LOCAL AUTHORS (MONTANA)

Dan Aadlan- Dan is a rancher, retired teacher, and former Marine officer, but the role of writer has been his primary preoccupation since he learned to love the written word as a child. Early tastes included the best outdoor writers of the day, and of course Mark Twain, the master. After service in Viet Nam he attended the University of Utah, where he earned an MA in English and a Ph.D.in American Studies and creative writing. Then it was back to Montana for a busy life divided between ranching and teaching high school English and various extension courses for the university system.

Claude Alick- “In life, human beings are the same,” says Claude Alick. “They bring up the notion of race and that means little. I think it’s more like tribalism, when you really think about it. Science has told us over and over that race is a false concept. The perception was invented by philosophers striving to justify man’s inhumanity to man. So they had to do the break down of white, yellow, black and red.” Born and raised in Saint Georges on the island of Grenada, where he lived until he was 19, the Missoula-based writer explains that the main concept he seeks to emphasize in his work is that regardless of where people live on this planet, what tribes they pledge allegiance to, we are all the same creature.

Rick Bass- Rick Bass is a widely published essayist and novelist on environmental subjects, particularly the Yaak Valley of Montana where he lives. Recent books include The Book of Yaak (1996), The New Wolves: The Return of the Mexican Wolf to the American Southwest (1998), and The Roadless Yaak: Reflections and Observations about One of Our Last Wilderness Areas (2002).

Judy Blunt- Judy was born into a third generation of Montana homesteaders. Breaking Clean covers the first 30 years of her life in rural communities near Malta, culminating with her critical move across the state to attend college in Missoula. Married to a local rancher at age 18, Blunt had three children over the next 13 years. As her story unfolds in Breaking Clean, Blunt's desire to explore life beyond the ranch increases. Eventually her curiosity and courage prevail. "A decade after leaving Phillips County, I find that place defines my voice as a writer as surely as it once defined my life." (Judy Blunt, from an interview with Random House Publishers)

James Lee Burke- Burke was born in Houston, Texas, in 1936 and grew up on the Texas-Louisiana gulf coast. He attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute and later received a B. A. Degree in English and an M. A. from the University of Missouri in 1958 and 1960 respectively. Over the years he worked as a landman for Sinclair Oil Company, pipeliner, land surveyor, newspaper reporter, college English professor, social worker on Skid Row in Los Angeles, clerk for the Louisiana Employment Service, and instructor in the U. S. Job Corps. Today he and his wife live in Missoula, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana.

Brian Butler- Billings, Montana. Butler's first novel was published by Denlinger's Publishers, Ltd., and was released in September, 2003. It can be previewed (http://www.thebookden.com/). His second book, CHOCAN, was released by Denlinger's in June, 2004. In addition to writing novels, he has been published in non-fiction magazines in the areas of home finance, cooking, and fighting city hall on tax matters and has also written several radio and television commercials (local broadcasting affiliates).

Susan Campbell-Reneau- She enjoys big-game hunting and spending time in the outdoors, and devotes much of her time and energy to the community. She and her husband Jack have written many books together. Susan has written and edited 21 big-game hunting and western history books since 1982, including COLORADO'S BIGGEST BUCKS AND BULLS and Other Great Colorado Big Game, 2nd Edition, and The Adventures of Moccasin Joe: The True Life Story of Sgt. George S. Howard. Her newest book, Thrill of the Chase: Women and Their North American Big Game, was published by Safari Press in 2004. The family splits their time between homes in both Colorado and Montana.

John Clayton- Nonfiction writer John Clayton has worked for clients ranging from National Geographic to Harvard Business School publishing. His work covers Western history, environment, and literature, as well as advanced management communications techniques. He now calls central Montana home. Check out his new book The Cowboy Girl: The Life of Caroline Lockhart (Women in the West).

Sneed B. Collard III- He is the author of the award-winning books Science Warriors—The Battle Against Invasive Species; Shep our Most Loyal Dog; Dog Sense; Wings; and The Prairie Builders Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands, winner of 2006 AAAS/Subaru/Science Books & Films Prize for Excellence in Science Books. Sneed has evolved through several life-history stages on his way to becoming one of today's leading children's authors. His first book, Sea Snakes, was published in 1993. His fifty-third or fifty-fourth book who’s counting?), The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, will be released Fall, 2010. In 2006, Sneed was the recipient of the Washington Post Children's Book Guild Children's Nonfiction Writer of the Year Award for his body of work

James Crumley- Missoula, Montana. Crumley was the author of violent hardboiled crime novels and several volumes of short stories and essays, as well as published and unpublished screenplays. He has been described as "one of modern crime writing's best practitioners", who was "a patron saint of the post-Vietnam private eye novel" and a cross between Raymond Chandler and Hunter S. Thompson. His book The Last Good Kiss has been described as "the most influential crime novel of the last 50 years."

