A Community of Storytellers

Meet our Speakers

Headline Keynote Speaker: Scott M. Gimple of The Walking Dead

Scott M. Gimple is an American television writer who serves as a writer and producer of AMC’s The Walking Dead. He was the Showrunner from Season 4 to Season 8. He is currently the Chief Content Officer of the franchise. He also serves as a writer and the co-creator of World Beyond.

Gimple grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and graduated from Governor Livingston High School. He graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television. Following his graduation, he began working for Disney as a writer for shows like Fillmore, Timon & Pumbaa, and American Dragon: Jake Long.

He later became a writer on NBC’s Life, Fox TV’s Drive, and ABC’s FlashForward. He also co-wrote the script of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance alongside Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer.

Featured Keynote Speakers

Joe Ide is of Japanese American descent and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Joe’s favorite books were the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. The idea that a person could face the world and vanquish his enemies with just his intelligence fascinated him. Joe went on to earn a graduate degree and had several careers before writing his debut novel, IQ, inspired by his early experiences and love of Sherlock. Joe lives in Santa Monica, California.
Jan Eliasberg is making her debut as a novelist with Hannah’s War, bought by Little, Brown in a bidding war, publication date: March 3, 2020.

For readers of The Nightingale and The Alice Network, Hannah’s War is a “mesmerizing” historical debut: “I flew through Hannah’s War, a gripping true story of a brilliant woman physicist working to develop the first atomic bomb and the secrets she fights to protect as a military investigator ruthlessly uncovers her mysterious past.” Martha Hall Kelly (The Lilac Girls; Lost Roses)

A glass ceiling-shattering writer/director, Jan’s film and television career began when she was hand-picked by Michael Mann to be the first female director on Miami Vice and Crime Story. Wiseguy, and 21 Jump Street soon followed, establishing her at the top of the field. Michael Mann remains Jan’s mentor and collaborator to this day, godfathering her film and television career.

Rabbi Steven Z. Leder: In the New York Times, William Safire called Rabbi Leder’s first book The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things “uplifting.” Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein said he “is everything we search for in a modern wise man; learned, kind, funny, and non-judgmental, he offers remarkably healing guidance.”

Rabbi Leder’s second book More Money Than God: Living a Rich Life Without Losing Your Soul received critical and media attention including feature articles in the New York Times, Town and Country and appearances on ABC’s Politically Incorrect, NPR, and CBS This Morning.

His third book More Beautiful Than Before; How Suffering Transforms Us was reached #4 on Amazon’s overall best sellers list in its first week. It remains a best seller in several categories and has been translated into Korean and Chinese. More Beautiful Than Before has helped tens of thousands of people suffering from emotional or physical pain and continues to receive prestigious media attention including CBS This Morning, The Talk, The Steve Harvey Show, and four appearances on NBC’s Today Show. He is now at work on his next book The Beauty of What Remains; What Death Teaches Us About Life, to be published by Penguin Random House in the spring of 2021.

Newsweek Magazine twice named him one of the ten most influential rabbis in America but most important to Steve is being Betsy’s husband and Aaron and Hannah’s dad. He is also a Jew who likes to fish. Go figure.

Gill Sotu is a multi-faceted artist weaving poetry, music, soul, humor, and thought provoking passion into captivating and memorable performances. He is a two time Grand Slam Poetry Champion, two time Raw Performing artist of the year, and a three time TEDx San Diego presenter. He has opened for rap legend Talib Kweli at the San Diego Symphony. Currently he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as well as the Artist In Residence at Makers Church. He has been commissioned to produce original pieces for leading arts and community organizations such as: The San Diego Symphony, San Diego Fashion Week, The Unity Way of San Diego County, Feeding America, SD Fringe Fest, and the San Diego Museum of Man to name a few. A magnetic performer, Sotu uses his words and energy to bring stories to life on stage and screen and leaves audiences of all sizes entertained and inspired.
Eilene Zimmerman has been a journalist for three decades, covering business, technology and social issues for a wide array of national magazines and newspapers. She was a columnist for The New York Times Sunday Business section for six years and since 2004 has been a regular contributor to the newspaper. In 2017, Zimmerman also began pursuing a master’s degree in social work. She lives in New York City.

Announcing our 2020 Festival Speakers

Nathan Agin is an actor, online marketer, and audiobook narrator/producer. He has completed over a dozen audiobooks, including for Chris Fox, Jim Kukral, Sean Platt, and Johnny B. Truant, as well as narrating 100+ articles for New York Times best-selling author Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck). As an author, he self-published and narrated his own book, A Beginner’s Meditation Course. He also brings 10+ years of web design, email marketing, and social media experience to his work as an audiobook coach and consultant. Learn more at nathanagin.com/audio
Kat Alexander is a wellness expert, author and speaker on a mission to help women around the world heal from trauma. She’s the founder and CEO of Report It, Girl – a web platform helping survivors of sexual violence heal through storytelling, community and resources – which has reached 15,000+ visitors in 94 countries. Kat’s work is grounded in the use of evidence-based methods to achieve lasting, measurable and meaningful impact. In 2015, Marie Claire recognized Kat as a leader in the new movement of sexual assault survivors turned activists. She gained her decade of public health research experience at USC, UCLA and Dartmouth and has authored over a dozen peer-reviewed journal articles. Kat earned a B.S. in Psychobiology from UCLA and a Masters in Nutritional Sciences from Cal State Los Angeles. She is a Regents Scholar, StartingBloc Fellow and earned a doctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Health. Kat currently serves as a professional expert at San Diego Unified School District.
Mara Altman is an author and journalist. Gross Anatomy, her most recent book, holds up a magnifying glass to our bodily beliefs, practices, biases and parts and shows us the naked truth: that there is greatness in our grossness. The book was translated into four languages and was a semi-finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor. Her first book, Thanks for Coming, is an investigation into love and orgasm. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Salon, and New York magazine, among other publications. Before going freelance, Altman worked as a staff writer for The Village Voice and daily newspapers in India and Thailand. An alumna of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she lives in San Diego with quite a few other hairy beings.
Nicole Antonacci is a Syracuse, New York native and a recent graduate of St. Bonaventure University. After earning her Bachelors in Psychology and Masters in Business Administration (MBA), she joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps to follow a calling to serve those who are marginalized. Nicole’s passion for spoken word, photojournalism and social empowerment led her to Outside the Lens.
Kelly Bargabos is the award-winning author of Chasing the Merry-Go-Round: Holding on to Hope & Home When the World Moves Too Fast, a 2018 Nautilus Book Award Silver winner and a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards. Her nonfiction has won Third prize and Honorable Mention in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competitions. Her work has also been published in literary journals such as The Sun, Mom Egg Review, The Mountain, and has been featured in various news publications. She holds a certificate in Creative Nonfiction from the Downtown Writer’s Center in Syracuse, NY. With writing that is accessible, authentic, provocative and timeless, Kelly is a witness to the spectrum of human experience in order to connect, share, shift paradigms, inspire and ultimately expand our universe through words. Although she has spent most of her life surviving the winter in upstate New York, Kelly now lives in San Diego, CA where she continues to write about the things that move her, with the hope they move you too.
Chris Baron’s Middle Grade debut, ALL OF ME, is a novel in verse from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan. He is a Professor of English at San Diego City College and the director of the Writing Center.
Learn more about him at www.chris-baron.com and on Twitter: @baronchrisbaron Instagram: @christhebearbaron
Judy A. Bernstein believes that writing is a powerful tool for social change and that through individual stories we can achieve the greatest understanding of history’s largest events. With her first book, They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky: The true story of three Lost Boys of Sudan, she assisted three survivors of the Sudanese civil war that killed two million people to bring their amazing stories of survival to the world. Told in their own words with the candor and the purity of their child’s-eye-vision, their story is a lyrical and captivating portrait of a childhood lost to war, and of the perseverance of the human spirit. Published in 2005, “They Poured Fire…” has received critical acclaim and wide distribution.
Disturbed In Their Nests, Judy’s second book with co-author Alephonsion Deng, recounts Alephonsion’s first year in American from the alternating points-of-view.
Melissa Bloom is a writer, writing coach, and certified yoga instructor who is passionate about exploring the connection between productivity and wellness. As the founder of the Mindful Writer, Melissa has developed targeted tools and techniques that incorporate mindfulness practices and conscious lifestyle choices to help writers reach their writing goals sustainably and healthfully. Melissa has a background in film, animation, and creative writing. Her personal essay, “Rite of Passage,” was recently published in Shaking the Tree, Volume 2 and, between writing articles and helping others with their writing projects, she’s in-progress on a lighthearted New Adult art mystery novel. Learn more about Melissa and her services at www.mindfulwriter.com.
Annie Bomke is a literary agent with over a decade of experience in the publishing industry. Her clients include the Macavity Award-winning crime writer John Copenhaver, and the Barnes & Noble bestselling cozy mystery author Libby Klein. She represents a wide range of projects—from hard-nosed business books to otherworldly historical novels. Annie has loved the publishing industry since her internship at Zoetrope: All-Story, a literary magazine founded by Francis Ford Coppola. Authors have called her the pH test for good writing, and a bedrock for literary quality control.

