2026 FEATURED AUTHORS
Hilary Lawrence
Hilary Lawrence is an award-winning children’s author whose work combines timeless life lessons with imaginative storytelling and beautifully illustrated rhyming narratives. Since publishing her debut titles in 2024, she has received international recognition from award bodies on both sides of the Atlantic. Her books have quickly resonated with families,
educators, and young readers for their warmth, meaningful messages, and engaging
illustrations. As a mother of three, Lawrence understands the vital role strong core values and beliefs play in a child’s development. Inspired by traditional British proverbs that have shaped generations for centuries, her stories revive timeless lessons that risk being lost over time. Through playful rhyme and vibrant illustrations, she brings these sayings to life in a way that feels accessible, entertaining, and relevant for modern children, while encouraging meaningful conversations between parents, educators, and young readers.
Beyond the page, Lawrence is deeply committed to making a positive difference in children’s
lives. She donates 100 percent of her book profits to children’s charities, including The
Reading Clinic and KidsOR, ensuring her impact extends far beyond storytelling. With
warmth, creativity, and purpose at the heart of her work, Hilary Lawrence hopes her books
and the timeless lessons within them will continue to inspire families for generations to come.
zO-AlonzO Gross
zO-AlonzO Gross is a multi award winning
Recording Artist, Rap artist, Composer, Producer, Actor, Dancer, Writer, Publisher, Poet & Multi Award Winning Author of 10 books.
He received his bachelor’s degree Temple University in the field of Dance & English literature.
David L. Gillespie
Award-winning author, David L. Gillespie brings a captivating blend of imagination and real-world experience to children’s literature. Born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, he began an adventurous global journey with his family after earning his commission in the United States Air Force. Over decades of leadership in military intelligence, public policy, and executive program development, David built a distinguished career before turning his storytelling passion into a highly acclaimed children’s picture book – “Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue.”
Already a two-time international award winner, including being selected recently as a winner of the Picture Book category for Literary Global Children’s Book Awards, his lively, rhyming picture book, Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue, was inspired by the imagination of his youngest daughter. The story follows an eccentric young girl, her animal companions, and a whole lot of joyful mischief—all wrapped in rhythm, color, and kindness. David and his family are thrilled to share Miss Floo Flocky Doo’s delightful adventures with children around the world. To learn more about Floo, and her adventure with Peanut and Lou, visit www.FlooFlockyDoo.com.
Sierra Melcher
Sierra Melcher is an award-winning, best-selling author, international speaker, and educator. She is the CEO of Red Thread Publishing, an independent nonfiction publishing house devoted to amplifying impactful voices.
Through Red Thread, Sierra has guided more than 400 authors from 32+ countries to write and publish meaningful nonfiction and has overseen the publication of 77 books to date. We center and elevate women’s voices and work with authors of all genders who are committed to thoughtful leadership, integrity, and social impact.
Sierra is the author of 19 books and holds a Master’s degree in Education. Her work focuses on writing as a tool for leadership, legacy, and cultural change, emphasizing community, collaboration, and sustainable creative practice.
Originally from the United States, Sierra lives in Medellín, Colombia, with her daughter.
Dr. Gregory M. Lee
Dr. Gregory M. Lee is an award-winning author of the IndieReader Approved Award, Literary Titan Gold Book Award and the International Impact Book Award. Lee was born in Chicago in 1949. He was the oldest of eight siblings. Dr. Lee joined the United States Air Force (USAF) as an airman basic and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. While in the USAF he earned three college degrees. While stationed in Europe he ran four marathons. After retirement from the Air Force in April 1994, he architected San Antonio Independent School District’s (SAISD) first wide area network connecting 94 schools and 10 administrative locations with Internet and Email. In 2010, Dr. Lee earned his Ph.D. in Information Technology from Capella University. His research was published in the 2010 Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference and in the August 2011 issue of the Information Systems Education Journal. He was also worked as an adjunct professor for the University of Maryland, Our Lady of the Lake University and San Antonio College for 19 years teaching courses in computer and network technology. Dr. Lee has three children and six grandchildren.