Kelly Cyr- Great Falls, Montana. She is a publisher and her website contains much information about writing down your own history. Check out her bookSupreme Love: A Battered Woman's True Story.

Raven Digitalis- (Missoula, MT) is the author of “Planetary Spells & Rituals,” “Shadow Magick Compendium,” and “Goth Craft”, all on Llewellyn. He is a Neopagan Priest and cofounder of the “disciplined eclectic” or “Eastern Hellenistic” tradition and training coven Opus Aima Obscuræ, and is a radio and club DJ of Gothic and industrial music. Also trained in Georgian Witchcraft and Buddhist philosophy, Raven has been a Witch since 1999 and a Priest since 2003, and an Empath all of his life.

Ivan Doig- Ivan was born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, in 1939. He grew up along the Rocky Mountain Front where much of his writing takes place... first book, the highly acclaimed memoir This House of Sky, was a finalist for the National Book Award... former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig is a graduate of Northwestern University where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism... he also holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington... in the century’s-end San Francisco Chronicle polls to name the best Western novels and works of non-fiction, Doig is the only living writer with books in the top dozen on both lists.

Debra Magpie Earling- Debra was born in Spokane, Washington, and grew up in western Montana. She is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation. In 1986 she graduated from the University of Washington magna cum laude. She received her MA in English and Fine Arts from Cornell University, and now teaches creative writing at the University of Montana. Earling's Lost Journals of Sacajewea—a collaboration with master printer Peter Koch—was published in 2010.

Diane Elliott- Elliott lives with her husband and her Jack Russell in Bozeman, Montana, when she’s not working from her retreat in the historic jail, nestled in the Tobacco Root Mountains, in tiny Pony, Montana. Her historical novel Strength of Stone was short-listed for the 2003 Saroyan Prize for Literature and garnered the 2003 Willa Finalists Award in historical fiction. She has published poetry and short stories in literary magazines and received awards from the Montana Institute of the Arts, the National Book Club and the Mary Brennen Clapp Memorial Poetry Contest. Her multimedia script, "Impersonating Bernie" written for the Montana Ballet Company, received NEA funding and was produced in 1993.

Diana Pharaoh Francis- fantasy writer; She was raised on a cattle ranch in Northern California where she taught herself to ride a horse at the age of six. She has a Ph.D. in Victorian literature and currently teaches literature and writing at the University of Montana-Western. She lives in Montana with her husband, son and an oversized lapdog. Path of Fate is her first novel.

Gene Frechin- He is the author of the novel The Event . Born in California, he grew up in Walnut Creek and attended California State University at Stanislaus graduating in 1995 with a degree in the Social Sciences. Along the way he developed a love for the old classic muscle cars of the 60's and still owns a 1968 Firebird 400, worked for Standard Oil of California, served two terms in the Air Force, opened his own business in the Sacramento area, worked in retail management for a number of years, the government, and was an independent business consultant. He loves the outdoors, fishing, hunting, writing, photography, traveling and spending time with his family. Gene Frechin lives with his family in Montana.

Pete Fromm- Great Falls, Montana. Pete Fromm is a 4 time winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award for his books As Cool As I Am, How All this Started, Dry Rain, and Indian Creek Chronicles.

Rebecca Gahagan- Rebecca Gahagan lives in Billings, Montana with her husband, two sons and Ajax the Warrior Dog. They can often be found chasing wayward bunnies in the back yard and are always on the look out for dinosaurs. "Josephine Lost", her first novel, was published in August,2011.

Paul Gebow- Having served as a medic in Vietnam, Paul writes about what he personally experienced, what he saw in others, what he heard others say about their time served, and the general effect that war has on a soldier. "Odes to Vietnam Vets", was finished in April 2007 and Star Printing of Miles City, Montana handled the printing. Paul dedicated his book "to those who did not come back", and it is evident throughout this book that there are different levels of loss, which he covers in the nine odes. Please check it out!

Richard Hugo- Hugo was born in Washington State in 1923. He served in World War II, earned Creative Writing degrees at the University of Washington, and worked as a technical writer for Boeing. In the 1960s Hugo began a nearly two-decade career of teaching at the University of Montana, and published several volumes of poetry and prose. In 1974 he married poet Ripley Schemm.

