2012 MWW Faculty
Lee Martin — novelist, memoirist, finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction
Terence Faherty — mystery novelist, two-time winner of the Shamus Award winner
Julie Hyzy — mystery novelist, Anthony and Barry Award winner
Jack Heffron — nonfiction author, founding editor of Story magazine
Erica O’Rourke — young adult novelist, winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest for Best Young Adult Manuscript
Kathleen Rooney — poet, memoirist, founding editor of Rose Metal Press
D.E. Johnson — novelist, Top 5 Crime Novels of 2011 by The House of Crime and Mystery
Dennis Hensley & Holly Miller — faculty for Manuscript Makeovers
Sarah LaPolla — Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Kathleen Ortiz — Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation
Brooks Sherman — FinePrint Literary Management
JL Stermer — N.S. Bienstock
Chuck Sambuchino — Editor, Writer’s Digest Books
Jane Friedman — industry authority on commercial, literary and emerging forms of publishing
Gary Hensley — tax specialist
2012 Faculty Bios
LEE MARTIN
Lee Martin is the author of the novels, The Bright Forever, a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction; River of Heaven; Quakertown; and Break the Skin. He has also published two memoirs, From Our House and Turning Bones, and another memoir, Such a Life, is set to appear in 2012. His first book was the short story collection, The Least You Need To Know. He is the co-editor of Passing the Word: Writers on Their Mentors. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such places as Harper’s, Ms., Creative Nonfiction, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, and Glimmer Train. He is the winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. He teaches in the MFA Program at The Ohio State University, where he was the winner of the 2006 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.
TERENCE FAHERTY
Terence Faherty is the author of two mystery series. The Scott Elliott private eye series is set in the golden age of Hollywood and is a two-time winner of the Shamus Award, given by the Private Eye Writers of America. The Owen Keane series, which follows the adventures of a failed seminarian turned metaphysical detective, has been nominated twice for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award. His short fiction, which appears regularly in mystery magazines and anthologies, has won the Macavity Award from Mystery Readers International. His work has been reissued in the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, and Germany.
Terry had two new titles in 2011, both in the Elliott series. Dance In The Dark, his eleventh novel, was published by Five Star and is set in 1969. In it, Elliott tries to find a runaway teenager at a monster rock concert while protecting a group of idealistic young filmmakers, one of whom may also be a drug smuggler. Perfect Crime Books released a collection of the Elliott stories entitled The Hollywood Op, which contains all the Elliott short stories published to date, including the Shamus winner “The Second Coming.” In 2012, a new Owen Keane novel, Eastward In Eden, will be published by the Mystery Company.
JACK HEFFRON
Jack Heffron is the managing editor for ManoftheHouse.com, and has been a professional editor for more than 15 years. He is author of three books for writers – The Writer’s Idea Book, The Writer’s Guide to Places, and The Writer’s Idea Workshop. A founding editor of Story magazine, he is two-time winner of the National Magazine Award for Fiction and editor for the critically acclaimed Best Writing on Writing series. He has published short stories in many literary journals and twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His nonfiction has appeared in Oxford American, ESPN Magazine and Utne Reader, among others. His work has been cited in Best American Travel Writing.
JULIE HYZY
Anthony and Barry Award winner Julie Hyzy is the national bestselling author of the White House Chef Mystery series featuring the intrepid Olivia (Ollie) Paras, and the Manor House Mystery series featuring mansion curator Grace Wheaton. Julie’s first experience with food included flipping burgers and chopping onions at a neighborhood hot dog stand. She traded that experience for a job as a singing waitress at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour – but gave that up when she started college (and because she couldn’t carry a tune). Over the years, she’s acted in community theater productions, appeared in television commercials, and crashed a previously all-male fraternity to become one of the first female brothers in Loyola University’s Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi. Julie had dreams of becoming a writer, but family, friends, and frat brothers convinced her otherwise. Having held positions as junior officer at a downtown bank, office manager at an architectural firm, and financial advisor at a prestigious wealth management company, she realizes that the business degree was probably a good choice — but fiction is truly her passion. Now, with some well-earned life experience behind her, she’s delighted to finally be able to make writing a priority in her life.
