Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Margaret Murray, Conference Chair
mardi626@hotmail.com; 610-694-9259
Rachel Thompson, Conference PR
rachelwordsmith@yahoo.com; 610-997-0976

 FATHER OF ROCK and ROLLER KEYNOTES THE WRITE STUFF 2007
Gary Fincke Teaches and Speaks, Editors & Agents Meet with Conference Attendees

Award-winning writer and Director of Susquehanna University’s Writing Institute, Gary Fincke will deliver the keynote speech at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group’s 14th annual writer’s conference, The Write Stuff 2007, on April 27 & 28 at the Four Points Sheraton on Airport Road North in Allentown, PA.

Teacher, authoritative speaker, and versatile author of more than16 books from poetry to short stories and non-fiction, Fincke’s most recent book took him on a road trip far from the familiar world of academia as he followed his son’s rock and roll band on tour across the country.

Amp’d: A Father’s Backstage Pass chronicles four years in the life of his son—rock and roll guitarist Aaron Fincke—from winning MTV’s Ultimate Cover Band Battle in Strangers With Candy to joining Breaking Benjamin.  Amp’d provides a unique look at the bizarre and gritty world of commercial rock and celebrity; not from the viewpoint of a hanger on or wanna-be but from the perspective of a grounded college professor whose son’s experiences provide him with a unique entrée.

In 2003, Fincke’s book of short stories, Sorry I Worried You, won the prestigious Flannery O’Connor award for short fiction. He has received a PEN Syndicated Fiction Prize, seven fellowships for creative writing from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and two Pushcart Prizes.  His poetry received the Ohio State University Press/The Journal poetry prize, the Bess Hokin Prize from Poetry magazine and the Rose Lefcowitz Prize from Poet Lore.
In addition to delivering the keynote speech at lunch on Saturday, Fincke will provide critiques of non-fiction work submitted by conferees Friday evening and lead sessions on Saturday on how poets and short story writers can benefit from each other and writing from experience based on his reportage memoir, Amp’d: A Father’s Backstage Pass.  Reach Gary Fincke at gfincke@susqu.edu

Other session leaders include short story writer and novelist Alix Ohlin (Easton), history writer Mary Shafer (Ferndale), fantasy novelist Maria Snyder (Elizabethtown), prolific magazine writer Cheryl Solimini (Milford), novelist and children’s author, Loree Lough (Md.) and journalist and teacher Jack Lule (Bethlehem). 
Attendees have access to 17 sessions including Writing Dialogue and Point of View, Preparing Proposals, Marketing Your Work, Writing for Magazines, Building Characters from Myth and Writing Synopsis & Query Letters.  Appointments with agents and editors are available.  A special session Friday evening will prepare attendees for those meetings. 

The Write Stuff 2007 will be held at the Four Points Sheraton, Airport Road North in Allentown.  Register online at www.glvwg.org or on Friday, April 27th beginning at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m.  Registration is $130 ($95 for students).  Conferees are also invited to attend the hors d’oeuvre party from 8:30 to 10 p.m. on April 27th to meet presenters, agents, editors and other writers. 

For more information, visit www.glvwg.org or contact conference chair Margaret Murray at mardi626@hotmail.com or 610-694-9259. 

Bios of Other Conference Speakers:

Loree Lough the author of fiction and non-fiction for kids and adults has more than 2,200 articles in print.  Lough teaches writing courses, seminars and workshops and designed The Leading Edge Writers’ Studios, interactive one-day workshops.  Contact Lough at loreelough13@verizon.net

Jack Lule, a journalist and professor at Lehigh University and author of Daily News, Eternal Stories: The Mythological Role of Journalism.   Lule can be reached at jack.lule@Lehigh.EDU.

Alix Ohlin, author of the novel, The Missing Person, and a book of short stories, Babylon and Other Stories, is a professor at Lafayette College. Her fiction has received awards and fellowships from The Atlantic Monthly, Yaddo, and the MacDowell Colony. Contact Ohlin at ohlina@lafayette.edu

Kathi J. Paton was an editor at Simon & Schuster before opening her agency, Kathi J. Paton Literary Agency, in 1987. Paton specializes in commercial nonfiction and literary fiction.  She also co-authored Polls Apart: How to Tell a Democrat from a Republican. Contact Paton at kjplitbiz@optonline.net
Mary Shafer, a marketing professional, owner of The Word Forge and Word Forge Books. Shafer authored the non fiction book Devastation on the Delaware: Stories and Images of the Deadly Flood of 1955. Contact Shafer at wordsmith@thewordforge.com

Maria Sndyer is the author of the adult fantasy trilogy, which includes POISON STUDY (2005) and MAGIC STUDY (2006) to date, Storm Watcher (a middle grade reader) as well as numerous freelance articles in regional magazines and local newspapers.  Sndyer can be reached at mariasnyder@yahoo.com

Cheryl Solimini former editor at Child, Country Living, Family Circle, McCall’s and Weight Watchers Magazine has written over 250 articles for national magazines such as American Health, Child, Country Living, Family Circle, Fitness, Healthy Living, Living Fit, McCall's, More, Natural Health, New Woman, Prevention, Redbook, Sesame Street Parents, WomansDay.com and Working Woman. She is also the author of five nonfiction books, one humor book and an as-yet-unpublished mystery novel.  Reach Solimini at csol@ptd.net

About GLVWG
The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group (GLVWG) provides its members with a network of writing support and resources, acts as a central information point for writing and publishing activities, and advances the writing interests of its members. The group meets monthly from September through June on the fourth Saturday of the month at the Palmer Library, Palmer Township. Meetings focus on an aspect of craft or publishing as well as a "Spotlight" reading by one member. GLVWG also offers critique groups, monthly writing discussions at Border's, special writing workshops, and a spring writing conference. For more information, please see our website at www.glvwg.org.