Long Ridge Writers Group - Our Exceptional Instructors

“Reader’s Digest bought ‘The Tongues of Dying Men’ for its July ’79 issue and launched my career.”

Now, Tom Bedell has hundreds of published articles, interviews, and book reviews to his credit. His poetry has been published in literary magazines, and he has been a university writing instructor since 1984. He has also been president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and frequently serves on its board of directors.

Mr. Bedell is a coauthor or contributor to, or an editor or ghostwriter of seven books, including Tools of the Writers’ Trade (HarperCollins, 1990).

Carole Bellacera

“A powerful and deeply moving story of terror, death, hope and love, Bellacera’s novel is remarkable for its intensity and vivid portrayal of life in Northern Ireland at a time when peace seems almost impossible,” wrote Library Journal about Border Crossings, Carole Bellacera’s first novel published in 1999 by Tor Books.

Since then, Ms. Bellacera has published four more hardcover novels of women’s fiction: Spotlight (Forge Books, a Division of Thomas Doherty, 2000), East of the Sun, West of the Moon (Forge Books, 2001), Understudy (Forge Books, 2003), and Chocolate on a Stick (Baycrest Books, 2005).

Border Crossings was a 2000 RITA (Romance Writers of America) finalist for Best First Book and Best Romantic Suspense and a 2000 nominee for the Virginia Literary Award in Fiction. Spotlight was a 2001 Holt Medallion Finalist for Best Mainstream Novel and a 2001 Booksellers Best Awards Finalist. East of the Sun, West of the Moon won a 2001 RIO Award for Excellence in Fiction.

In addition to being a novelist, Ms. Bellacera is also a screenwriter. Her script for Border Crossings was a 1995 Austin Heart of Film Screenplay Award finalist and was optioned by Hollywood, as was her script for Chocolate on a Stick.

She has also sold more than 200 short stories and articles to publications including Woman’s World, Liguorian, the Washington Post, Modern Romance, and Writer’s World.

Nancy Varian Berberick

A reviewer at KLIATT magazine called Nancy Varian Berberick’s novel The Panther’s Hoard (1994) “one of the few books I would unhesitatingly hand to someone asking for a book ‘like Tolkien’; it doesn’t suffer in comparison.”

About the book’s predecessor, Shadow of the Seventh Moon (1991), the Knoxville News-Sentinel said: “The spirit of Garroc’s folk lives on so long as there are storytellers who can enchant us as well as Nancy Berberick. For lovers of ancient lore . . . a beautiful novel . . .” Published by Ace/Berkley, both novels are part of Berberick’s ongoing series of books and short stories known collectively as Garroc’s Tales. Nancy Varian Berberick’s tenth novel, Prisoner of Haven, was published by Wizards of the Coast in 2004.

Ms. Berberick’s short story “The Merlin’s Gift” was published in 1986 in the small press magazine Beyond. Subsequent short stories were soon published in Amazing Stories, Dragon Magazine, and the popular Dragonlance anthologies. Stormblade, a Dragonlance novel, was published by TSR Inc. in 1988, followed by a novel in her own fantasy setting, The Jewels of Elvish, in 1990. Other books that followed were A Child of Elvish (1992) and The Panther’s Hoard (1994).

Her short story, “Tál’s Tale,” was named to the 1998 Preliminary Ballot of the Science Fiction Writers of America’s annual Nebula Awards. Ms. Berberick has also written children’s stories for Bruce Coville’s anthologies, and published fantasy tales in various other magazines and anthologies. In 1998 she returned to Dragonlance to write several short stories and five more novels in the long running series. She also writes her own fiction under the byline Nancy Virginia Varian.

“I must admit that, having spent my adult life as a professional educator, I was a bit dubious about taking a correspondence course. However, I soon changed my mind on that score. The administration of the school, the quality of the instructional materials, the personal warmth and professional competence of the instructors, the friendly and capable support staff on the other end of the 800 phone number—all these merge to make your program a wonderful educational experience.”

Taffy Cannon

Taffy Cannon is the author of Convictions: A Novel of the Sixties (Morrow, 1985), which is under option as a feature film. She wrote the acclaimed Nan Robinson mystery series including A Pocketful of Karma (Carroll & Graf, 1993), Tangled Roots (Carroll & Graf, 1995), and Class Reunions Are Murder (Ballantine, 1996).

Her Irish Eyes Travel series debuted with Guns and Roses (Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Co., 2000). Her other books include Blood Matters (Perseverance Press, 2007), Paradise Lost (Perseverance Press, 2005), and Open Season on Lawyers (Daniel & Daniel, 2002). She is also the author of the Emily Toll mysteries (Berkley, 2002–2005).

Ms. Cannon is also a screenwriter; she wrote the Academy Award-nominated short film Doubletalk. Her work has also been published in Savvy, the Los Angeles Times, and Texas Monthly.

