Presenting Faculty
MALCOLM ABRAMS is the owner, editor, and publisher of Bloom Magazine, which he founded in Bloomington, Indiana in 2005. For 30 years, he worked in New York City as a vice-president of Rupert Murdoch’s magazine company and as an editorial consultant repairing troubled publications. His clients included The McGraw-Hill Companies, The National Audubon Society, Advanstar Communications, Kelly Communications, Spa Finder Magazine, Family Media, Brioni, Global Finance Magazine, and Miller Freeman, Inc.
Viking Penguin published Malcolm’s first book, Future Stuff, written with researcher Harriet Bernstein. It was sold for publication in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. A television pilot based on the book was produced by Aaron Spelling Entertainment. A sequel, More Future Stuff, also was published by Viking Penguin. Malcolm’s work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers including Ladies’ Home Journal, Playboy, Longevity, Parents, and The Toronto Globe & Mail. His work has been syndicated by both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times syndicates.
MICHELLE MEDLOCK ADAMS is an award-winning journalist and book author, earning top honors from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Sunday and Features Editors, and the Hoosier State Press Association. Since graduating with a journalism degree from Indiana University in 1991, Michelle has worked as a newspaper reporter for a daily newspaper in Southern Indiana for five years; has written full time for a worldwide ministry’s website and magazine with 550,000 circulation; has authored 41 books and has written hundreds of freelance articles for newspapers, websites and magazines such as The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, American Cheerleader, HomeLife, Today’s Christian Woman, CBN.com and Writer’s Digest.
DEE BURT, author, counselor, presenter, and teacher, earned her Bachelor and Masters degrees in Education from Indiana University with concentration in educational psychology and school counseling. Dee has served Monroe County over the past fifteen years teaching and counseling elementary through high school students. Currently she teaches and counsels at The Edge Alternative High School in Ellettsville. One Side of Suicide: Experience Moving from Surviving to Thriving, draws on Dee's personal use of journaling to move from surviving to thriving in a powerful story of loss and love. Dee and her husband, Paul, co-founded Pen & Publish, Inc. to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate student voice while supporting reading, writing, and education.
PAUL BURT, co-founder and President of Pen & Publish, Inc., with his educator/author wife Dee. He combines a decade in publishing with an entrepreneurial heart committed to win-win outcomes. Paul started publishing books in the early days of Print-on-Demand (POD), helping build the largest self-publishing company in the world before bringing the benefits of book publishing to schools, nonprofits and select individuals. Burt’s collaborative approach — book sales rather than author fees — reflects his vision of publishing's future.
DANA CARPENDER, long-time Bloomington resident, began her career as a self-published, self-promoting author, writing about low carbohydrate nutrition. A decade later, she has had nine books published, and has earned the title "best-selling author." She has appeared on television, including The Today Show, Wayne Brady, Fox and Friends, and QVC. She recently appeared as a featured speaker on Jimmy Moore's Low Carb Diet Cruise.
VERNA DREISBACH is an award-winning writer who has been featured in books, literary journals, magazines, and newspapers. Prior to founding Dreisbach Literary Management in 2008, she spent nearly two years working for a reputable literary agency and has established numerous contacts in the publishing industry. A frequent traveler to writing conferences, Verna also serves on the board of directors for the CSUS Writers Conference in Sacramento, CA and is the president and founder of the Capitol City Young Writers, a non-profit writing organization for students in both junior high and high school. In addition, Verna serves as an editor to the Calaveras Station, Sacramento State University's literary journal.
KIM FLOWERS EVANS holds degrees in Psychology and Graphic Design and worked in the greeting card industry before opening her freelance design business in 1999. Her desire to work with girls and young women grew out of her experience as a writer in the Bloomington WWF(a)C community. Last summer, Kim attended WWF(a)C Girls Training in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is currently enrolled in the 2009 Conscious Feminine Leadership Academy.
MISSY FELLER teaches literature and writing classes at Benjamin Bosse High School and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English education. Currently, she sponsors the BHS Writers' Guild, encouraging teens to explore their own enthusiasm for storytelling through a school literary magazine, Imagery, writing workshops, and a school-wide Coffee House. Missy will soon complete her novel, Wings: the Scars We Hide. A full-time teacher and mother, she loves reading -- especially reading to her son and her students -- and finds the universal themes of relationships, fate, and the power of knowledge a source of inspiration for her own writing.
BOB HAMMEL spent 40 years at the Bloomington Herald-Times and 52 years in the newspaper business. He is a member of the Indiana Sportswriters and Broadcasters Assn. and U.S. Basketball Writers Association Halls of Fame. He is the author of eight books and co-author of three others, including Knight: My Story, the autobiography of former IU basketball coach Bobby Knight. That book spent four weeks in the Top 5 on the New York Times bestseller list. He and his wife, Julie, have two children and two grandchildren.
RANDY HANDLEY is a bluesman, a singer, and a songwriter. He lives outside Nashville, TN where he has performed extensively, including shows at historical venues like the Opry, the Ryman, and the Bluebird. As part of the vital Nashville songwriting community, he has written songs for megastars like Garth Brooks and peerless talents such as John Cowan and Jo El Sonnier.
He spent a few years as the band leader and singer for his award-winning blues-rock outfit, The Randy Handley Band in Denver, while writing songs for the likes of John Denver and John Mellencamp, and sharing the stage with greats like The Band, Dr. John and many others.
