Jeanne Mackin is the author of several historical novels including The Sweet By and By (St. Martin’s Press), based on the lives of nineteenth century spiritualist Maggie Fox and her sisters. She is also the author Dreams of Empire (Kensington Books), a domestic comedy set in Napoleonic Egypt, The Queen’s War (St. Martin’s Press) a novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Courts of Love, and The Frenchwoman (St. Martin’s Press), a romance set in revolutionary France and the Pennsylvania wilderness. Writing as Anna Maclean she is author of the Louisa May Alcott mystery trilogy (NAL); the most recent is Louisa and the Crystal Gazer. She is also the author of the Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers (Cornell University publications) and co-editor of The Norton Book of Love (W.W. Norton.)She was the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society and her journalism has won awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, in Washington, D.C. She teaches creative writing at Goddard College in Vermont, and has taught or conducted workshops in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and New York. She lives with her husband in a nineteenth century farmhouse in upstate New York, with a spirit who sings in French, and several cats.
Erika Mailman is a freelancer and historical novelist living in northern C
alifornia. Her first book, Woman of Ill Fame, tells the tale of a Gold Rush prostitute embroiled in a serial murder case and was a Pushcart Press Editor’s Book Award nominee. Her second novel, The Witch’s Trinity, looks at a medieval woman accused of witchcraft by her own daughter-in-law and was a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book and a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. She has been a Yaddo fellow and a juror for the Shirley Jackson Awards. She teaches novel writing online through mediabistro.com. You can reach her at www.erikamailman.com.
Kristina Blank Makansi — A Midwesterner with an international sensibility. Kristy, 
along with two partners, founded Blank Slate Press in 2010 to discover, nurture, publish and promote new voices from the greater Saint Louis (MO) area and beyond. Prior to BSP, she worked as a copywriter, marketing coordinator, web and collateral designer, and manuscript editor. She has a B.A. in Government from University of Texas at Austin and a M.A.T. from the College of New Jersey and an opinion on everything—including that traditional genre boundaries should not apply to great writing. She is hard at work revising her historical fiction, Oracles of Delphi, set in ancient Greece and is collaborating on a YA sci-fi trilogy with her two daughters.
Susan McDuffie has been a fan of historical fiction since childhood. As a child, Susan
spent such vast amounts of time reading historical fiction that she wondered if she was mistakenly born in the wrong century. As an adult her discovery that Clorox was not marketed prior to 1922 reconciled her to life in this era. Susan’s first published works were two Regency short stories in Regency Press anthologies. Susan’s childhood interest in Scotland was fueled by stories of the McDuffie clan’s ancestral lands on Colonsay and their traditional role as “Keeper of the Records” for the Lord of the Isles. On her first visit to Scotland she hitchhiked her way through the Hebrides and the seeds for the medieval Muirteach MacPhee mysteries were planted. The Muirteach mysteries include A MASS FOR THE DEAD (2006), THE FAERIE HILLS (2011), and THE STUDY OF MURDER (September 2013). The New Mexico Book Awards named THE FAERIE HILLS “Best Historical Novel” of 2011. Currently plotting Muirteach’s next adventure, Susan shares her life with a Native American artist and four unruly cats, and enjoys taking flamenco dance classes in her spare time. She loves to hear from readers and her website is www.SusanMcDuffie.net.
Alison McMahan is an award-winning screenwriter, author and filmmaker. She is the 
president of Homunculus Productions. Her most recent film is Bare Hands and Wooden Limbs (2010) narrated by Sam Waterston. She is currently in post-production on the feature documentary The Eight Faces of Jane and the short documentary Gluteus Maxximus . She is represented by Alexia Melocchi of Little Studio Films. She is the author the award-winning book Alice Guy Blaché, Lost Visionary of the Cinema (Continuum 2002), which was translated into Spanish by Plots Ediciones and has been optioned to be made into a film. She is also the author of The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Hollywood (Continuum 2005), as well as numerous newspaper and scholarly articles on film and new media. She has a BFA in Drama (Catholic University), an MFA in Film Production (New York University), MFA in Creative Writing (StoneCoast Program at the University of Southern Maine) and a Ph.D. in Film Studies (Union Institute & University). www.AlisonMcMahan.com www.HomunculusProds.com
Donna Russo Morin’s passion for the written word began when she was a child, took 
on a feminist edge as she grew through the sixties, and blossomed into a distinctive style of action-filled historical fiction at a defining moment in her life. With two degrees from the University of Rhode Island, the state in which she was born and raised, Donna’s first book, The Courtier’s Secret (2009) won RWI-RWA’s Best First Book Award and was a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Award. The Secret of the Glass (2010), her second book, received a Single Titles Reviewers’ Choice Award and was a finalist in the USA Best Books of the Year Contest. Also a recipient of a Single Titles Reviewers’ Choice Award and a finalist in the USA Best Books of the Year Contest, Donna’s third Book, To Serve a King (2011), was a finalist in Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award as well. The King’s Agent (2012), Donna’s latest release, received a coveted starred review in Publishers Weekly. Donna is currently at work on a major trilogy about the clandestine birth of the female Renaissance artist set in turbulent Medici ruled Florence.