Helen Chappell

Helen Chappell’s first book, The Waxing Moon, appeared in 1974, and since then she has published 28 novels. In addition to three “serious” novels from Dell and Pocket Books, including All Things in Their Season, Ms. Chappell has written 18 Regency Romances under the pen name Rebecca Baldwin, most recently for HarperCollins.

Other recent titles include A Fright of Ghosts (Tidewater Publishers, 2006); A Whole World of Trouble (Simon & Schuster, 2003), called “brimful with humor” by Booklist; Giving Up The Ghost (Dell, 1999); and Ghost of a Chance (Dell, 1998), described as “unrelentingly sharp and funny” by Publishers Weekly.

Her monthly column of short short fiction, about life in the mythical Chesapeake Bay town of Oysterback, appeared regularly in the Baltimore Sun. In 1994, Johns Hopkins University Press published The Oysterback Tales, a collection of six years of Sun stories.

Douglas W. Clark

Douglas W. Clark is the author of five novels and numerous short stories, primarily fantasy and science fiction. Three of his novels, all published by Avon—Alchemy Unlimited (1990), Rehearsal for a Renaissance (1992), and Whirlwind Alchemy (1993)—are comic fantasies set in the fifteenth century. Mr. Clark is also the author of Saving Solace (Wizards of the Coast, 2006), part of the Dragonlance series.

Among his recent short stories have been “The Dragonslayers” (The Search for Power: Dragons from the War of Souls, Wizards of the Coast, 2004); “The Coming of Merlin” (Paradox, Summer 2003); “Falling Into Naught” (The Book of More Flesh, Eden Studios, 2002), which received an honorable mention from The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror; and “The Knight Who Wasn’t There” (The Doom of Camelot, Green Knight Publishing, 2000).

“The first credit goes to your organization, which offered me a wonderful opportunity to have a one-on-one relationship with an incredible instructor. She took the time to get through to me. She also showed me where I was going wrong and explained what I had to do to make my manuscript better. I sold the very first manuscript I sent out, the story I wrote for my eighth assignment.”

Sarah Clayton

Sarah Clayton took an editorial job with a New York publisher and discovered the secret of writing romance novels. A Time for All Seasons (Bantam), written under the pseudonym Megan Lefey, was the result.

For the newly emerging young adult fiction market, Ms. Clayton wrote Crazy Love (Scholastic), Bad Girl (Dell), A Touch of Ginger (Dell), and Long Distance Romance (Berkley). Next came Face the Music (Ballantine), and Kate’s Challenge (Ballantine).

In addition to her book credits, she has written nonfiction travel articles and essays for a wide variety of periodicals including in-flight airline magazines, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal, British Heritage, Scottish Living, and others.

Jerri Corgiat

Award-winning novelist Jerri Corgiat has been widely praised for her ability to create powerful stories and unforgettable characters. Her books have won a First Place Award of Excellence from Reviewers International Organization (RIO) and two Blether Gold Awards, given for “the finest example of a genre, a book where the reviewer can find no fault and (that has) universal appeal.” One was a Holt Medallion Finalist for Best Mainstream Novel, and another a finalist for RT Bookclub’s designation of Best Contemporary Novel with Romantic Elements. Readers and Writers Ink Reviews sums up her appeal by describing her books as “...a talented mix of plot, characters, and emotional discovery.”

Kate Daniel

Kate Daniel wrote her first detective story in grade school. She never finished it. Years later, when her first novel made Waldenbooks’ Young Adult Bestseller list, she realized where she’d gone astray: pros figure out the solution before they write the book.

Five other mysteries for teens followed that first one in early 1992, all from HarperCollins: Teen Idol (1992), Sweet Dreams (1992), Running Scared (1993), Sweetheart (1993), and Babysitter’s Nightmare II (1994). They’ve now been published in seven countries and translated into several languages.

Shortly after completing her first novel, her first piece of short fiction came out. Since then, more than a dozen of her other fantasy and science fiction stories have appeared in anthologies and magazines. These run the gamut from a Mexican ghost story (“The Bandido of Pozoseco,” Highwaymen: Robbers and Rogues, DAW, 1997) to horror (“The Tragedy of Gertrude, Queen of Denmark,” Weird Tales from Shakespeare, DAW, 1994) to humor (“. . . But Comedy Is Hard,” Chicks and Chained Males, Baen, 1999). “Kaleidoscope” (Realms of Fantasy, 1997) was a preliminary Nebula award nominee.

Ms. Daniel’s current novel projects range from espionage to a medieval German fairy tale. She also has written a series of nonfiction articles on the criminal justice system for the specialty magazine Crime, Justice, and America.

Lou Fisher

A freelance writer and teacher, Lou Fisher began his career by writing stories and articles for popular men’s magazines such as Adam, Rascal, Topper, Mister, Best for Men, and Men’s Digest. He also wrote four mystery/thrillers in that field, published by Novel Books, Inc.

