Central Coast Writers Conference Presenters
2023 Central Coast Writers Conference Presenters
Listed alphabetically by first name
| Presenter | Biography |
|---|---|
|
Anne Janzer |
Anne Janzer is a nonfiction book coach and the author of multiple award-winning books on writing, including The Writer’s Process, Writing to Be Understood, and The Writer’s Voice. As an indie author, she is always experimenting and narrates her own audiobooks. Find her books, audiobooks, and blog posts at AnneJanzer.com. |
|
Anne-Marie Strohman |
Anne-Marie Strohman is a writer, teacher, and freelance editor based in the Bay Area. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a PhD in Renaissance Literature from UMass, Amherst. She has published short stories with Reflex Press and Black Fox Literary Magazine. |
|
Bill Froehlich |
Bill Froehlich is a Writer-Director-Producer-Author with a 40+ year career in the entertainment business whose work is seen throughout the world. He has done Motion Pictures, Television Series, TV Movies and Documentaries with the involvement of such stars as Paul Newman, Katharine Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Hopkins, George Clooney, Kurt Russell, Ryan Reynolds, Francis McDormand, Suzanne Pleshette, Richard Dean Anderson and Ron Howard. He has produced 10 TV Series, such as MacGyver, a cultural phenomenon, and The Outer Limits. His first novel entitled CHASING THE GODDESS will be published in 2023. He is a a graduate of Ithaca College and a member of the DGA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA & The Television Academy. Website: www.BillFroehlich.com |
|
Catherine "kiki" Kornreich |
A semi-retired graphic designer, kiki enjoys writing, reading, painting and most of all, traveling. |
|
Charlotte Alexander |
Charlotte Alexander is an award-winning author, editor, and publisher, with experience in print and broadcast media, higher education, and nonprofit administration. She owns and operates C|C Imprint, which most recently published a collection of essays by local media personality King Harris. She is the publisher of SLO Review (SLOReview.org), a free, nonprofit website founded in 2022 that covers arts and culture for SLO County. She is a contributing writer for SLO Life Magazine, and is the co-author of the CWA Muse Medallion Award-winning book "When Your Pet Outlives You: Protecting Animal Companions After You Die" (New Sage Press 2002; reprinted 2004). |
|
Cindy Neuschwander
|
Cindy Neuschwander is a native Californian born in San Diego. She graduated from Willamette University with a BA in International Studies and also earned an MA from Stanford University in Education. Cindy lives in San Luis Obispo, CA. Currently she works full-time at a local private school teaching second grade. She also works part-time as a professional writer. Cindy is the author of 19 traditionally published picture books, including the Sir Cumference series (Charlesbridge), Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream (Scholastic), and Mummy Math (Henry Holt). She is also the author of the independently-published middle grade novel, 2B Determined. When Cindy is not teaching or writing, she loves to read, walk her dog, swim, or shoot arrows. She also enjoys building with Legos. She and her husband have two sons, two daughters-in-law, five grandchildren, and one Gordon Setter. She is a committed Christian who is active in her local church. |
|
Colby Zabrycki |
Jennifer Franco Smith is a member of Rough Writers of Cambria. Jennifer has two published poetry books. She is currently working on a children's books series and a recipe poetry book. Visit her website at jfsbooks.com |
|
Dave Congalton |
Dave Congalton (davecongaltonstories.com) has been a paid, professional writer across a variety of genres since 1989 and a popular radio host in San Luis Obispo since 1992. He served as the director of the Central Coast Writers Conference from 1993 to 2005 and is a mentor at the Rocaberti Screenwriting Retreat in Barcelona. His screenplay "Authors Anonymous" became the 2014 comedy starring Kaley Cuoco, Chris Klein, Jonathan Banks, and Dennis Farina. |
|
Deb Donig |
DEB DONIG is an Assistant Professor of English Literature at Cal Poly. She is the co-founder of the Cal Poly Ethical Technology Initiative and the host of “Technically Human,” a podcast where she talks with major thinkers, writers, and industry-leading technologists about the relationship between humans and the technologies that we create, ranked one of the top 15 ethics and technology podcasts on the web. She has taught and published on a wide variety of areas, including human rights, science fiction, ethical technology, African and Caribbean literatures, and The New Yorker. Outside of academia, she consults on film and television projects, including “Weight of the World,” a tv anthology series about the memory of slavery, and Hunters, produced by Jordan Peele and starring Al Pacino. In 2020, she was featured as an expert in the documentary “Hunters: Behind the Scenes,” where she discussed the role of fiction in and the ethics of representing the Holocaust. In 2020, Professor Donig served on the Biden/Harris Policy Strategy Team in Higher Education. As a policy expert, she drafted policy memos for and advised the campaign’s First 100 Day priority strategy for the Administration. |
|
Debbie Black |
Debbie Black knows first-hand the value of a good writing group. A columnist for Estero Bay News, and published author of the middle grade series Sara and the Ghost Clothes (beginning with Deetjen’s Closet), she confesses that she wouldn’t be writing at this level without the support of her writing group of nine years, The Bookshelf Writers. “I truly believe there’s no greater tool in a writer’s toolbox than a good writers group—fellow writers who’ll read your work, comment with kindness and honesty, and support you through all the disappointments and the celebrations.” She’s a long-standing member of SLO NightWriters, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and SCBWI. Her popular blog series “RV Camping in Your Own Backyard” appears in Estero Bay News and on www.debbienobleblack.com. |
|
Douglas Garland |
Dr. Doug Garland practiced orthopedic surgery in Southern California for 37 years.
