Author Events

When we host an Author Event, it is our goal to bring together authors and readers together in a comfortable, fun, and friendly environment with the hopes of expanding the author’s readership in our community. Fact or Fiction Authors take us on journeys with storytelling skills…..

We can promise a wonderful afternoon of storytelling as this year’s authors Devin Scillian and Claudia Teal Whitsitt share what inspires them to create their interesting and diverse stories.

We will be returning to Bakers this year with the wonderful luncheon salad selections. 

We will be using the Oakland County Guidelines for keeping our guests safe:

All Guests and Volunteers will be required to wear masks except during food and beverage dining.

To maintain social distancing  Table Seating will be for 5-6 guests unless you request additional seating for your table.

Tickets are printed and available at HVCA if you would like to sign some out.

INFORMATION ABOUT PRE-ORDERING BOOKS HERE.

Devin Scillian

Married to Corey Scillian, four children Journalist, country singer, children’s author and actor, WDIV-TV (1995–present)

Devin is equally at home on your television, on your bookshelf, and on your iTunes.  School children, teachers and parents know him as the writer behind the recent memoirs series including Memoirs of a Goldfish, winner of the Wanda Gag Award as the nation’s best read-aloud book. Television viewers in Michigan and Ontario know him as their evening news anchor on WDIV-TV, NBC in Detroit. And music lovers know him as the winner of the prestigious Detroit Music Award for Best Country Performer.

• Devin is the author of 19 children’s books.  His book A is for America became a national bestseller that even found its way beneath the White House Christmas tree.  In 2004, First Lady Laura Bush invited him to read at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.  His book, Memoirs of a Goldfish” was chosen as the Michigan Reads book, and has won a slew of children’s choice awards including New York, Maryland and New Hampshire.  His other books include Fibblestax, Cosmo’s Moon, and H Is For Honor.  His newest title is Memoirs of a Parrot.
  
• Devin joined WDIV-TV in August, 1995 as a reporter and moved into the anchor position in 1996.  He’s been honored for his work both at home and abroad.  His assignments have taken him from the Forbidden City in Beijing to St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, from the Red Sea to Moscow, from Jerusalem to Siberia. His well-worn passport has taken him to six Olympiads. Three times he has won the Edward R. Murrow Award, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism. After graduating from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas in 1985, Devin began his career at WIBW-TV in Topeka.  His job path took him to WAND in Decatur, Illinois, KLTV in Tyler, Texas, and KFOR in Oklahoma City where his around the clock coverage of the bombing at the Murrah Federal Building in 1995 helped the station win a Peabody Award.  Nurturing a long love of politics, he created Flashpoint which quickly became required viewing for those in the know in both Oklahoma City and now in Detroit.   
  
• An accomplished musician and songwriter, Devin has released four albums of his original songs.  He and his band Arizona Son make frequent appearances on the summer concert circuit.  He’s opened for the likes of Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, and LeAnn Rimes.
  
• He has played a journalist in several films including “The Double” starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace, and “Scream 4” directed by Wes Craven. Fans of The Ellen Show will recognize Devin from his special reports on everything from Facebook postings to the parking habits of SUV drivers.
  
• Devin’s wife Corey is a ceramic artist. They have been together since high school in Junction City, Kansas.  They reside in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.  They have four children, Griffin, Quinn, Madison and Christian.

Music: Scillian has released four albums of his original country music. He won the Detroit Music Award for Best Country Vocalist in 2018 and Best Country Performer in 2001. He and his band Arizona Son make frequent appearances at summer music festivals. They’ve opened for the likes of Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, and LeAnn Rimes.^[citation

Publications:

• Fibblestax (2000)
• A is for America (2001)
• One Nation: America by the Numbers (2002)
• P is for Passport (2003)
• Cosmo’s Moon (2003)
• S is for Sooner (2003)
• S is for Sunflower (2004)
• H is for Honor (2006)
• Pappy’s Handkerchief (2007)
• Brewster the Rooster (2007)
• One Kansas Farmer: A Kansas Number Book (2009)
• Memoirs of a Goldfish (2010)
• D is for Down Under: An Australia Alphabet (2010)
• Westward Journeys (2013)
• Memoirs of a Hamster (2013)
• Johnny Kaw: A Tall Tale (2013)
• Memoirs of an Elf (2014)
• Memoirs of a Parrot (2016)
• Mistletoe: A Very Confused Christmas (2017)
• Back Roads Country Toads (2019)

Claudia Whitsitt

Born in Detroit; Genre Mystery, Romance, Historical Fiction

Claudia Whitsitt began creating stories in her head when she was very little, and once in the 5th grade, spent hours recording them in longhand on loose leaf paper. When she wasn’t writing, she was reading. Claudia grew up to be a teacher and mother, but after raising her children, went back to her writing passion.

She is proud to be an author for both children and adult readers. In addition to writing the award-winning historical fiction Kids Like You Series, which includes the Between the Lines, Beyond the Lines and Broken Lines, Claudia has also authored another Michigan based novel, The Wrong Guy, loosely based on the Michigan Murders of the late sixties.

She is the author of the Samantha Series as well, including Identity Issues, Intimacy Issues, Internal Issues, and Inherited Issues. When not writing, solving mysteries, or visiting classrooms to spread her message that #friendshipiscolorblind,

I’m the oldest of six children and the only girl. Northwest Detroit, at that time a thriving metropolis and desirable address, was my childhood home. I attended parochial schools and loved learning from the very start. A voracious reader, one of my fondest memories is keeping the hall light burning in hopes of stealing a few extra minutes of reading time each night. When my mom got wise to my tricks and closed my bedroom door, I snuck a flashlight from my dad’s toolbox, kept it hidden under my bed and replaced the batteries more than once. That single beam came in handy on many late nights with Nancy Drew.

Graduating from St. Mary of Redford high school in 1970, I attended Eastern Michigan University. After receiving my degree, I became a Special Education teacher. Early on I realized that teaching was my new “school.” I learned so very much from my students and their families about hope in the face of despair, about the hidden talents each of us possess, and about how simple acts of humanity can touch and enrich lives.

I have always loved writing whether composing an educational report, a letter to one of my children, or a simple poem. My initial inspiration to write a novel came while I worked as a Special Education teacher and became involved in a mystery surrounding one of my students. As all writers do, I began playing “what if” and started putting ideas down on paper.

Since penning my first novel, Identity Issues, I am consumed with learning more about my newly discovered passion. A newbie at my first writer’s conference a few years back, I asked the question, “How do I become a better writer?” The editor, my newly adopted fairy godmother, spoke wisely. “Write some more.”

Since that time, I have written two more installments in The Samantha Series, Intimacy Issues and Internal Issues.

I’ve also recently released The Wrong Guy, a new adult romantic mystery loosely based on the Co-Ed killings of the late ’60s. In 2014, I released a stand-alone work of contemporary fiction, Two of Me, and a middle grades historical fiction novel, Between the Lines.  

Website

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