Birth Year (-Died Year)

1956

Birth City

Chickasha

Birth State

OK

Current Location

Colorado Springs, CO

Author's Website

Occupation(s)

Entertainer and author

Biography

John Bryan is a writer, composer, musician, actor and illusionist. He has lived in Colorado Springs, CO since 1984 with his wife Michèle and is the proud father of two sons, Erik and Alex. He is the author of the novel Dark Brother and the short story collection entitled Side Streets and Dark Alleys.

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Organizations

International Brotherhood of Magicians

Speaker Availability

Yes

Speaker Topics

Making fiction real
Where ideas come from

Current Location

Colorado Springs, CO

Author's Website

Biography

John Dwaine McKenna is the author of four fiction novels, three of which have been awarded EVVYS for excellence in fiction by the Colorado Independent Publisher’s Association, or CIPA. He writes a weekly newspaper column called the Mysterious Book Report for the Tri-Valley Townsman in Sullivan County, New York where he was born and raised in the beautiful southern Catskill Mountains. During his career, he was a salesman, serial business owner, an investment advisor, and a compliance officer for a nationwide investment firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. He retired in 2000 and revisited his writing talents, which had lain dormant since his college days.

He and his wife June have lived in Southern Colorado for nearly five decades.

Awards/Honors

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Speaker Availability

No

Author's Website

Biography

Kevin Ikenberry still wants to be an astronaut. As an adult, he’s managed the U.S. Space Camp program and operated two Challenger Learning Centers, and is a retired Army space operations officer. His science fiction Sleeper Protocol, which Publisher’s Weekly called “an emotionally powerful debut,” was released in January 2016 and is the first of a series. Kevin writes mainly science fiction with a strong military bent, but he also writes horror and romance. He makes his home in Colorado with his family.

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Speaker Availability

Yes

Pseudonym

Christine Goff

Author's Website

Biography

Chris Goff is an award-winning author of six novels based on environmental themes and two international thrillers. Her most recent book, Red Sky, was a 2018 Colorado Book Award Finalist. Set in Ukraine and Asia, Agent Raisa Jordan must test the boundaries of diplomacy as she races to prevent the start of a new Cold War. Catherine Coulter had this to say: "Breathtaking suspense, do not miss Red Sky." Goff's series debut, Dark Waters, was dubbed “a sure bet for fans of international thrillers" by Booklist. Dark Waters was a finalist for the 2016 Colorado Book Award, a finalist for the 2016 Colorado Authors' League Genre Award, and a finalist for the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Crime Fiction Audiobook.

Awards/Honors

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Interviews

Organizations

Mystery Writers of America

Speaker Availability

Yes

Current Location

Colorado Springs, CO

Email (Public)

Author's Website

Biography

Cindy Skaggs grew up on stories of mob bosses, horse thieves, cold-blooded killers, and the last honest man. Those mostly true stories gave her a lifelong love of storytelling and heroes. Her search for story took her around the world with the Air Force before returning to Colorado. Now she’s turning her lifelong love of storytelling into a career she loves. She has an MA in Creative Writing, three jobs, two kids, and more pets than she can possibly handle. She also plays the flute, makes crazy-good sculptures out of tortilla dough, and can wrangle the neurotic dog without getting mauled. Find her as Cindy Skaggs, Writer on Facebook, @CLSkaggs on Twitter, or www.CSkaggs.com to sign up for her newsletter.

Awards/Honors

Education/Training

Master of Arts in Creative Writing, Regis University, 2015 - MFA (candidate), Pacific Lutheran University, 2017

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Speaker Availability

Yes

Speaker Topics

Fear and the Writer - Romantic Suspense - Romance - Creative Nonfiction - Memoir

Birth Year (-Died Year)

1948

Birth City

Rochelle

Birth State

CO

Current Location

Colorado Springs, CO

Author's Website

Occupation(s)

Freelance writer, author, and photographer

Biography

Bert moved from Illinois to Colorado Springs in 1974 with his wife Nancy and sons Jeremy and Chad. He now has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He started as a freelance photojournalist covering action sports and started writing as well as photographing nearly twenty years ago. He has worked as a photographer and writer for rodeo/bull riding, and a track photographer for Pikes Peak International Raceway. As a freelance writer and photographer, he has sold hundreds of articles to dozens of magazines and sold thousands of photographs. He has covered the rodeo, bull riding, and performance horse world for many years and has written on subjects as diverse as the meat packing industry, water rights, and family ranching.

Awards/Honors

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Organizations

Owner/Publisher of Black Mule Press

Speaker Availability

Yes

Speaker Topics

* Most subjects related to journalism, photojournalism, and fiction writing
* Using the internet for research
* Writing your first novel
* Breaking into print
* Small press publishing

Pseudonym

T. R. Fischer

Birth Year (-Died Year)

1964

Birth City

Boulder

Birth State

CO

Current Location

Elbert, CO

Occupation(s)

Buffalo rancher - writer

Biography

T. R. grew up in and around Boulder, Colorado. After moving to California and sampling life in San Diego, San Francisco, and L. A., she and her husband moved back to the wilds of the Denver area. That didn't satisfy, so the city dwellers took up raising buffalo, along with their four rowdy children. Each day is an adventure, on and off the page. T. R. now resides near Black Forest. Before moving to Elbert County, we lived in Colorado Springs for two years.

Education/Training

I have always been a storyteller. Just ask my mother. As for writing them down, that has come by participating in classes and workshops, reading about writing fiction, but mostly from writing and getting critiqued by fellow writers. I have been in several critique groups. The one I am currently involved with formed through the Pikes Peak Writers nearly two years ago.

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Organizations

Pikes Peak Writers - South Denver Critique Group

Speaker Availability

Yes

Speaker Topics

* The road to self-publishing
* Writing suspense/romantic suspense
* How to learn what you don't know through research and networking with specialists

Current Location

Colorado Springs, CO

Author's Website

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Speaker Availability

Yes

Speaker Topics

Author meet and greet, author's novels

Birth City

West Point

Birth State

NY

Current Location

Monument, CO

Biography

I've been writing since before I could drive. Short stories, investigative exposes, celebrity profiles, editorials, business columns, radio dramas, screenplays--you name it. One story illustrates how young I was when I started: I was in the green room backstage to interview Bruce Springsteen. He came in, said hi, and sat opposite me. I was accustomed to letting the interviewee get things started, so we made small talk for a while. Finally, he looked at his watch, back at the door, and said, "Will your father be in soon to start the interview?" It's been a long time since anyone could mistake me for a youth tagging along with his father.

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Organizations

International Thriller Writers (ITW) - American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW)

Speaker Availability

Yes

Speaker Topics

Contact author for possible topics

Birth Year (-Died Year)

1965

Birth City

Dubuque

Birth State

IA

Current Location

Colorado Springs, CO

Author's Website

Occupation(s)

Retail clerk

Biography

Author Brian Bigelow is originally from Minnesota and currently lives in Colorado with his wife Brandy. He is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, and fantasy and has, for over 30 years, also written poetry which has been published worldwide.

Local Authors Genres

Published Works

Published Works Book Jackets

Speaker Availability

No