ERICA O’ROURKE
Erica O’Rourke is a former high school English teacher who has lived in the Chicago area her entire life. She is the 2010 winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest for Best Young Adult Manuscript. Torn, the first book in the Torn Trilogy, was the launch title for Kensington Books’ KTeen line. School Library Journal called Torn, “Well-written, fast-paced fantasy…” and RT Book Reviews gave it 4 ½ stars saying, “I loved everything about this book…a must for paranormal fans.” When she’s not writing, Erica enjoys reading, watching Doctor Who, and keeping her three daughters and two cats in line – with the help of her exceedingly patient husband, who doesn’t like Doctor Who at all. She loves sushi but hates fish, and drinks far too much coffee. The second book in her trilogy, Tangled, will be released in February 2012, and the third, Bound, is scheduled for a Fall 2012 release.
KATHLEEN ROONEY
Kathleen Rooney is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to the publication of literary work in hybrid genres, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at DePaul University. A recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from Poetry magazine, her first collection, Oneiromance (an epithalamion) won the 2007 Gatewood Prize from feminist publisher Switchback Books, and her collaborative collection That Tiny Insane Voluptuousness (co-written with Elisa Gabbert) was published by Otoliths in 2008. Also with Gabbert, she is the co-author of the chapbooksSomething Really Wonderful (dancing girl press, 2007) and Don’t ever stay the same; keep changing (spooky girlfriend press, 2009). Additionally, she is the author of the critical study Reading with Oprah: the Book Club that Changed America (University of Arkansas Press, 2005), the memoir Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object (University of Arkansas Press, 2009), and the essay collection For You For You I Am Trilling These Songs(Counterpoint, 2010). She lives in Chicago and blogs at www.kathleenrooney.com.
DENNIS HENSLEY & HOLLY MILLER
Dennis E. Hensley, Ph.D., is a contributing editor for Writers’ Journal and the author of eight textbooks on writing, including How to Write What You Love and Make a Living at [purchase here]. He has written 51 books, including Millennium Approaches (Avon), Uncommon Sense (Bobbs-Merrill), and Money Wise (Harvest House). He directs the professional writing major at Taylor University. His 3,000 freelance articles have appeared in Reader’s Digest, Success, People, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, and Downbeat, among dozens of others.
Holly Miller is an editor with The Saturday Evening Post and co-author of Feature & Magazine Writing [purchase here]. She and Dennis Hensley have collaborated on four novels and three nonfiction books.
Their Thursday interactive Intensive Session Manuscript Makeover is designed for those fiction and nonfiction writers who are ready to take a quantum leap forward in enhancing their writing skills. Participants will submit the first 10 pages of a manuscript in progress. The instructors will edit and critique these pages and display them (anonymously) to the class as a way of revealing strengths and weaknesses in the material. Additionally, the instructors will lead the students in writing exercises and offer advice on such topics as enhancing dialogue, learning to self-edit, mastering proofreading, finding the right markets for manuscripts and knowing when and how to go into writing full-time. This session is limited to the first 20 people to register. Mail the first 10 pages of your manuscript by JUNE 15 to Jama Bigger (Midwest Writers Workshop), c/o The E.B. & Bertha C. Ball Center, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306.
D.E. JOHNSON
D.E. (Dan) Johnson, a graduate of Central Michigan University, is a history buff who has been writing fiction since childhood but had to hit his midlife crisis to get serious about it. His first novel, a historical mystery entitled The Detroit Electric Scheme, was published in 2010 by St. Martin’s Minotaur Books. The Detroit Electric Scheme garnered excellent reviews (including being named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Crime Novels of the year) and also won a 2011 Michigan Notable Book Award. Motor City Shakedown, the first sequel to The Detroit Electric Scheme, was named one of the Top 5 Crime Novels of 2011 by The House of Crime and Mystery, called “extraordinarily vivid” by The New York Times, and won a 2012 Michigan Notable Book Award. Dan’s third book, Detroit Breakdown, will be published in Fall 2012 by St. Martin’s Minotaur Books. Dan is married, has three daughters, and lives near Kalamazoo, Michigan.
SARAH LAPOLLA
Sarah LaPolla is an associate agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd. She studied creative writing at Ithaca College, and has an MFA in creative nonfiction from The New School. She joined Curtis Brown, Ltd. in 2008 as the assistant to the foreign rights department, and became an associate agent in 2010. Sarah represents both adult and YA fiction. For adult books, she is looking for literary fiction, urban fantasy, magical realism, mystery, literary horror, and has a soft spot for short story collections. On the YA side, she welcomes contemporary/realistic fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism, mystery, and horror. No matter what age the intended audience, Sarah tends to be drawn to voice-driven narratives, strong female protagonists, and complex characters. Sarah runs a literary blog called Glass Cases (http://bigglasscases.blogspot.com) and can be found on Twitter at @sarahlapolla.
