We have a terrific lineup of authors, editors, and publishers from around the country and across the pond! Click on any name below to jump to their listing or read through the page.
Please note: Registration for the Saturday event closes at midnight Friday, 9/18/2026
Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski, Panel moderator, Journeys to Authorship: How Wannabe Writers Can Realize Their Publishing Dreams
Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski has been chasing stories since childhood—first as a wide-eyed kid who noticed she had fewer grandparents than her friends, and later as a passionate genealogist determined to uncover the voices of those who came before her. That early curiosity grew into a lifelong adventure of piecing together family mysteries, connecting the past to the present, and sharing the magic of history through her writing and books.
Anna is the author of:
*Dead Reckoning, A Rosalind Schmidt Genealogical Mystery, Book One
*Ancestral Shadows, A Rosalind Schmidt Genealogical Mystery, Book Two
*Dreams Remembered, A Guided Dream Journal for Seekers, Writers, and Genealogists
* The Adventures of Konrad the Kamel: Wanderlust
* and a contributor to Journeys to Authorship: How Wannabe Writers Can Realize Their Publishing Dreams and SoWest: Danger, A Desert Sleuths Anthology
When she’s not writing, you’ll find her enjoying a plate of grebel (fried dough) and celebrating gemütlichkeit—the cozy joy of heritage and community. Discover more at https://annabartkowski.com/.
Website: https://annabartkowski.com/
Substack: https://annadalhaimerbartkowski.substack.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092465406321
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annadalhaimerbartkowski_author/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@anna_dalhaimer_bartkowski/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/annabartkowski.bsky.social/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anna_bart4/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-dalhaimer-bartkowski-41b67514/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/annadalhaimerbartkowski/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@annadalhaimerbartkowski1361/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/annadalhaimerbartkowski/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard?ref=nav_profile_authordash/
Leslie Budewitz, Panelist, Justice and Criminology for the Writer’s Eye
Leslie Budewitz writes the Spice Shop mysteries set in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, a place she fell in love with as a college freshman, and the Food Lovers’ Village mysteries, set in a fictional lakeside town in NW Montana. Her historical short story collection All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, bringing to life a remarkable 19th century Montana woman, was a finalist for the 2025 High Plains International Book Awards; the title story won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. Other stories have won the Derringer and been nominated for Anthony, Macavity, and Spur awards. Budewitz also writes suspense as Alicia Beckman.
A graduate of Notre Dame Law School and recently-retired member of the Washington and Montana bars, Budewitz is the author of Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure, winner of the 2011 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction.
A former president of Sisters in Crime, she love to eat, cook, read, travel, hike, and paint, not necessarily in that order. She lives in NW Montana.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeslieBudewitzAuthor;
Instagram: @LeslieBudewitz;
Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen: https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/
Website: https://www.lesliebudewitz.com/ and https://www.lesliebudewitz.com/blog/
Laurie Fagen, Panelist, Journeys to Authorship: How Wannabe Writers Can Realize Their Publishing Dreams
Laurie Fagen is a long-time “writer by habit” for radio and television news; corporate video, films and documentaries; magazines and newspapers; and fiction novels.
An honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine’s Mysterious Photograph short story contest and a love of reading whodunits led to multiple published short stories in Sisters in Crime and other anthologies, four full-length novels, two novellas, and multiple short stories.
Following a career in broadcast news, Fagen published a community newspaper with her late husband. She is also a fiber and jewelry artist and occasional classic jazz singer, and lives in Chandler, AZ with her rescue cat, Phantom.
As a journalist turned novelist, Fagen has learned that her transition from covering the crime beat for radio, TV, and print to publishing crime fiction works in both novel and short story forms.
Howard Gershkowitz, Panelist, Journeys to Authorship: How Wannabe Writers Can Realize Their Publishing Dreams
Howard Gershkowitz lives in Arizona, though he hails from New York City. A Graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, he moved to Phoenix in 1981 to become a financial advisor. He enjoys volunteering in the community, traveling with his wife, Lisa, and watching his two grandchildren grow up.
He’s kept a journal for more than fifty years, accumulating a lifetime of material for fiction and poetry. Gershkowitz began submitting and publishing his work 14 years ago, and to date, more than three dozen poems and ten short stories have appeared in print or in online e-zines. His debut novel, The Operator‘ was published in 2017 by All Things That Matter Press. His second, Not on My Watch, was published in 2021, by the same publisher. He recently released his latest work, Special Delivery, which is now available on Amazon. In 2024, he and several other local writers shared their personal journeys to becoming published authors in the anthology this session is named after.
Gershkowitz has also self-published a book of poetry called Observations and Distractions, which encompasses some of his favorite poems. He loves to write from observation and is an avid photographer, so he will often create poetry that matches the photographs that he takes. He is gathering a portfolio of these photo-poems for publication in the not-too-distant future.