Jeanette Ingold- Jeanette was born in New York to a family of Texans and grew up knowing both Dallas and Long Island, where she was raised. She and her husband, Kurt, lived in Delaware, Kansas, Texas, and Washington State before settling in Montana to raise their two children. Jeanette began her writing career at the Missoulian, a background she brought to her new novel, Paper Daughter.

Jon A. Jackson- Jackson grew up in northern Michigan and Detroit and currently lives in Missoula, Montana. He is an author of mysteries, thrillers, and most known for the Fang Mulheisen detective series.

Olivia Kim- Bozeman, Montana. She is currently finishing a novel set in a small community in Montana, redemption is sought and ultimately though painfully found for a man who has been accused of killing his younger brother when they were children; as told through his relationships with his nemesis, a boy who befriends him and looks to him for support in stuggling through the death of his parents, and a new found love.

T. E. Lewis- from Glacier National Park, He is a training manager and consultant in the hospitality industry currently managing a motel in the popular destination area of Glacier National Park in northwest Montana, USA. His book, Montana Outdoor Recreation Web Guide is an excellant referance for the locations, and regulations on fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, sightseeing, and back country wilderness areas at your fingertips.

John Maclean- author of two previous award-winning books on disastrous wildfires, has written a third – this one chronicling the Thirtymile Fire that killed four firefighters in 2001 in northeast Washington. The fire, which initially appeared to be a quick suppression effort with a bit of mop-up, spiraled out of control into a disaster fire that burned over 9,000 acres. Four young firefighters were killed, several others were injured, and another was severely burned but managed to survive. Maclean is both a journalist and a gifted storyteller; he spent much of his 30-year career in Washington, D.C., as a Chicago Tribune correspondent covering national and international news. But for a man whose early career was in the Midwest and the nation's capital, Maclean's still a Western boy, linked by his family's ties to Montana, where he spent much of his youth.

Norman Fitzroy Maclean- born in Clarinda, Iowa, his family relocated to Missoula, Montana in 1909. The following years were a considerable influence on and inspiration to his writings, appearing prominently in the short story The Woods, Books, and Truant Officers (1977), and semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It (1976). Too young to enlist in the military during World War I, Maclean worked in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service in what is now the Bitterroot National Forest of northwestern Montana. The novella USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky and the story "Black Ghost" in Young Men and Fire (1992) are semi-fictionalized accounts of these experiences.

Kat Martin- Missoula, Montana, Kat is the bestselling author of more than 50 Historical and Contemporary Romance novels. Before she started writing in 1985, Kat was a real estate broker. During that time, she met her husband, Larry Jay Martin, also an author. Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in Anthropology and History.

L.J. Martin- Missoula, Montana, L.J. is the author of over 30 book length works from such major NY publishers as Bantam, Avon, and Pinnacle. His works of fiction include westerns, thrillers, mysteries, and historicals; and of non-fiction include a book on killing cancer (he’s a two time cancer survivor), a cookbook, a how-to book on writing, a book of cartoons, and a political thesis. Many of his recent titles have been best sellers on the Number 1 bookseller in the world, Amazon. His avocations include photography, gardening, cooking (see wolfpackranch.com), travel, shooting, fishing and hunting. L. J. lives in Montana with his wife, Kat, a NYT bestselling internationally published author of over 55 historical and romantic suspense novels.

R. L. McCallum- R. L. McCallum is a novelist, poet,and enthusiastic student of English literature, Medieval history and European mythology and folklore. As a writer of Gothic fiction he strives to maintain the criteria required for a good Victorian ghost story. He currently lives near Hamilton, Montana in the Bitterroot Valley.

D'Arcy McNickle- McNickle was born in Montana in 1904 to a white father and a Metis mother. His 1936 novel The Surrounded is the story of Archilde Leon, a troubled young man who returns to the reservation and is caught up in family and community conflicts. McNickle chronicles shifting relationships between Europeans and Native Americans on a fictional version of the Flathead Indian Reservation. The novel was named the 2009 One Book Montana selection and is considered an early masterpiece of Native American fiction.

Rionna Morgan- Growing up out West, Rionna Morgan followed her love of horses to the rodeo arena and her love of English to the classroom and to writing. She has been looking forward to sharing her stories with you her whole life. Rionna is a founding member of Montana Romance Writers; she reads as much as she can possibly hold, and she loves most of all the chilling thrill of a great suspense threaded through a great romance. Rionna shares her home in Missoula, Montana with her husband, her four children and the mountains outside her window.

