John Lynch is the Director of Sales and Entertainment for the Wildwoods Convention Center, a position he has held for the past 10 years. His duties include booking the facility and acting as a spokesperson for the Wildwoods Tourism Authority at various conventions and industry events throughout Cape May County. In addition to volunteering his time for a host of community organizations, Lynch is very proud of his Lunch with Lynch Foundation, which assists low-income elementary school students in the Wildwoods, focusing on Glenwood Avenue Elementary School, one of the poorest school districts in New Jersey. Always seeking new and inventive ways to raise funds for his program, John wrote and illustrated a book outlining this foundation in order to solicit funds. To date, the book has generated over $12,000 in donations for the organization and has been well received by supporters of his foundation. John is currently working on a new project about an alligator named George, who attends school in the Wildwoods and has to deal with the issues of being different from those around him.

Neal Slotkin, Senior Producer at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, conducts interviews with players, coaches, and team personnel during daily coverage of Philadelphia and national sports. He writes scripts for News-of-the-Day packages and long-format features, researches story ideas for multiple network programs, formats rundowns, and line produces studio shows, including SportsNite, SportsRise, Daily News Live, and Post-Game Live.  Neal has won four Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards, including two for writing achievement.  Neal is also an Adjunct Instructor at Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he teaches college students basic skills and techniques for journalistic writing.

 NEW OFFERING: Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway will offer a query-writing workshop limited to no more than 12 participants, who may sign up for the workshop when they register for the conference. There will be no additional fee for the workshop, but it will be filled on a first come/first served basis. Check the About Us page of this website for details.
Jane is the author of a mystery series set at the Jersey shore, a book of Sherlockian novellas, and a few short screenplays. Caitlen works at a literary agency in NYC, currently acquiring nonfiction and selected fiction in the categories of childen, middle-grade, and young adult; her first solo-title novel, a middle-grade fantasy, will be published by Bloomsbury Children's in 2012. Jane and Caitlen are the co-authors of Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, a novel-length adaptation of Jane Austen's Lady Susan, and the YA short Story "What Would Austen Do?" which will appear in the upcoming anthology of Austen-related fiction Jane Austen Made Me Do It.

Lou Harry, a native of Wildwood, is the author or co-author of more than 20 books, including The High-Impact Infidelity Diet: A Novel (Random House), The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures (Quirk Books), Creative Block (Running Press), the novelization of the cult classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Penguin) and most recently The Complete Excuses Handbook: Women's Edition (Cider Mill Press). His plays include Midwestern Hemisphere and The Pied Piper of Hoboken. A member of the American Theatre Critics association, he has won numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and has been published in more than 50 periodicals, including Variety, Grandparents.com, and Dramatics. He serves as Arts & Entertainment Editor for the Indianapolis Business Journal, and his arts writing can be found at www.ibj.com/arts. He took a pie in the face from Soupy Sales, saw Bob Saget in his underwear (Saget's, not Harry's), and once made Mel Brooks laugh. He's thrilled to be home.

Charis Conn is a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine, where she has edited fiction and nonfiction for 20 years, working with writers such as George Plimpton, Joyce Carol Oates, Paula Russo and David Foster Wallace. She has taught editing and writing at several universities and has been a welcome speaker at conferences all across the United States.  Her first novel Through the Green Fuse was be published by Pantheon in 2010.
Charis will conduct a "First Page Session." Attendees may submit the first page of a novel, short story, or article for critiquing. AA works will be reviewed anonymously. See the About Us page of this website for more information.

John Riddle is fondly referred to as the "Godfather of the North Wildwood Beach Writers' Conference."  John's comment to USA Today about what a great spot the beach here was for authors was the catalyst for this event starting in 2003.  John has advised us on the conference ever since.
John is a free-lance writer and author who has written over 24 nonfiction books and started the popular "I Love to Write Day."
How I Made $66,270 in 9 Months is one of John's most popular works.

