Spotlight author: Laila Lalami

Laila Lalami is a Moroccan writer. She was born and raised in Morocco and had her B.A. in Linguistics at Université Mohammed-V in Rabat in 1991. After that she had a scholarship and decided to complete her M.A. in University College London in linguistics.


Afterwards, she worked briefly as a journalist in Morocco but decided to go to the United States to the University of Southern California to have a PhD.


Her work as an essayist and a critic has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post and elsewhere. She was short-listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing (the “African Booker”) in 2006 and for the National Book Critics’ Circle Nona Balakian Award in 2009.




Her debut collection of short stories, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, was published in the fall of 2005 and has since been translated into six languages. Her first novel, Secret Son, was published in the spring of 2009. She is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California Riverside.



This writer is close to my heart because she is a Moroccan, obviously, which means that English is her third language. But she worked hard to be the person she is now and to achieve her goals, or at least some of them. I’m proud of her work and can’t wait to read her last book.

Spothlight author: Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels; The Evil Seed (1989), Sleep, Pale Sister (1993) and Chocolat (1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. 

Since then, she has written seven more novels; Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, Coastliners, Holy Fools, Gentlemen and Players, and, most recently, The Lollipop Shoes and Runemarks, plus; Jigs & Reels, a collection of short stories and, with cookery writer Fran Warde, two cookbooks; The French Kitchen and The French Market. Her books are now published in over 40 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. In 2004, Joanne was one of the judges of the Whitbread prize (categories; first novel and overall winner); and in 2005 she was a judge of the Orange prize. 

Her hobbies are listed in Who’s Who as: “mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion of the system”, although she also enjoys obfuscation, sleaze, rebellion, witchcraft, armed robbery, tea and biscuits. She is not above bribery and would not necessarily refuse an offer involving exotic travel, champagne or yellow diamonds from Graff. She plays bass guitar in a band first formed when she was 16, is currently studying Old Norse and lives with her husband Kevin and her daughter Anouchka, about 15 miles from the place she was born. 

Spotlight author: P. C. Cast

Ms. Cast is a New York Times Best Selling author. Her novels have been awarded the prestigious: Oklahoma Book Award, YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Booksellers’ Best, and the Laurel Wreath.

She was born in Illinois and grew up being shuttled back and forth between there and Oklahoma, which is where she fell in love with quarter horses and mythology 

Her first novel, Goddess by Mistake, was published by a small press in 2001. Thoroughly shocking the author, it won a Prism, a Holt Medallion and a Laurel Wreath, and was a finalist for the National Readers' Choice Award. Since then Ms. Cast has gone on to win numerous writing awards. Ms. Cast is thrilled that with her Parthalon series for LUNA Books she has been given the opportunity to continue the world she created in her first book.


P.C. Cast is an experienced teacher and talented speaker. She lives in Oklahoma with her fabulous daughter, her spoiled cat, and her adorable Scotties!

Spotlight author: Stephanie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer is the American author of the bestselling young adult Twilight series, which revolves around the relationship between mortal Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. The Twilight books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide, with translations into 37 different languages around the globe. A film adaptation of Twilight was released domestically on November 21, 2008. Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel, The Host.
Meyer was the biggest selling author of 2008, having sold over 22 million books in one year alone, with Twilight being the best selling book of the year.

Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in December 24, 1973 to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1995. Meyer, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, met her husband Christian, nicknamed "Pancho", when she was growing up in Arizona, and married him in 1994. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli.

One of Meyer's short stories was published in Prom Nights from Hell, a collection of stories about bad prom nights with supernatural effects. Other authors who contributed to this collection are Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, and Lauren Myracle. Prom Nights from Hell was released in April 2007.

In May 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel, The Host, was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company; it follows the story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading alien "soul," who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and remained on the list for 26 weeks.
Meyer has stated that she is "almost done" writing a possible sequel to The Host, entitled The Soul. If she were to continue the series, the third book would be called The Seeker.
Meyer mentions having several other book ideas on file, including a ghost story titled Summer House and a novel involving time travel, as well as another about mermaids.

On August 28, 2008, it was revealed that Meyer had written the treatment for the new Jack's Mannequin music video, "The Resolution", which she co-directed the following week.

Author Spotlight: Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over twenty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Now she lives in southern Arkansas with her husband, her three children, three dogs, and a duck.

After publishing two stand-alone mysteries, Harris decided to establish a series. She began the lighthearted Aurora Teagarden books with Real Murders, which garnered an Agatha Best Novel nomination in 1990.

Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.

After Shakespeare, Harris created an entirely new series for release in 2001. The Southern Vampire Mysteries is about a telepathic barmaid in northern Louisianna named Sookie Stuckhouse. The first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. Each book follows Sookie as she tries to solve mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night. The series has gathered a strong following with its unique blend of mystery, humor, romance, and the supernatural.the eightenth, From Dead To Worse was released in May 2008.

Sookie Stackhouse has proven to be so popular that Alan Ball, creator of the acclaimed HBO television series Six Feet Ynder, announced he would undertake the production of a new HBO series based upon the Southern Vampire Mysteries. He also wrote and directed the pilot episode for the series, "True Blood", which premiered on HBO.

October 2005 marked the debut of Harris's new series about a young woman named Harper Connelly, with the release of Grave Sight. Harper's been struck by Lightning and the experience has left her with a strange ability: she can find corpses and see how they died. Afterward, Harper and her step-brother, Tolliver Lang, make their living from finding the dead. Like her past novels, the Harper Connelly books are mysteries set in the sleepy south.

Professionally, Harris is a member of the Mystery writers of America and the American Crime Writers League. She is a member of the board of Sisters in crime. A former weightlifter and Karate student, she is an avid reader and cinemaphile. She is also a member of the vestry of St. James Episcopal Church.