He is a Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Southern California
and published more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific articles. After experiencing
the tall poppy syndrome (TPS) firsthand, Dr. Garland began a 10-year journey researching
TPS. This exploration began in Ancient Greece, where the syndrome was first described,
to modern times and involved various countries, customs, and cultures. Specific emphasis
was directed towards Australia where TPS is a cultural pastime. To his surprise, it
was recognized everywhere in one form or another except in America. After studying
America's emotional-cultural behavior, Dr. Garland concluded that TPS was prominent
in America, perhaps more so than in any other country, but it is unrecognized. Emotional
behaviors of the cutter and cutter were identified. The result was the definitive
tome, "The Tall Poppy Syndrome - The Joy of Cutting Others Down" with more than 600
citations which is available on Amazon. More information about TPS and Dr. Garland
is found on douggarland.com douggarland.com/bio douggarland.com/media douggarland.com/faq.md tallpoppysyndrome.org |
|
Ed Cobleigh |
Bestselling author Ed Cobleigh has been a fighter pilot with the US Air Force, US
Navy (TOPGUN), Royal Air Force, Iranian Air Force, and French Air Force. He also served
as an Intelligence Officer working with the CIA, FBI, and MI6 on a variety of covert
operations. His two memoirs spent some time as Amazon #1 bestsellers. Ed’s narrative
biography of an early aviation pioneer was named best new book on WWI. His latest
novel is set on the Central Coast. The book examines sexual harassment in the military,
featuring peregrine falcons. It has not been all flying and spying for Ed Cobleigh. He knows Paris, putting the city in his books and vividly picturing its people, cuisine, wine, and ambiance. He has visited France countless times for business/pleasure. Ed has experienced 50 countries including living in Thailand and Scotland. For more information on Ed and his books, visit the website below. www.edcobleigh.com |
|
Eric Jason Martin |
Eric Jason Martin is the AudioFile Earphones and Audie Award–winning narrator of over 350 audiobooks, and over 500 features for The New York Times Audio, including several episodes of the top-rated podcast The Daily. He is the director of Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne’s original series "Heads Will Roll" for Broadway Video and Audible, and the Maximum Fun series "Bubble," named one of Apple’s Best of the Year. He produced and narrated the NY Times Bestseller "Stinker Lets Loose!," an Audible Original written by Mike Sacks and starring Jon Hamm. Eric is also the author of the Audible-bestselling, Earphones Award-winning "New Arcadia" series of multi-cast audiobooks. He lives in Pasadena, CA. |
|
Heidi Shadix-Pieros |
Heidi Shadix-Pieros is the author of the Gilbert The Moose children's book series, which debuted in 2013. The Gilbert The Moose book series currently includes four titles and are sold in bookstores, toy stores, ski shops, and children's boutiques throughout the United States. Heidi currently lives on the central coast of California with her husband Rick and their two daughters, Hailey and Ivy. |
|
Jenna Johnson |
Fantasy Author. Swordswoman. Chicken Mama. These are just a few of the titles Jenna Elizabeth Johnson proudly goes by. She is the author of over a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories, including the award-winning Legend of Oescienne series, the Otherworld series, and the Draghans of Firiehn novella series. Besides writing fantasy adventures featuring domineering dragons, headstrong heroines, brooding Celtic warriors, and all the magical creatures in between, she is a competitive HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) practitioner, participating in longsword tournaments whenever she gets the chance. During her down time, Jenna can be found exploring the open spaces of California’s Central Coast, camping in Yosemite National Park, reading books and webcomics, or hanging out with her flock of overly-affectionate lap chickens. |
|
Jim Seybert |
Jim Seybert is an award-winning audiobook narrator with more than 100 titles to his credit. His “serious voice with a twinkle in its eye” has recorded books for major publishers, smaller houses, and independent authors in categories ranging from historical fiction to critical social issues. He records in a professionally-designed home studio in Arroyo Grande, CA. In addition to narrating, Jim is a member of a musical improv ensemble and the long-time PA Announcer for the SLO Blues baseball team. He’s an active member of SAG-AFTRA and an Ambassador for the Audiobook Publishers Association. |
|
John Lamb |
John Lamb writes mysteries and short stories under the name Jack Cameron. For the last ten years, John has been president of the Rough Writers of the Central Coast, located in Cambria, CA (RoughWriters.org). The group has mastered the art of "gentle critiquing." John is a retired lawyer and lives in Cambria with his wife and two cats. |
|
Kathe Tanner |