She is looking for adult and YA fiction and nonfiction, including commercial and literary fiction, upmarket fiction, mysteries (from hilarious cozies to gritty police procedurals and everything in between), historical fiction, magical realism, women’s fiction, psychological thrillers/suspense, literary/psychological horror, self-help, business, health/diet, cookbooks, memoir, relationships, current events, true crime, psychology, prescriptive nonfiction, and narrative nonfiction. She’s a sucker for locked room mysteries, books set in the Victorian era, books about evil children, and unreliable narrators. In any genre she is looking for character-driven stories. She is especially interested in books that feature diverse characters. She is not interested in representing picture books, chapter books or middle grade.

Tony Bonds is the founder of Golden Ratio Book Design, a design firm serving independent authors, small businesses and non-profits across the country. He is also co-founder of Calypso Editions, a 501c(3) non-profit publisher, and is the author of The Moonflower King. He is passionate about visual storytelling, and believes that human connection is the key to great design. www.goldenratiobookdesign.com
Lisa Brackmann is the NYT best-selling author of the Ellie McEnroe trilogy (Rock Paper Tiger), and suspense novels Getaway, Go-Between and Black Swan Rising, which takes place here in San Diego. Her books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Strand Critic’s best-first-novel and Amazon’s Top 100 Books of the Year and Top 10 Mystery/Thrillers. Her work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Travel+Leisure, Salon, LARB, and CNET. She lives in San Diego with a cat, far too many books and a bass ukulele. You can find her online at www.lisabrackmann.com
Julie Brams, M.A. is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Meditation teacher and writer. Her practice integrates traditional therapy, the latest advances in the field of energy psychology and Ecopsychology practices. Certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, she leads Shinrin Yoku based Forest Therapy walks and Nature Immersion workshops locally as well as at the Los Angeles Arboretum. She has presented on the topic of Ecopsychology and the neuro-science of nature for California State University Northridge, The American Public Health Association, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, church groups and synagogues.
Mickey Brent is a multicultural author and creative writing teacher who lives in
Southern California with her partner. As an active member of the LGBTQ
community, Mickey relishes the opportunity to share her ideas about the craft of
writing, multiculturalism, LGBTQ issues, and her books with avid readers at local
and international events, bookstores, libraries, and book clubs. Mickey spent nearly
two decades living in Europe and loves writing quirky stories about Europeans,
their diverse cultures, languages, and lifestyles. Mickey has written numerous
travel articles, book chapters, poems, and screenplays, publishing various genres of
fiction and non-fiction under other noms de plume. Mickey’s objective is to offer
readers a more fun, light-hearted, and romantic view of life. She has created this
vivid reality with Underwater Vibes, a well-crafted, contemporary lesbian romance
showcasing a unique cast of characters thriving in the multicultural city of Brussels,
Belgium, the capital of Europe. In this exciting sequel, Broad Awakening, the
memorable characters from Underwater Vibes continue their zany adventures in
Brussels, Belgium, and Santorini, Greece. For more information about Mickey and
her speaking events, please visit: www.mickeybrent.com.

Douglas Alan Burton is a speaker, author and expert storyteller whose work depicts heroic figures and their connection to the human experience. Doug produces a series of YouTube videos that offer writing tips and insights into the challenge of creating well-developed heroic characters. He is the creator of the Heroine’s Labyrinth, an exploratory theory about the heroine’s journey. His recently released novel, Far Away Bird, is inspired by the true events surrounding the early life of Byzantine Empress Theodora. Far Away Bird delves into the complex mind of a misunderstood historical figure, an actress-prostitute from Constantinople’s red-light district who rises to the throne of the Byzantine Empire. Doug’s work explores story as a means of self-discovery, to learn what defines meaningful human connection.

Bilingual poet, musician, and translator, Francisco J. Bustos grew up in Tijuana and San Ysidro and now lives in South San Diego. M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Diego State University, is professor of English Composition at Southwestern College (Chula Vista, CA) where he co-coordinates the literary series SWC Guest Writer Series and is Puente Project Instructor; In 2019, he formed SWC Puente Drum Circle with Puente students. Co- authored a short fiction and poetry book Here we are… Here we go/ Aquí estamos… Ya nos vamos (Calaca Press). His poetry and translations have been published in anthologies, including Sunshine/ Noir: Writing from San Diego and Tijuana I and II, (Cityworks Press); Border Voices, San Diego Poetry Annual (Bilingual Editions, Garden Oak Press); Tan Lejos de Dios: Poesia Mexicana en la Frontera Norte/ So Far from God: Mexican Poetry from the Northern Border Region (UNAM). In 2009, he formed the poetry and music project Frontera Drum Fusion (FDF) which combines bilingual poems, mainly in Spanglish, with percussion and electronic music. FDF has performed at various music and literary events on both sides of the border which include Poetiza and Felino (Centro Cultural Tijuana/CECUT), and has collaborated with various poets and musicians, including performing Aztec percussion in Misa Azteca by Joseph Julian Gonzalez, accompanying Southwestern College Choir.

Elise Capron is an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. In addition to handling her own list, she oversees the daily operations of the SDLA office. She is most interested in well-written narrative non-fiction (particularly trade-friendly history, cultural studies, and science) as well as character-driven literary fiction.
A graduate of Emerson College, Elise holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has been with the Dijkstra Agency since 2003.
Elise is interested in fiction that has unforgettable writing, a distinctive narrative voice, and memorable characters. She loves novels with an unusual or eccentric edge and is drawn to stories she has never heard before. She aims to work with writers who are getting their work published regularly in literary magazines and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience.
Elise has represented some very reputable fiction and non-fiction titles.

Rebecca Chamaa has worked at Glamour, Teen Vogue, Good Housekeeping, and many other online magazines, journals, and anthologies. She is the author of two books, one of poetry and prose and one a guided journal to help people with mental illness by encouraging activities and writing to prompts. Rebecca is a mental health advocate and lives with paranoid schizophrenia.

Hello. I am Dr. Gloria Chance. In today’s complex culture, my mission is to inspire curiosity that create moments of “awe” solutions and problem solving. Promoting emotional imagination, empathy and inner-awareness by using the technology of the mind, I transform the way you see and think, giving new and deeper prospective and dimension. My methodology is grounded in the creative and expressive arts integrating digital, science and business. My techniques promote child-like wonder, awe and exploration towards realistic and powerful solutions. I take you and your team, group, or organization on a journey through the spectrum of new thinking and deep learning through the imagination.

CEO and Founder, The Mousai Group, A creative experience company shifting minds in organizations, groups and individuals
Former C-Suite Executive in Health Care, Banking, Technology and Energy
PhD in Psychology with a focus in Creativity and Organizational Systems from Chicago School of Psychology (Saybrook University)
Co-Host of The Blend, a web-tv talk show focusing on women’s health
Co-Author of The Female Factor, a confidence guide for women

Belo Miguel Cipriani, Ed.D., is the CEO of Oleb Media – an ADA compliance firm – and the Executive Director of Oleb Books – a disability press. His book, Blind: A Memoir has received multiple awards and was called “Riviting and suspenseful” by Amy Tan. Cipriani’s writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Connecticut Post, HuffPost, and elsewhere. In addition, he has received artist fellowships from Lambda Literary and Yaddo and has guest lectured at Yale. He is currently Community Faculty in the Creative Writing Department at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Mn. Learn more at belocipriani.com
David Coddon is the author of three novels (“The Romancer,” “There and Back Again” and “In Violet”) as well as two anthologies of short stories (“Raining in Paradise” and “Blue Tomorrow”). He is also the author of the one-act play “Value.” A longtime journalist in Southern California, he is also a working theater critic, freelance arts/entertainment writer and instructor at San Diego State University. In addition, he is the co-host of a national podcast titled “The Best Version With Dave and Dex.”
Marcie Colleen is an award-winning children’s author. Her books are THE SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS chapter book series (Macmillan), LOVE, TRIANGLE, illustrated by Bob Shea (HarperCollins), and PENGUINAUT!, illustrated by Emma Yarlett (Scholastic). Through the years her books have garnered accolades and awards. LOVE, TRIANGLE was named a Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Book of 2018. And PENGUINAUT! was voted One Book Colorado for 2019! Over75,000 copies were distributed to every four-year-old in the state.