KATHLEEN ORTIZ
Kathleen Ortiz is a former online editor and interactive designer who uses her experience in online marketing to help authors build their communities and promote themselves and their books. She looks past the pages of a story and thinks of ways to help authors reach more readers so they can interact with the characters and their world. As subrights director, she handles foreign, audio and digital rights for the agency. She has an intimate list of clients, with Jaime Reed’s debut YA paranormal romance, Living Violet, book one of the Cambion Chronicles, coming out by Kensington in January 2012. She is currently closed to submissions (except conference requests) until August 1, 2011. Find Kathleen on Twitter or visit her blog for more information or updates on the publishing industry.
BROOKS SHERMAN
Brooks Sherman of FinePrint Literary Management is on the lookout for adult fiction that runs the gamut from contemporary (with an eye toward multicultural or satirical) to speculative (particularly urban/contemporary fantasy, horror/dark fantasy, and slipstream). He also has a weakness for historical fiction and a burgeoning interest in crime fiction. On the children’s side, he is looking to build a list of boy-focused Middle Grade novels (all subgenres, but particularly fantasy adventure and contemporary), and is open to YA fiction of all types except paranormal romance.
Brooks is specifically seeking projects that balance strong voice with gripping plot lines; he particularly enjoys flawed (but sympathetic) protagonists and stories that organically blur the lines between genres. Stories that make him laugh earn extra points. Recent favorites include Whiteman by Tony D’Souza, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, the Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey, The Thieves of Manhattan by Adam Langer, and Horns by Joe Hill.
JL STERMER
JL Stermer is an agent in the literary division of talent agency N.S. Bienstock. She is currently seeking both fiction and non-fiction. On the fiction side, she’d love to see both commercial and literary fiction as well as graphic novels. On the non-fiction side, she is looking for cookbooks and food-related narratives, prescriptive health, diet, and fitness, how-to, reference, narrative non-fiction, current events-related projects and all things pop-culture (science, business, technology, art, music, humor, crafts, DIY.)
Always looking for fresh and exciting projects, JL brings her enthusiasm to clients while helping them navigate the world of book publishing. From spotting trends, to finding the right editorial match for a project, she takes pride in being involved with her clients every step of the way. JL also teaches a class at the Gotham Writers Workshop: How to Get Published. Prior to joining N.S. Bienstock, she was an agent at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. Born and raised in New York City, and a graduate of Columbia University, she currently resides in Manhattan solidifying that she is forever a city girl through and through.
CHUCK SAMBUCHINO
Chuck Sambuchino is an editor for Writer’s Digest Books (an imprint of F+W Media) and is the editor of Guide to Literary Agents as well as Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market. He recently helmed the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript (2009). Chuck has instructed on writing and publishing at more than 50 writing events in the past five years, including presentations in Italy and Canada, and he is sometimes one of the conference’s keynote speakers. His humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack (2010; gnomeattack.com), was featured by Reader’s Digest, USA Today, The New York Times and AOL News. Chuck is also a writer and freelance editor. He is a produced playwright, with both original and commissioned works produced. He is a magazine freelancer, with more than 600 of his articles appearing in print. He is a husband, cover band guitarist, chocolate chip cookie fiend, and owner of a flabby-yet-lovable dog named Graham. His website—the Guide to Literary Agents blog—is one of the largest blogs on writing & publishing. See it at www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog. Chuck is able to promote all his conference appearances through WD’s large promotional arms, including its Twitter feed (141,000 followers) and his blog (139,000 page views in January 2011 alone).
JANE FRIEDMAN
Jane Friedman is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest, and now serves as a full-time assistant professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati. She has spoken on writing, publishing, and the future of media at more than 200 events since 2001, including South by Southwest, BookExpo America, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. Jane’s blog (JaneFriedman.com) was named one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers in 2011-2012, and her presence on Twitter (140,000+ followers) is often cited as a model for those seeking to use social media effectively. Find out more at: http://JaneFriedman.com
GARY HENSLEY
Gary’s sessions will focus on the Business Side of Writing. His articles have appeared in Writer’s Digest, Writers’ Journal, Christian Communicator and several other professional publications. He will cover the business and tax aspects of your career as a professional writer/author. His experience includes working for national and local CPA firms, the Michigan Department of Treasury as an auditor, and as a tax consultant for the Ford Motor Company. As a self-employed accountant/tax consultant, he was enrolled to practice before the IRS for 20 years. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Saginaw Valley State University.
