Participants

Stacy Hawkins Adams is the author of Watercolored Pearls, Speak To My Heart and Nothing But the Right Thing. She is also a freelance journalist, who writes parenting columns for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and for Gov. Timothy Kaine's Smart Beginnings initiative.

Taylor Antrim, author of The Headmaster Ritual, is a Senior editor at ForbesLife and a regular contributor to Vogue. A graduate of Stanford University and Oxford, he earned his M.F.A. from UVa, where he held the Poe-Faulkner Fellowship.

Cara Black is the author of the bestselling Aimée Leduc Investigations set in Paris. Her latest, Murder in the rue de Paradis, is the eighth in the series.

Joanna Bourne, author of The Spymaster's Lady, writes historical romances, set in England and France during the Napoleonic Wars, a time of international intrigue, fierce idealism and passionate conviction.

Virginia Boyd, author of One Fell Swoop, lives in Durham, North Carolina. A Duke graduate, she earned a master's in English at North Carolina State University under the direction of Lee Smith. She teaches workshops for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke.

Carleen Brice is the author of Orange Mint and Honey, a mother-daughter novel. Author of several nonfiction books, she lives in Denver, where she and her musician husband have created a water-wise garden.

Carolyn Hale Bruce and Charles Randolph Bruce are from the mountains of southwestern Virginia. They have written, illustrated and published three Rebel King novels about Robert the Bruce, King of Scots and a regional book, Virginiana. Carolyn has written two pictorial histories.

Charles Randolph Bruce and his wife Carolyn Hale Bruce are from the mountains of southwestern Virginia. They have written, illustrated, and published three Rebel King novels about Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and a regional book, Virginiana.

Mary Burton is the author of the suspence romance, I'm Watching You, set in Central Virginia, and 15 other novels including 11 western historicals and four short romantic suspenses, most recently, Cold Case Cop.

H. G. Carrillo, a contributor to How I Learned English, is the author of the novel, Loosing My Espanish. His short stories have appeared in Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, Glimmer Train, and others. He teaches at The George Washington University.

Alan Cheuse is the author of The Fires. He is also a regular contributor to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and teaches in the Writing Program at George Mason University and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

David B. Coe is the William L. Crawford award-winning author of nine fantasy novels. His latest work, The Sorcerers' Plague, is the first volume of a new trilogy called Blood of the Southlands. His novels have been translated into 6 languages.

James Collins, author of Beginner's Greek, writes for The New Yorker and has been an editor at both Time and Spy magazines. He lives in Orange County, Virginia, with his family.

Peter David is a writer who has had over 70 novels and over 1,000 comics and graphic novels published, including numerous appearances on the New York Times Bestsellers List. His works include Mascot to the Rescue, Tigerheart, Sir Apropos of Nothing, Knight Life, Howling Mad, and the Psi-Man adventure series.

Jill A. Davis is the author of two New York Times best-selling novels: Ask Again Later and Girls' Poker Night. She was nominated for six Emmy Awards as a writer for David Letterman. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.