She is a frequent presenter at conferences for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, as well as a faculty member for The Writing Barn, San Diego Writer’s Ink, and the University of California San Diego Extension. Her educational work in children’s literature has been recognized by School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and the Children’s Book Council.

Learn more about Marcie and her upcoming books and projects at www.thisismarciecolleen.com or follow her on Twitter @MarcieColleen1.

Jennifer Corley has lived in California for ten years and has a background in writing and media. She received her BA in English Literature from College of Charleston (SC), studied Irish playwrights and Shakespeare at Oxford University (UK), and obtained her Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Theatre Practice with specialties in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (UK). You can find her work on the literary journal websites Hobart and Queen Mob’s Tea House; and in the printed anthologies More Monologues For Women, By Women; States of Terror Vol. 3; and Black Candies: Gross and Unlikeable. She has won writing awards from Slamdance Film Festival and Lonely Planet, and was also an accepted participant in Tin House Magazine’s Writers’ Workshop for Short Fiction. Most recently, she serves as Program Director for So Say We All, editor for the book Incoming, and as editor/music supervisor for the PRX/SSWA radio series Incoming and None of the Above.
Matt Coyle is the author of the bestselling Rick Cahill crime series. Matt knew he wanted to be a crime writer at age thirteen when his father gave him Raymond Chandler’s THE SIMPLE ART OF MURDER. His books have won the Anthony, Ben Franklin Silver, Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Silver, and San Diego Book Awards, and have been nominated for the multiple Macavity, Shamus and Lefty Awards, as well as named to numerous Best Of lists. LOST TOMORROWS is the sixth book in the Cahill series. Matt hosts the Crime Corner podcast on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network and lives in San Diego with his yellow Lab, Angus. You can find him at https://mattcoylebooks.com/
The past president of Western Writers of America, Kirk Ellis received both the WWA Spur Award and the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for his episode of the TNT/DreamWorks miniseries, “Into the West.”
Ellis won two Emmy Awards, a WGA Award, a Peabody and the Humanitas Prize for his work as writer and co-executive producer on the HBO miniseries “John Adams.” The miniseries won a record breaking 13 Emmys in total, as well as four Golden Globe awards. Previously, Ellis received an Emmy nomination and won the WGA Award and Humanitas Prize for the ABC miniseries “Anne Frank,” which he wrote and co-produced. Miniseries on which he has served as writer and producer have garnered more than 50 Emmy nominations.
With Bryan Cranston and ITV Studios, Ellis is executive producer and show runner for “A Great Improvisation,” based on the book by Stacy Schiff, which chronicles Benjamin Franklin’s efforts to negotiate a treaty with France at the height of the American Revolution. For History, he is writing a limited series about Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s years in Japan and Korea. Ellis is also developing “Aspasia,” a dramatic series set in the world of Periclean Greece, with director Julio Medem and actress Ursula Corbero, star of the record-breaking Netflix series “La Casa de Papel.”

A former co-governor of the writers’ branch of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Ellis served for four years as chairman of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Arts Commission and today serves as trustee for the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.

Laura L. Engel, the 2019-2020 President of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association hails originally from Mississippi and was transplanted in San Diego’s East County over 52 years ago. She is married with 6 grown children and 9 cherished grandchildren.
Four years ago Laura retired from a 35 year career in the corporate world with plans to quietly catch up on hobbies and travels with her husband Gene. Instead she found herself busier than ever taking writing classes, joining the San Diego Memoir Writers Association, and writing up a storm.
She received a certificate for the Memoir 101 program with Marni Freedman in 2017 and discovered the writing community of Memoir Writers at SDMWA.
Today finds Laura fulfilling her life-long dream of writing a book. Her memoir in progress is You’ll Forget This Ever Happened -The Story of a Mother’s Love and The Secret She Never Forgot, to which scenes from it were featured in the 2017 and 2018 San Diego Memoir Showcases.

In Spring of 2019 Laura was interviewed by Dani Shapiro for her Family Secrets Podcast. Her podcast interview has reached over 1 million listeners. https://www.familysecretspodcast.com/podcasts/the-secret-son.htm
Check out Laura’s website at: https://www.lauralengel.com

Chris Enss is a New York Times best selling author who has been writing about women of the Old West for more than twenty years. She has penned more than forty published books on the subject. Her work has been honored with five Will Rogers Medallion Awards, an Elmer Kelton Book Award, an Oklahoma Center for the Book Award, and was a Western Writers of America Spur Finalist. Her book The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency has been optioned by NBC is currently in development to become a television series. Enss’s most recent work is According to Kate: The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate Elder, Love of Doc Holliday.
Richard Farrell is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. His work, including fiction, memoir, essays, interviews and book reviews, has appeared in The Forge, Potomac Review, Hunger Mountain, New Plains Review, upstreet, Descant, Contrary, Newfound, Numéro Cinq, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing at Grossmont College and at San Diego Writers, Ink. His first novel, The Falling Woman, will be published by Algonquin Books in May, 2020.
Marika Flatt was hired as a “baby book publicist” in 1997 upon graduating cum laude from Texas A&M University with a degree in Communications. After taking over the management of that boutique literary firm in just a few short years, she & her husband, Doug, launched PR by the Book in 2002, capitalizing on her love of media & books.
Marika is a “connector” by nature, is a past-president of Women Communicators of Austin, serves as an Expert for Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), is listed on Twitter’s Women in Publishing (#womeninpublishing) and has served on the selection committee for the Texas Book Festival.
Marika has been a regular speaker in the book industry since the late ’90s for organizations such as: Digital Book World, IBPA’s Publishing University, Book Expo America, and Writers League of Texas, among others.
In her spare time, Marika has been a travel writer for nearly two decades and serves as the Travel Editor for Texas Lifestyle Magazine. Marika can be heard on the statewide NPR show “Texas Standard”, giving her Weekend Trip Tips, and is a regular travel contributor on several TV stations around Texas.  Marika is the proud parent of three kids (none of which love reading as much as she does).
Kristen Fogle is the Executive Director of San Diego Writers, Ink. She is a freelance editor, writer, instructor, tutor, teaching artist, and theatrical performer/director. She earned a BA in Communication Studies from California State University, Northridge and a MA in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (teaching emphasis) from San Diego State University. She has a Teaching Artist training certification from Young Audiences San Diego and a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Brandman University. She was recently recognized as a Woman Who Impacts San Diego by San Diego Metro Magazine and a Woman of the Year nominee by San Diego Magazine. She loves guiding people toward “creative recovery” in both longer and shorter term Artist’s Way groups.
Marni Freedman (BFA, LMFT) is a co-founder of the Festival. She is a produced, published, and award-winning writer, and author of two books. After graduating as an award-winning student from the USC School of Filmic Writing, Marni began her career with her play, “Two Goldsteins on Acid,” which was produced in Los Angeles. She worked as a script doctor for top film companies and worked as a script agent. One of her plays was made into a film, “Playing Mona Lisa,” and was produced by Disney. She teaches at San Diego Writers Ink, UCSD Extension, The Center for Creative Aging, and produces a yearly theatrical Memoir Showcase. This year, Marni received an award for her touring one man show, A Jewish Joke and edited the Anthology, The Literary Vine published by Wolfheart Press. www.marnifreedman.com
George Galdorisi is a career naval aviator. His thirty years of active duty service included four command tours and five years as a carrier strike group chief of staff. He is the Director of Strategic Futures and Technical Assessments at the Navy’s Information Warfare Center Pacific in San Diego, California.

In addition to his recent Rick Holden thrillers published by Braveship Books (The Coronado Conspiracy and For Duty and Honor), he has written fourteen books distributed by mainstream publishers, including several New York Times bestselling novels in the rebooted Tom Clancy’s Op-Center series, including Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire, Scorched Earth, and Dark Zone. With his longtime collaborator, Dick Couch, he coauthored the New York Times best seller, Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor, the novelization of the Relativity Media number-one rated movie. He is also the author of The Kissing Sailor, which proved the identity of the two principals in Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photograph; as well as over 400 articles in professional journals and other media.
George has received a number of national and international writing awards.

Other than writing thrillers, George likes nothing more than connecting with readers. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and learn more about his books, blogs and other writing on his website: http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/ – especially his “Writing Tips,” – which offer useful advice for all writers from established authors to future best-selling writers.

John Gennaro moved to San Diego in 1998, just in time for the city to come alive in support of the National League Champion San Diego Padres as well as the San Diego Chargers, who had just drafted a potential franchise QB that played like Brett Favre. It was inevitable he would become obsessed with sports, and with those two teams in particular.
After getting a part-time gig blogging about the San Diego Chargers in 2007, it wasn’t until 2013 that John was able to find a way to make sports his full-time job, spending a year as the Web Producer for FOX Sports Radio before moving up to Associate Producer at CBS Radio’s The Beast 980 in Los Angeles. Eventually, The Mighty 1090 brought John back to San Diego as the Director of Digital Content and Strategy, where he launched the Make the Padres Great Again podcast and stayed for three years before landing the role of Executive Producer and architect of SB Nation’s team-specific podcast network.
John resides in the Rolando Village section of San Diego with his wife (Rebecca), daughter (Haley), dog (Emily), and cat (Max).
Susie Ghahremani is an award-winning author-illustrator and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Susie’s author-illustrator debut picture book, STACK THE CATS (Abrams), was named a Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year and Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Year. The companion picture book, BALANCE THE BIRDS, released in October 2018. Susie is also the illustrator of picture books written by Jennifer Ward, WHAT WILL HATCH? and WHAT WILL GROW? (Bloomsbury) which received three starred reviews and appeared on the Texas Library Association’s 2×2 Reading List. In 2019, and the illustrator of LITTLE MUIR’S SONG (Yosemite Conservancy, 2019) and LITTLE MUIR’S NIGHT (Yosemite Conservancy, 2020) both with words by famed conservationist John Muir.
Zohreh (Zoe) Ghahremani is a bi-lingual author (Persian and English.) Her debut novel, Sky of Red Poppies became a 2012 One Book. Her sophomore novel The Moon Daughter won the San Diego Book Awards for best fiction for 2013 and was the winner of 2018 Writer’s Digest contest. Her essays and short stories have appeared in multiple publications including The Writer. In 2014, 30,000 San Diego Girl Scouts chose her as their “Cool Woman” and she is also the proud recipient of the 2019 Community Leader award from the San Diego Writers’ Festival.
Zoe is also a public speaker and has appeared on national radio and TV stations and at several universities nationwide. She lives in San Diego with her husband Gary and their dog Henry and has just finished her third novel, The Basement.
alazoe@gmail.com
www.zoeghahremani.com
Facebook: Zohreh K. Ghahremani
Tammy Greenwood is the award-winning author of thirteen novels including Keeping Lucy, Rust & Stardust, and Where I Lost Her. She has won four San Diego Book Awards, and her novel, Bodies of Water, was a Lambda Award nominee. She teaches creative writing at San Diego Writers, Ink and online for The Writer’s Center. She lives in San Diego with her husband and their two daughters.
Award-winning travel writer/author, Lenore Greiner, has transformed her wanderlust into a thirty-year career. She has won four Solas Travel Writing Awards and was honored in Best American Travel Writing 2013. She has lived in Italy, galloped with Argentine gauchos, dodged New Zealand geysers, visited Dubai behind the veil of Muslim woman, and ascended Mayan pyramids in Guatemala.
As a travel blogger, journalist and photographer, her work has appeared in numerous print and online publications, including WorldHum.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Delta Airlines’ Sky. She has authored a Las Vegas guidebook and has contributed to 17 Fodor’s Travel Publications’ guidebooks. In 2018, she earned her Certificate in Memoir Writing. Besides, teaching, speaking and coaching, she’s looking forward to publishing her forthcoming travel memoir entitled “Brava.” Find out more at LenoreGreiner.com.”
Neal Griffin was in his twenty-fifth year of police work in California when his debut novel, Benefit of the Doubt, was published by Forge Books. The book immediately hit the LA Times bestseller list where it stayed for two months. The publisher said do it again and Neal turned to writing fulltime.
Neal’s fourth novel, The Burden of Truth, will be released by Forge Books in May, 2020. It tells the tale of Omar Ortega: an eighteen year old Mexican American who deftly straddles the line between overzealous cops and bad actors in the barrio until his luck runs out.
Jill G. Hall is the author of The Black Velvet Coat and The Silver Shoes, award winning dual-timeline historical novels about women connected by vintage finds searching for their place in the world. The third book of the trilogy, The Green Lace Corset, will be released in October. Her poems have appeared in a variety of publications. On her blog, Crealivity, she shares personal musings about the art of practicing a creative lifestyle. www.jillghall.com
Jonathan Hammond is a director, editor and writer of a dozen short films, accruing an Emmy nomination, San Diego Film Award for Best Writing and nominations for Best Director and Picture, two consecutive San Diego Film Con Challenge wins for Best Film, three San Diego 48- Hour Film Project Awards for Audience Choice, Four Points Film Challenge Award for Best Ensemble, San Diego CityBeat Weekly Best Of, three Indie Short Fest awards including Best Screenplay, two consecutive KPBS Explorer recipients, WOMAS winner for Best Screenplay and is currently shortlisted for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video. He is also the winner of Best Writing for 2016 San Diego International Fringe Festival. He is a teaching artist and producer with So Say We All as well as a founding member of The Whole Alpahbet- So Say We All’s LGBTQ+ branch. He attended University of Illinois and NYU Tisch School of the Arts before moving to San Diego.
Tricia Hedman began her publicity career working in the marketing department of Princess Cruises in Los Angeles. From there, Tricia worked in numerous publicity mediums, including crisis, product, and entertainment public relations, lastly working as a photo publicist for CBS Network before relocating to San Diego. It was there that she found she could combine her publicity experience with her love of books, working as a senior literary publicist in the San Diego office of Harcourt Trade Publishing for 5 ½ years. In September 2006, Tricia launched Ollie Media. Her clients include authors from FSG, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Knopf, Naval Institute Press, Rodale, University of Missouri Press and University of New Mexico Press as well as smaller presses and independent publishers. Tricia lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, Mike, and daughter, Olivia, the inspiration and namesake for her business.
Henry Herz writes fantasy and science fiction for children. He and his sons wrote MONSTER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES (Pelican, 2015; Best Picture Book at SoCal SCBWI Editor’s Day), WHEN YOU GIVE AN IMP A PENNY (Pelican, 2016), MABEL AND THE QUEEN OF DREAMS (Schiffer, 2016; Finalist, Foreword Indies Best Picture Book), LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH (Pelican, 2016), CAP’N REX & HIS CLEVER CREW (Sterling, 2017), GOOD EGG AND BAD APPLE (Schiffer, 2018), HOW THE SQUID GOT TWO LONG ARMS (Pelican, 2018), ALICE’S MAGIC GARDEN (Familius, 2018), TWO PIRATES + ONE ROBOT (Kane Miller, 2019), THE MAGIC SPATULA (Month9 Books, 2020, with Sam Zien), and I AM SMOKE (Tilbury House, 2021).

Henry and his sons have also indie-published four children’s books. NIMPENTOAD reached #1 in Kindle Best Sellers large print sci-fi & fantasy, and was featured in Young Entrepreneur, Wired GeekDad, and CNN. BEYOND THE PALE featured short stories by award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors Saladin Ahmed, Peter S. Beagle, Heather Brewer, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Kami Garcia, Nancy Holder, Gillian Philip & Jane Yolen, and reached #2 in Amazon Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Anthologies.

Henry is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). He participates in literature panels at a variety of conventions, including San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon. Henry reviews children’s books for the San Francisco Book Review and the San Diego Book Review.

Anastasia Zadeik Hipkins is a freelance writer, editor, and writing coach. She regularly performs in narrative non-fiction showcases, including So Say We All’s VAMP and the San Diego Memoir Showcase, and her work has appeared in The Literary Vine Review and Shaking the Tree.

Having received a BA in psychology from Smith College, Anastasia worked for an international neuropsychological research firm before and while raising her children, living overseas from 1991-2000. After returning stateside, she and her family settled in the San Diego area where, over the last nineteen years, she has volunteered and served as a board member for a variety of nonprofit organizations dedicated to health, education, and the arts. She currently lives in Mission Hills with her husband and empty-nest rescue dog, Charlie.

Justin Hudnall received his BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He currently serves as the Executive Director of So Say We All, a San Diego-based literary arts and education non-profit, produces and hosts the public radio series, Incoming. In a prior career, he served with the United Nations in South Sudan as an emergency response officer. He is a recipient of the San Diego Foundation’s Creative Catalyst Fellowship and Rising Arts Leader award, named one of San Diego Citybeat’s “Best People” of 2016, and is an alumni of the Vermont Studio Center.
Hullabaloo is Steve Denyes and Brendan Kremer, friends since kindergarten. Steve plays guitar, sings, and writes goofy songs. Brendan plays drums, sings, and smiles.

Over the course of ten years Hullabaloo has won twelve national awards, received rave reviews from People, Parenting, Cookie and Parent & Child Magazines, and landed on three national “Top 10 Best Children’s Music” lists.

Mark C. Jackson is the author of the award winning An Eye for an Eye: The Tales of Zebadiah Creed ~ Book One, (American Fiction Award for Best Adventure/Historical Fiction, 2018) his first book. His second of the series, The Great Texas Dance, is due for release in April 2020, and has already been indorsed by several nationally acclaimed western writers. Both books are published by Five Star Publishing (Gale/Cengage).
Mark came to writing after a long, successful career as a songwriter and performer in San Diego, California recording three records and garnishing seven San Diego Music Award nominations. He began his writing career with a short story he wrote for a class at SD Writers Ink in 2011, eventually publishing his first book in 2017 at the age of 59. He is currently writing the third of the series, Blue Rivers of Heaven.
Originally from Oklahoma, Mark resides in Chula Vista, California with his lovely wife Judy, dog Hazel Nut, and cat Brooke.
Nate John is the digital manager at Voice of San Diego, where he manages their podcasts, website, newsletters and media product team. He’s been producing audio since 2011 with local public media affiliate, KPBS. He helped develop podcasts with KPBS while managing emerging technology products there. His independent podcast, The Mist, was featured at the 2017 Podcast Movement. He was also a finalist in the 2018 KCRW Radio Race.
Tracy J. Jones is a professional content writer and editor, ghostwriter, and copy editor with more than 25-years’ experience writing and editing for private clients, non-profits, and corporations. Her writing and editing clients include novelists, screenwriters, memoirists, bloggers, and self-help and nonfiction writers. Tracy is the content editor and a featured writer at TheFeistyWriter.com. She’s a head judge, writing coach, and co-director with the San Diego Annual Memoir Showcase. She teaches at San Diego Writers. She’s a board member of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association and has been a featured writer/performer in So Say We All’s VAMP showcase.
Keithan Jones is the founder and owner of KID comics, a comic book and multi-media publisher based in San Diego, California. The mantra and philosphy behind KID is, “The Kid In You Never Dies”, as a constant reminder that our childhood spirit is the core of who we really are no matter how old we get.

Jones was introduced to comics in the late 1970’s by way of his late step-father, who as a young Navy officer would read them as a way to bide time on long deployments overseas. “My Dad would come home after 3 months of duty overseas and pass off all the comics he had collected over that time period to me. Where I became a collector, he saw them as a disposable entertainment. Up to the time that he died, I don’t think he realized that he was the impetus to what launched me into comic fandom and ultimately my career.”

From his first exposure to comics in the 1970’s leading up to current times, the sight of a black character in a comicbook still strikes as a novelty. Jones wanted to change this accepted normality and start injecting new characters in comics culture that were not just black or ethnic, but also the hero of the stories without an asterisk. “I wanted to see actual characters of color that occupied lead roles that were not temporary or taking place in an alternate universe. I wanted to see characters of color that were not replacing well established white characters as a way to fill a social qouta, but are 100% original concepts.” Thus the creation of his company, KID comics and his first publication, The Power Knights.

“The Power Knights doesn’t have any particular social agenda but rather a story that I hope inspires the reader to understand their own personal power to change their lives for the better. It’s basically what I intended it to be from the time I created it, at 11 years old; a fun action-packed sci-fi adventure. The ethnicity of the protagonists is a personal touch, so that I can write from an informed and truthful viewpoint.”

Jones hopes that his brand of escapism is embraced by all cultures in the same manner as a Star Wars film. “That would be amazing!”

The Power Knights can be purchased at kid-comics.com

Phil Johnson is a proud founding partner in The Roustabouts Theatre Co. As an actor/ writer, his latest solo show, A Jewish Joke (co-written with Marni Freedman, directed by David Ellenstein) opens Off Broadway on Theatre Row in NYC this February, having just closed in San Diego for The Roustabouts, as well as touring regionally.
Holly Kammier is the international best-selling author of Kingston Court, as well as Lost Girl, A Shelby Day Novel, and Choosing Hope. Co-Founder of Acorn Publishing, the UCLA honors graduate is an accomplished writing coach and a former journalist who has worked everywhere from CNN in Washington, D.C. and KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, to the NBC affiliate in small-town Medford, Oregon. The California native and mother of teenage boys, lives in San Diego, close to her friends and family.
Robin “R. D.” Kardon is a native New Yorker, educated in the New York City public school system and the author of FLYGIRL, her debut novel inspired by her experiences as a professional pilot.

Robin holds a B.A. in Journalism and Sociology from NYU and a J.D. from American University. She practiced law for ten years before becoming disillusioned with her career choice. She always loved airplanes, and decided to go flying.

Robin flew as a corporate and airline pilot for twelve years which took her all over the world. She’s flown everything from single-engine Cessnas to the Boeing 737. She holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with three Captain qualifications (type-ratings), and has a Commercial helicopter rating.

In her spare time, Robin loves to play tennis and volunteer for local animal rescue organizations. She lives in San Diego, California with her three beloved rescue pets.

Michelle Kennedy published her first book, Don’t Pee in the Wetsuit, in 2016 and is a regular contributor to HuffPost, Elephant Journal, and Tiny Buddha. Her essays and speaking focus on dealing with loss, self-compassion, body image, moving through trauma, and dropping the stories that tell us we can’t. Kennedy teaches in the Communication Studies Department at the University of San Diego. She also works with other writers on everything from building a writing platform, to writing winning essays and pitching agents. A former television news reporter and anchor, she shot, wrote, edited, and presented stories live for multiple newscasts. To learn more, you can check out: mkennedywriter.com
Cherie Kephart is an award-winning author and inspirational speaker, best known for her book, A Few Minor Adjustments: A Memoir of Healing, which takes the reader on a powerful and entertaining journey through her adventures and search for life-saving answers to a mysterious illness that almost killed her. Cherie’s memoir has won several awards including the San Diego Book Award for Best Memoir, motivating her to write two companion books, The Healing 100 and Poetry of Peace. Cherie is passionate about healing the body, mind, and spirit and sharing her experiences to help others on their healing journeys.
Lisa Kessler is a Best Selling author of paranormal fiction. She’s a two-time San Diego Book Award winner for Best Published Fantasy-Sci-fi-Horror and Best Published Romance. Her books have also won the PRISM award, the Award of Excellence and Romance Through the Ages Award for Best Paranormal, and the Award of Merit from the Holt Medallion. Her short stories have been published in print anthologies and magazines, and her vampire story, Immortal Beloved, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award.

Lisa loves to work with writers and has taught writing craft classes both online and in person for RWA University, RWA National Conference, San Diego Writers Ink, and has been a speaker for numerous RWA chapters, the RT Booklovers Convention, San Diego Comic Fest, and for various writer’s retreats.

Kathy Krevat is the author of the GOURMET CAT MYSTERY series featuring cat food chef Colbie Summers and her demanding cat Trouble, the culinary muse behind her recipes. She also writes the bestselling CHOCOLATE COVERED MYSTERY series under the pen name, Kathy Aarons. Kathy lives in San Diego with her husband of twenty-seven years in the perfect location – close to Philz Coffee and the beach. When she’s not writing, she’s volunteering with youth arts education organizations or performing stand-up comedy at the Comedy Palace in San Diego. You can follow Kathy on Facebook or Twitter or visit her at: www.kathykrevat.com.
Kathleen Krull (kathleenkrull.com) has had a long career in children’s books, first as an editor, and now as a prominent author of biographies for young readers. The Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC, honored her with its Nonfiction Award for her body of work that “has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children.” New this spring are Fly High, John Glenn: The Story of an American Hero (HarperCollins) and The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins and Her New Deal for America (Simon & Schuster).

Jared Kuritz is a managing partner of STRATEGIES Public Relations, a firm that works with domestic and international clients on literary and publishing development, business modeling, and public relations and marketing. Jared is also the Director of the La Jolla Writers Conference—an annual three-day immersion that educates attendees about the art, craft, and business of writing and publishing. Jared is the co-publisher of NightStand Press, placing great books in the hands of avid readers. Jared is also the founder of the Kops-Fetherling Books Awards. A regular contributor to IBPA, BEA, Tucson Festival of Books, and more, Jared enjoys sharing his expertise with members of the writing community.

Thao Le is a literary agent at the Dijkstra Agency since 2011.

Thao represents KidlLit (i.e. picture books and graphic novels by author-illustrators, Middle Grade fiction, and Young Adult across genres) as well as romantic leaning Fantasy and Light Science Fiction for adults.In YA and Middle Grade, whether in prose or graphic novel format, she’s currently seeking contemporary stories that are witty, heartfelt, and authentic. She adores stories with a touch of magic and whimsy, and is a fan of mythology and fairytales.In the Adult SFF realm, she’s a fan of character driven contemporary fantasy, near future science fiction, and romantic space operas. She is particularly excited about stories with fresh twists to common genre tropes, such as what Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway does with portal fantasy.

In the picture book realm, she’s excited to work with illustrators who write their own picture books and is most drawn to art that is emotive and vivid. Her tastes tend towards stories that are character driven, witty, progressive, and ends with a twist. Some of her favorites include books by Jon Klassen, Minh Le, Cale Atkinson, and Kate Beaton. In general, she loves beautiful literary writing with a commercial hook and tight plotting. She is actively seeking underrepresented voices (including, but not limited to, all ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental and physical health, and socioeconomic status) to her client list. Thao’s recent sales include: NYT bestselling author Roshani Chokshi’s new YA trilogy The Gilded Wolves (Wednesday/St. Martin’s), NYT bestselling author Sandhya Menon’s new contemporary series starting with Of Curses and Kisses (Simon Pulse), NYT bestselling author Emily Duncan’s Wicked Saints, K.A. Reynolds’s upcoming middle grade The Spinner of Dreams (Harper Children’s), Elle Katharine White’s Flamebringer (Harper Voyager).

Thao is NOT looking for: non-fiction, adult literary fiction, adult general fiction, mystery/thriller/ suspense, memoirs, poetry, religious/spiritual books, screenplays, or short stories.

Derek Lewis wrote the book on writing business books. Literally. He’s worked as a ghostwriter, editor, and book coach for business leaders on five continents, from DMZ chopper pilots and IMF economists to Texas oil tycoons and startup millionaires who work with Google, SAP, Tesla, Pixar, GE, Apple, NASA, and the Red Cross. Derek’s published them with HarperCollins, Entrepreneur Press, Taylor & Francis, and Elsevier, among others. He lives in a hundred-year-old farmhouse outside Baton Rouge with his wife, children, and a small zoo.
Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan is an author, university faculty member, and former K-8 teacher. She’s currently directing the Liberal Studies program at San Diego State University. She writes books about things that geek her. She especially likes to write about her Chinese-American heritage. After all, she was born on Flag Day in the Year of the Dragon. She’s also interested in writing fun facts about monsters, weird bodily noises, urban legends, hot dogs, and anything on the odd side. She has written over 300 books, mainly for children. Her most recent children’s book is NIAN: The Chinese New Year Dragon (Sleeping Bear Press, 2019); she has a picture book about Norse gods and goddesses coming out in 2020. She lives in northern San Diego with two non-trained naughty dogs and one semi-well-trained husband.

Elizabeth Macias-Meade has been a teacher at Hoover High School for 13 years. She loves watching students begin to understand who they are and the abilities they have to better themselves and the world around them. They inspire her to be a better person and approach her craft with authenticity. Elizabeth believes in the purpose and power in advocating for values she finds essential in a thriving society: equity, education, sustainability, and human rights. She loves social justice because a person can approach advocacy and community through many different areas.  An artist can be a powerful activist for social justice, as can a scientist. She believes we all have a part to play in our community!

Michael Mahin is the Robert F. Sibert Honor-winning author of WHEN ANGELS SING: THE STORY OF ROCK LEGEND CARLOS SANTANA (Atheneum) which also won a Pura Belpre Honor for illustrator Jose Ramierez, and the author of MUDDY: THEY STORY OF BLUES LEGEND MUDDY WATERS (Atheneum), which received numerous honors, including being named an NPR Best Book and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book in 2017. Michael enjoys writing about people who use their creativity to make the world a better place for themselves and others. He lives in Carlsbad, CA, with his wife, two children, and several guitars he wishes he played better.

Seretta Martin, managing editor of San Diego Poetry Annual, has authored several poetry books including her forthcoming, Overtaking Glass. She is a finalist in the Philip Levine Award, Washington Prize and Atlantic Review. Her writing appears in Serving House Journal, Web Del Sol, Poetry International, Margie, Modern Haiku, A Year in Ink, and San Diego Poetry Annual, among others. She teaches at San Diego Writer’s Ink, Border Voices Poetry Project, California Poets in the Schools and KIDS SDPA. Seretta appears on ITV shows and curates readings at libraries and symposium. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing. Her company, Blue Vortex Publishers, is a publisher of books by other writers. Seretta lives in the foothills of San Diego county with her musician son and adoring cats.

Jana McBeath, Media Educator
Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Jana graduated with her M.A. and B.A. in photography from the Manchester School of Art in the North of England. She has extensive experience as a freelance photographer and as a teaching artist for young people and is hugely passionate about both. When not taking photos you can find her dreaming about the ocean or watching sci-fi movies with her husband.

Marijke McCandless is a former harried VP of corporate communications for a high technology company, now an award-winning, internationally published writer; rock-climber; and awareness practitioner of twenty-five years dedicated to inquiring into the nature of reality, saying YES! to life, casting writing spells, and generally living life imperfectly, but with great delight. She leads writing, meditation, and enlivenment workshops and spends 3 to 4 weeks each year on silent retreat. Her motto: Listen. Play. Write. Her author website is currently being revamped, but you can find some of her work at TheFeistyWriter.com or CookingUpStories.com

Sylvia Mendoza is an award-winning author and journalist who writes inspirational stories about strong visionary women who change the world—and are powerful examples of living with passion and purpose.

Raised a Navy brat, she lived in different versions of paradise like Hawaii, Guam, San Diego and, later in life, Puerto Rico. Being uprooted often, her constants were reading and writing, learning about different cultures and the fine art of people watching. This combo fueled her passion for storytelling. She went on to earn degrees in Journalism—and started writing.

Her classic collection of mini-biographies THE BOOK OF LATINA WOMEN: 150 Vidas of Passion, Strength and Success, was selected for the California Collection for High Schools by the California Readers Association. SONIA SOTOMAYOR: A BIOGRAPHY launched Zest Books’ middle school “Living History” series to inspire young readers with the true story of the first Latina Supreme Court Justice. Both won 1st place in the International Latino Book Awards in their respective categories. Her novel, SERENADE, won the prestigious Latino Literary Award for Best Romance. Sylvia has written more than 500 articles for dozens of publications, earning awards for “Excellence in Journalism.”

Teaching Journalism and Creative Writing at UC San Diego Extension brings her love of the written word full circle as she hears the voices of the next generation of writers.

Steve Montgomery is a proud member of San Diego Writers, Ink, and co-facilitator—with the provocative Judy Reeves—of Thursday Writers at Lestat’s West. His work has been published in San Diego CityBeat, and the anthologies Black Rock & Sage, Mourning Sickness, A Year in Ink, and Shaking the Tree.
Reid Moriarty brings a contagious sense of joy to every audience. A charismatic performer on keyboard and vocals, he writes music, has recorded two albums –Purple Party and Shine – and hosts his own podcast, Talk Time with Reid Moriarty. Reid’s voice breaks through social barriers to inspire.
www.reidmoriarty.com
Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. She represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction. In general, Patricia looks for stories that hook her with a unique plot, fantastic writing and complex characters that jump off the page. On the children’s side, Patricia is open to a wide range of genres of YA and MG, with particular interest in contemporary/realistic, magical realism, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. On the adult side, she is seeking women’s fiction both upmarket and commercial, historical fiction set in the 20th century, and compelling plot-driven literary fiction. She’s also looking for sexy, smart adult contemporary and historical single title romance. She is interested in seeing diverse stories and characters, including LGBTQ, in all genres that she represents.

Patricia’s clients include young adult novelists Mary McCoy (Printz Honor award winner I, Claudia, Lerner/Carolrhoda Lab), Axie Oh (Rebel Seoul, Tu Books), Anna Meriano (Brooms Up, forthcoming from Philomel/Penguin Random House), and Candice Iloh (Ada, forthcoming from Dutton Children’s/Penguin Random House); middle grade novelists Kristi Wientge (Honeybees and Frenemies, Simon and Schuster Children’s), Hayley Chewins (The Turnaway Girls, Candlewick), Margaret Dilloway (Summer of a Thousand Pies, Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins), and Sandy Stark-McGinnis (Extraordinary Birds, Bloomsbury Children’s); bestselling women’s fiction author Loretta Nyhan (Digging In, Lake Union Publishing); and USA Today bestselling romance authors Sarina Bowen and Charis Michaels, among others.

Patricia holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of SCBWI. Follow Patricia on Twitter at @patricianels.

Dean Nelson is the founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He writes occasionally for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Christianity Today, Sojourners, and several other national publications. He has won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting, and has written or co-written 14 books. Nelson is a frequent speaker at writing workshops and retreats.

Linda K. Olson, M.D. FACR is an author and motivational speaker with a Get Out and Go message. She is committed to empowering Parkinson’s patients and families to live life as full as possible, in spite of their disabilities. She shares personal experiences that are filled
with humor as well as practical tips, resources, and heartfelt motivation. Her life experience as a triple amputee gives her the unique ability to show people how to accept, adapt and innovate when seemingly “bad” things happen. She inspires audiences to forget the things
they can no longer do, and motivates them to innovate and Hind new ways to do things. She shows people how to use positivity to bring happiness and get out and go instead of becoming a victim.

Olson has been a triple amputee since 1979 and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2015. She and her husband, David Hodgens, M.D. raised two children and now live with their two labs, Dixie and Sally. Olson is currently writing her memoir.
To learn more, visit www.LindaKOlson.com

Author, Editor, Shamanic Explorer Matthew (Mateo) J. Pallamary has fifteen books in print in multiple genres and languages. His latest book is titled Death: (A Love Story), which is a first person narrative in the voice of Death itself. Matt has been teaching at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, the Southern California Writers Conference, and many other venues for over thirty years and frequently visits the mountains, deserts, and jungles of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shamanism.
Sally J. Pla is an award-winning children’s author. Her books are Junior Library Guild Selections that have appeared on many state awards lists and “best books” roundups. THE SOMEDAY BIRDS received the 2018 Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award for its depiction of autism/disability. BENJI, THE BAD DAY, & ME was the San Diego Book Award’s Best Children’s Book. STANLEY WILL PROBABLY BE FINE was a Bank Street, Kirkus, and NYPL Best Book of the year. Sally’s also a neurodiversity advocate – she believes in the beauty of different brains, and in stories where different kids can see themselves, sometimes for the first time. Visit www.sallyjpla.com.
Lucasfilm, The Walt Disney Company, HGTV, LinkedIn, The Ritz Carlton, and BNP Paribas are some of the internationally known brand leaders who have called on Jess Ponce III to coach their executives, spokespeople, and talent.

Jess is the author of “Everyday Celebrity,” which is available in English, Mandarin and Simplified Chinese. He has worked with over 2500 celebrities and more than 1500 TV hosts, experts, authors and spokespeople.

A media and communication coach and personal branding expert, Jess created The A Factor®, a methodology for what he has coined “The Art of Authentic Self Promotion.” Professionals from all industries benefit from his laser-focused training on how to shine when they need it most.

Jess is also a speaker and workshop facilitator in Taipei, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. His second book, “A.W.E.S.OM.E.; The 7 Keys to Unleashing the Speaker Within” is due out in English in Spring 2020 and has already been well received in Mandarin.

Dr. Catherine Pope is an advocate for children, a teacher and an author. She is a product of the Omaha Public Schools. She received her under-graduate and graduate degrees in Speech and Language Pathology/ Audiology from the University of Nebraska. She holds credentials from San Diego State University in Severe Disorders of Language and the United States International University in Educational Administration.
While working in the Integration Office she supervised programs in Magnet/ VEEP schools. She served as Vice-Principal of Lincoln and Principal of Harriet Tubman where she led the highly diverse urban school out of Program Improvement. In 2009 she earned a Doctor of Education Degree from NOVA Southeastern University where she received the Phi Gamma Sigma Award, for making significant contributions to her community. She taught at Point Loma as an Adjunct Faculty member.
In 2015, Catherine published her autobiographical memoir, “In Search of the Crown”. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert named a week after her, sighting her courage during the Civil Rights Movement while reigning as Miss Omaha. The outcome was Black and Women Studies at the University of Nebraska. On January 29, 2016 her book was honored at the 50th Annual Local Author’s Exhibit and Reception, Main Public Library, San Diego. That same year the University of Nebraska at Omaha, “UNO Women’s Archive Project”, honored her. Women are selected as examples of how courageous women have shaped their communities. Other achievements are the Phi Delta Kappa Educator of the Year, 2006 and The Culturally Courageous Leadership Award, 2009.
On March 9, 2018 Dr. Pope received from the Association of African-American Educators; the Educational Leadership Award, San Diego, County. She also received a special commendation for her leadership from the city council president; City of San Diego for addressing issues city wide in multicultural education, staff development, classroom instruction, as well as the intersections of culture, race, ethnicity, teaching, and learning. Other awards were from the State of California, the Senate, California Legislature, and the United States Congress.
Throughout her career and life, Dr. Pope has been unapologetic in her advocacy for student, parent and family rights.

Claudia began serious poetry writing in 1988 studying at Writers Haven on Adams
Ave. She appears in several annual anthologies, teaches poetry in classrooms with
Border Voices, Kids San Diego Poetry Annual, California Poet in the Schools and in
Fernley Elementary in Nevada. She writes and performs many of her own songs, has
published 2 poetry books, Becomes Her Vision, Keeper of the Fields, and 4 poetry
chapbooks.
Claudia Poquoc’s email is cjpoquoc@sbcglobal.net

Elise Kim Prosser, Ph.D. is a professor, former board member of La Jolla Playhouse, and former President of San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre. She was an actress in Memoir Showcase (North Coast Repertory Theatre), Flower Drum Song and BFE (La Jolla Playhouse), Joy Luck Club (Ion Theatre), House of Chaos and Hiphop Kimbop (Don Powell Theatre) and Innerviews (Apolliad Theatre). She was also a writer for Memoir Showcase, Hiphop Kimbop and Front Row on Theatre, San Diego Union Tribune.
Tania Pryputniewicz is a heart-centered writing teacher, poet, and tarot muse passionate about cross-pollination and hybrid forms from poetry movies to tarot haiku. Once trapped in a loveless romance in her early twenties as an undergraduate English Major, Tania found a tarot deck in a bookshelf that saved her soul and set her feet firmly on the Royal Road. She brings over twenty-five years as a writing teacher and practicing tarot reader to her tarot-inspired writing classes. Her teaching super power is her ability to support students to take risks to deeply engage the private self in the pursuit of creating powerful writing across forms. Her classes offer specific steps for following the arrow of personal inquiry to its final target from draft to revised form to publication’s target at which point the writer enjoys the full circle gift of joining the public conversation.

A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Tania is the author of the poetry collection November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014). Tania’s Heart’s Compass Tarot Workbook is forthcoming from Saddle Road Press in 2020. She teaches poetry at San Diego Writers, Ink and tarot-inspired writing courses through Antioch University’s online program Inspiration to Publication. She lives in Coronado with her husband, three children, one blue-eyed Siberian Husky and a formerly feral feline named Luna. She blogs at Tarot for Two and at her main site: www.taniapryputniewicz.com.

Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement and always wanted to be a cop. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams, and was cross-sworn as a US Marshal, pursuing murder suspects and bank robbers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. Putnam did two tours on the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s SWAT team. He also has experience in criminal intelligence and internal affairs and has supervised corrections, patrol, and a detective bureau. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five-0, serving as Special Agent for the Attorney General investigating smuggling and white-collar crimes. The Heartless is the seventh in the Bruno Johnson series and the third of the “young” Bruno prequels. Putnam lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Mary.
Judy Reeves is a writer, teacher, and writing practice provocateur whose books include the award-winning A Writer’s Book of Days and Wild Women, Wild Voices. Her work has appeared in the San Diego Reader, Connotations Press, Serving House Journal, Waymark, and other journals and anthologies. She served as editor for several journals and chapbooks, including three editions of A Year in Ink and as judge for the 2019 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize. She has been leading community-based writing practice groups for more twenty-five years and teaches at writing conferences internationally and at San Diego Writers, Ink, a nonprofit literary center she cofounded. Judy’s website is judyreeveswriter.com. Visit me at: www.judyreeveswriter.com Find me on Facebook: judyreeveswriter Get your daily writing prompt from A Writer’s Book of Days
Here’s where I talk about:Wild Women, Wild Voices
Walter Ritter is a Resident Artist at both Ion Theatre and Lynx Performance. He has also performed at Lamb’s Players Theatre, Sledgehammer, Moonlight Stage, Starlight and others.
Laura Cathcart Robbins is a freelance writer, podcast host and storyteller, living in Studio City, California with her son, Justin and her boyfriend, Scott Slaughter. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee, and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Her recent articles in the Huffington Post on the subjects of race, recovery and divorce have garnered her world-wide acclaim. She is a 2018 LA Moth StorySlam winner and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, which is available on all podcast platforms. In October 2019, Laura was named the new weekly US contributor for the Italian Newsmagazine, The Daily Worker.it. Laura currently sits on the advisory board for the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. Laura is also a founding member of Moving Forewords, the first national memoirist collective of its kind. Find out more about her on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook @lauracathcartrobbins, on Instagram @official_cathcartrobbins and follow her on Twitter @LauraCRobbins
J.R. Sanders is a native of Newton, Kansas – one of the original “wild and woolly” cowtowns – whose deep interest in Old West history dates back to childhood visits with his family to the Dalton Gang hideout, Abilene, and Dodge City.

