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Tweed Scott is a captivating master Texas storyteller. This seasoned broadcasting veteran of over 30 years has spoken to audiences of all sizes from intimate small room meetings to ballroom settings. He is the author of the widely recognized and three time national award winning book, Texas In Her Own Words. His stories are packed with humorous, inspirational, and motivational content suitable for audiences everywhere. The story of Texas is one of overcoming insurmountable odds, persistence and never accepting ‘NO’ as an option. It’s about the ABC's: Attitude, Believing and Confidence. That's how you develop the ‘can do’ mindset.

Bridgette L. Collins, a fitness coach and consultant, is the owner of MAC Fitness, an organization that offers creative solutions for incorporating healthier lifestyle habits. She is also the author of the fast-selling informative novel, Imagine Living Healthier: Mind, Body, and Soul, a novel tailor-made for individuals who struggle with implementing healthier lifestyle habits in the midst of daily demands, obligations, and pursuits.

Bridgette holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She has combined nearly twenty years of human resources and program development work experience with her training and passion to deliver health and fitness solutions. In addition to MAC Fitness, she works as a health and fitness coach for the Game of Health, a WEB-Based lifestyle management program. She serves as a fitness consultant for Taking It To The People, an Internet radio station – www.tittptalkradio.com, and provides daily health and fitness tips to the listening audience. She has worked as a certified personal trainer, both privately and for Bally’s Total Fitness. She holds a personal trainer certification through AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) and specializes in coordinating and coaching walk/run training programs.

For additional information about Bridgette and her book, visit her website at www.bridgettecollins.com.

Carmen Oliver is a children’s writer and resides in Round Rock. Her published nonfiction articles have appeared in Pockets and Kid Zone magazines. Her latest work, a picture book, captured 2^nd place in the 2006 Abilene Writers Guild Contest and her easy reader took 1^st honorable mention. Her adult publications can be found locally, she freelances for the regional newspaper, The Williamson County Sun. Visit her on the web at www.carmenoliver.com

Known as ‘Jaaz Jones’ to her friends, contemporaries and business associates, is President and CEO of Seeds of Success, a Lifestyle Enrichment Institute and most recently Harvest Time Publishing. She is also a seminar developer and trainer with twenty years experience in meeting planning, Public Relations, and personal-development training, as well as, being an award-winning public speaker. Ms. Jones has implemented corporate training for Continental Airlines. She has developed and facilitated seminars and meetings for Department of Commerce, The City of Austin, Caribbean Basin Initiative, Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages, Literacy Volunteers of America and the Board of Tourism for Barbados, just to name a few. Her training philosophy is “Learn outside your box, Live inside your possibilities.”

Karen ReG’ena, ‘Jaaz’, is a two-term past President of Barton Springs Toastmaster’s. Karen ReG’ena founded Seeds of Success, while in Houston in November of 2000. At the highest moment in her career she experienced a major life-changing event. While her training company began to take off. Karen ReG’ena’s mom suffered a stroke as the result of a brain aneurism and passed away on April 13, 2001. After her mother’s death she continued to travel and train, hiding behind the loss. Four years later she stopped dead in her tracks, trained and ran in her first marathon and composed the book, In My Mother’s Voice. In her own words, the author states, “This book is dedicated to my mother, who resides in heaven and in my heart. Her sayings were universal and she lived what she taught. I had to share ‘her’ with the world! This book also speaks to the strength, courage, compassion, commitment and unconditional love God placed in a woman known to her friends as Marie Celeste and to me, as ‘Ma’.” The author also dedicates this book to mothers and children who may be lost in the dark corridors of depression, uncontrollable situations or past experiences that they allow to define them in the present. “It is my hope this book can serve as a light, a candle, in the midst of their darkness and reveal their inner strength and show them they are not alone in their struggles.”

Peggy Grose describes herself as affectionate, a people person, an adventurer, a baby freak, a chocoholic, and a good listener. She says that she has always been afraid that she’ll miss something, that she tends to “want it all,” and that she wants those around her to “have it all,” too.

