Of Dark and Stormy Nights 24

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Hyatt Regency Woodfield

1800 East Golf Road

Schaumburg, IL 60173

847-605-1234

http://www.ofdarkandstormynights.com/

We're very pleased and proud to announce our two headliners for this year's Of Dark and Stormy Nights:

Carolyn Hart

Carolyn is not only one of the finest practitioners of the traditional mystery alive today, she is also one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. A popular speaker at conventions and seminars, she loves helping authors, both new and well-established. She has won almost every mystery award there is (many times over) and has been praised in virtually every review venue, including a recent starred review in Publisher's Weekly for her latest book, Dead Days of Summer. The Cleveland Plain Dealer had this to say about her: "Carolyn Hart is the reigning monarch of the amateur sleuth mystery."

And speaking of the Plain Dealer...

Les Roberts

is our other great headliner for '06. And what does that have to do with the Plain Dealer? Les has been reviewing mysteries for them for many years; it was he who penned that praise for Carolyn. His writing style couldn't be more different from hers—he writes terrific PI novels starring Milan Jacovich—but they admire each other greatly as writers and have been friends for many years. Les has a background in both broadcasting and theatre and is, as one might expect, a riveting speaker.

The two of them promise to make this a Dark and Stormy to remember.

Here are the bios of most of this year's stellar faculty. A few more to come...

Veteran Police Officer Michael A. Black has just released his fourth novel, the humorous thriller, Freeze Me, Tender. Think: Frozen Elvis.

D.C. Brod is the author of Heartstone, a contemporary thriller with an Arthurian twist, and five novels in the Quint McCauley private detective series.

Luisa Buehler, a native of the Chicago area, published her first novel, The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death, in May 2003; the fourth, The Scout Master: A Prepared Death, will be out this September. Her series follows the ‘cold case’ of bygone crimes using a blend of savvy, romance, a touch of the supernatural and of course murder.

Dave Case is a Sergeant with the Chicago Police Department with nearly twenty years of experience. He is also the author of Out of Cabrini, an April release from Five Star that has been getting great reviews.

Judy Clemens is the author of the Stella Crown mystery series. She loves to write Stella’s dialogue because she gets a vicarious thrill out of writing things she would never say herself.

Barbara D’Amato has won the Carl Sandburg Award, the first Mary Higgins Clark Award, the Agatha, the Macavity, Readers Choice Awards and the Anthony. She is a past president of Sisters in Crime International and of Mystery Writers of America.

Jeanne M. Dams is the author of fourteen mysteries in two series, starring Dorothy Martin in England and Hilda Johansson in early-twentieth-century South Bend, Indiana. She is the winner of the 1995 Agatha award for Best First Novel.

Michael Allen Dymmoch Author of the Jack Caleb/John Thinnes mystery series, Michael Allen Dymmoch is a Chicago resident who has served as president of the Midwest chapter of MWA and newsletter editor for the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime. Michael’s most recent novels are White Tiger, nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, and The Cymry Ring, an historical SF romantic suspense.

Dan B. Gunnell is a US Navy retiree with a great deal of police experience. Currently the Assistant Laboratory Director at the Joliet Forensic Science Laboratory, he is recognized as an expert, not only in forensics, but also in the areas of ethics and leadership training.

Libby Fischer Hellmann writes the Chicago-based series featuring video producer and single mom Ellie Foreman. The fourth title, A Shot to Die For, was released in 2005 from Poisoned Pen Press in hard cover and Berkley Prime Crime in mass market. Libby is the National President of Sisters in Crime.

Julie Hyzy loves to read, edit, and write. The first in her series, Deadly Blessings, is out now and the second, Deadly Interest, will be released in October, 2006.

William Kent Krueger writes the Cork O'Connor mystery series, set in the great Northwoods of Minnesota. His novel Blood Hollow received the 2005 Anthony Award for Best Novel.

Joyce and Jim Lavene are currently writing three mystery series together, but certainly hope to write several more as time permits. They are from North Carolina where they live with their very forgiving and supportive family.

Steve Mandel’s debut novel, Another Lost Angel, was released May 15, 2006 from Five Star to extremely positive reviews. In addition to being a novelist, Steve is an award-winning Creative Director for a Chicago area advertising agency.

Dr. Judith Markowitz is the author of The Gay Detective Novel (2005), an examination of mystery novels feature gay and lesbian main detectives.

The Noirsketeers are Sandy Balzo, the author of the Anthony-nominated Uncommon Grounds and the Robert L. Fish Award and Macavity-winning story “The Grass is Always Greener” (EQMM), for whom none of this would have been possible without the rewriting skills of Ted Hertel, Robert L. Fish Award winner for"My Bonnie Lies . . . " (The Mammoth Book Of Legal Thrillers)) and frequent Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated author, along with Gary Warren Niebuhr, Anthony Award winning nonfiction author (Make Mine A Mystery) who owes his entire seven year fiction writing career (four short stories, one published) to the other two.

Dr. Alexander Obolsky received his M.D. from Northwestern University, where he has a practice in psychiatry. He is also in frequent demand as an expert witness in cases requiring psychiatric evaluation, and has been a popular speaker at Dark and Stormy for several years.

Sam Reaves has written eight Chicago-based crime novels with a ninth, The Night Watch, due out from Carroll and Graf in January, 2007. Under the pseudonym Dominic Martell he has written three European-based intrigue novels.

Janet Riehecky is the author of 101 books for children, including a mystery series for intermediate readers called The Red Door Detective Club. She served two terms on the Midwest Board of MWA and acted as the National Director of Kids Love A Mystery from 1998 to 2004.

Chris Roerden has more than 40 years' experience as an editor in niche publishing and university teacher of writing. In 1983 she began MarketSavvyBookEditing.com as a full-time independent editor and writing coach.

Brenda Robertson Stewart is a painter, sculptress and forensic artist who reconstructs skulls for identification purposes. She has been a figurative artist for over twenty five years, specializing in Native American sculptures.

Sandra Tooley is the creator of the Sam Casey Series and the Chase Dagger Series (written as Lee Driver). A former casino dealer, she is particularly fond of the unusual and has carried her interests to her cross-genre novels and short stories. Her work has won or been a finalist for a number of awards over the years and been reproduced in large print, audiobook, and mass market paperback. www.sdtooley.com

Mark Zubro has written nineteen mysteries. His latest, Everybody's Dead But Us, will be out this July.