Shama Shams
Shama Shams, an author residing in Seattle, holds an MA from Florida State University. Her memoir, She Called Me Throwaway, was published in March 2024 and received an Honorable Mention in NBR’s writing contest. She is also featured in esteemed publications, including Palooka, Transformation, Fiction Fix, and Mandala Literary Journal. Notably, she reached the finals of the Black Warrior Review.
Shams captivated audiences at the Dallas Museum of Arts and the AT&T Performing Arts Center, where she read excerpts from her memoir to sold-out crowds. These readings, titled “Lost in Translation,” “Elephant in the Room,” and “Old School,” were recorded and can be viewed on the YouTube channel “Oral Fixation (An Obsession with True Life Tales).” Additionally, she shared excerpts from her memoir at Truth in Comedy, a show that showcases nonfiction writers.
Aside from her writing pursuits, Shams has dedicated two decades to the nonprofit sector, advocating for and raising funds for marginalized communities. Her expertise and passion in this field led to the publication of her book, Nonprofit Fundraising—Lessons from the Trenches, earlier this year. Furthermore, she hosts the podcast “From Passion to Purpose,” which highlights the impactful work of nonprofit leaders in the community.
Shama’s third book, Dreamers: The Search for the American Dream, is expected to be released in 2027 by Running Wild Press.
Eddie Dee Williams
Eddie Dee Williams is a seven-time award-winning author of superhero romance thrillers and the creator of The Affinity Saga. A licensed therapist based in Valdosta, Georgia, he brings a unique psychological lens to stories that explore power, identity, leadership, and human connection.
His work blends cinematic action with emotional depth, offering readers stories that challenge traditional ideas of heroism while delivering high-stakes, character-driven narratives.
Melissa Garin
Melissa Garin is a multiple award-winning children’s author whose ability to weave genuine emotion into effortless rhyme has touched families around the world. Born into a multicultural family and having spent her life moving across countries, books were her one constant, the thing that stayed the same no matter where home happened to be. That early love for words never left her.
Her A World of series was born from the moments she knows best: the ache of goodbyes, the courage it takes to start over, the comfort of the things that never change, and the love that travels with you no matter how far you go. Her books have become a companion for families, in the big moments and the small ones alike.
She holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Communication. A lifelong nomad, she lives between cultures, writing the stories she always wished existed and hoping they become, for some child somewhere, that one constant.
Tejas Desai
Tejas Desai is the author of the Amazon #1 bestselling international crime trilogy The Brotherhood Chronicle (2018-2020), which has won 17 literary honors and has been praised as “awe-inspiring,” “breathtaking,” “riveting” and “a must read that will keep you guessing.” His panoramic portrait of American society, The Human Tragedy, includes the award-winning Good Americans (2013), which was praised by Kirkus Reviews as “a solid collection of rare caliber” that “speaks volumes about the human condition and modern life in America,” and the groundbreaking, multiple award-winning pandemic novel with short stories Bad Americans, praised by Publishers Weekly as a “powerful rendering of the human experience uniting a divided America,” and as a “timeless masterpiece” by Bestsellers World. The founder of The New Wei Literary Arts Collective & Movement, he has been profiled by numerous publications including HuffPost, Buzzfeed and The London Post. He attended Wesleyan University, University of Oxford and holds two Masters degrees, including a MFA in Creative Writing, from CUNY-Queens College. He was born, lives and writes in New York City, where he works as a supervising librarian for Queens Public Library.
Igor Stefanovic
Igor Stefanovic is a visual artist and storyteller originally from Belgrade, Serbia. In 2009, he moved to the United States to work at DreamWorks Animation, where he contributed to the Kung Fu Panda and Shrek franchises as a Character Technical Director, specializing in the expression and anatomy of digital characters.
As his creative interests evolved, Igor expanded into painting, sculpture, and narrative storytelling, exhibiting his work throughout the United States and Europe. One of his most ambitious pieces, The Debate of Seven Brothers, sparked the idea for a larger story that eventually became an award-winning screenplay and later inspired his novel, The Seven.
His work is deeply influenced by mythology, world cultures, and the human experience—particularly the ways struggle, identity, and personal growth shape who we become. These themes lie at the heart of The Seven, a story centered on brotherhood, sacrifice, resilience, and the search for meaning.
