Authors Bios
The following authors will be attending the Words & Wine Event on September 10, 2011.
Marc Leepson
Lafayette; Lessons in Leadership form the Idealist General
Desperate Engagement
Flag: An American Biography
Saving Monticello
Marc is a journalist, historian, and the author of seven books, most recently, Lafayette; Lessons in Leadership form the Idealist General, a concise biography of the Marquis de Lafayette. The book, part of Palgrave Macmillan’s World Generals Series, was chosen as a History Book Club selection.
He has been a free-lance writer since 1986, writing for many publications, including Smithsonian, Military History, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. His radio and television appearances include The Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, All Things Considered, and Talk of the Nation. He has presented papers, chaired panels, and spoken to students at many colleges and universities, including George Washington, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and the University of Miami.
He just finished a five-year term as a member of the Virginia State Library Board and is a board member and past president of the Mosby Heritage Area Association. He lives in Loudoun County, Virginia and teaches U.S. History at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton.
Mr. Leepson will make a presentation during the SAFE book signing event focusing on his latest book and his experience as a much published, respected, and acclaimed author.
Sarah Collins Honenberger
Catcher Caught
White Lies: A Tale of Babies, Vaccines, and Deception
Waltzing Cowboys
Sarah Collins Honenberger’s best-selling novel Catcher, Caught was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, one of 250 semi-finalists out of 6500 entries. An excerpt from the novel won third place in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Competition. She will present at the 2011 Fall for the Book in Fairfax, VA on September 18.
Her first novel White Lies: A Tale of Babies, Vaccines, and Deception was nominated for the 2006 Library of Virginia Fiction Award. Her second novel, Waltzing Cowboys (2009), was an Editor’s Pick on Bookviews.com. Copley News Service writes: “Honenberger is a gifted storyteller, a master of nuance who knows how to move you deeply; how to lift your heart; how to grab your attention and hold it.”
John R. Hanny
Secrets From The White House Kitchens
John has distinguished himself as a chef, restaurateur, historian, writer, author, father, campaign manager, political operator and dabbled in all things French especially food and wine. At age 23, he was food and wine consultant to the White House prepping state luncheons and dinners for visiting heads of state, advising John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson on matters about food.
John, who lives in Central Virginia, will feature the new edition of Secrets From the White House Kitchens which is being published just in time for the SAFE fundraiser. This edition includes recipes from all the Presidents starting with FDR to Barack Obama accompanied by beautiful pictures of the dishes on White House china. Mr. Hanny will also make a presentation during the SAFE book signing event focusing on anecdotes from his experiences in the White House.
Katrina M. (Katy) Powell
Answer at Once
Katrina M. Powell is Associate Professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Answer at Once is a selection of roughly 150 letters written by residents whose land was condemned by the Commonwealth of Virginia to comprise the Shenandoah National Park. The letters counter traditional stereotypes about the mountain families and show how the managed their lives during their relocations.
In addition to Answer at Once which is featured at the SAFE book signing and fundraiser, Katy has authored The Anguish of Displacement, and The Politics of Literacy in the Letters of Mountain Families in Shenandoah National Park.
Ann Mullen
Jesse Watson Mystery Series
Ann says… “the best thing about writing is that you can let your imagination run wild, and I do”! She moved to the Blue Ridge in 1999. After a couple of years of mountain bliss, she gathered her courage and started writing her first novel. To date, she has published seven books.
In 2006, Ann was selected Favorite Virginia Author in a reader poll by Cooperative Living Magazine. Four of her books have been nominated for the Library of Virginia Literary Award.
The books in her mystery series are set in Greene County, Virginia. They feature heroine, Jesse Watson and her PI partner, Billy Blackhawk. The latest in the series is All About the Money.
Along with writing and publishing her own books, Ann Mullen is now a Publishing Consultant for her company, Afton Ridge Publishing. She is helping other authors realize their dream of getting their work published.
Clare H. Grosgebauer
Snickerdoodle! A Tall Tale About a Powerful Pee-Wee!
Accompanied by Activity Book and Soft Toy Doll
Clare, author of the popular Snickerdoodle® children’s book series, is from Fairfax, Virginia.
“I was blessed with a storytelling grandfather,” Clare says, “who shared tales of a tiny American folk hero called “Snickerdooodle,” a powerful pee-wee who rides in a peanut and solves problems with humor and imagination. I grew up knowing I would one day write the stories — It is my great joy to share Snickerdoodle’s message with today’s kids: “Think BIG! You’re never too little to make a difference!”