Website: https://gershwriter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/howard.russell.5682/
Instagram: gershwriter1929
Elizabeth Guthrie, Panelist, Is Using AI Ethical for Fiction Writers?
Elizabeth Guthrie is an associate literary agent at PSLA representing fiction and nonfiction. Before joining PSLA, she worked first as an intern and then as a literary agent at Lucinda Literary. Prior to moving into publishing, she had a career in trauma-informed integrative medicine, earning a PhD in Natural Medicine and a Master’s of Public Health with a concentration in functional nutrition.
Guthrie is interested in a broad range of books but is especially drawn to fiction with character-driven plots that end with clever twists and expert-driven non-fiction. In fiction, she is interested in fantasy, historical, romance (especially fantasy, historical, or LGBTQ), speculative, and psychological thrillers.
In nonfiction, she is particularly drawn to true crime, music (almost any genre, but especially blues and classic rock), and history (especially ancient civilizations or intellectual history). She also likes expert-driven wellness, popular psychology, and other science-related ideas (especially in biology or physics).
Website: https://www.psliterary.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethgu3/
Instagram: ElizabethGu3
Connie Johnson Hambley, Panel moderator, Justice and Criminology for the Writer’s Eye
Connie Johnson Hambley grew up on a New York dairy farm, and all would have been idyllic if an arsonist hadn’t torched her family’s barn. Bucolic bubble burst, she began to steadfastly plot her revenge against all bad guys, real and imagined. After receiving her law degree, she moved to Boston and wrote for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Nature, MassHighTech, Financial Advisor, and other wonky outlets as she honed her skills of reaching readers at a deep emotional level with great research, laser-sharp focus on detail, and persuasive writing. Her high-concept thrillers feature remarkable women entangled in modern-day crimes and walk the reader on the razor’s edge between good and evil. Johnson Hambley delights in creating worlds where the good guys win –eventually.
Her novels enjoy multiple wins of the Best English Fiction literary award at the EQUUS International Film Festival in New York City. Her short stories appear in the Anthony Award-winning anthology Crime Hits Home, several Best New England Crime Stories, Mystery Magazine, and other publications.
Johnson Hambley is an active participant in New England’s crime and mystery community. She is a frequent moderator for the Newburyport Literary Festival and a member of the New England chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.
Website: https://www.conniejohnsonhambley.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnieJohnsonHambley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conniej.hambley/
Lara Helming, Panelist, Is Using AI Ethical for Fiction Writers?
Lara also founded the Independent Authors Guild, an educational community for writers navigating today’s changing publishing landscape. She approaches artificial intelligence as a powerful but ethically bounded tool. She is currently writing the Margins & Ink Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in an historic district along Lake Michigan in Evanston, Illinois.
Susan Magestro, Panelist, Justice and Criminology for the Writer’s Eye
Susan Magestro’s debut fiction Priscilla Breen, Criminologist: The Capture, an epically, compelling psychological thriller, comes from her 35 years as an international criminologist. What is truth and what is fiction? You decide. Magestro works boots on the ground cases, keynotes at conferences, teaches university, bringing authenticity and full circle storytelling to her writing. She has written five non-fiction books, one memoir, one fiction novel, and is a featured columnist. She is the voice behind Criminologist’s Corner on YouTube and a nationally recognized expert supporting youth, parents, and professionals working in high-risk situations.
Website: https://www.susanmagestro.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.magestro
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-magestro-2a892342/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sulamaestra/
Margaret C. Morse, Panelist, Justice and Criminology for the Writer’s Eye
Margaret C. Morse loves murder mysteries—the sooner the corpse appears, the better! If not reading crime fiction, she’s writing it. Her debut novel, Murder Casts a Spell, introduced readers to Petra Rakowitz, a lawyer who turns into a witch during her first murder case. Three more books have followed in which Petra defends herself against a murder charge (Murder Lifts the Spirits), must solve a swindler’s killer before her newly discovered birth mother emerges as a suspect (Murder Hexes the Reunion), and works to save a friend accused of killing the wicked wizard who cast a curse on him (Murder Cursed the Raven).
When characters can kill with magic, the ways to dispatch a victim dramatically increase. After 25 years as a Public Defender Morse knows a lawyer can transform into a witch. She lives in Phoenix with her wonderful husband Duane and numerous mutts. If she’s not planning how to kill someone, Morse loves cooking, bird watching, and visiting stark landscapes.
Website: https://margaretmorseauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaretcmorse
Carlene O’Connor, CraftNOW! Workshop, The Ring of 5: Power Tools that Drive Every Story
Carlene O’Connor is the USA Today bestselling author of over 30 novels and 8 novellas, including The Irish Village Mysteries, the Home to Ireland series, the County Kerry Mysteries, and Death Wasn’t Invited, the first novel based on the hit mobile game June’s Journey.
