SUZANNE FYHRIE PARROTT
Author, Instructor, Speaker | Website
Suzanne is the author of the bestselling books the Ebook Formatting the Publishing Guide and The Lost Sigil Ebook Guide both of which hit #1 spots on Amazon. The guides, which included step-by-step written and corresponding video tutorials were created in order to help the self-publishing author understand the process of moving raw manuscript to a finished printed and published work.
Parrott has offered several self-publishing workshops as well as been a guest speaker for such groups as Road Scholars and Oceana Literacy Center.
Under the pen name Sumi Fyhrie, she is the author of five children’s books (Ages 3-8) Billy Beetle Bug and his Beetle Bug Board, Pandas on Parade, Where is Bear?, Two Ghostly Tails and Cinderbunny – A Brush with Magic.
She is currently working on a new book series aimed for middle grade readers (Ages 8-12+): Tyler Frost Case Files, as well as completing the sequel to her book Coldfire (2015), Book 1 in The Milky Way Mysteries series (ages 8-12+) entitled Mars Shift to be released 2017.
Not to leave out the adult crowd, Parrott is completing the final edits for her cozy murder mystery, Woman in a Pale Dress due out 2017 as well as a historical fiction entitled Labor of Blood.
LESLIE COMPTON
Author, Speaker, Instructor | Website
Leslie Compton is a retired professional musician, music teacher, elementary teacher and childbirth educator and has taught several courses on memoir writing. She is a writer of non-fiction, collecting historic postcards and doing research. While researching the Great White Fleet Compton wrote an article for the Post Card Collector. In her spare time she enjoys fabric-art and quilting as well as attending classes at SOU through OLLI in Southern Oregon. Compton is currently working on my fourth book, living in Talent, Oregon.
MEL SMITH
Author
“I grew up in the neighborhood described in my book: a blue-collar neighborhood on the edge of town. Our neighborhood had dirt streets, no sewer service, and one street light on the corner. Beyond my block was prairie leading to East Helena about three miles away. There wasn’t a college degree within at least six square blocks. Many parents didn’t have a high school diploma, including my own.
In ways, the neighborhood was a tough one, but as I look back on it now I can see just how ideal it was and the times were, for personal development.
Other than the threat of thermonuclear war, and we were way too young and active to think on that much, the time was one of general contentment and positive reinforcement. America had won the big war; we were the economic engine of the world; we were told daily how incredibly lucky we were to have been born in America. I felt secure and safe and I would stay in this cocoon until I left for the service.
We had little beyond our friends to keep us occupied or entertained. My folks had one of the first TVs in our neighborhood. But TV in those days consisted of about three channels and there was rarely anything good on it. There were no cell phones, Gameboys, computers or internet. No, all we had were friends and time to play. There was no lack of kids to play with, either. In my neighborhood, mostly the block I lived in, there were 31 kids within three or four years of my own age. We were the boomers. We played hard from early morning until our mom’s called us home at bedtime.”
Smith’s first novel, (WT) The Sultans of Swat, is an historical fiction set during the Vietnam war era (1960’s) and due to release in Fall 2017.
JONI JESME
Author | Website
When sharing her first White Chair Day episode, she was surprised with the unprecedented sharing of stories from others with their own similar, unique and often humorous WCD moments. Taking the plunge, she gathered these moments, and set out to share them in print. White Chair Day (release 2017) is the first collection of stories, in the White Chair Days book series.
Jesme lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and is currently working on a series of children’s books with her two adult sons, Aaron and Evan, who each have their own creative uniqueness from which she draws inspiration. A water loving gal and self-proclaimed guppy, you can find her wandering the woods with her hiking and walking side kick, a Labrador named Miss Nala.
PAT WILEYAfter a successful career in the aerospace industry Pat Wiley began his second career as a writer at the New School for Creative Writing. A series of short stories followed about his adventures sailing his boat on a two year, three thousand-mile journey to the islands of the Caribbean and South America. From this journey, he wrote his first novel EYEWITNESS, a nautical murder mystery, Book 1 in the Jack Quinn novels.
The Sinking of the MV Le JOOLA: Africa’s Titanic is his first publication. The non-fiction narrative is the result of two-years of research into one of the worst maritime tragedies in recorded history–a tragedy, which tore at the soul of a country. His interviews with survivors and extensive in-country research revealed the shameful loss of life and incredible accounts of survival that form the heart of the book.
Wiley released his second book in the Jack Quinn series, ROUND HOUSE, a deadly side to paradise, in fall 2016 and is currently working on the third book in the series.
Wiley is a licensed Captain and resides in Flat Rock, North Carolina with his wife, an accomplished painter and sculptor.
MARY RICHARDS
Author | Website
Mary Richards is a retired health and physical education teacher who is still involved in the classroom. She has always had a passion for wellness and a desire to motivate others, especially her students, towards self-improvement. The majority of Mary’s career was spent in the middle-school classroom. In addition to being in the classroom, Mary has coached kids in sports and directed plays. During her career she launched dance teams, jump rope teams, weight-loss clubs, a drug-free club, a community health fair, a pet fair, and a self-esteem club, Feeling Good.
Her published work, I Am Awesome! A Healthy Workbook for Kids was written in an effort to help kids realize, explore, and enjoy the awesomeness within them. (“I Am Awesome!” Workbooks are available in Full Color or Black & White interior)
THOMAS SEDAKER
Author
A first time author, Tom came to the Lord in January of ’72, and while most of his adult life has been spent in the Marketplace as both a Merchant and a Contractor, his passion has always centered on knowing his Savior, Jesus.
Believing God is seamless in all areas of one’s life, Tom’s has been mixed with extraordinary spiritual experiences along with the contemporary trials common to all who work out their salvation in the midst of a dysfunctional world. Tempered, Tom’s writings offer a unique perspective to those hungering for truth, a point of view born from one familiar with both success and failure; the Lord’s Grace continuing to undergird his walk as he’s kept on the path of Righteousness for His name’s sake.
What is Man that Thou Art Mindful of Him ~ Where We Were is Thomas Sedaker’s first book. Sedaker currently resides in Southern California with his loving wife, Jani.