Mr. Fisher later turned to science fiction, publishing stories in Galaxy, Fantastic, Aboriginal, and Fantasy & Science Fiction, as well as in anthologies like Epoch, Terrors, Shadows, Universe, and Best from Galaxy. He wrote two science fiction novels, Sunstop8 (Dell, 1978) and The Blue Ice Pilot (Warner, 1986). Reviews of the latter called it “a daring piece of writing” and “a two-fisted interstellar adventure with a touch of realism.”

Mr. Fisher’s current works of contemporary fiction include the short story, “A Kiss and No Goodbye,” winner of the New Letters Literary Award for Fiction. His stories have also appeared in journals across the country and in several anthologies, including Bar Stories (Bottom Dog Press, 2007), Hunger and Thirst (City Works Press, 2008), and The Way We Work (Vanderbilt University Press, 2008).

“You’ve been helpful beyond measure to me, and I’m happy for the students whose courage and dreams you will nourish. I am going to miss your insights and encouragement something wicked! You are my fairy godmother, having begun the magic of turning my pumpkin into a publishing machine. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Kris Franklin

Kris Franklin is a former English teacher who got his start writing freelance magazine articles. He eventually became a feature writer for a Colorado newspaper, specializing in fitness and outdoor activities. He has 100 short publishing credits, including many outdoor/humor pieces.

His first novel, Silvercat, published by Bantam, was described as “an edge-of-the-seat thriller by an exciting new talent.” It was followed by The High San Juan.

His most recent book, Relentless, was described by best-selling author Stephen Coonts as “...a damn good novel. Franklin can write suspense.” Another reviewer wrote, “(Franklin) just keeps getting better.”

Carmen Goldthwaite

Carmen Goldthwaite began her writing career with a journalism degree. She then worked at numerous Texas dailies, eventually winning Texas’ coveted Gridiron Award for investigative reporting two years in a row.

Today, Ms. Goldthwaite is a full-time freelance writer. She is published in two anthologies, The Way West: True Stories of the American Frontier (Tor-Forge, 2005) and Wild Women of the Old West (Fulcrum, 2003). She is also a regular contributor to Wild West magazine; author of a bi-weekly column for her hometown paper, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram; and a “stringer” for the New York Times financial desk. In 2005 she launched a newspaper column, ‘Texas Dames,’ that spotlights pioneering women—both historical and contemporary—in Texas. The columns come from information she gathered for a book pending with University of North Texas Press, called Texas Ranch Women: Three Centuries of Love, Mystery, Disaster and Triumph.

Ms. Goldthwaite is a director of the Society of Professional Journalists, and a member of Dallas-Fort Worth Writers’ Workshop and Western Writers of America.

Anne Underwood Grant

Anne Underwood Grant is a writer of nonfiction, the author of four published mystery novels, a newspaper columnist, and a staged playwright.

In the early 1990s, Ms. Grant began writing novels primarily in the mystery genre. Her first mystery, Multiple Listing, was published by Dell Publishing in 1998, followed shortly by a second book in the series, Smoke Screen (Dell, 1998). In 1999, Cuttings was also published by Dell. The fourth novel in the series was Voices in the Sand, (2000) published by Silver Dagger Mysteries, an imprint of Overmountain Press.

Rachel Gurevich

Rachel Gurevich writes on a variety of topics, from business to parenting. Her articles and essays have appeared in over 20 different national, regional, and Internet publications, including Pregnancy, LowCarb Energy, Secrets and Strategies for Office Professionals, ePregnancy, The Writing Parent, The New Homemaker, Big Apple Parent, WriteFromHome.com, Northwest Baby and Child, Parents Press, Pregnancy & Baby, and The Jewish Homemaker.

Ms. Gurevich’s book, The Doula Advantage (Prima Publishing, 2003), received several endorsements, including one from Dr. William Sears, “America’s Pediatrician.” She is also the author of FabJob Guide to Become an Image Consultant (FabJob, 2005), and a forthcoming new edition of her previous book, FabJob Guide to Become a Doula.

In addition to being a writer, Ms. Gurevich has served in many editorial positions. For almost four years, she worked as an assistant editor for the SheKnows Network, part of Myria Media. She also served as assistant editor for Pregnancy magazine and ePregnancy, and as a senior editor for FabJob.com, named the #1 place for writers to get published online by Writer’s Digest.

Long Ridge Writers Group
91 Long Ridge Road, West Redding, Connecticut 06896
Telephone: 1-800-624-1476 ~ Fax: 203-792-8406
Email: InformationService@LongRidgeWritersGroup.com

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No part of the electronic transmission to which this notice is appended may be reproduced or redistributed in any form or manner without the express written permission of Writer's Institute, Inc.

Thomas Bedell