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for the New Year of 2010  Daniel Lambert"Marketing Your Writing on the World Wide Web: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" Daniel Lambert is a writer and educator based in Los Angeles. Dan has taught English Composition and Literature at five of the nine Los Angeles Community College District campuses, one Cal State campus, and DeVry University. Dan's fiction, articles, and poems appear in such publications as Easy Reader, Torrance People, Other Worlds, Wrapped In Plastic, The Gamer, Autoduel Quarterly, and Games Unplugged. His work also appears in the anthologies Faces of Love, Tales on the Twisted Side, and The Manuscripter Volume II. See Dan's Web site at dan_lambert.homestead.com. His fiction and poetry collection, Love and Other Diversions, is available online at www.lulu.com. 
Ivan GoldmanA Fulbright Scholar, Ivan Goldman is the author of three novels and a columnist for The Ring magazine. His writing has also appeared in Columbia Journalism Review, Utne, The Nation, National Review, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Booklist called The Barfighter (The Permanent Press; 2009) "a fine book" that "illuminates a largely unknown world and tells an engaging tale of redemption filled with vividly drawn characters. The Barfighter is wryly funny, insightful, and warmly human." Said Kirkus Reviews: "Entertaining and acutely observed - and the boxing milieu and mindset are utterly persuasive. A winner." Kirkus Reviews called his firs novel, Where the Money Is: A Novel of Las Vegas (Barricade; 1995) "an impressive debut . . . a stylish twisty first novel." His third novel Exit Blue, a Roman à clef and political satire, is due out from Black Heron in early 2010. His non-fiction title L.A. Secret Police, co-authored with ex-detective Mike Rothmiller, was a New York Times best-seller. You can find out more about Goldman's background in his article "Caste and Class on The Washington Post" It appeared in Columbia Journalism Review and is online at: www.coliserv.net/goldman-caste.html
Stephen SmokeAn accomplished novelist, screenwriter, musician, and businessman, Stephen Smoke successfully navigates the worlds of art and business. He is the author of 17 novels, including Black Butterfly, Pacific Coast Highway, and Pacific Blues, under his own and other names. He has also written several non-fiction books, including the popular Bill of Responsibilities series and the recent Palos Verdes Peninsula Artists book. Mr. Smoke has written and directed feature films, including Street Crimes (starring Dennis Farina) and Final Impact, and has written screenplays for others, including Magic Kid. He founded and published Mystery Magazine, and published the first online mystery magazine (Hamilton Caine's Mystery Digest, on CompuServe) in 1984. Mr. Smoke is also a published songwriter and in 1989 recorded an album (in support of his novel, Trick of the Light) on which several well-known musicians, including one Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, played on various tracks. In 1997, his company, Onlineseminars, produced one of the first continuing education for-credit online courses. Later, with a partner, he published the first Standards for Online Learning. In the mid 90s Mr. Smoke began writing his Bill of Responsibilities series and in 2002 finished work on the Teen Bill of Responsibilities Course, which is now taught in some Southern California schools. The author is actively involved with various corporate entities, teachers groups and community organizations in order to bring the FREE program to schools around the country. Another book in the series, the Corporate Bill of Responsibilities, also has a companion Workshop.
Kathy GouldBorn in Santa Barbara, Kathy spent her high school and college years in Manitoba, Canada. After receiving her B.A. from Brandon University she returned to California and received her Master of Science in Library and Information Management from USC. After a brief stint as a Librarian at the Pasadena Public Library and as a corporate librarian in a small start-up technology company her career shifted away from libraries and she spent 15 years in a variety of management and executive positions in the mining and manufacturing industries in New Zealand, Australia, and Kentucky. In 2003 she and her husband returned to California and Kathy returned to her public service and library roots when she became Director of the Palos Verdes Library District in January, 2004.
Ray BradburyRay Bradbury, poet, author, playwright, will speak to SWM and the public at a free meeting on May 7th of 2010. Come early for a seat! He will be selling and signing his books, but you may bring your own. The place: Torrance Cultural Arts Center, Torrance Blvd. at Madrona in the Civic Center, next to the Armstrong Theater.
Stan TerasakiWhen Stanley Terasaki first heard the story of ghosts in his great-grandfather’s village, he sat down that day and scribbled the tale on paper. With its eerie mystery, surprise ending and threads of Japanese-American lore, the story had all the makings of a great children’s book, Terasaki reasoned. But for years, the manuscript gathered dust... Until now. Nearly 10 years after writing it and more than 15 rejection letters later, Terasaki’s book about ghosts, wise men and Japanese culture sits in display cases of popular bookstores, culminating a lifelong dream for the Torrance resident. "That was really a thrill," Terasaki said of seeing his first published book, Ghosts for Breakfast. The book, written for elementary school-age children, opens in a 1920s Japanese-American farming village where three men claim to have seen ghosts in Farmer Tanaka’s field. They rush to Papa’s house to tell him of their run-in with the supernatural beings, and Papa sets out to investigate with his son in tow. What Papa discovers are not ghosts at all, but pale, white radishes called daikon dangling in the wind. "I think the whole idea of something not being what you think it is, I like that aspect of it," said Terasaki, 52. "And I like the whole thing about overcoming your fears and trying to find the bravery within yourself." Though Ghosts for Breakfast is Terasaki’s first published work, he has written several plays that have been performed at his local church. "Gardena, U.S.A." and "Christmas at Manzanar" relate the experiences of Japanese-Americans interned during World War II, a common theme in his writings. "It’s just part of who I am, and you always write about who you are," said Terasaki, whose mother was interned at Heart Mountain, in northwest Wyoming. "You hear the family stories, and they stick with you. When you’re a writer, you always kind of tap into what you know." 
Ghosts for Breakfast caught the eye of publisher Lee & Low Books after Terasaki entered the story in a children’s book contest and won the "honor" designation. Winning the New Voices Award from Lee & Low Books gave Terasaki a foot in the door, he said.Terasaki loves writing, but he’s not willing to give up his day job as an assistant principal at San Pedro’s Dana Middle School. "I probably couldn’t feed and clothe (his three children) if I was a full-time children’s book author," he said. "But it’s really a fun thing to do as a hobby." And his middle school students, though a little too old for Ghosts for Breakfast, "...still get a kick out of seeing the author every day at school and hearing the tale," Terasaki said. "You don’t ever outgrow your enjoyment of a good story," Terasaki said.
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