Eileen M. D’Angelo, Editor of Mad Poets Review, has poetry and book reviews published or forthcoming in Rattle, Manhattan Poetry Review, Drexel Online Journal, Paterson Literary Review, Wild River Review, One Trick Pony, The Independent Review, Negative Capability, Aurealean, HiNgE, Philadelphia Poets, and others. Currently, she is the President of  President of the Philadelphia Writers Conference Board of Directors, and she has led workshops or lectured on WXPN – World Café Live, St. Joseph’s University, Rutgers, Rosemont College, Delco Community College, National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Montco Writers Conference, Delco Women’s Conference, and judged open auditions for HBO’s Def Poetry Jam at the New Market Cabaret on South Street. As Director of Mad Poets since 1987, she coordinated over a thousand special events in the tri-state area.
 See: [ www.madpoetssociety.com]

Laurie Wallmark writes exclusively for children. Her blog, All News, No Schmooze [at www.lauriewallmark.com/blog], lets her share information about writing children's books with her fellow writers. Laurie cannot imagine having to restrict herself to only one genre, so she writes  picture books, middle-grade novels, poetry, and nonfiction. Picture books challenge her to tell a complete story in a limited number of words.  The characters in Laurie's  middle-grade novels pull her into their world. Laurie's poetry sings through rhyme, meter, and word choice. Her nonfiction books and articles provide an excuse to have fun with research.  Laurie is the Assistant Regional Advisor for the New Jersey Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (NJ SCBWI) 

Cordelia Francis Biddle is a critically acclaimed novelist with a passion for history. Her Martha Beale series is set in Philadelphia in the 1840s: Without Fear, Deception's Daughter, The Conjurer. The books were inspired by research into the lives and careers of her Biddle and Drexel ancestors. Cordelia has just completed a new novel set in Victorian-era Philadelphia and has embarked on a biography of St. Katharine Drexel.
Prior to her writing career, she was an actress in New York City. Highlights were Albert Innaurato's Gemini, directed by Jerry Zaks, and the daytime drama One Life to Live.
Cordelia teaches creative writing at Drexel University's Pennoni Honors College and is chair of the literary award committee at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. She's a member of the Authors Guild and the Mystery Writers of America. Visit www.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com.

THE TEN-MINUTE PLAY: In 1990, the Actors Theatre of Louisville added "The Ten-Minute Play" to its annual Humana Festival. Since then, other theater companies have followed suit, finding it an excellent way to discover new playwrights. Using pictures to trigger the imagination, participante will be encouraged to create their own ten-minute plays.
Since 1999, Gayle Stahlhuth has been East Lynne Theatre Company's Artistic Director. Aside from performing, directing and producing, she is also a playwright and has received commissions from the Smithsonian Institution, Theatreworks/USA, and the Illinois and Missouri Humanities Councils, as well as grants from the New Jersey Humanities Council. This is the third time she's been asked to speak at this conference.

David Dean's short stories have appeared in ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE as well as a number of anthologies since 1990. His stories have been nominated for the Shamus, Barry and Derringer Awards, and "Ibrahim's Eyes" won the EQMM Readers Award for 2007.  Dean is a Chief of Police in New Jersey, and once served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army.
His presentation will be on the short story, with particular emphasis on the mystery/suspense genre.  He will also be discussing the unique demands that short story writing entails and the current market for them.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Ron Glover is a physical therapist practicing at Olivieri Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Center in Rio Grande, New Jersey. Ron will teach us how to avoid "Writer's Hump" and give us some practical exercises to stretch the back, neck, and arms after too many hours at the computer. He'll get us energized to keep on writing!

TELLING OUR STORIES: We all have stories to tell - about family, friends, adventures, encounter, experiences - stories about ourselves. There are many opportunities for sharing those stories in print and online. This workshop helps you to mold your stories into publishable works. Discover elements that make up a good story and learn to read submission guidelines for publications that accept personal narratives. Take the next step from casual storyteller to professional storyteller. 
Ferida Wolff is the author of 3 essay books for adults and 17 books for children. Her essays appear in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. She is a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and is an online columnist for www.seniorwomen.com. She also writes a nature blog at http://feridasbackyard.blogspot.com. Visit her also at www.feridawolff.com.