Lori Rader-Day is the author of the Anthony Award-winning The Black Hour and Little Pretty Things, both from Seventh Street Books, and the forthcoming novel An Elegant Hand from Harper Collins William Morrow. She will be speaking about her "Path to Being a Published Author" and how she balances writing, revising, research, and promotion for her contemporary mystery novels.

Besides being an author, Lori teaches courses and workshops in creative writing, crime fiction, and tactics in writing, revising, publishing, and marketing and promotion for writers. She has taught at Ball State University, Roosevelt University, and StoryStudio Chicago (continuing students of all ages and skill levels). Her special interests include amateur detective mysteries, mysteries with strong female protagonists, mysteries set in academic settings, Chicago crime fiction, Midwestern crime fiction, writing unreliable narrators, and writing difficult-to-like protagonists. Her short fiction has been published in Time Out Chicago, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Good Housekeeping, among others. She is currently the president of the Midwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers.