Among the authors attending the Waupaca Book Festival Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1-2, are several with national and international reputations.
Jacquelyn Mitchard is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling novel The Deep End of the Ocean, the first Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club selection. The film version of the book, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, was released in March 1999.
Her novels Still Summer and Cage of Stars are also currently in development for film. Five of her eight adult novels have been New York Times best-sellers.
Mitchard has published young children’s novels and picture books, as well as several young adult novels including The Midnight Twins series.
A former syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services, Mitchard now is a contributing editor for Parade magazine, and a frequent contributor to Reader’s Digest and Real Simple.
She has also written two nonfiction books – Mother Less Child: The Love Story of a Family and Jane Addams of Hull House. She is the founding organizer of One Writer’s Place, a small residence for writers and artists healing through creativity after difficult life circumstances. Her website is www.jackiemitchard.com.
Holly Kennedy was born in Alberta, Canada. She was a happy tomboy, often fishing or climbing trees or riding her bike down a staircase. When she wasn’t doing those things, she was reading. She always wanted to be a writer, but it wasn’t until after she’d married and had kids that she finally decided to chase her dream. She’s busy writing her next novel, Keeper of the Pond. Find her website at www.hollykennedy.com.
Patricia Wood’s first literary effort was at 8 years of age. Titled “Thickamore The Backnus,” the work was well-received and, although self-published with masking tape and cardboard, it has stood the test of time.
In 2002, she attended Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Writers Workshop with her short story The Tin Box, which became her first novel. Her second novel, The Penny Tree, was published not long after that, and the third, The Silver Compass, followed a year later.
Today Wood lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her family.
She is a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii, studying education, disability and diversity, as well as writing. She lives with her husband, Gordon, on a 48-foot sailboat in Hawaii. Her son, Andrew, lives in Washington, where her novel for young adults, Lottery, takes place. Lottery is a funny, thoughtful novel about a wealthy young man whose IQ of 76 does not begin to define his true intelligence. Find her website at www.patriciawoodauthor.com.