She likes homemaking and decorating, entertaining company, cooking, dancing, swimming, camping, playing Scrabble^® with her husband, writing, storytelling, and traveling afar. She reads and studies a lot.

Peggy has a bachelor’s degree in religion, a masters in interpersonal communication, is a licensed therapist, the mother of four sons, and the grandmother of three grandsons and one granddaughter. She is a seasoned speaker, an experienced counselor, a teacher, a group facilitator, and a workshop presenter. She has had considerable training and experience in sales. She was a missionary with the Methodist Church, serving in Malaya and Singapore.

Her popular book, Love and Lemon Pie, Recipes for the Body and the Soul, is in its fourth printing. The recipes for the body are those she has collected for fifty years and raised her four sons on and the recipes for the soul are suggestions for communicating in loving and nurturing ways. These are not quotes, but are her own thoughts.

She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband Jim Kilpatrick and works in an outpatient, drug rehabilitation program.

Kimberly Taylor is a Manor resident, the festival event coordinator, and the founder of the Manor Literacy and Cultural Initiative.

In addition, Kimberly is a businesswoman, author of Babes In Christ: a Handbook for Motivational Enlightenment, an educator, and the reigning Mrs. Manor United States. Next year she will be representing Manor and competing for the title of Mrs. Texas United States®, the official preliminary to Mrs. United States®. Kimberly is an up and coming writing star. Kimberly holds a Bachelor's degree in English from Texas State University and a Master's degree in Organizational Management.

The chapters of her book reflect her deep, personal experiences and the areas of life that she feels are fundamental for learning and growth. For instance, she wrote the chapter on patience because that is an area of her life that she constantly needed assistance in. In her chapter devoted to women, she shares some truths about how women treat themselves and allow men to treat them. Nonetheless, she offers spiritual backup to reassure her sisters that they can make the right decisions in life.

Babes In Christ: a Handbook for Motivational Enlightenment starts out strong and the final chapter is just as strong; it is full of self-proclamations of Kimberly's utter faith in God. Kimberly's purpose for writing the book was to touch the hearts and minds of those in need of spiritual guidance, motivation, and truth. Everything written in Babes In Christ: a Handbook for Motivational Enlightenment has a reference to scripture. All these factors make her book a wonderful tool for the young and mature.

The passion of her work comes through on every page of her book. Kimberly is a devoted mother of three and wife as well as a loving, caring individual who walks what she talks.

Valerie Menard is a freelance writer and editor based in Austin, Texas. She established S.A. Esa Enterprises, a freelance writing and editing service, in January of 2000. She’s a former editor for Hispanic magazine and La Prensa newspaper and the published author of three books dealing with the Latino culture in the United States—The Latino Holiday Book, ¡Celebremos!, and Latinas in Love.

As a freelance writer she has written for several publications including The Austin American Statesman, Estylo, Latina Style, Latina, Accent, Hispanic Trends, and Latinos on Wheels. She has also written biographical books for children as part of the Real Life Reader Biography series published by Mitchell Lane.

In 2000, her first solo book project, The Latino Holiday Book, was published by Marlowe and Company and revised in 2004. The book was published in Spanish by Random House Español in 2001 and titled, ¡Celebremos! Latinas in Love, a relationship book for Latinas based on Menard’s experience as an advice columnist, was published in 2003 by Marlowe and Company. She received the 2003 Latino Spirit Award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus in recognition of her literary contributions to the Latino community.

A native of Glendale, California, Menard was raised in San Antonio, Texas and is a second-generation Mexican American, She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she earned two bachelor’s degrees—one in English and the other in journalism.

