Below are the bio’s of the 2018 main speakers:
Damon Suede
Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. Though new to romance fiction, Damon has been writing for print, stage, and screen for two decades. He is currently on the board of RWA and is one of their most popular conference craft speakers. He’s won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year. Get in touch with him at DamonSuede.com.
Bella Andre
Bella Andre’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels about the Sullivans, the Maverick Billionaires, and the Morrisons, have been #1 bestsellers around the world and she has sold more than 7 million books so far! Know for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice and have been translated into ten languages. She also writes NYT bestselling sweet contemporary romances as Lucy Kevin. There are more than 50,000 5-star reviews on Bella Andre’s books on Goodreads! BellaAndre.com.
Nalini Singh is the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling, Guild Hunter, and Rock Kiss series. Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, she was first published in 2003. Her books have sold over seven million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than twenty languages, including German, French, Japanese, and Turkish. Her most recent releases (as of June 2018) are: Ocean Light, Cherish Hard, and Archangel’s Viper
Grace Burrowes
NY Times, USA Today bestselling author, Grace Burrowes is a recovering child welfare attorney who for decades turned to the reliable HEA of romance novels to balance the equally reliable stress of life as a litigator. She began writing as the empty nest years came into view, and has been happily engrossed in novelcraft ever since. She writes Georgian, Regency, Victorian, and contemporary stories, is a six-time RITA nominee, and has won best book of the year accolades from Publishers Weekly, The Library Journal, Kirkus, Romantic Times and the iBooks store. She lives in rural Maryland with various felines and canines who consider her their valet, chauffeur, housekeeper, cook, and scullery maid.
Geoff Symon
Geoff Symon is a 20-year Federal Forensic Investigator and Polygraph Examiner. His participation in high-profile cases includes the attacks on September 11, 2001, the War in Iraq, the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion, the 2002 bombings in Bali and the Chandra Levy investigation, among countless other cases. He has direct, first-hand experience investigating cases including murder (of all types), suicide, arson, kidnapping, bombings, sexual assault, child exploitation, theft and financial crimes. He has specified and certified training in the collection and preservation of evidence, blood-spatter analysis, autopsies and laboratory techniques. You can reach him at GeoffSymon.com.
PLEASE NOTE when booking flights: For those who are booking the full 3 day conference (Fri-Sun) the conference committee is offering a FREE 2 hour workshop on the Thursday night from 7pm to 9pm with Grace Burrowes, called Prose Toolkit.
The Prose Toolkit—We tell our stories with words, and if the words take enough wrong turns, even the best story can end up in the reject pile or worse, the Did Not Finish pile. Grace is a craft-hound, and has submitted to and judged for many contests. This workshop presents the top ten wrong turns Grace sees in contest submissions and in her own writing (still, alas), and some thoughts for how to repair ailing scenes, and keep the tension on every page.