Alumni Authors

4 p.m. Speaker Panel

Rhea Miller Recital Hall
Q&A with Jason Wolverton, Emcee

5 p.m. Book Signing

Groening Commons

Meet and greet the authors
Books will be available for purchase

Chaunie Brusie is founder of the popular website for young mothers, Tiny Blue Lines, and author of the books, Tiny Blue Lines: Reclaiming Your Life, Preparing For Your Baby, and Moving Forward in An Unplanned Pregnancy and The Moments That Made You A Mother. After becoming a student mother during her senior year of college, Chaunie revolutionized her campus in support of pregnant and parenting resources continues to advocate and inspire other young mothers and parents. Chaunie has shared her story on Capitol Hill and at universities across the country. Her work has also appeared on Good Morning America, USA Today, The Huffington Post, among others. As a freelance writer, Chaunie is one of the most prolific parenting writers in the country and was named a semi-finalist in Parents Magazine Most Influential Mothers of 2014. She is a regular medical writer and parenting writer with sites such as Babble, Mom.me, About.com, and Bustle. Chaunie is also a registered nurse with experience in labor and delivery and lives in Michigan with her four young children and her husband.

Marlin M. Jenkins was born and raised in Detroit and studied writing and Black studies at SVSU. He is currently a poetry student in University of Michigan's MFA program and leads creative writing workshops in Detroit Public Schools through a program called InsideOut. His writings have found homes in The Puritan, River Styx, Yemassee, and Midwestern Gothic, among others.

Justin Brouckaert’s creative prose and poetry has appeared in The Rumpus, Passages North, DIAGRAM, NANO Fiction, Smokelong Quarterly, the Baltimore Review, the Ploughshares Blog and Amazon’s Day One, and his sportswriting has appeared in The Detroit News and the Midland Daily News. His work has been featured by Longform.org and nominated for the Best of the Net anthology and a Pushcart Prize. A 2013 SVSU graduate, Justin is currently a James Dickey Fellow in Fiction at the University of South Carolina, where he serves as editor of Yemassee.

Deborah Frontiera, who grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She graduated from SVSU in 1974 with a major in English, minors in psychology and natural science, and her teaching credentials. She has lived in Houston, TX since 1985, and taught in public schools until 2008. Eric and the Enchanted Leaf: The First Adventure was an Honor book for the Texas State Reading Association’s Golden Spur Award in 2005. The second in that series, Eric and the Enchanted Leaf: A Visit with Canis Lupis, won the North Texas Book Festival’s children’s book award in 2007. In 2010, her middle grade book, Living on Sisu: The 1913 Union Copper Strike Tragedy, won First Place for historical fiction in the Purple Dragonfly Awards. Poems and articles have appeared in a variety of publications. She currently teaches part time for Writers In The Schools in the greater Houston area. Her most recent book is, The Nature of Life, a collection of poems and photos. View all her books on her website at:  www.authorsden.com/deborahkfrontiera 

Kurt David’s experience as a professional athlete, best-selling author, TV personality, keynote speaker, school counselor, business owner, and transition consultant for professional & Olympic athletes has given him the unique ability to connect with vast audiences.  He is the creator of the highly-acclaimed book and TV show, “From Glory Days” which chronicles the lives of Hall of Fame, All-Star, and World Champion former professional athletes.  His second book titled, “The Change” is co-authored by some of the nation’s leading authorities on change and transition, and is part of a five book series that is slated to be released this Spring. 

Kurt now works with highly successful individuals, organizations, and corporations that at times face challenges with positive leadership, teamwork, and facing change, and despite his extremely busy schedule believes it is important to give back and does so by volunteering his time and resources to numerous charities and non-profit organizations. As a keynote and workshop speaker Kurt’s presentations are entertaining, educational, and inspiring, and focused on positively changing lives.

You can find out more at:  kurtdavid.com

Joe Johnson was born in Milwaukee, WI but has lived in several places during his childhood including Hawaii and New York. He considers Milwaukee, AKA: “The Mil” his hometown because of the family ties.

Joe Johnson understands the meaning of struggle but has lived with a mentality instilled in him by his mother, " I can do and be anything I want in life".  Johnson learned the value of education from both parents but as he began his love for sports at an early age, his focus with competing on the football field and basketball court caused him to develop a "who cares" attitude toward his education.

Growing up in the inner-city of Milwaukee allowed for Johnson to almost fall victim to what many young males were doing in his neighborhood. Sports was his key out of a city where many black and Hispanic males were often victims of gang violence and self destruction. After becoming a high school standout football and basketball player, his education finally caught up with him when Division 1 colleges passed on him when finding out his grade point average and his score of 13 on the ACT (standardized test). After taking the long route by attending community college then enrolling in a university, he understood education and its affect but he continued his mediocre classroom habits with hopes of playing professional football. Although the opportunity to play professional football was close, his dream faded away and Johnson was stuck graduating with his 2.4 college grade point average and no plans about his future.

Johnson soon learned the power of competing in the classroom, the same way he competed in sports. With his new found attitude and focus , he began to excel academically after being accepted into a Master's program. Johnson began to love learning and realized his purpose was working with the youth and allowing others to be inspired by his voice.

As a proud graduate of Milwaukee Bay View high school, Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business from Saginaw Valley State University and a Master’s degree in Counselor Education from Western Michigan University, Johnson is now in pursuit of a PhD. in Counselor Education at the University of Florida and ready to take on the world!

Lynn Klammer is a bestselling author, clinical psychologist and educator. Her award-winning work has appeared internationally. Klammer is a state-licensed Clinical Psychologist and educator as well as an internationally-published, award-winning author. She has several books in print (all with traditional publishers), and hundreds of magazine articles (in a variety of publications and subject areas). Since 1998, her series of devotional books for children have been bestsellers in the Christian market and she also has written books in the adult devotional, how-to and travel genres.

For nearly 25 years, Lynn has also managed a freelance business where she offers a variety of copywriting including in the areas of marketing, grant writing, supplemental textbook material, state certification test copy, business letters…and just about any other type of writing that provides a paycheck.

In her other life, Lynn is also the Assistant Director of PACE, an innovative “early college” program that offers high school students the opportunity to complete a fully funded bachelor’s degree while still in high school.

Lynn’s books are available at bookstores everywhere, as well as online at amazon.com