Thrills, Chills, and More
Author Panel to Provide Insights on Successful Publishing
If you want the inside track to getting a book published, or
just love hearing the stories of your favorite authors, the Illinois Woman’s Press
Association has just the lineup for you at its Nov. 20 meeting and Book Fair at The
Courtyard by Marriott.
Mystery/thriller writer jay Bonansinga, romance novelist Myra Mackenzie, and cookbook author Mary Harris will headline a panel of world-renown, award-winning authors who will divulge how they develop ideas into finished manuscripts.
Published authors also are invited to participate by displaying and selling their books or tapes at the Book Fair. A free book table is available to all (a donation to IWPA’s Education Fund is appreciated).
Success No Mystery
"Jay Bonansinga has quickly and firmly established himself as one of the
most imaginative writers of thrillers," according to the Chicago Tribune.
"His twisting narratives, with their in-your-face glimpses of violence, are set in an
unstable, almost psychotic universe that makes the work of many of his contemporaries look
rather tame."
Bonansinga is currently adapting his sixth novel, an epic supernatural thriller entitled Oblivion, for Universal Pictures and Will Smith’s production company, OverBook Productions. His latest crime thriller, Bloodhound, was published in September by Signet/Onyx. Other published novels are Head Case (1998), The Killer’s Game (1997), and the Black Mariah (1994), Bonansinga’s debut novel. The Killer’s Game currently has a green light as a major production at New Line Cinema under the title Godforsaken. Sick is currently being developed into a motion picture by Chicago Film Partners, with Bonansinga slated to direct. He is also a music video producer and an accomplished writer of short stories, articles and essays.
With a master’s degree in film from Columbia College in Chicago, Bonansinga is also an award-winning filmmaker.
Romantic Notions
Myrna Mackenzie is a former college recruiter and teacher turned romance writer.
Her first professional foray into the writer arena was in the form of penning greeting
card verse, primarily for Oatmeal Studios.
Mackenzie served four terms on the board of her local Romance Writers of America chapter. She has conducted workshops for writers’ groups, professional conferences, and community groups, and is a member of Novelists Inc., a national organization for multipublished writers of popular fiction.
Her first book, The Baby Wish, published in 1994, was a finalist in several national writing contests and established her reputation as a writer who specializes in emotionally intense romance stories.
Her second book, The Daddy List, won the Holt Medallion Award honoring outstanding literary talent. Since then, she has gone on to sell eight more books.
The year 2000 will mark the publication of her first series, the Wedding Auction series, three books--Simon Says. . . Marry Me, At the Billionaire’s’s Bidding, and Contractually His--as well as her 10th novel, Just Pretending, all published by Silhouette Books.
Cuisine Art
Mary Harris, coauthor with Wilma Nachsin of My Kid’s Allergic to
Everything, wrote the cookbook out of necessity. Her son, Josh, was born with severe
allergies to corn, wheat, eggs and peanuts, as well as environmental allergies and asthma.
And her adopted daughter, Jessie, had a sensitivity to cow’s milk.
When Harris and Nachsin started doing research into children’s food allergies nine years ago, they found that nothing existed on the subject. "Kids don’t want fish or chicken and mashed potatoes," Harris said. "They want spaghetti, Chicken McNuggets, birthday cake [and] chocolate chip cookies."
Their book was published in 1996 by Chicago Review press and received favorable reviews in Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal.
Free Ad Corner Listing
IWPA members reserving book tables receive a free four-month listing in the new
Ad Corner on the IWPA Web site. Nonmembers may purchase ads for $200 for four months.
The listing includes a 50-word description (no graphics) for each title displayed at the book fair, so make your reservations now.