2025 FEATURED AUTHORS
LongTemple
LongTemple is an emerging contemporary romance author and visual storyteller whose work explores mature love, emotional depth, and meaningful human connection. Rooted in her upbringing in New York City’s vibrant Lower East Side, her storytelling carries the cultural rhythm, resilience, and community-centered perspective that shaped her distinctive creative voice. She is the creator of the Platinum Chocolate Romance Universe, a growing body of contemporary romance novels paired with companion adult-themed line art coloring books—an innovative, multi-sensory approach that invites readers to engage with stories beyond the page. Through this expanding universe, LongTemple contributes a sophisticated, later-in-life perspective to contemporary romance, centering healing journeys, emotional honesty, and love as a bold, intentional force at every stage of life. Website: https://platinumchocolateromance.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/longtemple
Richard Sacks
Richard Scott Sacks will publish A TRIP BY CANOE in July 2026. Set during the tumultuous long decade of 1968-1981, A TRIP BY CANOE opens windows on a vast swath of little-explored terrain from Kenya to Texas, from Detroit to the Alps, from India to Paris, from Chicago to the Congo. CANOE follows DRINKING FROM THE STREAM, Mr. Sacks’s March 2025 action-adventure, political thriller novel now available on Amazon. In STREAM, set in the early 1970s, orphaned oil roughneck Jake Ries flees after killing unintentionally a murderous white supremacist cook, who mistakes him for a Jew on a drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Graduate student Karl Appel meets Jake in Oxford. Karl is frustrated by life and by academia. Together they jump on a plane to explore Ethiopia by thumb. Their travels bring them to Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Congo, and Tanzania. And along the way they pick up Howard (South African), Beatrice (German), and Swee’Pea (Ugandan). As this small, international/multiracial band penetrates further into the interior, they increasingly become embroiled in local politics, up to the limit of human endurance.
Besides being an author, Mr. Sacks is an accomplished US diplomat with postings in Pakistan, Panama, Korea, Vietnam, Morocco, Mexico, and Washington, DC. Prior to government service Mr. Sacks visited twenty African countries and worked as a surveyor for construction projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has spent decades overseas. A former newspaper and wire service reporter, Mr. Sacks wrote for The Miami Herald from Asunción, Paraguay, The Associated Press in Detroit, Michigan, and The Middlesex News in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Mr. Sacks holds Masters Degrees from National War College and The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His academic study with SAIS professor Riordan Roett, PARAGUAY: THE PERSONALIST LEGACY (Routledge 2019, Westview 1991), was named “Outstanding Academic Book” by CHOICE MAGAZINE.
Stephen C. Pollock
Stephen C. Pollock is a poet, essayist, scholar, inventor, and author of the poetry collection Exits. The twenty-two poems in Exits were written and edited over a period of twenty years. Designing and formatting the book required an additional two years. Steve began scribbling poems on shirt cardboard at age nine. All of those early poems rhymed. (Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss was a huge influence!). Trained as a physician, eye surgeon, and neuro-ophthalmologist, Steve was recruited to Duke University as Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology in 1987. He ultimately achieved a rank of Associate Professor with tenure and has published 30 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in the medical literature. As a result of his lifelong penchant for designing novel devices, Steve holds U.S. Patent 4,477,158, Lens System for Variable Refraction. He also designed an instrument used to biopsy inaccessible tumors in the brain and behind the eye. The gratification Steve derives from writing springs from a variety of sources: fascination with language; the whimsy of wordplay; the intimate marriage of sound and sense; the thrill associated with creating something utterly new; and awe at the infinite ways in which words, well chosen, can capture and intensify human experience.
Raquel Y. Levitt
Raquel Y. Levitt holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a master’s degree in English. After twenty-five years of studying the craft of fiction writing, she is excited and proud that her debut novel The Seer, published in 2025, has received several accolades and awards. Her short stories have been published in literary journals and anthologies, including the multi-award-winning Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. Besides being a writer, Raquel is an avid reader, book hoarder, world traveler, amateur nature photographer, birder, and collector of cool rocks.
