Authors
Amy Wallen
MoonPies and Movie Stars
was raised by a wild pack of Texans. But she's an oddity to the Texas cousins because she never lived in the state, and still likes barbecue, beer and pinto beans. Because her dad worked for an oil company, she grew up in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, Nigeria, Peru, Bolivia and Oklahoma. She's still crazy for plane rides. Most of her writing inspiration comes from spending her summer vacation helping out her grandmother at her roadside convenience store on Highway 90 in Brackettville, Texas. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, Norman in 1986 with a BA in Journalism/Advertising. She majored in Advertising thinking she could be a creative writer and make a living-another one of her silly illogical ideas, like when she thought skydiving would be no big deal, or that aerobics would be enough of a workout to insure she was in shape for her trek to the Everest Base Camp. Upon college graduation, she decided she'd had enough of the Midwest and took off for San Diego, California with no job, a few hundred dollars, and the key to an apartment of a friend of a friend. She worked her way through a variety of jobs from advertising to legal administration. All the while, she plodded away at her short stories, essays and novels. Currently, Amy teaches creative writing at UC San Diego Extension, leads an advanced private read and critique group, along with other occasional workshops around San Diego. She hosts the monthly open mic prose reading sponsored by San Diego Writers Ink and she sits on their advisory board. She started piano lessons at the age of 40 and can now play the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television show theme song, and John Lennon's Imagine.
Milton Watts
Poet-o'-the-Pines.jpg
Long time Jeffersonian Milton Watts has used time not needed by his business on Lake O’ The Pines, its trailer park, his land, timber and cattle to create a collection of poetry, short stories and essays that not only chronicles one man’s life, but preserves eight decades of East Texas history. Using humor, wit and unabashed honesty he describes his many roles through the years as a soldier, a cowboy, a businessman, a family man, a raconteur and a poet. His unguarded, eclectic style seldom fails to hit its target as he narrates the highs and lows experienced during his long and active life.
Rebecca Wells
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel
actress, playwright, and author of two New York Times bestsellers, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere, was born in Louisiana.
David Wilkinson
One Ranger: A Memoir (Bridwell Texas History Series)
, a fifth-generation Arkansan, has lived in Texas since 1972. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1980 with a B.A. in English. The author has worked as a carpenter, mortgage loan officer, a legal investigator for a civil trial firm, and in the domestic and foreign oil fields. His second novel, The Empty Quarter, draws upon his experiences in the North Sea and Saudi Arabia. His first, Not Between Brothers, won the 1997 Violet Crown Award for fiction, was a Spur Award "Best Novel of the West" finalist, and was selected "Editors Choice" by The Review of Texas Books. His short story, "Opening Day," published by ReadWest Online Magazine, won the Western Writers of America 2000 Spur Award for Best Western Short Fiction. Wilkinson is a member of Western Writers of America, and sits on the board of Ozark Creative Writers. His third novel, OBLIVION'S ALTAR, the true life story of the Cherokee Chief Major Ridge, was released by NAL/Penguin Putnam in November, 2002. Major Ridge championed the "civilization" movement within the Cherokee Nation and was the driving force behind the organization of a centralized, constituted government only to be blamed for the Trail of Tears. OBLIVION'S ALTAR won the 2003 Spur Award for "Best Original Paperback" and was selected as a finalist for the 2003 Oklahoma Book Awards. Wilkinson co-wrote a memoir with retired Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson. At the twilight of Jackson's 27-year career with the Rangers, TEXAS MONTHLY magazine featured his image on their bestselling edition ever (February, 1994). Jackson went on to act in feature films THE GOOD OLD BOYS, DANCER,TEXAS, ROUGH RIDERS, and BLUE SKY. Now in its seventh printing, ONE RANGER: A MEMOIR has become the fastest-selling book in the history of the University of Texas Press. Wilkinson is currently at work on a contemporary novel set in the Big Bend Country of West Texas entitled WHERE THE MOUNTAINS ARE THIEVES. David splits his time between Alpine and Dallas, Texas.
Lisa Wingate
Larkspur Cove
Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of 16 books. Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its 15th printing from Penguin Putnam. Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as many independent bookstores. Tending Roses was also cited as an example in uber-agent and writing instructor, Donald Maass’s workbook, Writing the Breakout Novel.
Recently, Wingate’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, has received national attention with back-to-back nominations by American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and A Summer Kitchen (2010). Pithy, emotional, and uplifting, Wingate’s stories bring to life characters so real that fans often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends.
Wingate is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, in mainstream fiction. Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational southern fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Pics, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles and have been chosen for the LORIES best Published Fiction Award.
When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via Internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.
In celebration of Girlfriend Weekend, 2011, Lisa and her publishers are offering a “Read Like a Queen” contest in which the winners will receive a Girlfriend Getaway at Pulpwood Queens GFW 2011! For more information and to enter, go to www.Lisawingate.com
Franz Wisner
Honeymoon with My Brother: A Memoir
is a writer/vagabond who, in a previous reincarnation, used to work as a lobbyist, public relations executive, and government press secretary. During his world journeys, he penned numerous travel articles and opinion pieces, which appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, ABC News on-line, and Coast Magazine, among others. Franz and his brother, Kurt, are currently traveling the globe for their next book, also with St. Martin's Press.