King County Library System Foundation

Saturday, March 23, 2013 • 6pm
Hyatt Regency Bellevue • Grand Ballroom

Dennis Lehane

Since his first novel, A Drink Before the War, won the Shamus Award, he has published nine more novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and become international bestsellers: Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone Baby Gone; Prayers for Rain; Mystic River; Shutter Island; The Given Day; and Moonlight Mile.His new book, Live by Night, was recently released and has received rave reviews.

He has published Coronado, a collection of five stories and the play, “Coronado,” which has received stage productions in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Genoa, Italy. Three of his novels - Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and Shutter Island - have been adapted into award-winning films.

Dennis Lehane grew up in Boston. He and his wife, Angie, divide their time between the West Coast of Florida and Boston.

Nancy Pearl

Adventure is just a book away as best-selling author Nancy Pearl returns with recommended reading for more than 120destinations around the globe. Her most recent book, Book Lust To Go connects the best fiction and nonfiction to particular destinations, whether your bags are packed or your armchair is calling. Nancy is the author of Book Lust, Book Crush and More Book Lust.

Tony Angell has committed his creative life to the natural history of the Pacific Northwest. An award-winning author and illustrator of more than a dozen natural history books, four of his books have received the Washington State Book Award. Angell has received numerous prizes for his sculptural and two-dimensional artwork. He was the recipient of the prestigious Victoria & Albert Award for his pen and ink illustrations in his book In the Company of Crows and Ravens. New book: Gifts of the Crow. Tony Angell
Erica Bauermeister is the nationally bestselling author of three novels: The School of Essential Ingredients, Joy for Beginners and The Lost Art of Mixing. She is also the co-author of 500 Great Books by Women and Let’s Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. New book: The Lost Art of Mixing. Erica Bauermeister
Bonny Becker is author of the best-selling Mouse and Bear books, including A Visitor for Bear, New York Times bestseller, winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award and Amazon’s Picture Book of the Year. Her middle-grade novel, The Magical Ms. Plum won the 2010 Washington State Children’s Book Award. She has published 12 books for children. New book: A Birthday for Bear. Bonny Becker
Mackenzie Bezos studied creative writing at Princeton University and her debut novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, won an American Book Award (2005). Recently released, her second novel, Traps, spans four days and four women trapped by their situations in life. “How their fates collide--and how that collision offers each of them a chance at redemption and renewal--is the subject of this emotionally powerful, finely crafted, richly textured novel."
Jessi Bloom is an award-winning landscape designer and author of a best-selling title by Timber Press Free Range Chicken Gardens. Her work emphasizes ecological systems, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. She is also a certified professional horticulturist, certified arborist and owner of Pacific Northwest design/build firm N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes. Jessi Bloom
Deb Caletti is an award-winning young adult author and National Book Award finalist. Her many books include Stay, The Story of Us, and Honey, Baby; Sweetheart, winner of the Washington State Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and a finalist for the PEN USA Award. Her first book for adults, He’s Gone, will be released in May of 2013. Out now is The Story of Us. Deb Caletti
Megan Chance is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of several novels of historical fiction including City of Ash, Prima Donna and The Spiritualist. Her books have been chosen for the Borders Original Voices program and Indie Bound’s Booksense. New book: Bone River. Megan Chance
Tara Conklin is a writer and lawyer, and author of the acclaimed debut book, The House Girl. Most recently, she worked as a litigator in the New York and London offices of a corporate law firm and now devotes herself full-time to writing fiction. Her short fiction has appeared in The Bristol Prize Anthology and Pangea: An Anthology of Stories from Around the Globe. www.taraconklin.com
Amanda Coplin received her BA from the University of Oregon and MFA from the University of Minnesota. She is a recipient of residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the Omi International Arts Center at Ledig House in Ghent, New York. Her debut novel, The Orchardist, has been selected as a 2012 Barnes and Noble Discover Awards finalist and it made several best-of-the-year lists, including National Public Radio, The Oregonian, and The Washington Post. Amanda Coplin