Saran Lucia
Saran Lucia grew up in sunny Southern California, where she discovered early on that a good book could transport her to incredible worlds. With over 18 years of experience as a special education teacher, she has dedicated her career to fostering a love of reading in children, guided by the belief that every child deserves the magic and connection found in stories. Saran’s personal journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth deeply influences her writing, infusing her stories with warmth, mindfulness, and gentle wisdom. Through her books, she aims to nurture curiosity, compassion, and self-awareness in young readers. When she’s not writing or teaching, Saran enjoys exploring nature, searching for her next great read, and spending meaningful time with loved ones. Her hope is that her stories inspire children to embrace their unique journeys, stay curious, and always seek the light in every situation.
Shaine Hobdy
Shaine Hobdy is a multi-award-winning author of Coach To ALIGN: Building Empowered Teams Together and FLEX: Connect, Empower, & Lead – A Teen’s Guide to Leadership. His latest release in the Leadership Series, The FLEX Leader: How to Lead People Your Age by Flexing Personalities, continues his focus on practical, people-centered leadership. Shaine is also a Life-Certified Customer Service Professional (CCSP®) with the National Customer Service Association. He was recently honored with a listing in the 2025 Who’s Who in America, recognizing his four decades of impact in leadership and training. His work has earned multiple honors, including the International Impact Book Awards and The BookFest Book Awards, with wins across business leadership, management, and leadership mindset categories. With more than forty years of leadership experience, Shaine began his career with global brands such as Walt Disney World and United Airlines. He is known for fostering collaboration, elevating team performance, and building cultures rooted in proactive communication and genuine connection. At the heart of Shaine’s work is his mission:
“To teach skills that help people feel seen, heard, and understood—so they can lead with confidence, courage, and connection.” Through his ALIGN Coaching Model and FLEX technique, Shaine continues to inspire leaders of all ages to build trust, strengthen dialogue, and achieve meaningful results.
TAK Erzinger
Tak Erzinger is an award-winning American/Swiss poet and artist with a Colombian background. Her poetry has been featured by journals at the Latino Book Review, Indiana University, Cornell University, McMaster University, the University of Baltimore and more. Erzinger’s poetry collection “At the Foot of the Mountain,” (Floricanto Press 2021), won the University of Indianapolis, Etchings Press Whirling Prize for 2021 for best nature poetry book and is a two-time finalist. Her latest poetry collection “Tourist” (Sea Crow Press 2023) is also a two-time finalist at the International Book Awards and the Eyelands Book Awards. Erzinger has been an artist in residence at the Padula Art Centre, Brison Veors and the Eutopia Art Residency. Most recently her first children’s picture book, Queen of the Mountain won five awards, including Book of the Year at Literary Global Children’s Book Awards.She lives in the Alps in Switzerland with her husband and two cats.
Maxsense Maximus
Maxsense Maximus is a writer whose early environment fostered a keen sensitivity to cultural nuance, interpersonal dynamics, and the subtleties of emotional experience. His migration to Australia introduced themes of displacement, adaptation, and identity formation that inform his broader creative outlook. Influenced in adolescence by Hemingway’s minimalist style, Maximus privileges restraint, psychological realism, and precise, cinematic observation. His practice is marked by fragmentary composition, reflective inquiry, and a sustained engagement with memory, affect, and existential tension. The constructed name “Maxsense Maximus” reflects his artistic philosophy, combining perceptual abundance with a lineage of classical intentionality and disciplined expressive form.
Anju Gattani
Multi award-winning fiction author, blogger, former international freelance journalist and newspaper reporter, ANJU GATTANI was born in India but grew up in Hong Kong. She has also lived and been published in Singapore, India, Australia, and finally grounded in Georgia, USA. Anju’s Winds of Fire Series was reviewed “Downton Abbey-style saga but set in India!” Book 1, DYNASTIES is the proud Nominee 2023 Georgia Author Of The Year, Finalist, Best Book Award and National Indie Excellence Award. Book 2, ONCE AND FOR ALL is a double winner and five times finalist, 2025 Independent Author Awards and double winner and finalist Penmasters Global Fiction Awards, shortlisted for the Hawthorne Prize and a multi finalist in many more awards.