A native of Pine Bluff, AR, Min. Roger Russell received his Bachelor of Science degree in English Education from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, magna cum laude, in 1994. Minister Russell earned a master of theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2001. A recipient of numerous awards and honors, and was named “Man of the Year” in 2002 at the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Dallas TX, where he serves as an associate minister. Also, following the publication of his book, Faith Beyond the Comfort Zone, in 2005, he was named “Writer of the Year” in 2006 by the American Christian Writers at their Dallas Conference. In 2007 Min. Russell began as a staff writer for the new Christian publication, Epitome Magazine. As a conference speaker, author and teacher, Min. Russell displays his passion for the discipleship of and supplication for the church throughout the nation and world at large.

Faith Beyond the Comfort Zone is an invitation for the reader to know the fullness of God’s power through complete surrender, from the author’s personal relationship with the Lord over the years.

Elizabeth is a teenager who was born in New York City and she currently lives in Texas with her family and two dogs. She finds the atmosphere of Austin inspiring and original. She also loves nature and enjoys reading. Finding Conway is her first novel. Her goal is to encourage other teens to read more, and be creative. Although written for teens, it appeals to all audiences who enjoy adventure from beginning to end. She hopes to inspire any individual who due to their circumstances might have difficulty reaching their goals, however big or small they may be. Elizabeth believes that with a lot of hard work, persistence, and of course, believing in yourself, you too can accomplish whatever you put your mind to.

Gary Cooke’s poems reflect his belief that the mysteries and wonders of life happen in particular moments, and that poems are photographs of those moments. Gary is a native of Canada who has lived most of his life in California – in the rich San Joaquin Valley, the spectacular central coast and the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. He and his wife, artist Natalie Cooke, now make their home in Manor, near Austin, Texas. His poems have appeared in “Borderlands” and other literary journals. A chapbook, “Butterfish & Other Poems,” was published by The Heyeck Press. His work was also included in “Sierra Songs & Descants,” and anthology published by The Hip Pocket Press in 2003. He is one of six poets collected in a book from The Hip Pocket Press in 2007 entitled “Yuba Flows.”

Rhonda Jackson Joseph was born in Richmond, Texas in 1971. Her earliest foray into writing was during junior high school when she produced numerous romance short stories in which she and her best girlfriends were the heroines. The stories were circulated and garnered quite a following. Thus, she found that romance writing came rather natural to her.

Her focus shifted toward horror writing when the elevated hormone levels in her body during pregnancy brought on terrifying nightmares during the scant hours she could find sleep. The dreams demanded to be placed on paper, and she hoped they would then be exorcised. To no avail, as they never completely disappeared. In fact, they multiplied.

Rhonda currently lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and four children. Her first novel, a contemporary romance entitled Call It What You Want, was released by Tea and a Tome Publishing in March 2007. She is currently working on several other novels and a screenplay.

In his first book, Taxi to Tashkent, author and former Peace Corps volunteer Tom Fleming describes how, at the age of 40, he quit a comfortable job to serve in the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, where he taught sex education and AIDS awareness to fundamentalist Muslims. Uzbekistan is a former republic of the former USSR and now an independent nation, and Fleming witnessed firsthand a country slowly falling to pieces. Fleming poignantly and humorously describes his experience as a fish out of water - an infidel in a Muslim culture, teaching AIDS prevention in one of Central Asia’s most conservative regions. Tom grew up in Salinas, California, and attended California State University, Fresno, where he received a BA degree in journalism. Fleming has lived and worked in Los Angeles, London, St. Petersburg, Russia, and currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Lila Guzmán holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and has won numerous writing awards, including honorable mention in fiction from the National League of American Pen Women. Lila Guzmán authors young adult novels about the American Revolution, children's fiction and nonfiction, and short stories. Guzmán's, Lorenzo and the Turncoat won the Arizona Authors Literary Award in 2006.

Joe O’Connell has met a mass murderer, prowled a crack house, and spat seeds at a watermelon thump. He’s a Texas native whose early career focused on small-town journalism. He earned an MFA in creative writing from Texas State University where he worked long distance with the late short story master Andre Dubus. O’Connell’s stories have appeared in The G.W. Review, Other Voice, Confrontation, Lullwater Review and many other journals. His stories have taken first prize at both the Deep South Writers Conference and in the Louzelle Rose Barclay Awards. Of late, he teaches writing to graduate students at St. Edward’s University and to undergraduates at Austin Community College.