William Dietrich is the author of 16 books, 11 of them fiction and five of Pacific Northwest environmental history. His Ethan Gage series of Napoleonic adventures have been sold in 30 languages. He has won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and Washington Governor's Writer Award. As a Seattle Times environmental and science journalist, he shared a Pulitzer for coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Born and raised in Tacoma, he now resides in Anacortes. New book: The Emerald Storm. William Dietrich
Tom Douglas is well known for helping to define Northwest cuisine and igniting the Seattle restaurant scene, winning the James Beard Award for Best Northwest Chef in 1994. He has opened several of Seattle’s most popular restaurants and Dahlia Bakery, famous for its Triple Coconut Cream Pie. He is the author of numerous award-winning cookbooks, including Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen, Tom's Big Dinners and I Love Crab Cakes! His new book is The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. Tom Douglas
Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed and New York Times best-selling author of the David Sloane series, The Jury Master, Wrongful Death, Bodily Harm, Murder One and The Conviction. He is also the author of Damage Control and the nonfiction expose The Cyanide Canary. Dugoni has been likened to Scott Turow and John Grisham, and hailed as “the undisputed king of the legal thriller.” New book: The Conviction. Robert Dugoni
Jonathan Evison is the author of The New York Times best-selling novel West of Here and All About Lulu, which won the Washington State Book Award. In 2009, he was the recipient of a Richard Buckley Fellowship from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. His latest book is The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, which received an award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. He lives on an island in western Washington. Jonathan Evison
Kathleen Flenniken is the 2012 – 2014 Washington State Poet Laureate. Her poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry, The Writer’s Almanac, Poetry Daily, American Life in Poetry and numerous journals and anthologies. Her first book, Famous, received the Prairie Schooner Book Prize for Poetry and was named an American Library Association Notable Book. Her new book is Plume, a meditation on the Hanford Nuclear Site and finalist for the 2013 Pacific Northwest Book Award. Kathleen Flenniken
Laurie Frankel is the author of The Atlas of Love and her new book is Goodbye For Now. The film has been optioned for Goodbye For Now and translation rights have sold in 27 territories. Laurie was recently named one of ten women to watch by The Book Case/The Book Page Blog. Until recently, she was teaching writing, literature, and gender studies at the college level. Now she is thrilled, honored, grateful and occasionally terrified to be writing full-time. www.lauriefrankel.net
Kristin Hannah is The New York Times bestselling author of 20 novels. A former lawyer turned writer, her #1 New York Times bestseller, Home Front, is a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the price of war on an ordinary American family. Coming soon is her next novel, Fly Away (April 2013). Kristin Hannah
Amy Hatvany's first novel, The Kind of Love That Saves You was published in 2000, followed by The Language of Sisters in 2002, Best Kept Secret in 2009 and Outside the Lines in 2010. Her new book, Heart Like Mine, comes out in March and has received rave reviews from Kirkus, calling it "An uplifting and heartwarming experience." Amy's first literary creation, "Amy's Animal Stories," was bound into a book by her second-grade teacher. www.amyhatvany.com
Josh Henderson is founding chef and partner of the award-winning Skillet Group, which includes three restaurants, a catering company, two food trucks and nationally distributed food products. A food visionary and entrepreneur, he received the Star Chefs Rising Star Award in 2009, was named the most influential person of 2010 by Seattle Magazine and was recognized in Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2012 Top 40 Under 40. Josh led the Seattle street food movement while building the Skillet brand. In 2012, he published The Skillet Cookbook – A Streetfood Manifesto. Josh Henderson
Patrick Jennings’s books for young readers have received honors from Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book, Smithsonian Magazine, the PEN Center USA, the Woman’s National Book Association and the Chicago and New York Public Libraries. In 2011, his book, Guinea Dog, received a Washington State Book Award. Faith and the Electric Dogs, is currently being adapted for the screen. His 19th book, My Homework Ate My Homework, will be published in April. He writes full time in his home in Port Townsend, Washington. Patrick Jennings’s
Mike Lawson has published seven thrillers. The Inside Ring, House Secrets and House Divided were all nominated for the Barry Award. House Rules was a Nancy Pearl Pick and an Indie Pick. House Justice was called “a perfect political thriller” by Library Journal. His eighth novel, House Odds, will be released in July 2013. Prior to turning to writing full time, Mike was a nuclear engineer employed by the Navy. He lives in the Northwest. Mike Lawson
Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of urban fantasy books for adults and teens. She has a liberal arts degree, an MA in comparative religion and a master’s degree in teaching. A lifelong reader, she has a particular fascination with mythology and folklore. Her books have received numerous honors and have been translated into 30 languages. Her new book is The Golden Lily. Richelle Mead
Julia Quinn loves to dispel the myth that smart women don't read (or write) romance, and in 2001 she did so in grand fashion, appearing on the game show The Weakest Link and walking away with the $79,000 jackpot. Julia is a New York Times best-selling author and the youngest member of Romance Writers of America's Hall of Fame and the author of twelve consecutive New York Times best-sellers, including Mr. Cavendish, I Presume. Her new book is A Night Like This. Julia Quinn
Dr. Sarah Reichard is Professor and Director of the UW Botanic Gardens. Her research is focused on the biology of invasive plants and using that understanding to develop risk assessment methods to prevent their introduction and spread. Her new book is The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating a Garden Ethic. She is the editor of "Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest" and author of numerous research papers. Dr. Reichard founded and directs the Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation Program, which works with federal, state, and local agencies to protect Washington's rare plant species.
Carole Lexa Schaefer is an award-winning children's book author. She has more than 20 picture books and easy readers published with four major publishing companies and several titles under contract for publication. An educator and author, Carole is experienced in giving presentations of her books and related topics to both children and adults. In addition to classroom visits, she has presented to the American Library Association, the Association of American English Teachers, the Conference of Whole Language Teachers and the International Reading Association. Carole Lexa Schaefer
Paul Schmid is an author and award-winning illustrator of children’s books. In 2010, Paul was awarded a month-long fellowship with Maurice Sendak. He lives in Seattle with his wife Linda and their daughter Anna. New book: Perfectly Percy. Paul Schmid
Maria Semple is the author of This One is Mine and Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Before turning to fiction, she wrote for Mad About You, Ellen and Arrested Development. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker. Semple lives in Seattle, where she teaches fiction, studies poetry and tries to stay off the Internet. New book: Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Maria Semple
George Shannon began his professional work with children in 1973. After experience as a children’s librarian and professional storyteller, his first children’s book, Lizard’s Song, was accepted by Greenwillow in 1979. Since then he has had 40 books published including 30 picture books. New book: Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar? . George Shannon
Jennie Shortridge has published five novels: Love Water Memory, When She Flew, Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe, Eating Heaven and Riding with the Queen. When not writing, teaching writing workshops or volunteering with kids, Jennie stays busy as a founding member of Seattle7Writers.org, a collective of Northwest authors devoted both to raising funds for community literacy projects and to raising awareness of Northwest literature. New book: Love Water Memory. Jennie Shortridge
Samantha Vamos is the children’s author of The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, which won the 2012 Pura Belpré Illustration Honor (illustrations by Rafael Lopez) and the Bankstreet College of Education 2012 Best Children’s Books of the Year Award. Her first book, Before You Were Here, Mi Amor, won the Washington State Book Award in 2010. Her new book, Alphabet Trucks, will be released this summer. Samantha Vamos
Lance Weller’s debut book, Wilderness, was published in 2012 to great acclaim. The novel weaves heartbreaking narratives of Civil War survivors set in the war-torn South and the Pacific Northwest. Annie Dillard has called Wilderness “unforgettable” noting that "here is a book in the great tradition of the novel." Lance is a writer of short stories, a recipient of the Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Lance Weller
G Willow Wilson is an author, essayist and comic book writer. Her debut novel, Alif the Unseen, was nominated for the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize and it received a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. Her comic book series AIR and MYSTIC were both nominated for Eisner Awards. She is also the author of a memoir, The Butterfly Mosque, which delves into her life as an American Muslim ex pat living in Cairo. New book: Alif the Unseen. G. Willow Wilson

Third Place Books will sell books at this Event and will donate a portion of sales to the King County Library Foundation.