AUTHORS
The Scrivener's Quill has had the privilege of working with exceptional attorneys who are also authors. This page is not a comprehensive list of the published authors that have presented for the Scrivener's Quill, yet we are honored to mention a few of the stand outs!
Philip Margolin
Phillip Margolin grew up in New York City and Levittown, New York. In 1965, he graduated from The American University in Washington, D.C. with a Bachelor's Degree in Government. He graduated from New York University School of Law. His first job after law school was a clerkship with Herbert M. Schwab, the Chief Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. From 1972 until 1996, he was in private practice specializing in criminal defense at the trial and appellate levels. He was the first Oregon attorney to use the Battered Women's Syndrome to defend a battered woman accused of murdering her spouse.
Since 1996, Margolin has been writing full-time. All of his novels have been best sellers. His first novel, Heartsone, was nominated for an Edgar for best original paperback mystery of 1978 by the Mystery Writers of America. His second novel, The Last Innocent Man, was made into an HBO movie. Gone, But Not Forgotten has been sold to more than 25 foreign publishers and was made into a mini-series starring Brooke Shields. It was also the Main Selection of the Literary Guild.
Mr. Margolin worked with the Scrivener's Quill in Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon.
Laura Caldwell
Laura Caldwell is a former civil trial lawyer who is now a law professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, director of Life After Innocence, published author of 14 novels and one non-fiction book (to date). Her latest book, The Dog Park, was released in 2014.
With novels published in over 25 countries and translated into more than 13 languages, Caldwell had left the law behind, or so she thought. Research on her sixth novel led her to the criminal case of a young man sitting in a Cook County holding cell for nearly six years without a trial. Compelled by his story, Caldwell joined a renowned criminal defense attorney to defend him, ultimately proving his innocence and inspiring her first nonfiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him (Free Press, Simon & Schuster). [Wikipedia]
Ms. Caldwell presented in Portland, Oregon, for the Scrivener's Quill.
Leslie Klinger
Leslie S. Klinger is considered to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on Sherlock Holmes and Dracula. Klinger is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. He lectures frequently on Holmes, Dracula, and their worlds, including frequent panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Bouchercon, World Horror Convention, World Fantasy Convention, VampireCon, and Comic-Con, and he teaches regular courses on Holmes and Dracula at UCLA Extension. He is the technical advisor for Warner Bros. on the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) and served (without credit) in that role for Warner Bros.’ earlier hit Sherlock Holmes (2009). He has consulted on a number of comic books and graphic novels featuring Holmes and Dracula.
Kilinger attended the University of California where he received an A.B. in English; he also attended the University of California School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he obtained a J.D. degree. He and his wife Sharon have five adult children and live in Malibu with their dog and three cats. By day, Klinger practices law in Westwood, specializing in tax, estate planning, and business law.
Mr. Klinger worked with The Scrivener's Quill in Portland, Oregon. He will present in San Diego in October, 2016.
Wendy Wills
Wendy Willis splits her time between her roles as mother, poet, and advocate for democracy. Wendy was raised in Lane County, Oregon, in a family of tough and loving women, nearly all of whom could make a mean pie. Now, she lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, the poet David Biespiel; his son Lucas; her two daughters, Ruby and Violet. They also share their home with two big dogs, a rambly garden, and an assortment of fish.
Wendy’s first book, Blood Sisters of the Republic, was released by Press 53 on October 1, 2012. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Policy Consensus Initiative, a national non-profit organization devoted to improving democratic governance. In addition to publishing poetry and essays in a variety of national and regional journals and serving as an adjunct fellow in poetry at the Attic Institute, Wendy has served as a federal public defender and as the law clerk to Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson, Jr. of the Oregon Supreme Court. She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law Center and holds a B.A. from Willamette University. She is currently completing her M.F.A. in poetry at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.
Ms. Willis presented in Portland, Oregon, for the Scrivener's Quill.
Hank Schwaeble
Hank Schwaeble is a thriller writer and attorney in Houston, Texas. His first novel, Damnable, was published by Penguin/Putnam in September 2009 under their Jove imprint.
Hank's first short story, "Mugwumps," appeared in the anthology Alone on the Darkside in 2006. In 2007, he won a Bram Stoker Award for the anthology Five Strokes to Midnight, which he co-edited with Gary Braunbeck and which included three of his short stories. The book was highly regarded, winning two Bram Stoker Awards and a World Fantasy Award nomination.
A graduate of the University of Florida and Vanderbilt Law School, Hank is also a former Air Force officer and special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Mr. Schwaeble present for the Scrivener's Quill in Houston.
Van Mayhall, Jr.
Van R. Mayhall, Jr., is the senior partner in the Baton Rouge office of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson and is a former Chairman of the firm’s Executive Committee having served six years as such. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, he was educated at Louisiana State University and Georgetown University. He and his wife, Lorri, have three grown children and enjoy boating on Lake Pontchartrain. He has published two books, The Last Sicarius and Judas the Apostle.
Mr. Mayhall has presented for us twice in New Orleans.
Mikel Vause
Dr. Vause received the 1999 Distinguished Service Award from The Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, as well as a number of teaching awards from Weber State University including the Crystal Crest Master Teacher Award and the George and Beth Lowe Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Vause received the 2004, 2007, and 2011 Hemingway Awards for scholarship from Weber State University, and a 2009 recipient of the Lindquist Fellowship for Creative and Artistic Endeavors. He is a member of the American Alpine Club, and was elected to The Alpine Club (Britain) (1998) and named the first non-British judge for the Boardman-Tasker Mountaineering Literature Award, chairing the committee during its 20th year (2002).
Dr. Vause has published numerous collections of poems, essays and literary works. He has presented in Saint George and Salt Lake City, Utah.