N. Degen
N. Degen, a five-time award-winning author, holds a degree in philology and is the proud father of two children. His passion for storytelling, adventure, and language comes alive in his best-selling middle grade fantasy novel “Ray Taylor and the Torn and Tattered Treasure Map”. He invites readers to imagine bold new worlds and to believe in the magic that lies within every ordinary child.
D.R. Berlin
D.R. Berlin is an award-winning author, U.S. Army veteran, and General Surgeon with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Writing minor from MIT. A graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, her career in high-pressure environments fuels the pulse-pounding suspense and authentic detail in The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor. Berlin combines her scientific expertise and love of storytelling to deliver a gripping, intricate thriller that keeps readers on edge. Drafted as the unofficial photographer of her children’s sports teams, she has been affectionately dubbed the “Mamarazzi.”
2024 FEATURED AUTHORS
Christy Cooper-Burnett
Christy Cooper-Burnett is a best-selling author based in southern California with a degree in Administration of Justice. She has one grown son who inspired her to write her award-winning debut novel, No Way Home. She began her writing career later in life, but once she started she couldn’t stop. Her work focuses on creating relatable stories and characters that transcend genres and encourage readers to imagine what they would do if thrown into the unique, imaginative situations her trademark strong female protagonists end up in. Christy’s novels have received numerous book awards including the California Indie Author Project, the Maxy Book Awards, PenCraft Awards, the Indies Today Book Awards, International Book Awards, Literary Titan Gold Medal Award, Reader’s Favorite Five Star award, and recognition as one of Indies Today’s top five time travel novels. Her new release RUN, a thriller due to release on July 4, 2024, has received critical acclaim as a noteworthy contribution to contemporary thriller literature, and placed as the runner up in the mystery/crime category in the 2024 Maxy Awards. You can learn more about Christy or contact her to subscribe to her mailing list for news, book deals, and upcoming events at www.christycooperburnettbooks.com
June Le Masters Davison and Michelle M.T. Letcher
June Le Masters Davison, an Elmwood, Illinois native, is an outspoken octogenarian that is committed to the love of family. A widow, after 70 years with her beloved Allen, a mother of two beautiful daughters and the sole surviving sibling of a beloved story that encompasses the strength of her Mama and loyalty of her Dada. She is retired after 38 years, continues to speak up for others, fought for equal pay for women and currently resides outside of Chicago, Illinois.
Michelle M.T. Letcher, grew up in Illinois and is a U.S. Army Veteran. She has lived all over the world, most recently in Austin, Texas with her husband, Dr. Ken Letcher and their three sons, Thomas Allen, Tyler, and Trevor. Through her passion to develop and lead, Michelle has used her love of genealogy, travel, and family to highlight the extraordinary lives of women who’s stories have been lost to time. She gives a voice to those whose legacy must be remembered and reminds us all to break trail.
J.R. Rice
J.R. Rice is a Black man, writer, teacher, and spoken word artist, born and raised in Oakland, California. He has a B.A in Creative Writing and an English Education teaching credential from California State University of Long Beach. While studying abroad in Greece, he was mentored by the author, George Crane. His novella, Broken Pencils earned the 2024 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Literary Global Gold Award, and Third place in Best African-American Literature and Best New Fiction in the 2024 Firebird Book award contest. In addition to his writing accolades, he earned the Rookie of the Year award at the 2005 National Collegiate Poetry Slam in Philadelphia. He was a Semi-Finalist in the 2023 Berkeley Poetry Slam Finals. To learn more about J.R. Rice, please visit his website at www.jrrice.com.
Deborah King
Though Deborah L. King has been a writer and storyteller her whole life, publishing her first short story at seven years old, she took 32 years to complete her first novel. All three of her books have won awards. Most recently, Mary Not Broken won second place in the BooksShelf Writing Contest in the new release category. As a fiction writer, Deborah loves the work of Octavia Butler, classic Stephen King, Peter David, and the illustrations of Dan DeCarlo. She loves storms, champagne, Old Time Radio, and 70s Blues and Soul. Thanks to an interesting childhood, she’s afraid of escalators, bill collectors, and sometimes fresh produce.
