The author confirmations have been coming in fast and furious as our submission deadline approaches. Some of the newest additions to our featured author list include:
~ Children's & Young Adult ~
 Walter Dean Myers is the U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a beloved children’s author. His award-winning body of work includes “Sunrise Over Fallujah,” “Fallen Angels,” “Monster,” “Somewhere in the Darkness,” “Harlem” and “Scorpions.” His latest book is “Darius & Twig.” Walter is the winner of two Newbery Honor awards and five Coretta Scott King awards. He was the first recipient of both the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature from the American Library Association and Kent State University’s Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2008, Walter won the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award and in 2010, he received the Rutgers University Award for Literature for Young Adults from the New Jersey Center for the Book and the Rutgers School of Communications. He is considered one of the preeminent writers for young people, having written more than 100 books.
 Adele Griffin is a two-time National Book Award finalist and the author of a number of middle grade and young adult novels, including her latest, “All You Never Wanted.” Her works include “The Julian Game,” “Tighter,” “Picture the Dead” and coming this Fall, “Loud Awake & Lost.” She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her husband and two children.
~ Non-Fiction ~
 Scott W. Berg’s latest book is “38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier’s End.” He also is the author of “Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.” and a regular contributor to The Washington Post. Scott was born and raised in the Twin Cities, earned a B.A. in architecture from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. from Miami University of Ohio, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from George Mason University, where he now teaches writing and literature.
 Amber Dusick’s book, “Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures,” grew out of a blog of the same name that she started because she was going crazy and needed a place to vent. She must have struck a nerve because her blog illustrating the day-to-day things that happen as a parent received more than 500,000 views and hundreds of comments within days. Dusick's blog was named Funniest Mom Blog 2011 by Parents Magazine and the Best Parenting weblog in the 2012 Bloggie Awards. A featured columnist on The Huffington Post, Amber is constantly in touch with readers, fans and other parents throughout the blogosphere. She is a mom with two boys, a husband and two black cats.
 Lynne Olson has written six books of history, including the national best-seller “Citizens of London.” Her latest book, “Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight for World War II, 1939-1941,” tells the story of the no-holds-barred debate that raged in America over what its role should be in the Second World War. Before Lynne began writing books full time, she worked for more than 10 years as a journalist, including stints as Moscow correspondent for the Associated Press and White House correspondent for The Baltimore Sun. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.
 Garrett Peck is a literary journalist, local Washington-area historian, and author of four books – “The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet,” “Prohibition in Washington, D.C.: How Dry We Weren’t,” “The Potomac River: A History and Guide” and its sequel, his latest book, “The Smithsonian Castle and The Seneca Quarry.” Garrett leads tours of Seneca Quarry and the Temperance Tour of Prohibition-related sites in the nation’s capital. This will be Garrett’s third time presenting at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, including the inaugural year in 2010. A native Californian and VMI graduate, he lives in Arlington, Va.
 Shelby Smoak’s book, “Bleeder: A Memoir,” narrates his college struggles as a severe hemophilic who contracted HIV via a blood transfusion. His poetry, fiction and non-fiction essays have appeared in journals and magazines such as Northern Virginia Review, Cucalorus, Juice, The Crutch, New Thought Journal, Cities and Roads and Coastal Plains Poetry. He was awarded a Pen/American grant for writers living with HIV. He lives with his wife and teaches writing in Northern Virginia.
~ Mystery ~
 Phillip Margolin, author of ”Sleight of Hand,” has written 16 New York Times best-sellers, including “Capitol Murder” and “Supreme Justice.” Each of his books displays a unique, compelling insider’s view of criminal behavior, which comes from his long background as a criminal defense attorney who handled 30 murder cases. With “Vanishing Acts,” he teamed up with his daughter, Ami Margolin Rome, to write a gripping tween mystery. Winner of the Distinguished Northwest Writer Award and the Spotted Owl Award for “Executive Privilege,” Phillip lives in Portland, Ore.
Brad Parks  returns to the Festival for a third time to promote his latest book, “The Good Cop,” which debuts in March and continues the saga of the sometimes-dashing investigative reporter Carter Ross. Brad won both the Shamus Award and Nero Award for his first book, “Faces of the Gone.” His third book, “The Girl Next Door,” was named to the Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction of 2012 list. Brad is a graduate of Dartmouth College and spent a dozen years as a reporter for The Washington Post and The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger. He is now a full-time novelist who lives in Virginia with his wife and two small children.
~ Fiction ~
Manil Suri is the author of “The Death of Vishnu,” which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and “The Age of Shiva.” His latest novel is “The City of Devi.” Manil is a native of Mumbai and a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
 Abigail Tarttelin grew up in North East England and will be at the Festival to promote her second novel, “Golden Boy.” She began training as an actress at 16 years old at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and the New York Film Academy. She has been profiled as “One To Watch,” and published her debut novel, “Flick,” in the United Kingdom in 2011.
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