GUESTS OF HONOR
LEE CHILD
Lee is the author of the Jack Reacher series, for which he has received the Barry Award
(from Deadly Pleasures magazine) and the Anthony Award. Lee was born in Coventry, England, but grew up in nearby Birmingham.
After graduating from the same high school that J.R.R. Tolkien attended,
he went to law school in Sheffield.
Later, he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career
as a presentation director, during which time the company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown,
Prime Suspect, and Cracker.
When he was fired as a result of corporate restructuring, the voracious reader bought
six dollars' worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, which turned out to be
Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.
Lee's Books:
The Jack Reacher series:
Killing Floor
Die Trying
Tripwire
Running Blind (US)/The Visitor (UK)
Echo Burning
Without Fail
Persuader
The Enemy
One Shot
The Hard Way
Bad Luck and Trouble
Nothing to Lose
Gone Tomorrow
Short Stories:
"James Penney's New
Identity", in FRESH BLOOD 3
"Ten Keys", in THE COCAINE CHRONICLES
"The Greatest Trick of All", in GREATEST HITS
"Enough", in MWA PRESENTS DEATH DO US PART
"The .50 Solution", in BLOODLINES
Chapter Six in LIKE A CHARM, a serialized novel
Chapter 15 in THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT, an audio serialized novel
Visit Lee’s website at http://leechild.com/
JAN BURKE
Jan Burke is the author of the bestselling Irene Kelly series, for which she won an Edgar award, as well as short stories and her most recent novel The Messenger.
Although Jan was born in Texas, she has spent most of her life in Southern California, from which she has combined several cities to create Las
Piernas, Irene Kelly’s hometown.
She has 2 sisters and a brother, and remains very close to them, their parents, and several nieces, nephews, cousins and other extended family members. She and her husband, musician Tim Burke, share their home with their dogs Cappy and Britches.
Jan is the founder of the Crime Lab Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to the
improvement of public forensic science. She has also served as a speaker for the National Institute of Justice, the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, the California Association of Criminalists, and other organizations. She is a member of the honorary board of the California Forensic Science Institute, which is connected to the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, the forensic lab the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. She has been instrumental in organizing the Forensics Day at Left Coast Crime 2010.
Jan is a Distinguished Alumna of California State University in Long Beach, and has taught writing classes at UCLA Extension, and was the associate editor (with Sue Grafton) for MWA’s Writing Mysteries.
Jan’s books:
The Irene Kelly series:
Goodnight, Irene
Sweet Dreams, Irene
Dear Irene,
Remember Me, Irene
Hocus
Liar
Bones
Flight (from Frank Harriman's point of view)
Bloodlines
Kidnapped
Standalones:
Nine (standalone)
The Messenger (supernatural thriller)
Short Story Collection:
Eighteen (short story collection)
Visit Jan’s website at http://janburke.com/
JANET RUDOLPH
Janet
grew up in Philadelphia, and earned a B.A. from the University of
Pennsylvania.
She then moved to Berkeley, where she completed a Master’s Degree in art
history, a credential in secondary education and a Ph.D. in religion and
literature with a specialty in mystery fiction.
Known as “the mistress of mystery”, Janet has been a columnist for
several mystery periodicals. She is the editor of the Mystery Readers Journal
(the official publication of Mystery Readers International, of which she is the
director), and the writer/producer of Murder on the Menu (a mystery event
company). A member of Mystery Writers of America, the International Association
of Crime Writers, the British Crime Writers Association, Sisters in Crime and
the American Crime Writers League, she has also been on panels at conventions
and conferences including Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime. Janet has taught
mystery fiction, and has participated in international writing conferences in
Spain, England and Cuba.
Janet was Fan Guest of Honor at Malice Domestic in 1993 and won an Anthony
Award for Special Service to the Field in 2006. She still lives in Berkeley.
Janet’s website can be found at http://www.murderonthemenu.com/murder/janet.html.
BILL FITZHUGH
Bill
was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, and began writing professionally
while he was still in high school. Through the Junior Achievement program,
he wrote and narrated a series of radio programs about various rock ’n’ roll
bands. As a result, he began working late night shifts at the radio
station that had aired his shows, and after he graduated, he became the morning
drive-time DJ there.
After a few years he grew bored with this, and moved to St. John, US
Virgin Islands in an effort to emulate Jimmy Buffett, and ended up working on a
freight-charter boat.
Eventually, he ended up back in Mississippi, and supported himself as a DJ while
he went to college. In 1981, he moved to Seattle to attend the University
of Washington where he received a psychology degree. He also met Matt
Hansen, with whom he collaborated on a radio program called “Radio Free
Comedy” which was syndicated on several radio stations across the country.
Bill and Matt turned this radio show into a television pilot called “Stellavision”,
which, though critically acclaimed, did not sell.
In 1988, Bill moved to Los Angeles and looked for television writing jobs.
Matt joined him and for the next few years they wrote unsuccessful television
scripts, and a screenplay called “Pest Control” that Bill eventually
turned into a novel that was one of Amazon’s Top 50 Mysteries in 1997.
Bill was co-winner of the 2002 Lefty Award for “Fender Benders“.
(The other winner was Jerrilyn Farmer, for :“Dim Sum Dead“.)
Bill’s books:
Pest Control
The Organ Grinders
Fender Benders
Cross Dressing
Heart Seizure
Radio Activity
Highway 61 Resurfaced
The Adventures of Slim and Howdy (with Brooks and Dunn)
Short Stories:
“Fiddy Dolla Smile” in Full House, a young adult
anthology of poker stories"
Visit Bill's
website: http://billfitzhugh.com
