Authors

Tom Steyer is an American investor committed to supporting the people and solutions driving climate progress. He founded Farallon Capital Management, then left in 2012 to focus on mobilizing climate action. He founded NextGen America, the largest youth-voter engagement organization in America, and cofounded Beneficial State Bank, a community development bank focused on justice and sustainability. Tom was a Democratic presidential candidate and co-chaired Biden’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council. Today, he is the co-executive chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, a climate-focused global investment firm delivering capital and integrated expertise to accelerate climate solutions. He lives in San Francisco.

On behalf of Spiegel & Grau.

David A. Kessler, MD, served as chief science officer of the White House COVID-19 Response Team under President Joe Biden and previously served as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The End of Overeating and Capture and two other books: Fast Carbs, Slow Carbs and A Question of Intent. Dr. Kessler is a pediatrician and has been the dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco. He is a graduate of Amherst College, the University of Chicago Law School, and Harvard Medical School.

On behalf of The Robbins Office, Inc.

Ben R. Rich (1925-1995) joined the Skunk Works in 1954 and was its director from 1975 until he retired in 1991.

Cary Groner’s debut novel, Exiles, was published by Spiegel & Grau (at Random House) in 2011 and was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune. His short stories have won numerous awards and have appeared in Glimmer Train, American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Salamander, Sycamore Review, and Southern California Review, among other places.

On behalf of Spiegel & Grau.

Hayley Barker lives in Essex with her husband, two sons and their dog. When she is not writing, visiting schools or taking part in author events, she is usually taking care of the family – running someone to a sports fixture, cheering on at the side-line, cooking, feeding and tidying up or maybe jumping on the trampoline with the kids.

Before becoming published, Hayley was a secondary school English teacher and books have always played a massive part in her day-to-day to life.

 

Represented by Thérèse Coen.

Christine Lehnen is a lecturer at the University of Exeter, having recently completed a research project at the University of Manchester on the historical novel, contemporary Western memory cultures, counter-memories and the representation of the past in the present.

She is the founder and director of the Novel Writing Workshop at the University of Bonn, and has taught literature and creative writing at different universities. She is a regular contributor on feminism, culture, history, archaeology and public memory for popular research and news outlets such as Aeon, Psyche, The Wire, Antigone, New Lines Magazine, and Deutsche Welle.

Christine studied English Literature and Political Sciences at the University of Bonn and holds Masters in in Political Sciences, and in English Literature and Culture from the Universities of Bonn and Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III.

 

Represented by Thérèse Coen.

Annie Grossman is the owner and co-founder of School For The Dogs, an East Village storefront training center. She also hosts the School For The Dogs podcast and runs the online store, storeforthedogs.com. Annie is one of fewer than three thousand graduates of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior and one of roughly six thousand dog trainers certified by the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers throughout the world. She has been quoted as an expert in the field by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Post, New York Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

On behalf of The Robbins Office.

Alexei Navalny was a Russian anti-corruption campaigner, activist, opposition leader and political prisoner who won international recognition and respect. His many international honors included the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament’s annual human rights prize. He died in 2024.

Steph Packer grew up in upstate New York, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Stanford University. Following a two-decade career in finance, she now writes full-time. She is an alumna of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Stanford Continuing Studies two-year novel writing program. Steph currently lives in Southern California with her family.

Represented by Stephanie Cabot.

Joshua Perry was a public defender in New Orleans for ten years, including stints as head of the city’s youth public defender and as General Counsel to the Orleans Public Defenders. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, CNN.com, and Slate. A graduate of Harvard College and New York University Law School, he lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife and three daughters.

On behalf of The Robbins Office, Inc.