Dubbed “The Queen of Cozies” by Publisher’s Weekly, she also writes darker, suspenseful mysteries in the County Kerry series. No Strangers Here, the first in the County Kerry series, received a Kirkus Starred Review, Apple Book of the Month, and a Barnes & Noble Pick of the Month. Her work has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal. In 2019, she won the Suspense Magazine Award for Best Cozy. Her books have been published in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Estonia, and Russia. O’Connor lives in New Mexico with her 13-year-old labradoodle and travels frequently.
Website: https://carleneoconnor.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
Instagram: @WriterGirlChi
Neil S. Plakcy, Panelist, Is Using AI Ethical for Fiction Writers?
Neil S. Plakcy is the award-winning author of more than seventy novels spanning mystery, romance, and suspense, including the long-running Golden Retriever Mystery series, the Hawai‘i-based Mahu mysteries, and the Smiling Dog Café healing fiction books. His work has earned a devoted readership for its memorable characters, emotional depth, and page-turning plots.
Before becoming a full-time author, Plakcy spent years in higher education, helping fellow college professors integrate technology into their teaching—experience that now informs his work exploring the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence for writers. He speaks regularly to writing organizations about ethical, practical ways authors can use AI as a creative and business tool without sacrificing originality or voice.
Plakcy lives in South Florida with his husband and golden retrievers, who occasionally inspire fictional sleuthing. Whether he’s crafting mysteries, mentoring writers, or experimenting with new publishing tools, he remains passionate about storytelling in all its evolving forms.
Website: https://www.mahubooks.com/
Blog: https://plakcy.substack.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neil.plakcy
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/126217.Neil_Plakcy
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/neilplakcy/boards/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NeilPlakcy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neilplakcy/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/neilplakcy
Sarah Smith, Panel moderator, Is Using AI Ethical for Fiction Writers?
International bestseller Sarah Smith’s books are published in 15 languages. She’s won the Agatha for best teenage mystery, the Massachusetts Book Award for best teenage novel, and numerous other honors including NY Times Notables and Best Book of the Year lists. She lives near Boston and has just finished a Big Fat Fantasy set in 19c Brazil. (Pirates! Bombs! Sex! Poetry! Giant eagles who speak Latin! You’ll love it!) She’s delighted to get recognition, but Sarah’s happiest when her books reach you.
Sarah is the author of The Fiction Writers’ Guide: Create Audiobooks With AI Tools, teaching independent authors how to use AI and other tools creatively to make your book heard. She’s the founder of SoundWrights.com, which provides consulting services to independent authors working on audiobooks.
sarahwriter on FB and BlueSky and practically everything except TwitX; Pinterest, swrs;
Clay Stafford, CraftNOW workshop, Writing Thrilling Action Scenes (Friday) and Presentation, Publishing Isn’t a Rulebook but a Game of Strategy (Saturday)
Clay Stafford has had an eclectic career as an author, filmmaker, story and creative consultant, actor, composer, educator, public speaker and business leader. He has sold nearly four million copies of his works in over sixteen languages. He is founder and CEO of the annual Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference and a contributor to Writer’s Digest magazine with his monthly online column, “Killer Writer”. In addition, Clay is the founder of Killer Nashville University, a creative learning platform for writers.
For more information visit, ClayStafford.com or https://linktr.ee/claystafford.
Jeniffer Thompson, Presentation, Author Branding & Your Book Marketing Roadmap
Jeniffer Thompson is a publishing consultant, author branding coach, and book marketing strategist. She co-founded Monkey C Media in 2004, an award-winning website design studio and marketing firm, hosts The Premise podcast, is co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival, and president of Publishers & Writers of San Diego. Subscribe to her book marketing newsletter at JenifferThompson.com.
Ann Videan, Panelist, Journeys to Authorship: How Wannabe Writers Can Realize Their Publishing Dreams
A professional writer since 1981, Ann Videan opened her own award-winning home-based marketing firm, Videan Unlimited, LLC, in 1996. She has served as an editor for corporations, visionary entrepreneurs, and national publishers. She is honored to have received national awards as the top U.S. home-based business in 2005 and as the Public Relations Society’s PERCY recipient (top peer award) in 2007. She helped reintroduce white rhinos to the Phoenix Zoo in 2004 and handled “extras” PR for the Sun Devil Stadium football filming of Jerry Maguire in 1996.
Videan showed up in this world with a pen in her hand, a song in her heart, and the desire to share with you. She adores creativity of all types and especially the people who live it. She gathers friends like flowers, including authors, musicians, artists, and her husband and two grown-up children. The Colorado native lives in Mesa, Arizona, along with numerous invisible friends including snarky mythical creatures and magical story characters.
Website: https://ANVidean.com (Words•Music•Village website and blog); https://absolutelywild.net/ (Enchanted Faerie Portals & Other Whimsy)
Amazon Author Page (Author Central): bit.ly/AnnVideanAmazon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annvidean/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VideanUnlimited
Facebook writers’ group—Alliance for Literary Writers, Authors & Yabbering Scribes (ALWAYS): https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALWAYSwriters/