from Boyds, Maryland

                        from Scottsville, Virginia

Catherine Gillispie, a first-time author, was born in Erwin Tennessee to the late Lula Foster Higgins and James Higgins. She now lives in Virginia with her husband Paul. They have two sons, Paul and Mark.

Catherine has been a receptionist for a law firm for the past 22 years. She is very active in building her church. Sharing time with her family, friends and writing are the things she most enjoys in life. Her love of books and vivid imagination makes writing not only relaxing but also fun.

Bringing Katie Home starts with Ellie Gill moving with her husband, George, to a small town just south of Huntsville, Alabama. It was picture-perfect: quaint tidy houses, peaceful streets, and friendly neighbors. Sadly, soon after, George unexpectedly dies. Her neighbor, Barry Wilson, encourages her to get a job, which she does. Ellie enjoys her new job – until one evening during a horrible thunderstorm, she hears a ghostly cry for help.

Soon, Ellie finds herself entangled in a twenty-year-old unsolved murder case, and the problems mount. It doesn’t take her long to find out the quaint little southern town has a dark secret. A secret of murder, lies and deceit.

Be ready for a suspenseful and thrilling read with Bringing Katie Home.

                      from Lynchburg, Virginia

Martha Hamlett lives in Lynchburg, Virginia with her husband, Phillip, and two sons, Noah and Christian.  She grew up in a small farming community called Red House.  She uses her childhood experiences as the basis for many of her stories.

She has been writing since her early teenage years.  Her greatest joy is writing poems and stories for children.  Over the years, she has used her stories in activities with classes to spark the imagination of the students.  She encourages them to take an “imagination journey” as she reads and describe what they see in their mind as they listen to the story. 

In November 2008, her first published book, “Bats in the Air, Bats in My Hair,” was released.  The story is based on an event from her own childhood when she and her cousins stayed overnight with their Grandmother.  The girls were awakened in the night only to see a bat tangled in their sleeping Cousin Deb’s hair.  They screamed and ran to the boys’ room and jumped on their bed.  The slats fell out from under the bed and everyone tumbled to the floor.  Their Grandmother was not very amused.

She and Davey Morgan are collaborating on a second book called X’s and O’s.  In the meantime, Martha continues to read in schools throughout Virginia and speak at teacher conferences such as VEMA and the Longwood Summer Conference.

                  from Newport News, Virginia

Bestselling author and award finalist, Denise P. Jeffries has been writing since 1993. Her short stories, essays and articles have appeared in The Sun Magazine, Shades of Romance Magazine.  She has fourteen books to her credit and is continuously cranking out more books. Her book, romantic suspense, fantasy, paranormal and contemporary romances are said to be a wild ride of romance and intrigue.  Her book, Whispers in the Dark, was a finalist for Best Suspense in 2008 Emma Awards.

Mrs. Jeffries, a Registered Nurse resides with her husband, Leon, in Newport News, Virginia, where she works as a medical care manager. She was born in New Jersey and has been a resident of Virginia for many years.  .

Mrs. Jeffries provides workshops and lectures on such topics as Decreasing Your Professional Liability, Characterization, Conflict and Plot, Using Your Five Senses to Enhance Your Writing, Creating Emotions and Getting Published: What They Forgot To Tell Us.  She has been noted in Who’s Who of American Nursing, Who’s Who in the South and Southeast, Who’s Who in American Women, Who’s Who of Healthcare and Medicine and Who’s Who of Professionals.

She is also a member of Romance Writers of America and the Chesapeake Romance Writers.

dpjeffriesthewriter@hotmail.com
www.denisejeffries.com

                      from Waynesboro, Virginia

Bob Johnson is the Pastor of the Blue Ridge Chapel Church of the Brethren located north of Waynesboro, Virginia on Route 340.  Chaplain Bob is a Master Chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC), where he currently serves as a Disaster response team member and holds life membership.  He also serves as the Mid East Regional Director for the organization, providing administrative leadership for chaplains in seven states and the DC area.

Chaplain Bob served two tours of duty at the WTC disaster in New York and was compelled to write about his experiences.  He recently served as the point man for the ICPC in Gulfport Mississippi, in the aftermath of Katrina, serving the police departments of Gulfport, Long Beach, and Pass Christian.

Chaplain Bob has just finished the National Incident Management Training from FEMA as part of the Homeland Security disaster response team and is also a member of the Blue Ridge Critical Incident Stress Team.  In addition to his service in law enforcement chaplaincy, he also serves as a volunteer Chaplain at Augusta Medical Center, where he is also a member of the chaplain’s supervisory committee. 

Bob has served as a Chaplain for the Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad, the Staunton Police Department and is now serving as Chaplain for the Waynesboro Police Department.  He is a former FBI Chaplain having served in Washington DC.  He is a life Member of the Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad and served as a Sergeant of a patrol unit with the Staunton Police Reserves.

He has written a training seminar called the Ministry of Presence: One-on-One and is presently developing a training book on this program.  Bob has presented this seminar at the International Annual Training Conference of the ICPC and at regional training seminars as well.  He has spoken at the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health annual conference on his experience at the WTC disaster and has shared his story with many local civic organizations as well.

Bob is the director of the disaster response team for the International conference of Police chaplains.  (ICPC)

Chaplain Bob Johnson will be signing copies of "I Saw God ...in the midst of tragedy: A Chaplain's Experience at Ground Zero at Book 'Em.

                from Hedgesville, West Virginia

In addition to her quilting, Carol has been exploring the world of wearable art. She will be bringing her most recent line of handcrafted hand bags to Book 'Em.  Because each one is unique, you can be assured you will never find someone else carrying the same bag! 

Not only does Carol work with fabric, she has begun another project - a mystery novel - drawing on her pre-retirement career as a geriatric social worker.  While struggling with the issues of aging, her main character, Sarah, believes her husband's death many years prior may not have been an accident at all, but something far more sinister. 

                         from Ellsworth, Maine                     
                  NY Times Best-Selling Author!

                from Raleigh, North Carolina