35 years earlier, with private detective William Monk and sidekick nurse Hester Latterly. She’s still publishing more new creations focused on WWI as well as her most recent novel, a stand-alone, titled The Sheen on the Silk, set in the exotic and dangerous world of the Byzantine Empire. Ms. Perry lives in Scotland.
STEVE BERRY is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of eight Cotton Malone adventures, four stand-alone thrillers, and four short-story originals. His books have been translated into 40 languages with more than 15 million printed copies in 51 countries.
History lies at the heart of every Steve Berry novel. It’s his passion, one he shares with his wife, Elizabeth, which led them to create History Matters, a foundation dedicated to historic preservation. Since 2009 Steve and Elizabeth have crossed the country to save endangered historic treasures raising more than $400,000 via lectures, receptions, galas, luncheons, dinners and their popular writers’ workshops. In 2012 Steve’s devotion to historic preservation was recognized by the American Library Association, which named Steve the first spokesman for National Preservation Week (a role he’ll reprise in 2013). Among other honors coming his way in 2013 are the Poets & Writers’ Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, the International Thriller Writers Silver Bullet Award and the Spirit of Anne Frank Human Writes Award. The first two awards honor Steve’s philanthropic work with fellow writers and historic preservation. The latter is given to the writer who best exemplifies the spirit of Anne Frank in their work; the other recipients have been playwright Arthur Miller and New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Steve was born and raised in Georgia and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elective office for 14 of those years. He is a member of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries Advisory Board and a founding member of International Thriller Writers—a group of more than 2,000 thriller writers from around the world—and served three years as its co-president. For more information, visit www.steveberry.org.
Special Luncheon Speaker
We’re very pleased to announce that C.W. Gortner, bestselling author of four historical novels including The Queen’s Vow and The Tudor Secret, will be our featured speaker at the Saturday luncheon on June 22nd in St. Petersburg, Florida. Here’s what C.W. says about himself on his website:
“Whether I’m recreating the passions of a legendary wom
an from the Renaissance or delving into the fictional drama of a spy in Tudor England, for me writing historical fiction is an exciting journey into the unknown. There is always a secret to uncover behind the portrait, a mystery to explore within the legend, a hidden motivation under the fact. I write historical fiction for the same reason that I read it: because I crave the emotion of the past.”
C.W. GORTNER holds an MFA in Writing with an emphasis in Renaissance Studies. In his extensive travels to research his books, he has danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall and experienced life in a Spanish castle. His novels have garnered international praise and been translated into fourteen languages to date. He is also a dedicated advocate for animal rights..
He’s currently at work on his fourth novel for Ballantine Books, about the early years of Lucrezia Borgia, as well as the third novel in his Tudor series, The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles (US) or Elizabeth’s Spymaster (UK). His most recent book, The Queen’s Vow, chronicles the early years of Isabella of Castile as she struggles to create a powerful and unified Spain. The Tudor Conspiracy, his second Spymaster novel, will be published in July, 2013. Half-Spanish by birth, C.W. divides his time between Northern California and Antigua, Guatemala. Visit C.W. at www.cwgortner.com/
