Fiction
| Writing Popular Fiction |
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FULL-TIME FACULTY
Lee Tobin McClain
Associate Professor and Director. Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder; M.A., B.A., Ohio State University.
Dr. Lee Tobin McClain teaches medieval and contemporary literature at Seton Hill College, and also directs Seton Hill's graduate program in Writing Popular Fiction. She has published scholarly articles, such as "Stomping on the Shoulders of Giants: Thomas Berger's Arthur Rex" (1999), "Introducing Medieval Romance Via Popular Films: Bringing the Other Closer" (1998), and "Gender Anxiety in Arthurian Romance" (1997). In addition, McClain has published short fiction, such as "Memorial" (1999), "Showdown" (1998) and "Going Nowhere Fast" (1996), as well as the Silhouette Romance novel Mountain Home, 1989, as Erika Favor.
Albert Wendland
Associate Professor. Ph.D., M.A., University of Pittsburgh; B.S., Carnegie-Mellon University.
Dr. Albert Wendland was Chair of the English Department for eight years, head of the Core Curriculum for three year, and he led for five years a faculty seminar in methods of teaching and instruction. Wendland has also published poetry in Seton Hill's literary magazine Eye Contact and is writing the current SHC Portfolio Handbook. His main interest, however, is science fiction; his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Pittsburgh was a critical study of science fiction and was later published as Science, Myth, and the Fictional Creation of Alien Worlds. He has also written a science fiction novel, given workshops in the writing of science fiction and on "what's new" in the genre, and slide-presentations on science fiction illustration and art. Currently, Wendland is writing science fiction short stories, poetry, a book-length study on science fiction from the 1950's, and papers on the use of landscape in literature and film.
Michael A. Arnzen
Assistant Professor. Ph.D., University of Oregon; M.A. University of Idaho;
B.A. University of Southern Colorado.
Dr. Arnzen teaches courses in creative writing, literary criticism, and journalism at Seton Hill College. His first novel, Grave Markings, received the Bram Stoker Award and the International Horror Critics Guild Award in 1995. His most recent works include a short story collection (Fluid Mosaic) and a poetry chapbook (Paratabloids). His horror fiction, academic criticism, reportage and poetry have appeared in a diverse range of national magazines, story anthologies, and scholarly journals -- from Tattoo Revue to Internet World to Narrative -- and his fiction has been reprinted in The Year's Best Horror Stories. He is currently on the editorial board for Paradoxa: Studies in World Literary Genres.
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Nancy Alberts
Hard work and persistence have paid off for Nancy Alberts as her books for children continue to rise to the top. Her first picture book, Elizabeth's Beauty (1997) was awarded the Family Channel's Seal of Quality and was also featured in USA Today. She has also written Teeth Week (1993), Second Grade Star (1996), and another picture book, No Toys on Sunday (1998). Besides writing, Alberts often holds writing workshops at schools, gives presentations on writing to both children and adults, and teaches writing at various colleges in Pennsylvania.
Shelley Cooper
B.S., Penn State University
Shelley Cooper's first book for Silhouette Intimate Moments, MAJOR DAD, was
a 1997 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist and was listed on the
Waldenbooks Romance Bestseller List. Her fifth novel for Silhouette, LAURA
AND THE LAWMAN, will be a September 2002 release.
Shelley is a member of several writer's groups, including Novelists, Inc. and Romance Writers of America. In addition to her books, she has published dozens of short stories. She graduated from Penn State University with the highest distinction and worked as a CPA until devoting herself full-time to her writing.
Leslie Davis Guccione
Wilmington Friends School, Wilm., DE; B.A. Queens College of Charlotte.
Leslie Davis Guccione's books of popular fiction have sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide and have been printed in 11 languages. All have topped genre fiction best-seller charts. Guccione is best known for her six-book series about the cranberry-growing Branigan Brothers, the latest of which is Branigan's Break (1995). She has also published numerous works for young readers, such as Tell Me How the Wind Sounds, Come Morning, and Nobody Listens to Me. As Kate Chester she created and wrote the Hear No Evil series. Her young adult fiction has been awarded with Teen Choice, Best Books from the International Readers Association, and state Junior Book Awards nominations. As a former member of Romance Writers of America, Guccione has been a finalist and a judge in the annual RITA awards. She is currently a member of the Authors Guild and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Her twenty-seventh book, Borrowed Baby, has just been released.
William H. Keith, Jr.
