November 7, 2011 Featured Author

Laura Hoopes 

Laura L. Mays Hoopes is a married college biology professor who teaches and does molecular gerontology research at Pomona College east of Los Angeles.  She has two grown children and a yen to write.  She has a memoir coming out in spring, 2010 and 21 published articles in magazines and newspapers. After taking many online writing courses, she completed a certificate in creative writing through UCLA Extension with Distinction in 2009.  One of Laura’s essays won second prize in the Writers’ Journal Travel Article Contest in 2007, and another won first prize in Byline Creative Nonfiction Contest in 2008.  A prequel of her memoir, “Great Ecology Tour,” was published in the North Carolina Literary Review in summer, 2008. In summer, 2010 she received a scholarship to the Norman Mailer Writers Colony to study Biography.  In fall, 2010 she was admitted to the MFA program at San Diego State University and has continued her study of creative writing (fiction).  She is at work on a biography of two major women molecular biologists and two novels.

Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling: An American Woman Becomes a DNA Scientist [Paperback]

Laura L Mays Hoopes

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In her memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, Laura Hoopes chronicles her entry in to science in the 1960s, before men were ready for women to join them in molecular biology. She ran into both locked doors and supportive mentors along the way, and as she grew up, she decided not to give up a family life for science. That decision shaped her career as she completed her PhD at Yale, did postdoctoral research, and accepted a faculty position at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Throughout the memoir, Hoopes shows how she balanced career and family, and she comes down unequivocally in favor of family relationships for women scientists, unlike many voices today. She is passionate about getting the message out that it IS possible to be a family woman and also a productive, publishing scientist. We see her juggling a sick child and a teaching responsibility, confronting racism in her son's junior high school, and being overwhelmed by the suicide of one of her early research students. Her grants and research happen in the background, and she lets us know they mean a lot to her without taking us into the details of the science. Hoopes' memoir will make you laugh, cry, and cheer as you follow her progress through professorial ranks to Vice President for Academic Affairs and national leadership for undergraduate research.

Contact Information

www.lauralmayshoopes.com

April Featured Author

Jessica Powers

Author Bio

J.L. Powers is an author, scholar, and freelance writer. Powers holds master’s degrees in African History from State University of New York-Albany and Stanford University, won a Fulbright-Hayes to study Zulu in South Africa, and served as a visiting scholar in Stanford’s African Studies Department in 2008 and 2009. She lives in San Francisco’s Bay area and teaches writing at Skyline Community College. This is her second novel for young adults.



Cinco Puntos Press, $16.95 (208p) ISBN 978-1-933693-95-8.


This Thing Called the Future by J.L. Powers.
This is not your mama's coming-of-age story. In a South African shantytown, 14-year-old Khosi struggles with poverty, disease and oh, there's a boy at school she has a huge crush on. This Thing Called the Future, the latest from Fulbright scholar J.L. Powers, pulls you right into Khosi's confusing, magical world, where ancient tradition collides with modern problems. Where the teenage anticipation of a first kiss or going away to college is marred by the deadly threat of AIDS. It hangs in the air, thick like an approaching storm, like thunder just in the distance. Publisher's Weekly: "Through the eyes of a conflicted teenager, Powers (The Confessional) composes a compelling, often harrowing portrait of a struggling country, where old beliefs and rituals still have power, but can't erase the problems of the present. Readers will be fully invested in Khosi's efforts to secure a better future."


Contact information and websites.

Jessica Powers

jlpowers@evaporites.com

http://www.jlpowers.net/

http://www.catalystbookpress.com/

http://www.fertilesource.com/

March Featured Author

Priscilla McGee

Author Bio
Priscilla McGee was born and raised in Salisbury N.C. She graduated from Salisbury High School in 1989. She has been writing poetry for 20 years and when she gave her life to the Lord her writing style changed. Priscilla McGee began writing about God and it eventually became poetic expressions. Priscilla McGee would like to share these poetic expressions with the world. She has four beautiful children, Appollonia Rankin, Whitley Rankin , Shakela Litaker and Duane Thomas (Davontae Isaiah). Her father, James M. McGee and mother, Junnies McGee raised her in the church. She has been a follower and leader in the body of Christ since 1997. Priscilla McGee is a certified Childcare Teacher. Priscilla McGee has been a lover of poetry since High School and she has been writing these creative expressions since 2007. She was then inspired in 2008 to transform them into a book and God's Poetic Treasures was born.

God's Poetic Treasure's By Priscilla McGee


This book is not a traditional poetry book. It is inspirational poetry and , it was written to inspire it's readers. This book will help those who desire to have a closer walk with the Lord and it will be a help to those who want to know more about God. This book was written in the form of a daily devotional, though there are a few differences. It does not focus on daily passages but it focuses on topics which a person may want to learn more about. There are section headings, topics, poems, scriptures and prayers. Each section has a variety of poems which relates to the section heading and each poem also has a related scripture. The poetry in this book was inspired by God and his holy word.
 
Contact Information

January Featured Author

Marilyn Venvenutti

Author Bio


Marilyn was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Creativity has always been a staple in her life. At an early age of 6 years old, she enjoyed writing stories and creating fashionable handmade clothing for her dolls. As a teen and well into her early adult years, she began making original designs for her friends and neighbors and writing every chance she could. Later, Marilyn was employed by McGraw-Hill Book Company where she worked closely with many authors through the various stages of getting their work published. While continuing to design clothes, which included bridal and evening gowns for her clients, she managed to obtain a degree in Fashion Art and Design from New York City's FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and also to continue to spend as much time as possible writing. Marilyn has been in business as a Fashion and Interior Designer since the mid 80's. Until September of 2008 she had written only for her own self satisfaction and enjoyment. In May of 2010 Marilyn's first novel entitled Pathway to Destiny was published. She is hard at work on her second novel to be released November 2011. She currently resides in Marietta Georgia.

Book Description


Stella Mikens is a strong spiritual woman who overcame her share of tragedies in life after meeting a man by the name of Solomon Deal. Her whole life changed after he taught her principles to live by. Along with her 11 prayer warrior friends she dedicated her life to teach others how to overcome their many challenges of life. Nothing could prepare Stella for her new challenges when she adopted an abandoned little girl named Delilah. One day when Stella arrived home from an appointment she found her neighbor's 9 year old daughter, Naomi laying on her mother's living room floor crying. She had been molested by an unidentified man who got away before Stella arrived. Stella eventually adopted Naomi as well and began to raise the two girls as sisters. After the girls discovered the truth about their past Naomi's spiraled out of control to drugs and emotional devastation. Stella took in a third girl named Tabitha, who was a friend of Naomi's and realized that the three girl's lives intertwined. Through the power of prayer that Stella was taught earlier, she continued to change the lives of everyone she came into contact with and faced many challenges while trying to repair the relationship between the three girls.

Contact Information
 
Marilyn Venvenutti
 
http://www.marilynvenvenutti.webs.com/
http://www.marilynvenvenutti.wordpress.com/