Cheryl Lacey-Donovan is an author, educator, and inspirational speaker. Her first book Women What the Hell are You Thinking: An Inspirational Guide to Becoming a Virtuous Woman of God was released on May 1, 2007 to rave reviews. Women What the Hell are you Thinking remained in Amazon’s top 10 hot new releases during the entire first two months of its release. Cheryl is also the host of Worth More Than Rubies an internet radio talk show that airs on redchurchradio.com. She has been a mentor for Christian Women Today for one year and is the founder of A Virtuous Woman-31. Cheryl has been happily married for 14 years to her husband Keith and she has two adult sons and a stepdaughter. She is a member of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. Cheryl plans to release two more books before years end. Where’s My Mama: The Ministry of Motherhood and Some Day My Prince Will Come, but Am I Cinderella? Look for her new releases in the fall and winter of 2007.

Nationally Acclaimed Comedic Character Actor, Author, Speaker, Educator and Arts-In-Education Advocate Martha Hannah has story performance and joke telling in her blood. “I come from a long line of characters that were long-winded and funny,” she says. Martha‘s deep, rich heritage is from a large Scotch-Irish clan that came to America in the early 1700’s and settled in Tennessee. “I was blessed with my grandmother, Mama Roxie, who had a grand sense of the lyrical and dramatic telling of an event. She was a natural comedienne. My father has always had a delicious compulsion to tease and tell jokes. His mother, Nanny, early on introduced me to a fascination with ghost stories and a belief in the unseen.”

A performance scholarship led Martha to college and to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Theatre with a teaching certificate. She taught art and theatre, became a published illustrator and freelanced graphic design. Her extensive professional theatre career has covered years of performing on stage, in dinner theatre, improv, standup, radio and industrials and film with many commercials to her credit.

As an author, Martha has continued to write plays, monologues, one-woman shows and short stories. She has presented her work on stage, in dinner theatre, on radio and television and at endless events and venues. She has a semi-autobiographical novel in progress that ties in her college theatre life and ghosts. She also is developing the publishing and production of her various children’s stories and songs including the next in the ‘Maid Martha Tells It All’ series.

It was Martha’s lifelong fascination with ghost stories and the “unseen” that took her and her author/ illustrator husband, Larry Dowell, down many dimly lit back streets in England during evening ghost tours. They have traveled across Europe through castles and cathedrals from Edinburgh to Venice, collecting ghost stories and what she calls “a head full of medieval trivia.” This led Martha to develop her hilarious character, ‘Maid Martha, Medieval Comedienne’, which she uses on stage and in her workshops to bring the Middle Ages and Renaissance to life for countless enthusiastic audiences.

As a creative husband wife team, Martha and Larry now own and manage the independent publishing company, CicadaSun, and have recently released their first title, The Ghost of Hampton Court. This wonderful, richly illustrated book is the first of the ‘Maid Martha Tells It All’ series. Authored by Martha and illustrated by Larry, it is a historical fiction ghost story about Henry VIII and his fifth wife, Catharine Howard. Martha’s stage character, ‘Maid Martha’ in this book and throughout the series, tells the story as it unfolds, adding an element of delight and humor.

Martha Hannah enjoys now living in Austin, Texas with Larry and their cherished golden lab mix Goldie, who knows well how to do a one-eyed wink.

Larry Dowell has designed and produced award-winning national and international projects in print, graphic design, illustration, multi-media and web design. His richly detailed European paintings have won awards in multi-state juried competitions. He has been ranked with “the best of the best working landscape painters.” His book of poetry, The Orchard Wall, was called “a brilliantly written and exquisitely produced reflection on life’s sensual cycle.”

In addition to his poetry, Larry has written instructional guides, online newspaper articles and marketing pieces. He is currently writing a Young Adult historical fiction book with a motivational and supernatural theme.