William Keith is a master of imaginary worlds. He has written 48 novels in the genres of both science fiction and military techno-thrillers. In 1995 he won the Award for Best Game Related Fiction for the "BattleTech" series. His novels include Renegades Honor (1988), Stingray (1993), Bolo Brigade (1997) and Bolo Rising (1998). Keith also writes a variety of book series. Besides "BattleTech," which includes such books as Tactics of Duty (1995) and Operation Excalibur (1996), his other series are "Warstrider," with books Jackers (1994), Netlink (1995), and Battlemind (1996), "Wing Commander," with book False Colors (1999), and "Babylon 5," which includes Diplomatic Act (1999). Keith also writes under the pseudonym Ian Douglas for his "Heritage" series, which includes Semper Mars (1998), Lunar Marine (1999) and Europa Strike (2000).
Thomas Lipinski
M.F.A., B.A., University of Pittsburgh.
Thomas Lipinski started his writing career off on the right start by receiving second place for St. Martin's Press National Best First Novel. His books include The Fall Down Artist (1994), A Picture of Her Tombstone (1996), Steel City Confessions (1999), and his most recent, Death in the Steel City (2000). He was also a SHAMUS Award Nominee for the Best First Novel. In between his writing schedule, Lipinski teaches creative writing and literature courses at various colleges. In addition to teaching at various colleges, Mr. Lipinski has made personal appearances presenting on topics ranging from the "Power of the Pen" to the "American Origins of the Private Detective."
Nancy Martin
Nancy Martin has been writing for 21 years. In that time, she has written
39 books in four genres--mystery, romance, suspense and historical
fiction. Currently, Nancy is a work on her Blackbird Sisters mystery
series, capers set in the world of high society in Bucks County and Philadelphia.
In addition to her writing, Nancy is a member of Pennwriters, Novelists Inc., and Sisters in Crime. She is a former teacher, having graduated from Westminster College in 1975 and gaining a Reading Specialist certificate from Mansfield state University in 1977. A lifelong resident of western Pennsylvania, Nancy now lives in Pittsburgh.
Colleen McKenna
Colleen McKenna taught third and fourth grade before she married and had the four children which became the basis for her Murphy series for children. Colleen published seventeen middle grade novels for Scholastic with sales of over three million. In Spring, 2001, her three book series with Holiday House will be launched with Third Grade Stinks. McKenna has given writing
workshops to children and adults since 1988, as well as instructing students with the Institute of Children's Literature.
Barbara Miller
M.L.S., B. A., University of Pittsburgh.
Ms. Miller has published
twelve historical romance novels in the past decade. Writing as Laurel
Ames, her novel Castaway was a finalist in the Romance Writers of America
1994 RITA Contest. Her most recent duo of novels, The Guardian and The
Pretender have been chosen as Rhapsody Book Club selections. Under her
own imprint she also publishes a series of small-town mysteries. She was a
founding member of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of Romance Writers of
America and editor of the chapter newsletter The Laurel Wreath for eight
years. She also helps run the Greensburg Writers Group, a longstanding
local critique group for writers of all genres.
James Morrow
Science fiction writing takes up much of James Morrow's time, and it has been well worth his effort. He has received the World Fantasy Award twice, once for Only Begotten Daughter (1990) and then for Towing Jehovah. This Is the Way the World Ends and Only Begotten Daughter were also Nebula finalists and his 1991 novella City of Truth received a Nebula Award. His most recent novels are Blameless in Abaddon, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and The Eternal Footman (2000).
Patrick Picciarelli
Patrick Picciarelli is an excellent speaker who enjoys helping other writers
succeed. His publications include a true-crime book, Jimmy the
Wags: Street Stories of a Private Eye, Mala Femina: A Woman's
Life in the Mafia and a mystery novel, Blood
Shot Eyes. He has also sold the screenplay based on Jimmy the Wags and
Blood Shot Eyes. The TV movie based on Jimmy and the Wags was produced
by Danny DeVito/Columbia Tri-Star ('02). His background includes twenty years of police work in the NYPD, military
service and a career as a private investigator Writing Popular Fiction.
Linda
Ciletti Rodkey
Linda Ciletti Rodkey is a graduate of Laurel Business Institute, Uniontown, and
is currently working on a BA in Communications with a French minor at Saint
Vincent College, Latrobe, PA. She has been writing for ten years plus in
the romance genre, medieval historical and contemporary, and was published by
Dreams Unlimited in September 2000. She has completed four novels (one
published) with three still in process. She is the single mother of
four young adults (Tracy, Samantha, Jennifer, and David) who currently live with
their dad, and a Siamese cat, Yvette. At present, she lives on the border
of Greensburg and Jeannette, PA and is a member and past president and treasurer
of WPRW (Western Pennsylvania Romance Writers) as well as the Greensburg
Writer's Group and Alliance Francaise at Pitt University. After visiting
Paris in July 2001, her passion is to travel overseas again and visit the
world. There is so much to see and appreciate. You can reach Linda
at her email address: rodkey@wpa.net.