Born in Chicago, Randy grew up in Indiana, and was first hired as a songwriter in Los Angeles. His earliest song cuts were written for legends like Diana Ross and Charlie Rich. He later logged thousands of miles as a road musician & keyboardist for Lee Roy Parnell playing Austin to New York, Lake Charles to Detroit, and back again.
His most recent recording, THIS GUY IS BLUE, is available from CD BABY and online at Rhapsody and elsewhere, and showcases his blues music.
BRESHAUN JOYNER is the current Education Director at the Bloomington Playwrights Project. She has taught playwriting as part of the Discovering Third Street Park History Project and conducts playwriting workshops in area schools for students interested in submitting a play for the annual BPP Mini Play competition. She also teaches playwriting at Templeton Elementary School as part of the Family Playwriting program. Her long-time work in the area of innovative and multicultural curriculum development has won her local recognition as well as national awards for outstanding programs.
DR. MELISSA KELLER has extensive educational experience, including her years spent as a teacher and an elementary school principal in the Indianapolis Public School system. Currently, Dr. Keller works with the IU undergraduate elementary special education program called Teaching All Learners (TAL). She coordinates and supervises the students' field work and student teaching, teaches a seminar on urban education, and teaches a course on school collaboration for undergraduates and graduates. Dr. Keller is also a founding member of Writing Unlimited and the Sisters of the Flying Fountain Pen writing circle.
JOSEPH KERSCHBAUMis the author of four poetry collections and two spoken word CDs. His work has appeared in numerous journals around the country. He has performed around the country. He is a member for trail-blazing poetry performance troupe, the Reservoir Dogwoods. Joseph lives in Bloomington.
JOE LEE is an illustrator and author with many years of experience ranging from comics to hardcovers. He is the author and illustrator of the The History of Clowns for Beginners (a subject he knows well as a graduate of Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey's Clown College and a veteran of Ringling, King Bros.-Cole, and Hoxie Bros. Circuses), and Dante for Beginners. He is also the illustrator of nine other titles in the ongoing "for Beginners" series and an award winning editorial cartoonist for the Bloomington Herald-Times and the staff illustrator for Brown County Magazine.
GRETA LIND (Young Women Writing for (a) Change, Project Coordinator), is certified to facilitate circles of girls and teens using the WWF(a)C Model. Greta has a BFA in Theatre from the University of Illinois and has acted professionally in theater, television, and film. She has also studied dreaming with Robert Moss. Greta believes in living life with courage, transparency, and humor.
BETH LODGE-RIGAL, Director, Women Writing for (a)Change, of Bloomington, LLC, is a life-long writer, artist and educator and an award-winning songwriter, having self-produced four original CDs. She has worked with diverse groups of all ages and abilities for most of her adult life. She is certified to utilize the WWF(a)C approach with Adults and Young Women. She models and encourages the telling of true stories and development of authentic voice.
EMILY OKADA has been a reference librarian, first in a public library and now at Indiana University. More often than not, she works directly with researchers to find information for their academic, personal and professional projects.
SELENA OSTERMAN has been enamored with the creative side of advertising since she was in her teens. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the University of Florida’s School of Journalism, during which she interned at a London public relations firm and shot and edited sports for the Gainesville, FL ABC affiliate. With experience ranging from Media Relations Officer for the Association of Surfing Professionals’ World Tour to Creative Development Manager at Twentieth Century Fox on shows that included Family Guy, Stargate and Futurama, Selena can share perspectives gained from a wide range of fields, including sports, apparel, science fiction and entertainment.
MARY PAGLIER POPP has been at the Indiana University Libraries for more than 30 years. She specializes in connecting users to the information they need through the Web.
JANET RABINOWITCH is Director of Indiana University Press, where she has been an editor since 1975. During that time she has acquired and sponsored the publication of more than 600 books, principally in the fields of Slavic studies, Jewish and Holocaust studies, philosophy, and Middle East and African studies. Many of the books she has sponsored have received prestigious awards.
RACHEL SLOUGH works in library instructional services at the Indiana University Libraries where she helps college students hone their research skills.
NAAZISH YARKHAN, an NPR commentator, and blogger for Huffington Post, has written for over 31 publications.Her work has has been published in Chicago, Toronto, India and Oman.She is currently Managing Editor of a food industry publication ( circ. 40,000), and a columnist for the Oman Observer. Most recently she was a panelist on Chicago Tonight/ PBS on Race, Faith and Body Image. As founder of Writers Studio workshops in Chicago, she teaches students in grades 3 to 12, with publication and literary competitions as the intended goal. 60% of her students have been published and / or have won national and international literary competitions. She is in the process of finding a publisher for her literary fiction novel which is set in India.
Winner of the the MWA "Inspiring Woman Award" for her work with refugees, inter-faith work and community service are huge parts of her identity. She is on the advisory board and a poet-instructor for the inter-faith program Poetry Pals, for 3rd to 5th graders.
BOB YEHLING is an award-winning journalist, author, editor, workshop instructor and author’s consultant with vast experience in the book, online, magazine and newspaper trades. He is the author of seven books, including Writes of Life, which won an Independent Publishers Book Award in 2007, and The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life, the thematic inspiration for this conference. Also a prominent ghostwriter, Bob sits on the Board of Directors of the Capitol City Young Writers and Western Kentucky Arts Council. He is president of Word Journeys, Inc., and creator of AuthorStart.com. He grew up in Carlsbad, Calif., and now lives in Western Kentucky.