Kathe Tanner has been in your shoes, as a PR person, a business owner and a newspaper reporter/columnist ... all of which required her to pitch ideas for stories that she wanted published. She'll share some tips she's picked up during her decades with the San Luis Obispo Tribune, as owner-operator of a Cambria bakery/catering shop and head of a PR department for a Orange County ad agency. |
|
Katy Dore |
Katy Dore is the screenwriter and creator of THE UNSUNG, a historic drama about Mary Ellen Pleasant, which has production attachments from Quincy Jones Productions, Flavor Unit and Goldmann Pictures. Favoring the stories of the people history books fail to mention, Katy once turned down an invitation to have lunch with Queen Elizabeth to go camping with “regular folks.” No regrets! Based in San Luis Obispo, California, Katy writes both TV and features specializing in historic content with contemporary relevance. She completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and her MFA at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. When Katy isn’t writing or directing, you can find her playing tennis, hiking or fly-fishing. |
|
Katya Cengel |
Katya Cengel is a features writer and author based in California. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, New York Times Magazine and Marie Claire among other publications. She is the author of Eric Hoffer Academic Press 2023 award winner, Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) 2020 winner and Foreword Indies 2019 winner “From Chernobyl with Love” as well as three other nonfiction titles including the new release "Straitjackets and Lunch Money". She has been awarded grants from the International Reporting Project, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the International Center for Journalists and received a 2022 Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features Award. |
|
Kevin Carr |
Kevin Carr is a writer, digital marketer, and lousy drummer from Oceano, California. A graduate of the Musician’s Institute of Hollywood, the University of Rochester, NY, and Gonzaga University, Kevin designs and implements omnichannel digital strategies that rock. He recently published his first book "The Musician's Guide to Digital Marketing" and is now at work on his first novel. |
|
Laure-Anne Bosselar |
Laure-Anne Bosselaar is the author of five poetry collections, the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, and the winner of the James Dickey Prize for Poetry (2020). The editor of five anthologies, she taught at Sarah Lawrence College and served as Santa Barbara’s Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2021. In the fall of 2023, Sungold Editions will publish her New & Selected, entitled Lately. |
|
Lauren C. Snowden |
Lauren C. Snowden earned her B.A. in Radio-TV-Film with an emphasis in Screenwriting and Directing. While there she was awarded the Abraham Polonsky Award for Screenwriting. She went on to complete her masters in Film Studies and currently teaches Film Studies at Moorpark College. Her recent Hallmark movie, "Redemption in Cherry Springs" was well received, and her TV pilot, "thE rEAsOn," premiered in Tribeca as a finalist at the New York Television Festival. Her short film "ProdiGal" aired on CBS as part of the African American Short Films showcase. As a writing fellow in the Act One Digital Filmmakers Lab, one of Lauren's scripts was chosen to filmed as part of the proof of concept; in addition she was chosen to be a panelist at the presentation of the project at Dreamworks. Her passion is telling transformative stories that encourage and inspire others to embrace life's journey with grace and hope. Lauren currently teaches and serves as program lead for the Film Studies discipline at Moorpark College. |
|
Laurie Woodward |
"I want children to see the magic inside them," says screenwriter, author, and long-time educator Laurie Woodward. As an author, her works include Finding Joy, The Artania Chronicles, Forest Secrets and co-writing The Dolphin Legacy. Determined to promote peace with children, Laurie was also a collaborator on the Dean and JoJo anti-bullying DVD, Resolutions. Ms. Woodward is an award-winning peace consultant and blogger who helps other educators teach children how to stop bullying, avoid arguments, and maintain healthy friendships. Laurie writes in California. |
|
Luke Johnson |
Luke Johnson is the author of Quiver (Texas Review Press, 2023) & A Slow Indwelling (Harbor Editions, 2024), a collaborative project with the poet Megan Merchant. His poems can be found at Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Narrative Magazine, Florida Review, Poetry Northwest, Frontier, Cortland Review and elsewhere. Quiver was recently named a finalist for the Jake Adam York Prize, The Levis through Four Way Press, The Vassar Miller Award and The Brittingham Prize through the University of Wisconsin. You can connect on Twitter at @Lukesrant. |
|
Mara Purl |
Mara Purl is the best-selling author of the Milford-Haven Novels. Based in the Central
Coast, her series has won more than 60 book awards and regularly appears on multiple
best-seller lists. Mara’s beloved fictitious town first appeared as Milford-Haven,
U.S.A. on local radio stations and went on to become the first American radio drama
ever licensed and broadcast by the BBC. The show reached an audience of 4.5 million
