Some of her favorite novels include Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She is working closely with Jennifer, learning more about the literary world, and getting involved with this wonderful company.

Larry Clow
© Jason Santo

Larry is writing his first book, entitled People You May Know, which is about his search for his biological parents and how the internet and social media have changed adoption in America.  Jennifer is thrilled to be working with Larry about such an important and personal subject.  Welcome Larry!

Jamey works full time at Washington University in St. Louis. He writes a daily personal blog as well as dystopian fiction, and he is just as avid of a reader as he is a writer. He is excited to be represented by Jennifer Chen Tran.

Writing “blind” can be risky but also rewarding

I won’t get into too many details or hash out the arguments on either side since Bill Cheng and his Southern Gothic novel have both been covered by many different media outlets and interviews.  Basically the big question boiled down to: can an Asian American writer write convincingly about a culture he was not raised in?  Cheng was inspired to write the book from listening to and being an avid fan of, Blues music.  Cheng, interviewed by Scott Cheshire for The Brooklyn Rail,  stated that it’s axiomatic that writers are told to ‘write what you know,’ but instead he wanted to write about what he wanted to know.  That area of gray, of reaching beyond one’s personal experience can provide a beautiful tension in the make-believe world that is fiction.  Taking that risk certainly takes some writing chops.  More significantly if the writing is solid and persuasive enough, then it begs the question: does the author really need to have come from that area/ region/ background/ history to come across as authentic? What does it mean to take risks when writing, and can you authentically write about a history or background that you never were part of?

Personally, I believe that if the writing and story are compelling enough then it doesn’t really matter where the author “came” from.  On the other hand, having that rich cultural tapestry and background is something that should be respected and acknowledged, if you choose to draw from that experience.  It doesn’t make someone who writes from the outskirts any less of an artist or less authentic, even though some such authors have been accused of ‘ventriloquy.’

I think it’s more progressive to want to take these literary risks however.  That’s what I look for when I sign writers that write fiction or even memoir.  Rainbow Rowell, author of The Attachments and Eleanor & Park specifically addressed the issue of creating characters outside the reach of a writer’s immediate personal experiences.  She astutely stated, in an interview with Publisher’s Weekly, “As a writer, I think there needs to be more diversity. Which means that white authors need to write about characters of other races. And that’s really scary. You have good intentions, but at the same time, you’re blind. I probably made mistakes with Park, but I don’t think I’ll regret writing him.”  Let’s take that one step further and say that authors, in general, need to write about characters of other races, while acknowledging their fear and the risk they are taking, writers should push themselves without sacrificing their artistic conscience.

Takings risks when writing doesn’t necessarily equate with artistic recklessness, the degree of authenticity and research required seems sharply divided depending on the genre of the book (non-fiction vs. fiction) and also the art form–for some reason readers seem to demand more authenticity from writers of literature whereas the music and film industries give more play and creative license to the creator.  I can think of many examples in literature where the writer so inhabits the world he or she writes about that, if the reader didn’t know who the writer was, they wouldn’t be any the wiser.  Robert Olen Butler’s short stories in Scent from a Good Mountain come to mind.

That gap between knowledge and imagination, that’s where the beauty, the magic, the alchemy happens…when the writer creates a world that seems so rich and authentic that the persona of who the author is or where he came from is secondary to the story.  That’s when you know, as a writer, that the risk was worth taking.

S. Gregory Boyd

S. Gregory Boyd is partner and chairman of the Interactive Entertainment Group at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz.  He represents a wide variety of interactive entertainment and new media clients, counsels brands, media companies and advertising agencies on a variety of digital issues, and is co-author and editor of Business and Legal Primer for Game Development (Charles River Media).  Gregory also serves as an Adjunct Professor at New York Law School, where he teaches a seminar in advanced intellectual property.  The Legal 500 has praised him for his work with media and technology companies, and he is frequently quoted in articles in publications such as: Gamasutra, Edge-Online, CNN, Fortune, Forbes and the New York Law Journal.

Brian Pyne

Brian Pyne is the Director of Legal Affairs and Enforcement for the Entertainment Software Rating Board, where he investigates enforcement matters, negotiates agreements, maintains a trademark portfolio, and assists in policy development.  Prior to joining the ESRB, Brian was Associate Counsel to Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., the parent company of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, where he negotiated agreements, reviewed game assets and advised on a variety of issues pertaining to game development and publishing.

Gregory and Brian are currently co-authoring a new book on video game and interactive entertainment law.  Jennifer, a former gamer, is very excited to work with both Gregory and Brian on such a cutting-edge subject.  Stay tuned for updates.