Along with being a professed Vulcan and a bread-bender, Deborah enjoys cartoons, baking, photography, and classic Star Trek. Born and raised in Chicago, she has managed to achieve all of her childhood dreams—artist, teacher, baker, photographer, model, writer— and still lives in the area with her husband and youngest son. According to her daughter, she has “literally aced her life!”
Randall Northcutt
Randall Northcutt is a 6th generation Texan, small town doctor, and avid student of Southwestern legend and lore. He is the Past Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of Texas. His life among rednecks, outlaws, and boondock angels, provides endless fodder for his gritty writing style. Randall’s first novel, The Cusser Club was awarded a coveted ‘Starred’ Review from Kirkus Reviews on April 15, 2024.
Dawn and Jim Darnell
Mrs. Darnell has had mixed media art and photography exhibitions at Art Basel-Miami, Florida and Basel, Switzerland; in Expo Metro in New York Times Square, Barcelona, Spain; and Art Basel Miami; at New York Pier 36; in Red Dot Miami and Spectrum Miami and in galleries in Zug and Zurich, Switzerland; Venice, Italy; Berlin, Germany; Palma, Spain; Athens, Greece; Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and in the United States. Dawn Renee is a globally recognized photographer. She has won 47 international photography awards so far, and countless local and state awards. Dawn Renee’s images have been published in calendars, books and on covers, yearbooks, newspapers, advertisements, zoos, KOA pamphlets, sympathy cards, business cards, websites, used as logos, and sold in Galleries. She has won many Muse Photography, London Photography, European Photography, and New York Photography Awards, as well as an AVA Digital Award and a Communicator Award. Dawn Renee was born in Houston, Texas. She moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico, in 2016. She has been a board member for five organizations, a New Mexico Delegate, a campaign manager for U.S. Congress, Loan Signing Notary Public of New Mexico, Mrs. Darnell is working on her natural skincare company, Hollyn Renee Skincare, and an organic coffee company, Jim & Yoda’s Coffee House. Jim was born in Dallas; he spent his childhood in Ivory Coast West Africa as a missionary kid. Jim has pastored three churches and serves as a missionary to Ivory Coast. A teacher of 24 years in math, French, and Spanish. He is also a Loan Signing Notary Public of New Mexico. Mr. & Mrs. Darnell have a ministry in Ivory Coast, West Africa, supplying French Bibles and musical instruments, building churches and homes for Pastors, and paying for seminary tuition, weddings, and funerals. They are both Ordained Ministers and in the process of starting the Darnell Seminary School. They own a small publishing company, A Desert Dawn, and have 5 personal books that have won 72 book awards as of May 11th 2024.
Stacy Rush
Author Stacy Rush was born in Massachusetts, spent some of her childhood in Maine, then moved to Iowa as a teenager. Stacy is married and has five (5) children and three (3) grandchildren. She is also an animal advocate. Her love for animals shows with her menagerie of the “Fur Rush Clan” consisting of her four (4) dogs and one (1) cat that keep her company while she is writing. Stacy has always loved to read, her favorite genre being a dark romance. Stacy loves to cuddle up with any good book as long as there is romance involved. She has wanted to write for years, but with working full-time and taking care of family, she never had the time. Stacy became a stay-at-home mom in 2017. That is when she decided to finally try her hand at writing. She’s always had a wild imagination, which she now puts to good use. Living in Iowa for most of her life, a small town with just over 5,000 people, she loved the small-town life while watching her children grow up. Stacy’s favorite place is the Maine/New England area. If you read Stacy’s books, you will see her love for that area in her books. Stacy has recently started to write serialized fiction on Kindle Vella and some of the other reading platforms, such as iReader, Goodnovel, and Eratu. You can find her most recent serialized stories on all platforms. Stacy will soon have an audio production narration of one of her top selling novels being released Spring of 2024. Be on the lookout for more written by Stacy Rush.
Maithy Vu
Maithy Vu is a Vietnamese American writer of surrealist fiction. Her play, Wounded Wisteria, was selected to be a production of the Chautauqua Festival at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She eventually published Wounded Wisteria as a novella, combining fiction in verse with her own watercolor illustrations.
