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David M. Hamlin

Open Books Featured Authors

Jane Hulse graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in journalism. She worked for small newspapers in Colorado and then for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, one of the city’s two major papers at the time, where she reported on major criminal trials and other breaking news.

After moving with her husband to California, she did freelance reporting for the Los Angeles Times. Most recently, she was editor of Central Coast Farm & Ranch, a Southern California agricultural magazine. Jane currently lives in Ventura, California.

Alan Rifkin's essays and short stories have been published widely, including by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Publishers; Gordon Lish's fiction journal The Quarterly from Vintage Books; and in numerous print and digital anthologies. He is the author of Signal Hill: Stories; Burdens by Water: An Unintended Memoir; and, with We Five's Jerry Burgan, Wounds to Bind: A Memoir of the Folk-Rock Revolution.

Rifkin now lectures fulltime in Creative Writing at California State University, Long Beach.

Steve Oskie’s plays have been produced in New York, Washington, and Philadelphia. He is the author of Mean Thoughts, a semi-finalist for the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel, and is the ghostwriter of Jerry Blavat’s autobiography, You Only Rock Once, which has been published in hardcover, paperback, and audio book editions. Steve’s short fiction has appeared in Textures, Pierien Spring, and other literary journals.

On a personal note, Oskie dropped out of college to “become a writer,” Whether his decision was prudent or not, there’s nothing he can do about it now.

Amy L. Bernstein writes award-winning fiction and nonfiction, with a particular interest in the power of dystopian literature to question truths we live with now. Amy is the author of five previous novels.

Tent City is a contemporary family saga that places ordinary citizens in dire economic disruption. As the American town of Willing's economy collapses, hundreds seek refuge in the dense "city" of tents that spring up in the Kings' big backyard, setting the once-thriving family on a collision course with disillusionment, disaster, and for some, a new and hopeful beginning.

Janet L. Finn is an author, educator, and lifelong advocate for social justice whose work explores the human stories behind systems of power, inequality, and transformation.

Raised in Butte, Montana, she grew up surrounded by the layered histories of a mining town — experiences that shaped her lifelong curiosity about the lives we inherit, the communities we build, and the forces that shape them.

Today, Janet brings that curiosity to her work — from teaching social work and writing books, to amplifying voices that too often go unheard.

Now living in Las Vegas, Khristy Reibel grew up in rural Illinois and is still a Midwestern girl at heart. After graduating high school, she attended the University of Illinois where she received a B.S. in Marketing, which enabled her to hone her writing skills by creating advertising copy for a trade show company. In 2008, she enrolled at UNLV and later graduated with an M.Ed. In addition to writing, she now teaches high school English and German. She believes that teaching students to support their ideas in writing is the most important skill she can help them to learn.

Robert Klose teaches at the University of Maine. He is a regular contributor of essays to The Christian Science Monitor. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and various literary magazines. His books include the novels, Long Live Grover Cleveland, which won a 2016 Ben Franklin Literary Award and a USA BookNews Award, and Life on Mars, which was a Finalist for a 2019 Best Book Award sponsored by American Book Fest and was also a Finalist in the International Book Awards and American Fiction Awards.

He is also a four-time winner of a Maine Press Association award for Opinion writing.

Tom Garlinghouse received an MA in science journalism from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2019 and has written for numerous scientific publications both in print and online.

Prior to his journalism career, he worked as an archaeologist, having received his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of California, Davis.

A native Californian, Tom was born in Laguna Beach and grew up in the town of Capistrano Beach. He is a runner, avid surfer and hiker who enjoys the outdoors, exotic foods, classical music, and strong English teas.

Dr. Eileen Ryan has taught in a variety of educational environments from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northern Montana to the urban and suburban schools of Chicago. Dr. Ryan’s incentive to obtain a master’s degree in early childhood was initially inspired by the development of her five children. She continues to be inspired by the growth of her grandchildren.

Developing resource programs at three private high schools motivated Dr. Ryan to pursue a PhD in special education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Throughout her career she also provided professional development in special education to a variety of schools.