Randall Silvis
Novelist, playwright, screenwriter and essayist Randall Silvis continues to have an accomplished career. His first book of fiction, The Luckiest Man in the World (1984), was selected by Joyce Carol Oates as the winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. He is also the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Theatre Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Other books include An Occasional Hell (1993), Under the Rainbow (1993), and Dead Man Falling (1996). His latest novel, Mysticus (1999) launched a new independent publisher based in Los Angeles, Wolfhawk Books. As a playwright, Silvis has had over a dozen plays produced throughout the United States and Off-off-Broadway and has been awarded three National Playwrights Showcase Awards, the Ruby Lloyd Apsey Prize from the University of Alabama and the Drama Award from the Deep South Writers Conference. His latest works include the literary thrillers, On Night's Shore and Disquiet Heart due out in 2001-2 from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press.
Nancy Springer
B.A., Gettysburg College.
Ms. Springer has been publishing fantasy novels since 1977 and children's novels since 1987. Her novels have been translated into nine languages. In addition to garnering the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe Awards in 1995 and 1996, Ms. Springer is the recipient of the 1995 James
Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 1992 Joan Fassler Memorial Book Award. She has taught writing at York College of Pennsylvania and at Franklin and Marshall College. Notable children's and young adult novels by Springer include Secret Star (1997), The Boy on a Black Horse (1994), They're all Named Wildfire (1989), Sky Rider (1999), and I Am Mordered (1998), which received the Carolyn W. Field Award as best children's book by a Pennsylvania Author in 1998. Other recent novels for adults are Metal Angel (1994), and Fair Peril (1996).
Victoria Thompson
B.A. University of Maryland
Edgar nominated author Victoria Thompson is the author of twenty historical
romances and four historical mysteries in a writing career that spans two
decades. After a successful career writing bestselling historical
romances, she tried her had at historical mysteries. The change earned her
and Edgar Award nomination in 2001 for her second mystery, Murder on St.
Mark's Place. Other books in the series are Murder on Astor Place
(1999), Murder on Gramercy Park (2001), and Murder on Washington
Square (due in April 2002). A popular speaker, Victoria has taught her
writing seminars all over the United States and Canada and at Penn State
University. She is a founding member and past president of Novelists,
Inc., Pennwriters, and New Jersey Romance Writers. She has also served on
the board of directors of Romance Writers of America and as Chair of the Golden
Heart and RITA Contests.
Diane Turnshek
B.S. Villanova University, M.S. University of Arizona
Diane Turnshek stacks careers: first an astronomer (currently teaching
at the University of Pittsburgh), then a mom four times over. Her writing
career began in 1998 when she won the Arlan Andrew's Choice Award. Her
Analog stories lead to a scifi.com online chat about SFR moderated by Gardner
Dozois. Three times, her stories have made the finalist list of the
Sapphire Award for best science fiction romance of the year. Since
September 1999, she's hosted the Writers-bbs.com Young Writers:
Speculative Fiction Forum. She has been a program participant at
Confluence, Philcon and the 2001 WorldCon, where she ran Teen Activities and
organized writing workshops. She runs a face-to-face, biweekly science
fiction and fantasy writers group, Write or Die. Her latest activities
include organizing Alpha, a five-day, SF/F/H writing workshop for teens in the
summer of 2002 and promoting her latest work in the Rough Beasts horror
anthology, a video and audio CD of poetry.
Donna Valentino
B.A., University of Pittsburgh.
Donna Valentino's first published novel hit the shelves in November 1993,
and since then she's published more than a dozen novels for major publishers
such as Bantam/Doubleday/Dell, HarperCollins, Dutton/Signet and Kensington.
She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Donna
has also published numerous magazine articles and short stories. She worked
in marketing and public relations before turning her pen full-time to
writing romantic fiction.
Karen Williams
Karen Lynn Williams excelled into the writing world with her first book Galimoto (1990). It was a 1991 Reading Rainbow Feature Book, a Trumpet Book Club Selection, a New York Times Book Review Best Books of the Year, a Summer Reading Selection and she received the Martin Luther King I have a Dream Award. Williams has also received two Junior Library Guild Selections, one for Applebaum's Garage (1993) and the other for Tap-Tap (1994). Tap-Tap was also selected as the Hungry Mind Review Book of Distinction in 1995. A Real Christmas this Year (1995) was nominated for the 1997 Missouri Association of School Librarians Mark Twain Award. Other books include When Africa Was Home (1991), First Grade King (1992) and her latest, One Thing I'm Good At (1999).