John Jeter

John Jeter published his debut novel, The Plunder Room, with St. Martin’s Press (Thomas Dunne Books) this year without an agent. This year also marks the 15th anniversary of The Handlebar, the music venue he opened with his wife, Kathy Laughlin, in Greenville, SC, where they have promoted such artists as John Mayer, Joan Baez, Bela Fleck, John Hiatt, Shinedown, Nickel Creek, David Sanborn and many more. Before that, he worked for 10 years as a reporter, editor and rewriteman for the Chicago Sun-Times, St. Petersburg Times and San Antonio Express-News. He also has appeared on Oprah!; earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism; and marked the 25th anniversary of his kidney transplant in 2009. He also contributed to Making Notes: Music of the Carolinas, a collection published of essays about music in North and South Carolina, published in 2008 by Novello Festival Press. http://theplunderroom.blogspot.com