“Snickerdoodle, is my ongoing life’s work and fun,” Clare says. “I’m so grateful for encouragement and comments by parents, teachers, and kids themselves—as well as from notables such as “Dr. Seuss” and Pete Seeger. The initial Snickerdoodle book won a Mom’s Choice Award in 2005. Please visit www.snickerdoodleforkids.com for free resources for teachers and creative activities for kids.”
As a writer/editor specializing in education/family issues includes articles in national publications such as The Christian Science Monitor, Working Woman, American Education, and editorial consulting. She retired last year from the National Art Education Association, where she was Staff Editor working on books/journals that won editorial/design excellence awards.
Jane Remington
Recaging the Beast
101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health
The Yeast-Free Kitchen
Recaging the Beast
Jane Remington has been a student of holistic and natural medicine all her adult life. In the 1980s she developed a systemic yeast infection after taking several courses of antibiotics prescribed after dental surgeries. In her search for a natural remedy for eradicating the ensuing yeast overgrowths, she found a naturopath who put her on a yeast-free diet. Her health and energy returned as her immune system was brought back into balance. As she researched the yeast/fungus organism, she refined her recipes and The Yeast-Free Kitchen was published in 1993. A second edition followed in 1995; a new updated/expanded edition will be out in 2011. In 2009 she was a contributing author in 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health, and her latest book, Recaging the Beast, was released in the fall of 2010. All three can be found at Amazon.com.
Dr. Russell Blaylock.M.D. and neurosurgeon, who writes The Blaylock Wellness Report a monthly newsletter on alternative and natural healing, highly recommended Recaging the Beast in his June 2011 newsletter, calling it “very useful and fascinating.”
Jane was interviewed by Doug Kaufmann for his television show, Know the Cause. Five tapings about Recaging the Beast will air beginning September 2011, both on his television show and at his website, www.knowthecause.com.
Recaging the Beast provides a roadmap to help readers with a yeast diet that will starve and eventually eradicate dangerous overgrowths of yeast and fungus growing in the body. As the yeast/beast is backed into its cage (the colon) the immune system can function at peak performance and health is restored. Recaging the Beast has garnered five 5–star reviews at Amazon, and is being favorably reviewed by both orthodox and alternative doctors. Jane has made several appearances on the Doug Kaufmann TV show and has attended numerous book signings. She continues to counsel locally. Jane and her husband Bill have three children and four grandchildren, and are enjoying retirement on their farm in central Virginia.
Billy Coffey
Snow Day
Billy was born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where, as a child he learned how to hit a curveball, how to throw a tomahawk, and how to tell a story. All three skills continue to serve him well, though he now spends most of his time with the latter.
His books are largely set in the fictional town of Mattingly, Virginia, a place where time seems irrelevant and the impossible seems commonplace. Snow Day is his first novel. Paper Angels will be published in November 2011.
Billy lives with his wife and two children on a quiet country road at the foot of a mountain. He can often be found on his front porch watching the sunset. If you happen to pass by, give him a wave.
He’ll wave back.
Frederic A. Almond, Sr.
Scarred for Life
Frederic’s house was broken into by an intruder in 1984 on Labor Day night. The intruder traumatized Frederic’s mother and him relentlessly stabbing and killing his mother and believing he had also killed Frederic. They were stabbed over eighty times. If someone was looking through the eyes of Fredric A. Almond, they probably would say, “He never should’ve made it.”
After several years of physical and mental recovery, he overcame the odds by reversing the bitterness into joy. His motivation was trusting in God’s order by forgiving the man that scarred him for life. Through his determination for life, he was inspired to write his story. Since, it has changed many lives around the world via television, newspaper, magazine, radio interviews and speaking at various organizations. His goal is to continue his quest of forgiveness in action by saving others from giving up on their dreams.
Karen Smith Gibson
Chasing SANE
Karen jokes that her paying “gig” is as a nurse, but her passion is writing. She has held many nursing positions and is currently working as a hemodialysis nurse in the acute setting and as a quasi-acute educator. In her “down time”, she works on several writings in progress.
Chasing SANE is the first in a satellite series of SANE novels. Once considering the field of S.A.N.E. (sexual assault nurse examiner), Karen took a “what if” scenario and ran with it. All of Karen’s works take place around and in Richmond, VA. Chasing SANE has received a five star rating on Amazon and is known as a “book that cannot be put down”.
Currently, Karen is finishing another novel started for the National Novel Writing Month Contest called I’ve Got a Secret. She is also compiling stories for her collection of short stories called, HINDSIGHTE and busy researching and working on Holding SANE, the second in the SANE series. She is the author of the popular and humorous autobiographical Hey Nurse! Stories From the Other Side of the Bedpan. She lives with her husband and three dogs in Richmond, VA.