Lyn Di Iorio

Lyn Di Iorio is the author of Outside the Bones, a novel that won the ForeWord Review’s 2011 Silver Book of the Year Award for literary fiction, was Best Debut Novel on the 2011 Latinidad List, and was a finalist for the John Gardner Fiction Prize.  She was second on 2012’s Top Ten Authors to Watch and Read List.  She has also written Killing Spanish: Literary Essays on Ambivalent U.S. Latino/a Identity (2004), co-edited Contemporary U.S. Latino Literary Criticism (2007), and Moments of Magical Realism in US Ethnic Literatures (2012).  Lyn received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from Stanford University’s Creative Writing Program, where she was a Patricia Harris fellow, and her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.  She is currently a professor of English at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  Lyn is also writing a second novel entitled The Sound of Falling Darkness, an excerpt of which was a runner-up for the 2011 Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Novel-in-Progress Award.

Pamela Laskin
Photo by Joe Zarba

Pamela L. Laskin is the author a memoir, My Life in Shoes (2011), and also wrote several poetry chapbooks including, Grand Central Station, which won the Millennium Poetry Prize, Remembering Fireflies, Secrets of Sheets, Ghosts, Goblins and Geodes, Van Gogh’s Ear, Daring Daughters/Defiant Dreams, The Plagiarist, and The Bonsai Curator.  She has also published several children’s books, such as, A Wish Upon a Star, Historical Heroic Horses, Music From the Heart, and The Buried Treasure, short stories, including two young adult stories.  Her young adult story, “Visitation Rites”, originally published in magazine format, was expanded on and published in 2012 by Diversion Press.  She has also co-edited two anthologies: The Heroic Young Woman, a book of original feminist fairy tales, and Life on the Moon: My Best Friend’s Secrets, a collection of young adult fiction. She has received a SEED grant for Poetry Outreach, Research Foundation CUNY grants for completion of creative work, and is a Colin Powell Fellow.  Pamela is currently a lecturer in the English Department at the City College of New York, where she directs the Poetry Outreach Center.

Jennifer is excited to work with Lyn and Pamela, both co-editors, on an anthology about women’s relationships with their shoes.

Tabitha is a Pacific Northwest native born in Seattle and raised on the Mt. Rainer Plateau.  She graduated from the Pacific University MFA Writing program in June 2012, where she was chosen to be a student commencement speaker.  She is a staff writer for the PDXX Collective and Spectrum Culture, and writes the “The Wordstalker” column for Barrelhouse Magazine. Her personal essays have been published in journals including Owl Eye Review, Sliver of Stone, and Brevity. Her essay “Two Pieces to Perfection” was selected for the All That Glitters nonfiction anthology.

After a recent move from Portland, Oregon, Tabitha is currently residing in Tucson, Arizona with her husband and two cats. While there, she is plotting exit routes back to Portland.  For more information and links to her columns and essays, visit http://tabithablankenbiller.com

Madison hopes to embark on a career in publishing, after graduation.  Like most people in publishing, she has always loved reading and writing—a few of her favorite books include Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Fifth Avenue Five A.M. by Sam Wasson, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. 

Madison will be working closely with Jennifer this summer on several submissions, reading manuscripts, and scouting new talent. 

Rebecca Kelley

Rebecca has taught writing at Oregon College of Art & Craft for nine years. Her      work is infused with the sensibilities of the young creative class that uses the Pacific Northwest as its way station for earnest, well-meaning adventuring to the world at large. At home, her fiction turns to the quiet dramas of urban domestic life: growing tomatoes, making pancakes, examining the nature and validity of love and marriage in the context of our modern world.
She started the Green Baby Guide in 2007 along with Joy Hatch. Their book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, was published in 2010. Rebecca’s work has appeared in Scholastic Parent and Child, Metro Parent, Stealing Time magazine, and xoJane.

She lives in northeast Portland with her husband and daughter.

The novel provides “a unique perspective on the impact of American Vietnamese involvement on South Vietnamese men and the complexities underpinning the quest for country, survival, love and self-acceptance.” (from http://www.audreychin.com).  The narrative centers around Thong, a Viet-Cong spy, and his relationships with various father figures, including his blood father, his adoptive father, and a charismatic and mysterious man named Chu Hai, amidst the backdrop of war, intrigue, and secrets.

We are very excited to work with Marshall Cavendish on this important and gripping book.  For current news on the book, please visit and sign up for updates at http://www.audreychin.com