J.R. regularly writes nonfiction articles for a variety of periodicals, among them Law & Order and Wild West magazines. He has authored books on topics as diverse as Southern California apple farms and Old West lawmen killed in the line of duty. His most recent book, published in March of this year by Level Best/Historia Books, is Stardust Trail, a detective novel set among the B-movie cowboy productions of 1930s Hollywood.

J.R. is an active member of the Western Writers of America.

Gina Simmons Schneider, Ph.D. is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, certified coach, and corporate trainer with over 25 years of experience. Dr. Simmons Schneider’s article “Does Violent Media Cause Aggression?” appears in the volume, At Issue: Is Media Violence a Problem?, Vol. 2, published by Gale: Cengage Learning, May, 2010. You can also read her tribute story in Heart of a Military Woman: Stories and Tributes to Those Who Serve Our Country, winner in the Spiritual/Inspirational category from the San Diego Book and Writing Association Awards (2009).
Dr. Simmons Schneider writes the award-winning Manage Anger Daily blog. She has blogged for Forbes.com, The Feisty Writer, and Women In Crime Ink, dubbed by the Wall Street Journal, “A blog worth reading.” Subscribe at www.manageangerdaily.com and learn more about her upcoming book, Frazzlebrain. Follow her on Twitter @DrGinaSimmons.
Marivi has authored 17 books. Her debut novel The Mango Bride (Penguin, 2013) won Grand Prize at the Palanca Awards, the Philippine counterpart of the Pulitzer Prize, and has been translated into Spanish and Tagalog. To underscore the need for Own Voices stories, she organized Centering The Margins: Conversations with Writers of Color in March 2019, a three day conference which drew poets, novelists, journalists, publishers and literary agents of color from across the country to speak at UC San Diego and the San Diego Central Library. She regularly advocates for immigrant rights and concerns in her day job as an interpreter.
Cheryl Sonstein is a Libra originally from Ambler, Pennsylvania. She now resides in San Diego where she is happy to take part in many wonderful writing and storytelling opportunities offered through So Say We All, San Diego Writers Ink, Thursday Writers, Dime Stories and the Butterfly.

The film Isabel, based on her short story about being a caregiver, won the SD True Film Con Challenge, three San Diego film awards and an Emmy nomination.

Deanne Stillman has written several acclaimed books of literary nonfiction and her plays have been produced in festivals around the country. Her latest book is Blood Brothers (Simon Schuster), which received a starred review in Kirkus, was excerpted in Newsweek, won the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for nonfiction, and appears on several “best of the year” lists, including True West Magazine’s. Her other books include Desert Reckoning, based on a Rolling Stone piece, winner of the Spur and LA Press Club awards, a Southwest Book of the Year, an amazon editors pick, recipient of rave reviews in Newsweek and elsewhere, currently under option for film; Twentynine Palms, an LA Times bestseller and “best book of the year” that Hunter Thompson called “A strange and brilliant story by an important American writer,” and Mustang, an LA Times “best book of the year,” recipient of rave reviews from the Atlantic to the Economist, now available in audio with Anjelica Huston, Frances Fisher and John Densmore.
Her essays have appeared in the NY Times, LA Times, Tin House, High Country News, the LA Review of Books (where she is a columnist), and elsewhere, and her work is widely anthologized. Her latest play, “Reflections in a D’Back’s Eye,” opens in January 2020 at Highways in Santa Monica. It was a finalist in the 2019 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival and a semi-finalist for the 2019 Blues Ink Playwriting Award from American Blues Theater. Additionally, she’s a member of the core faculty at the UCR-Palm Desert MFA Low Residency Creative Writing Program. For more, see www.deannestillman.com.
The Lydiard Chronicles, Elizabeth St. John’s acclaimed historical fiction series, is named after Lydiard Park, the St.John ancestral home in Wiltshire. Full of portraits and memorials of the St.John family, Lydiard House and adjacent Church of St. Mary’s is a writer’s dream. Elizabethan monuments, Jacobean portraits and medieval wall paintings all provide a rich tapestry of images, calling across the ages for their stories to be told.
Elizabeth St. John tells this dramatic true story of love and betrayal through the eyes of her ancestor Lucy and her family’s surviving diaries, letters and court papers. Raised in England, Elizabeth St.John spends her time between California, England, and the past. A best-selling author, historian and genealogist, she has tracked down family papers and residences from Nottingham Castle, Lydiard Park, and Castle Fonmon to the Tower of London. Although the family sold a few castles and country homes along the way (it’s hard to keep a good castle going these days), Elizabeth’s family still occupy them – in the form of portraits, memoirs, and gardens that carry their imprint. And the occasional ghost. But that’s a different story…
Jeniffer Thompson is a co-founder of the Festival. She is also an author branding expert, digital marketing strategist, and host of The Premise podcast. She is an author and speaker who delivers strategy-rich content and actionable tools that educate and empower authors. She is passionate about helping authors navigate their publishing choices and establish highly visible author brands that sell books. She is the founder and principal at Monkey C Media, an award-winning design firm specializing in book packaging, author websites, and digital marketing strategies. Follow her blog at JenifferThompson.com, visit her company website at monkeyCmedia.com.

Ellen Towers is an AP US History teacher as well as the Director of the Academy of Information Technology at San Diego’s Hoover High School, where she works with high school students in the classroom as well as business members of the community. She graduated from San Diego State University with a Teaching Credential and Masters in Secondary Curriculum and Instruction and received her Bachelors at Michigan State University in Materials and Logistics Management. Prior to her teaching profession she was District Sales Manager with General Motors and an Inventory Control Analyst from Federal Mogul. Her e-mail is etowers@sandi.net.

Madonna Treadway is author of Six Healing Questions: A Gentle Path to Healing Childhood Loss of a Parent. Madonna’s work will be featured in the 2019 anthology Shaking the Tree Volume Two: Things We Don’t Talk About. Madonna’s story was chosen to be a featured story at the SDMWA Showcase. She is a guest blogger for The Feisty Writer. You can read her blog where she writes about loss and grief in an informative and enlightening way: https://madonnatreadway.com.
Laura Trethewey is an ocean journalist and the senior writer and editor at Ocean.org, a multi-media story-telling site run by the Vancouver Aquarium. She has been published in Smithsonian Magazine, Courier International, The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, Hakai Magazine, and Canadian Geographic. She lives in Vancouver and this is her first book.
Carl Vonderau grew up in Cleveland. It’s not as bad as you think. Well, the river did catch on fire three times. His family followed a religion that believed that God could heal all illness. After majoring in economics at Stanford, and dabbling in classical guitar, he ended up with a career in banking. Carl has lived and worked in Latin America, Canada, and North Africa and has managed to put his foot in his mouth in several languages. Now a full-time writer, Carl’s first thriller, MURDERABILIA, was published in July of 2019 by Midnight Ink. The online reviewer, Criminal Element, called it a “a powerful, poignant, chilling and original thriller.” It is a finalist for the Lefty Best Debut Mystery at this year’s Left Coast Crime conference.
Amy Wallen is the associate director at New York State Summer Writers’ Institute, and the author of When We Were Ghouls, A Memoir of Ghost Stories, as well as the bestselling novel, MoonPies and Movie Stars. She facilitates a manuscript workshop with book critic David Ulin in San Diego called Savory Salons, and since 2004 has taught novel writing classes at UCSD Extension. Her essays have been published in The Gettysburg Review, The Normal School, Country Living, The Writers’ Chronicle and other national magazines. Her essay “Easy as Pie, That’s a Lie” is anthologized in The Shell Game, Writers Play with Borrowed Forms edited by Kim Adrian (April 2018). Most of the time she lives in San Diego, California with her husband and the cutest dog on earth named Hazel. Summers she lives in Saratoga Springs, New York where Hazel dreams of chasing woodchucks.

Dan Werb, PhD, is an assistant professor in epidemiology at the University of California San Diego and the University of Toronto. He has received major grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and other organizations, and has authored dozens of scientific studies investigating HIV, injection drug use and deportation in Tijuana. His popular writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, The Believer, and others; his feature “The Fix” on new tactics for treating injection drug use won a Canadian National Magazine Award. He is based in San Diego and Toronto.

Brae Wyckoff is an award-winning internationally acclaimed author of epic fantasy, children’s books, and historical fiction novels. He travels the world training and equipping other writers of all levels and has taught in Oxford, UK. Brae takes teams to Oxford every couple years to walk the streets that housed legendary writers like JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.
Brae has shared the stage with William Paul Young, author of the Shack, Lynn Vincent, author of Heaven Is For Real and Same Kind of Different As Me, and Peter Berkos, Academy Award winner. He is the Director of Kingdom Writers Association with over 150 members.
He was born and raised here in San Diego, has a beautiful wife, who is also an author, artist, spoken word, and playwright. They have three children and six grandchildren who inspire him to write children’s books filled with adventure and fun.