News

The Peters Township Public Library will welcome senior officers from the U.S. Army War College for a panel discussion on Security Challenges at Home & Abroad. The officers will appear in person at the library on Thursday, February 8, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Register at ptlib.org/awc24 to reserve your seat for this program.

This is the 18^th consecutive year the library has hosted a panel discussion with officers from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This presentation is part of the Eisenhower Series College Program with the U.S. Army War College. Seating is available in the lobby and around the second-floor rotunda.

Featured speakers for the program include:

Mr. Christopher Sandrolini is a career Foreign Service Officer with the United States Department of State and will serve as the moderator for the discussion.

Colonel Seana M. Jardin is an Army Human Resources Officer with 24 years of service. An air defense PATRIOT missile officer who later transitioned to the Human Resources career field, she has led a variety of organizations across her career and has deployed to Saudi Arabia, Korea, Kuwait, and Iraq. COL Jardin holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in management and leadership from Webster University. Her last assignment was as the Staff Director for the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, providing advice on women’s policy to the Secretary of Defense. She is married and has three dogs.

Lieutenant Colonel Luis F. Peral is a U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate and a federal prosecutor on the civilian side. With over 23 years of combined military and prosecutorial experience, LTC Peral’s diverse assignments and work experience include that of a commander; Resident Legal Advisor, U.S. Embassy Honduras; Lead for the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces; and Attorney Advisor for the Office of Intelligence. LTC Peral holds a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College, a Juris Doctorate from Temple University, a B.A. in Political Theory from Florida International University, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Juilliard School.

Lieutenant Colonel William Phillips of the Arkansas National Guard enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1991 and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Twelve years later, he completed Officer Candidate School and became a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry. LTC Phillips has held multiple leadership roles, including Congressional Affairs Contact Officer, commanding a 700-person battalion, and State Public Affairs Officer for the Arkansas National Guard. Will is a 2019 summa cum laude graduate from the University of Charleston, West Virginia, with a Master of Science in Strategy. He is the father of six kids and lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with his wife, Tracie, where he contributes to several civic organizations focused on elementary education.

Lieutenant Colonel Christina Taylor of the Idaho Army National Guard was commissioned in 2002 as a Medical Service Corps Officer. LTC Taylor held a wide variety of leadership assignments in the National Guard, including commanding a Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team and a Brigade Support Battalion with over 400 personnel. She earned a bachelor’s from the University of Idaho while in the Reserve Officer Training Corps and a master’s in leadership from Central Michigan University. She is currently working on a Master of Strategic Studies at the United States War College. Taylor lives in Boise, Idaho, and enjoys mentoring at-risk youth.

Peters Township Public Library is a GOLD STAR Library, which is part of the Pennsylvania Library Association PA Forward initiative. Libraries can give citizens of all ages the knowledge and skills they need to improve their lives, to contribute effectively in their communities, and to participate in civil discourse.

Join eight local authors as they share information about their craft and answer questions from the audience! A panel discussion will be followed by light refreshments, book signings, and opportunities to purchase books from the authors. Registration is required to help plan this event.

1:30-2:30 Author Panel & Discussion in Multipurpose Room – Limited Seating, Click here to register online and reserve your seat!

2:30-3:30 Book Signings & Sales in Lobby

View the authors and their works below!

Michael Buzzelli

Michael Buzzelli is a stand-up comedian and sit-down author. As a comedian, he has performed all around the country, most notably, the Ice House, the Comedy Store and the Improv in Los Angeles. As a writer, Michael Buzzelli has been published in a variety of websites, magazines and newspapers. Buzzelli is a theater and arts critic for ‘Burgh Vivant, Pittsburgh’s online cultural talk magazine. He is also a Moth Grand Slam storyteller and actor. Buzzelli has presented workshops on humor to the Romance Writers of America and the Pennwriters Conference.

His books, Below Average Genius, a collection of essays culled from his weekly humor column in the Observer-Reporter, and his romantic comedy, All I Want for Christmas, are on sale at Amazon.com. His short story, “Study Buddy” is in a collection of LGBTQ romance short stories titled, Winter Break.

Annette Dashofy

Annette Dashofy is the USA Today bestselling author of fifteen mystery novels. Helpless is the 12th in her six-time Agatha Award nominated Zoe Chambers mystery series with What Comes Around (Zoe Chambers # 13) slated for release in May. Keep Your Family Close is the second in the Detective Honeywell series set along Lake Erie. And her standalone, Death By Equine, won the 2021 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for excellence in Thoroughbred racing literature. She is a board member of Pennwriters and is president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Annette and her husband live on ten acres of what was her grandfather’s dairy farm in  southwestern Pennsylvania with their very spoiled cat, Kensi.

Lainey Davis

USA Today bestselling author Lainey Davis lives in Pittsburgh with 3 feral sons, 2 rescued rabbits, and 1 tired husband. She writes steamy, contemporary love stories with grouchy heroes, strong heroines, and plenty of fiascos. She’s excited to find out how much coffee is too much.

Carrie DiRisio

Carrie Ann DiRisio is an author of both young adult and adult novels, with a love for stories that surprise as much

as they delight. She resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she spends her days writing, drinking coffee, and practicing her baking skills in case she’s ever called upon to join the Great British Bake-Off as an American contestant. Her most recent published work is a Regency-inspired romance, with an espionage twist.

Susan Helene Gottfried

Susan Helene Gottfried is the heavy-metal-loving, not-disabled enough divorced Jewish mother of two. A freelance line editor to authors of fiction by day, her select roster of clients tend to hit bestseller lists, and more than a few have quit their day jobs. It’s not entirely her doing, but like does attract like.

Tales from the Sheep Farm is her offer to her fellow diverse authors to create a world in which all are welcome. Come dream and build it with her.

Susan holds a BA (University of Pittsburgh) and MFA (Bowling Green State University) in English Writing and Fiction, respectively. She lives with a couple of cats in the Pittsburgh suburbs, just West of Mars.

Sheryl Nantus

Sheryl Nantus is an award-winning romance writer published by Entangled, St. Martin’s Press/Swerve, and Harlequin’s Carina Press. When she’s not writing, she is sipping tea, playing board games and writing haiku. A total fangirl at heart, she met her husband through an online fanfiction community and currently lives in Pennsylvania.

Linda Rettstatt

Linda Rettstatt began her writing career at the tender age of 18 while working as a classified ad clerk for her hometown newspaper. She covered the local community theater stories no one else wanted to cover, and she did so with enthusiasm, insisting upon a by line. Rettstatt’s creative nature steered her into a career as a semi-professional folk musician for a number of years. Finally, in 2002, she sat at a computer determined to find out if she could write a novel. That novel and three more were contracted by a small press. She moved from small press publishing to self-publishing in 2014 and has forty-eight novels and novellas and several short stories in her bibliography. Her work twice won the prestigious EPIC eBook Award.
In April of 2021, Linda retired from her social work position in NW Mississippi and relocated back to her home state of Pennsylvania where she continues to write and to offer services as an editor and writing coach.

Melissa Wiesner

Melissa Wiesner’s mother didn’t allow her to watch much TV as a child and, instead, made her play with paint, colorful pipe cleaners, random bits of fabric, and other crafty things. This set up Melissa for a lifetime of creative pursuits, and it was only a matter of time before things took a bookish turn. A night owl, Melissa began writing novels when her early-to-bed family retired for the evening. She is the author of emotional women’s fiction and romantic comedies. Along with her charming husband and two adorable children, Melissa splits her time between the big city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and rural West Virginia.