Larry’s poetry was published in anthologies when he was in high school and he began selling his paintings when he started college. He studied Art, Education and English at Western Kentucky University and received an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design at the Harris School of Design.

He then began a career that has spanned many varied aspects of the creative world. His first professional job was Art Director for Benson, a book printer, where he learned the book production process, taking a book from manuscript, through page and cover design, printing and binding. He was Art Director for Holder-Kennedy, a national advertising/ public relations firm and for many years ran his own creative services agency.

As a fine artist, Larry has exhibited his paintings in galleries across the nation. He has also been Web Manager for Sulzer-Medica, a large global company where, in addition to designing and managing their internet/intranet web sites, he conducted corporate training in the US, Switzerland and Japan.

Larry enjoys now living in Austin, Texas with his wife Martha Hannah and their cherished golden lab mix Goldie, who knows well how to do a one-eyed wink.

Along with his son, Rey works in bronze, metal, wood, clay, and does paintings. Rey started carving stone in 1995. His friend Dorle Lekisch, who was a stone sculptor in her own right, encouraged and mentored me. In 2000,Rey was inspired by Peter Lekisch, winner of the Race Across America in his age group, to sculpt a cyclist in marble In April, 2003, a bronze and cedar crucifix won the 1st prize cash award in a Chicago spiritual art competition.

A visit to Yellowstone Park was the inspiration for the marble sculpture, Return of the White Buffalo. Return of the White Buffalo was selected by the National Sculpture Society in June, 2003, for their 2003-2004 exhibition. It was shown at Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina and then travel to New York City, August, 2003 to February, 2004.

Dawn is the founder of BioScience Direct, a provider of strategic lead generation and list management services for the life science industry. Dawn is displaying the works of her late mother.

Mark McKnight has been living in Austin, TX for the last 14 years. He was born and raised in Hollis Queens NYC and he credits his NY roots as the driving force behind his love for Art.

Mark’s style is a unique combination of NY style graffiti art and traditional illustration, he has used this style to create numerous T-Shirt designs, portraits, Children’s Book illustrations and logo designs for local are Businesses, Non-profit organizations and Churches. In May of 2007 he established J330 Artworks which will distribute his creations locally and online. In addition to his ArtisticVentures Mark is a Program Manager at Dell Computers were he has worked for the last 8 years. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Park University. Mark also served 8 years in the US Air Force were he proudly served during the Desert Storm campaign. Mark is a founding board member of the Greater Central Texas Youth Association (GCTYA) “ATX-BOYS” AAU basketball program, he is also a member of the Pflugerville Independent School District Academic Advisory Council and he is a proud member of Agape Christian Ministries here in Austin TX.

Mark is a divorced Father of two Children Monique(16) and Jamel(11). “He Must Increase and I must Decrease”-John 3:30.

Dallas native Julie Lake has always been fascinated by turn-of-the-century Texas. While doing research several years ago, Julie ran across several sobering memoirs of the 1900 Galveston hurricane. These stories inspired her to write Galveston’s Summer of the Storm, an historical novel for young adults published in 2003 by TCU Press. Julie continues to freelance for trade journals and has also served as regional advisor for the Central Texas chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a professional organization supporting people interested in writing, illustrating and other aspects of children’s literature. She was a featured speaker at the 2005 Texas Book Festival.

Shaila Abdullah's creative work focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of Pakistani women and their often unconventional choices in life. Her work also deals with the Asian experience in America, the conflict between the two worlds and the culture of her adopted country. She offers her readers a window into the multicultural world through her vibrant characters.

Abdullah has been published in Dallas Child, Web Guru, About Families, Sulekha, Women's Own, She, Fashion Collection and a magazine of the Daily Dawn newspaper called Tuesday Review, etc. Her debut book, Beyond the Cayenne Wall, is a collection of stories about Pakistani women struggling to find their individualities despite the barriers imposed by society. She has received many accolades for her writing. www.shailaabdullah.com