listeners throughout the U.K. and won the Finalist Award at the New York Festivals
World’s Best Radio Programs. A frequent speaker for author organizations in California and Colorado, she has served on the boards of the California Literary Arts Society, Colorado Independent Publishers Association, Colorado Authors Hall of Fame, Women Writing the West, and is a member of the Authors Guild. As an actress, Mara was “Darla Cook” on Days Of Our Lives, and has won awards for her theatrical appearances in “Mary Shelley: In Her Own Words,” as well as critical acclaim for her performances in Becoming Julia Morgan and Sea Marks. She was named one of twelve Women of the Year by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women. Mara is married to Dr. Larry Norfleet and lives in Los Angeles, and in Colorado Springs. Her third “home” is Cambria. Visit Mara’s website at www.MaraPurl.com. |
|
Marc Cortez |
Marc Cortez is an author, entrepreneur and long-time veteran of the solar, electric vehicle, and energy storage industries. As one of the solar industry’s early brand architects, he has been working on the front lines of the climate change industry for decades. He has raised over $20M for multiple startups, and is currently the Founder/CEO of Liquid8, a water conservation startup. Mr. Cortez is also a professor of Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Climaturity is a new look at the climate through the pragmatic lens of a long-time renewable energy industry veteran. Neither a climate deather nor climate denier, Mr. Cortez discusses a mature and pragmatic approach down the middle aisle to help address our climate problems. Above all, he advocates for a truthful, transparent, and no-tricks approach to the climate, where half-truths are completed, science limitations are put into context, and politicians are held accountable. Climaturity was written to help craft a new narrative down the bi-partisan middle, where we address climate problems head-on with real truths and pragmatic solutions. |
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Mark Parsons
|
Mark Parsons has written primarily non-fiction for several years, penning over two hundred articles for national publications as well as a pair of non-fiction books before turning to book-length fiction. His first YA novel ROAD RASH (Knopf/Random House) was named to the ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list, as well as Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Books of the Year list. His new YA novel, THE 9:09 PROJECT (Delacorte/Random House) explores the healing power of art. Kirkus gave it a starred review and calls it “A brilliant literary portrait…wryly funny, extremely intelligent, and sweetly romantic.” Website/Blog/Contact: MarkHParsons.com |
|
maryann grau |
Retired from the Los Angeles Times after 34 years. Opened London Office for Syndication sales selling American content to European newspapers and magazines. I live in Cambria where I teach aerobics and strength sessions 3x a week. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 6 years ago and wrote my first book...Cancer and Fishnet Stockings, a humorous approach to dealing with a major illness, while under treatment. Currently working on my second book dedicated to my career at the Los Angeles Times. |
|
Neil Hebert |
I'm Neil Hebert, anchor for KSBY's Daybreak show Monday-Friday from 5-7 a.m. I have been in local television news for nearly a decade, 3.5 years at KSBY along with 5 with WEAU 13 News, a local news station in Western Wisconsin. |
|
Rebecca Langston-George |
Rebecca Langston-George is the author of thirteen nonfiction books for children including For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story. A retired teacher and volunteer with the California Reading Association, Rebecca is the Regional Advisor for the Central-Coastal chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI CenCal), helping other writers learn the craft. She develops writing curriculum, writes and mostly re-writes on a treadmill desk at one mile per hour. www.rebeccalangston-george.com |
|
Rebecca Morgan, |
Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC, CVP, VMP is an international speaker, trainer, consultant and bestselling author of 28 books. Two have sold over 250,000 copies each and have been translated into 9 languages. She's appeared on 60 Minutes, Oprah, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, National Public Radio and USA Today as well as international media. She's created more than 500 products, from books, ebooks, webinars, special reports and recordings. She's created a genre of books called "slooks" that melds presentation slides with content. She'll share her ideas on how you can turn some of your non-fiction content into other products. |
|
Rick Pieros |
Rick Pieros has been traveling the rural and wild areas of the western United States since his youth. Drawn to the remnants of the American West’s rich and colorful past, Rick switched from a path solely pursuing nature photography to follow his passion for documenting the quickly vanishing artifacts of the western experience. Rick owned and operated Wild Spirits Nature Photography studio on historic Main Street in Park City, Utah until 2007. He published his first book, Park City Past & Present in 2011. Rick's other book titles include Jackson Hole Past to Present, Park City A Portrait, and Zion National Park Past and Present. Rick lives on the central coast of California with his wife Heidi and their two daughters, Hailey and Ivy. |
