Nick DiMartino
For over thirty years, I've been the book-buyer for the HUB branch of University Book Store in the student union building on the University of Washington campus.
In October 2001, one month after the world changed, I chose my first Nick's Pick of the Month, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. Every month since then I've chosen and promoted the best new novel or memoir I could find translated into English.
Once a month, usually on the last Monday, I invite anyone who's read the Nick's Pick to discuss it with me at Seattle's University Book Store, upstairs in the conference room at 7 pm.
Part of what I know about novels comes from writing and publishing three of my own. They're all three still in print, all set in Seattle, supernatural thrillers modeled on the classic Victorian ghost story.
Christmas Ghost Story (1996) takes place on Seattle's Beacon Hill during a snowstorm. University Ghost Story (1997) features poltergeist phenomena on campus and in the University District. 
Seattle Ghost Story (1998) involves paranormal activity surrounding a tragic death in Ravenna Park. All three are available from Rosebriar Publishing and the University Book Store.
I've written three new unpublished novels, and am actively seeking a literary agent.
I've had over twenty plays in full-run productions. My Dracula premiered at Seattle Children's Theatre (1982), followed by my adaptations of Pinocchio (1983) and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen (1984). 
My Frankenstein sold out at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Nashville Academy Theatre, Milwaukee First Stage, Dallas Children’s Theatre and twice at Louisville’s Stage One, where it was videotaped in 1997 by the BBC and released as a family theater video by Globalstage.
My plays include Raven, inspired by Pacific Northwest Indian legends (Red Earth Performing Arts Company); an authentic Arabic version of Aladdin (Pittsburgh Playhouse Junior) and a Grimms Brothers version of Snow White (Milwaukee First Stage). I wrote book and lyrics for three musicals for the Bellevue Children's Theatre: Alice in Wonderland, Ozma of Oz, and Rama, adapted from the Ramayana.
My four-woman vampire thriller, The Red Forest, won 2nd Place at the 1987 Pacific Northwest Writers Conference. My Italian farce, Stop the Wedding!, was a finalist in both the 1988 New City Theater Playwrights Festival and the 1999 Hugo House Playwriting Competition.
Using the original music of Victor Herbert, I wrote a new script with new lyrics for the 1994 opening production of Babes in Toyland at the new Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington.
My short story, “The Other Side of the Bay,” is published in the ghost story collection, Shadows and Silence (Ash-tree Press, 2000).
My short story, "Fathers and Sons," won first place at the Write on the Beach conference in Ocean Shores, Washington, in January, 2006.