Kamran Pasha is a historical novelist as well as a Hollywood screenwriter and director. 
He has published two historical novels through Simon & Schuster: “Mother of the Believers,” which shows the rise of Islam from the eyes of Prophet Muhammad’s wife Aisha; and “Shadow of the Swords,” which follows the conflict between Richard the Lionheart and the Muslim leader Saladin for control of Jerusalem during the Crusades. Kamran has recently served as a writer and producer on television shows such as “Nikita” on the CW and the “Tron: Uprising” animated series on Disney XD. Previously he served as a writer and producer for NBC’s television series “Kings.” His other credits include serving as producer on NBC’s remake of “Bionic Woman,” and co-producer of Showtime Network’s Golden Globe nominated series “Sleeper Cell,” about a Muslim FBI agent who infiltrates a terrorist group. Kamran holds a BA and an MBA from Dartmouth College, a JD from Cornell Law School, and an MFA from UCLA Film School. He spent three years as a journalist in New York City, interviewing prominent international figures such as Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, and Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Kamran continues to serve as a major Muslim voice in the media as a blogger on the Huffington Post.
Sophie Perinot is the author of the acclaimed debut “The Sister Queens” (NAL/Penguin
2012), which weaves the story of medieval sisters Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence who became queens of France and England respectively. A long-time member of the Historical Novel Society, Sophie is proud to have attended all of the group’s North American Conferences. She is a founding member of two blogs—From the Write Angle and Book Pregnant—geared to supporting debut and developing writers. When she is not chauffeuring one of her three children, Sophie can be found ensconced in a corner of 16th century France working on a new book.
Dolen Perk
ins-Valdez is the author of the NY Times bestselling historical novel Wench (Amistad/HarperCollins 2010). Her fiction has appeared in Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories 2009, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She is a former University of California postdoctoral fellow and graduate of Harvard. Dolen lives in Washington, DC, with her family.
Teralyn Rose Pilgrim grew up in Portland, Oregon and got her Bache
or’s Degree in English from Brigham Young University. During her freshman year she fell in love with a Southern boy and now lives with her husband of seven years in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Teralyn writes primarily about religious historical women. She is seeking representation for Sacred Fire, a novel set in Ancient Rome about the Vestal Virgin Tuccia, who had to perform a miracle from the gods to escape execution. The novel she’s working on now, Voodoo Queen, is about the (in)famous voodoo leader Marie Laveau, who ruled and terrified New Orleans throughout the 19th century. She played roller derby on a local team for a year and a half but retired temporarily now that she’s expecting her first child, who is due in August. When she’s not working on her books, she blogs about her experiences as a budding author at A Writer’s Journey: www.teralynpilgrim.blogspot.com
Donald Platt – Born and raised in San Francisco, Donald received his B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley. After Donald moved to southern California, he sold to the TV series, Mr. Novak, ghosted Your Hair and Your Diet for health food 
guru, Dan Dale Alexander, and wrote screenplays for and with diverse producers, among them as Harry Joe Brown, Sig Schlager, Albert J. Cohen, and Al Ruddy. Options were taken on his unpublished WWII fighter ace novel and several treatments. After living in Florianópolis, Brazil, setting of his horror novel A Gathering of Vultures, Dark Hart 2007, 2012, Donald moved to Florida where he wrote Vitamin Enriched, pub.1999, for Carl DeSantis, founder of Rexall Sundown Vitamins; and The Couple’s Disease, Finding a Cure for Your Lost “Love” Life, pub. 2002, for Lawrence S. Hakim, MD, FACS, Head of Sexual Dysfunction Unit at the Cleveland Clinic. Donald’s historical novel, Rocamora, set in 17th century Spain and Amsterdam during their Golden Ages, was released by Raven’s Wing Books December. 2008. It was republished by Briona Glen, September, 2011. His completed sequel House of Rocamora, set in 17th century Amsterdam, was published November, 2012 by Briona Glen.Donald has completed Bodo, a novel set in the 9th century Carolingian Empire about another unusual historical character, Bodo, the Apostate, and he is currently polishing Close to the Sun, his WWII novel about American and German fighter aces.
Kate Quinn is a bestselling novelist and lifelong history buff who first got hooked on
ancient Rome while watching “I, Claudius” at the age of seven. She wrote her first novel during her freshman year in college, retreating from a Boston winter into ancient Rome, and it was later published as “Mistress of Rome.” A prequel followed, titled “Daughters of Rome,” and then a sequel, “Empress of the Seven Hills,” written while her husband was deployed to the Middle East. Kate is currently working on her fourth novel, set in the Italian Renaissance. She and her husband now live in Maryland with an imperious black dog named Caesar.
