Four Keynotes Slated for 6th Annual Author Fest of the Rockies

Award-winning Colorado-based authors will speak at day-long conference.

The 6th Annual Author Fest of the Rockies remains true to a tradition of rich offerings, with a roster of four Colorado authors who will be speaking at the statewide literary conference from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, October 9, at the Historic Cliff House at Pikes Peak.

“We’re really excited about our keynotes for this year’s Author Fest,” said Natalie Johnson, Author Fest board member. “These authors are some of the most talented and prolific that Colorado has to offer. Author Fest attendees have come to expect a program that is educational as well as entertaining, and this year will not disappoint.”

Keynote Matt Moseley is a communications strategist and a principal at InterMountain Corporate Affairs in Denver. He has managed many communications projects for companies and organizations, and has worked on many political campaigns. He was the family spokesperson for Lisl Auman and was also hired by Johnny Depp to be the family spokesperson and communications director for Hunter S. Thompson’s funeral and ash-blast. He recently published Dear Dr. Thompson: Felony Murder, Hunter S. Thompson and the Last Gonzo Campaign, which was a finalist for the 2011 Colorado Book Award.
Keynote Barbara O’Neal fell in love with food and restaurants at the age of 15, when she landed a job in a Greek café and served baklava for the first time. She sold her first novel in her twenties, and has since won a plethora of awards, including two Colorado Book Awards and six prestigious RITAs, most recently one for The Lost Recipe for Happiness in 2010. Her novels have been published widely in Europe and Australia, and she travels internationally, presenting workshops, hiking hundreds of miles, and of course, eating. She lives with her partner, a British endurance athlete, and their collection of cats and dogs, in Colorado Springs.

Keynote Stephanie Barron was born in Binghamton, NY in 1963, the last of six girls. Her father was a retired general in the Air Force, her mother a beautiful woman who loved to dance. In 1981, she started college at Princeton—one of the most formative experiences of her life. There she learned to write news stories for The Daily Princetonian – a hobby that led to part-time jobs for The Miami Herald and The San Jose Mercury News. She majored in European History and spent three years at Stanford pursuing a doctorate in history; she failed to write her dissertation (on the Brazilian Bar Association under authoritarianism; can you blame her?) and left with a Master’s. She applied to the CIA, passed a polygraph test on her 26th birthday, and was immediately thrown into the Career Trainee program. Barron wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Fifteen books have followed, along with sundry children, dogs and houses.

Keynote Erin Blakemore learned to drool over Darcy and cry over Little Women in suburban San Diego, California. These days, her inner heroine loves roller derby, running her own business, and hiking in her adopted hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Erin's debut book, The Heroine's Bookshelf, was published by HarperCollins in October, won the 2011 Colorado Book Award in the Nonfiction-General category, and will appear in paperback November 15.

In keeping with Author Fest’s Arts-in-Education component, the event will sponsor young adult author Laura Resau in the Manitou Springs schools. With a background in cultural anthropology and ESL-teaching, Laura Resau has lived and traveled in Latin America and Europe - experiences that inspired her books for young people. Her latest novel, The Queen of Water (co written with María Virginia Farinango) was praised as a "riveting tale...by turns heartbreaking, infuriating and ultimately inspiring" in a starred review by Kirkus. Resau lives with her husband and young son in Colorado. She donates a portion of her royalties to indigenous rights organizations in Latin America.
As a breakaway event from the Friends of the Manitou Springs Public Library, Author Fest is in its first year as a standalone nonprofit organization. Although it takes an abbreviated form this year, the all-volunteer board has endeavored to replicate the value attendees always gain from Author Fest. Tickets for the event are $75 and include lunch. Registration forms may be picked up at Black Cat Books or the Manitou Springs Public Library, or you can register online at www.authorfestoftherockies.org. Sponsorships for Author Fest will continue to be available this year. For more information about Author Fest of the Rockies, call Laura Ettinger at 719-231-7202, or email at laura.ettinger@authorfestoftherockies.org. “Like” us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/authorfestoftherockies) and follow us on Twitter (@AuthorFest).

About Author Fest
Author Fest of the Rockies, a 501(c)3, is a nonprofit organization in process that has as its signature event a statewide literary conference. This conference, also called Author Fest of the Rockies, is open to anyone interested in the written and spoken word. Author Fest is dedicated to keeping a strong arts-in-education component in its activities and to supporting the Manitou Springs Public Library. Visit www.authorfestoftherockies.org.