Vu went on to earn her M.L.A. in Creative Writing & Literature at Harvard Extension School. During that time, she completed her novel, Squid Season, and co-edited the children’s volume Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Inspiring Young Changemakers, which was selected as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things in 2022. Her latest work is a poetry collection titled Poems for Princesses with Peas Under Their Mattresses, in which she turns fairytales on their heads to grapple with womanhood. An obvious booklover, Vu has supported her writing career throughout the years working as a book editor, book buyer, bookseller, reading teacher, and schools’ book fair representative. She lives in California with her husband and their dog, Willoughby.
Woody Woodburn
Woody Woodburn was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1960; spent his adolescence in the ’70s on the sweet-and-salty-aired coast of Southern California, and graduated from UC Santa Barbara; and for the past four decades has been a national award-winning newspaper columnist—sports originally and general interest for the past fifteen years. Now writing for The Ventura County Star, his honors include Columnist of the Year by the Associated Press News Executive Council, Copley News Service, and E. W. Scripps Newspapers; and induction into The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s Journalists Hall of Fame and Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame as a journalist. In addition to his new debut novel The Butterfly Tree: An Extraordinary Journey of Seven Generations (BarkingBoxer Press), Woody is the author oftwo nonfiction books—the memoir Wooden & Me: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter. His work has also appeared in The Best American Sports Writing anthology and more than a dozen Chicken Soup For The Soul titles. When he is not tapping away on a QWERTY keyboard, Woody can be found padding the pavement, park grass or local beaches as a “Streaker” who has run a minimum of three miles (and averaged 11.4 miles) every day without fail since July 7, 2003, for one of the longest officially recognized running streaks in the world. “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive” has enjoyed an even longer streak while donating nearly one million dollars of new sports balls to underprivileged youth. Longer still, Woody has a marriage streak of forty-one years with his college sweetheart Lisa.
He can be contacted at woodywriter@gmail.com or through his website www.woodywoodburn.com
2023 FEATURED AUTHORS
Staci Andrea
A former dental assistant, ordained pastor, and public health worker, Staci entered the twisted world of suspense and thriller writing amidst her self-proclaimed midlife crisis, with her debut novel, Fraidy Hole, which was named as an honorable mention in the Hollywood Book Festival in 2023, as well as a Literary Titan 5-Star Gold award winner the same year. Life itself has been a thrill ride for her over the past two years. What had begun as a way to dig herself out of a dark spot in life with journalling, turned into a reignited passion to tell stories, with Staci’s main goal being to rip back the curtains of the cookie cutter perfect family down the street and expose the secrets that everyone is trying to hide.
Aside from her debut release, Fraidy Hole, she also has another stand-alone twisted thriller slated to release in December 2023, Lake Laps, as well as a third, Beneath Her Lies, slated for a spring/summer 2024 release date, and a fourth, Thrive: Ghosts in the Glades, following closely behind. When she’s not writing, Staci spends her time with her family, rocking her new role as a grandmother, or Nonna, as she prefers to be called.
Donna Norman-Carbone
Donna Norman-Carbone, the award-winning author of All That is Sacred, published by Red Adept Publishing, has a passion for writing women’s fiction that tugs at the heartstrings. Donna is also co-host of the podcast, Authors Talking Bookish, and a tour guide for the Bookish Road Trip. Her writing affiliations include membership of WFWA, WNBA, and CAPA. Donna is an English teacher in a small CT suburb, where she and her husband have raised three children, two Labrador Retrievers and a Siamese cat. In her spare time, she enjoys reading a good book on a sunny Cape Cod beach (her happy place), spending quality time with family and friends and traveling overseas.
Waide Riddle
Waide Riddle is an award-winning author, writer, poet, screenwriter and filmmaker. His poems and books are archived at the UCLA Library of Special Collections, the Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance in Beverly Hills, Poets House/NYC, USC ONE Institute LGBT Library and the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. Waide’s award-winning short films, LOST HILLS, CA., Something Wicked Dwells, The Lines In Their Faces, A Haunting In Arkansas & Washington Park, are available to view at Short Films Matter. He is the winner of the Hemingway and Bradbury awards in Screenwriting/Fiction. His award-winning paperbacks include They Crawl On Walls (A Kirkus Review Pick), The Night Elvis Kissed James Dean, Midnight on 6th Street & The Power of Summer! In 2023, he published is critically acclaimed memoir The Little Boy In The Little Red Dress and his fiction novel Meet Me At Third And Fairfax! In 2024, he will publish his novel A Grieving Man, based on his award-winning screenplay of the same title. Mr. Riddle was born in Kingsville, Texas and raised in Houston. He now resides in Los Angeles. FUN FACT: Waide has been a Licensed Cosmetologist for 41 years.