|
Robert Pimm |
https://www.rgpimm.com/robert-g-pimm |
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Sara Roahen |
Sara Roahen writes, edits, coaches, teaches, and otherwise dabbles in storytelling—for fun and for hire. She wrote a memoir, "Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table," and co-edited "The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook." Her work has additionally appeared in "Saveur," "Bon Appetit", "Tin House," "Oxford American," and "Garden & Gun" magazines, and in/on a host of other magazines, newspapers, books, and web sites. Her blog, "Memories on the Page," contains a trove of tips and prompts for memoirists and life story writers. Sara holds a copyediting certificate from UCSD and currently teaches life story writing through Cuesta College’s Emeritus program. |
|
Teena Booth |
Teena Booth is a 2003 winner of the prestigious Chesterfield Screenwriting Fellowship, a program launched by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. She has since penned numerous television movies for CBS, TNT, the Lifetime Network, ABC Family (now Freeform), Hallmark, and Netflix, with over 50 produced movies to her credit. Her 2009 movie Natalee Holloway became the number one original movie in the Lifetime Movie Networks history. More recently, she has specialized in murder mysteries for Hallmark’s Movies and Mysteries channel, writing 19 of the network’s top-rated Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, among others. Booth is also the author of the young adult novel Falling From Fire, published by Random House in 2002. |
|
Teresa Rhyne |
Teresa J. Rhyne is a lawyer, animal lover, coffee addict, wine devotee, writer, vegan, avid reader, and breast cancer survivor, though definitely not in that order. Teresa J. Rhyne is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Dog Lived
(and So Will I),” a surprisingly hilarious memoir about her dog and her both surviving
cancer. The sequel, “The Dogs Were Rescued (and So Was I)” won the Pat Santi Memorial
award from the Dog Writers Association of America. Her newest book, “Poppy in the
Wild: a lost dog, 1500 acres of wilderness and the dogged determination that brought
her home” continues her tradition of writing humorously about tragedies that happen
to her and her dogs. Tragedy plus time plus cute dogs equal heartfelt comedy. |
|
Teri Bayus |
Teri Bayus is a writer of words and a builder of worlds. She has self-published two novels and optioned three screenplays and two teleplays. Her current novel, The Greatest Of Ease, is about her time as a trapeze artist in a traveling circus. Her previous novel, Consumed is the genre of culinary erotica. She has a nonfiction book, The Universal Conspiracy is about how the universe collaborates to make everyone's dreams a reality. Before the plague, she hosted and produced the TV show Taste Buds, highlighting the chefs’ talents and restaurants worldwide. She was a food and film critic for twenty years and the executive director of the Central Coast Writers Conference for six years. She has taught many writing and marketing classes at colleges and adult education forums. Find more information and contact at www.teribayus.com. |
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Tonya Strickland |
Tonya Strickland is a journalist and Instagram influencer in the family and travel niche. A former newspaper reporter, Tonya shares unfiltered #momlife content about places to go with kids. Her family moved from California's Central Coast to Washington state in August 2020. Their adventures now continue in the PNW, and are cross-published in the nonprofit newspaper GigHarborNow.com as a family column. |
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Valentina Petrova |
Valentina is a life coach with a Master's in psychology, decades of experience, and endless curiosity and fascination with human nature and relationships. She writes Life Intelligence, a publication on Substack for people who think deeply about life and relationships and want to live more, love more, do more, and matter (www.vpetrova.com). Prior to "relocating" online, for many years, she published a monthly column by the same name in Morro Bay Life. |
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Wendelin Van Draanen |
Wendelin Van Draanen is an international-award-winning, bestselling author of more than thirty novels, all published by Knopf/RandomHouse. Her titles include the long-running Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes mystery series, and Flipped, which became a Warner Brothers feature film. A former classroom teacher and the mother of two, her first non-fiction book, Hope in the Mail, Reflections on Writing and Life, is part memoir, part craft guide, and part publishing insight, designed to inspire writers to keep pursuing their dream. Find more info at www.wendelinvandraanen.com |
