BREAKING NEWS: The first 48 people to register for the meeting will receive a copy of John Gilstrap's latest book, End Game. Be sure to register early.
In addition to rewarding our Golden Nib winners and presenting service awards, NYT Bestselling Author John Gilstrap will be our keynote speaker. Back by popular demand, Gilstrap will speak about his writing life and read from his latest thriller, End Game.
Gilstrap graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1979, and armed with a degree in American history, couldn't find a job. He settled for a position with a little-noticed trade journal serving the construction industry. They called him the managing editor and they paid him food stamp wages. He hated it. About this time, he joined the Burke Volunteer Fire Department in Fairfax County, Virginia, if only to find relief from the boredom of his job. Running about a thousand calls his first year with the department, he was hooked, and the volunteer fire service became an important part of his life for the next 15 years. In the early eighties, hating his job, he went the way of all frustrated liberal arts undergrads--back to graduate school. Earning a Master of Science degree in safety engineering from the University of Southern California, he started down a whole new road. For the next decade and a half, he became an expert (don't you hate that word?) on explosives safety and hazardous waste. Meanwhile, he kept writing. He didn't tell anyone, of course, because, well, you just don't share artistic dreams with fellow engineers. They look at you funny.
Gilstrap's latest thriller, End Game, is available in stores and online.
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