Gary Kaschak
Writing is my creative addiction. With limitless imagination, I can invent characters, develop dynamic dialogues, and form emotional connections that can immerse and captivate readers through inspirational storytelling. Sports, young adult themes, memoirs, and historical fiction are just a segment of my subject profile. Articles and books are meticulously written and edited before I can call them finished. The greatest joy is when a reading audience recognizes and applauds the fruits of my work. In 2009, my book Lifestone was celebrated and ranked #3 out of 100 top novels in Cyrus Webb’s Conversations Book Club. My upcoming book Coming Home: My Amazin’ Life with the New York Mets, will be released in August 2022. In collaboration with baseball legend and NY State Baseball Hall of Famer Cleon Jones, this memoir chronicles Cleon’s childhood in Alabama and ascent into Major League Baseball and World Series fame before rebuilding his beloved community after baseball. Over the years, I’ve not only learned to create my stories but help others tap into their own creative imaginations and tell theirs.
Dr. AudreyAnn Moses
Dr. AudreyAnn Moses is a Certified Christian Life Coach, Mental Wellness Counselor, and Best Selling Author (fiction and non-fiction). She is involved in several community-based programs focusing on personal and professional development and is an experienced workshop/program facilitator. Dr. Moses has written books and articles and has conducted workshops on personal growth and transition. Although fiction, she has written several novels that address situations found in most families. Her stories focus on physical, mental, emotional, relationship, and spiritual trials we all find ourselves facing. Her books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble (NOOK), and Goodreads or by contacting her for autographed copies. AudreyAnn and husband, Leonard, currently live in the quaint rural community of Cokesbury in Hodges, SC. They have four adult children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandson which she feels qualifies her to write stories of Christian family dynamics, love, and devotion to each other and to God. Learn more about her coaching services and how to purchase her books by browsing her Linktr.ee link: https://linktr.ee/neversaycaint. Her motto as a writer: “I have always believed that books are adventures created in our imagination. Now I’m blessed to share my adventures with you. Thank you!”
Craig Ohlau
Craig Ohlau is the author of the 2021 American Writing Awards Book of the Year, The Sons of Chester: A Tale of Small Town Boys, Baseball, and Very Big Dreams. Craig dedicated 18 years to the Mon-Clair Baseball League as a player between 2001-2018–the league immortalized in his second book–Maxy Awards Finalist for “Nonfiction Book of the Year,” Kings of the County League: One Summer, One Team, One Dynasty. Both of his award-winning books have been accepted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. He was inducted into The National Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Today, Craig is a writer, coach, teacher, and most importantly, a husband and father.
Allan Batchelder
Allan Batchelder is an author, actor and former comedian. His novels include the five-book Immortal Treachery series and This Thing of Darkness, all of which have won numerous awards and are available wherever books are sold. He writes mostly in the grimdark fantasy and horror genres, but his interests are wide-ranging, so there’s no telling what his next book will be about. Allan lives in Seattle with his wife and two cats. He also has an adult son, out in the world, doing “stuff.” You can find him on Twitter @tarmunvykers, on Instagram @tvykers or at his ImmortalTreachery website or Facebook page.
Lindsay Gordon
Lindsay is a Forbes award-winning career coach, author, and speaker on a mission to help people stop doing what they think is “right” in their career and start doing what’s right for them. Through her work, she assists leaders in making clear and confident decisions so they can move forward in their careers (and lives) with purpose. Lindsay loves baking complicated pastries, barbershop singing, and applying her engineering brain to helping people be DECIDED.
Jeannée Sacken
A former English professor, Jeannée Sacken is a photojournalist who travels the world documenting the lives of women and children. She lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin, with her husband and cat, where she’s hard at work on her next novel also featuring Annie Hawkins Green. Follow Jeannée at jeanneesacken.com.