Richard Neumann- Helena, Montana. After graduating from college with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Forestry,he joined the Marine Corps to become a pilot. He spent seven years on active duty and eight years in the reserves. His youngest child is autistic, which is why he donates to the Autism Research Institute and why he usually features an autistic character in his books. His work reflects his life experiences. His latest book is Jack's Last Promise

Susan Overfield- North of Great Falls. She is nationally known for her behavioral obedience training for dogs. She teachs owners a proven method that dogs understand, can achieve and maintain. So immediate is the change in the dog's behavioral response and so full of common sense and information about dogs and how they think is Overfield's behavioral obedience training for dogs, that owners, as well as some dog trainers, shelters and rescue personnel, are changing their teaching methods to this form of obedience training for dogs with amazing and positive results for all.

Christopher Paolini- Paolini is an American novelist. He is best known as the author of the Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. He lives in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he wrote his first book.

David Quammen- Quammen is an award-winning science, nature and travel writer whose work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic, Outside, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times Book Review. He wrote a column, called "Natural Acts", for Outside magazine for fifteen years. Quammen lives in Bozeman, Montana.

Russell Rowland- Born in Bozeman, Montana, in 1957 and now in Billings. His first novel, In Open Spaces, made the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list and was named among the "Best of the West 2002" by the Salt Lake City Tribune. It received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly. Rowland's second novel, The Watershed Years, was recently released and has garnered rave reviews. The Missoulian says, "Rowland writes with precision about the fabric of people’s lives – fabric that sometimes flutters smoothly, but that sometimes is tattered by family conflicts." He teaches at Montana State University and with the Gotham Writers' Workshops [writingclasses.com].

Corlette Sande- Author of The Young Peacemaker. From the perspective of a school teacher and mother, Corlette Sande unpacks the concept of forgiveness and how necessary it is to help our children be true peacemakers.

Lynda Sexson- Lynda is the author of two book-length works of fiction, Hamlet's Planets and Margaret of the Imperfections and a work of non-fiction, Ordinarily Sacred. Her most recent story, "Sally, Lucky, Ghost, and Spot," appears in a recent issue of Image, and her most recent essay, "The Duct-Tape Side of the Moon: Rip Van Winkle and the Separation," appears in The Kenyon Review. The BBC is presently funding an animated film version of her short story, "Turning." She is currently at work on a book manuscript on sacred text and mythic America titled "Stack of Bibles."

John Taliaferro- John Taliaferro is a former senior editor at Newsweek and the author of three acclaimed books, Great White Fathers: The Story of the Obsessive Quest to Create Mount Rushmore, Charles M. Russell: The Life and Legend of America's Cowboy Artist, and Tarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He lives in Pray, Montana, and Austin, Texas

Coming Soon.

Maryanne Vollers- Maryanne Vollers is a writer and producer based in Livingston, Montana. Her first book, Ghosts of Mississippi, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1995. Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole (2001), coauthored with Dr. Jerri Nielsen, was a New York Times No. 1 Bestseller.

Josh Wagner- Missoula, MT. Josh is an comics writer and novelist based primarily in Missoula, Montana. He writes comic books, novels, short stories, and is also a screenwriter and film producer. His style is heavily influenced by metafiction, folk tales, and surrealist modern literature. The Missoula Independent refers to his as the Shakespeare of Missoula

Danica Winters- Missoula, MT. Danica is an award-winning romance author based in Montana. She is known for writing books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and often a touch of magic. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Montana Romance Writers, and Greater Seattle Romance Writers. She is a contributor to magazines, websites, and news organizations. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, the outdoors, and the bliss brought by the printed word.

P.S. Winn - Kalispell, MT. P.S. Winn writes books to clear all the ideas from her head. She currently has four books on the market. Since she can't sleep at night until all the ideas are down on paper, there will definitely be more to come!

Judy H. Wright- Missoula, MT. Judy is a life educator, family coach, and keynote speaker who has written more than 20 books, hundreds of articles and speaks internationally on family, parenting and relationship issues, including communication, encouragement, and end of life. She also focuses on personal issues like anxiety, depression, confidence and self-esteem and works with many small and large organizations--from Head Start to child care resource centers.

Coming Soon.

Paul Zarsyski- Paul Zarzyski calls himself a Rodeo Poet, a title earned from, and informed by, the 35 years he’s spent spurrin’ the words wild across fenceless/open range of the blank page. Of his ten collections, three books remain in print—WOLF TRACKS ON THE WELCOME MAT, which received the 2004 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, ALL THIS WAY FOR THE SHORT RIDE (the rodeo poems), winner of The 1997 Western Heritage (Wrangler) Award from The National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, and BLUE-COLLAR LIGHT, a chapbook which speaks in both prose and poetry to his boyhood roots in northern Wisconsin. Paul Zarzyski is the recipient of the 2005 Montana Governor’s Arts Award For Literature.

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