Meg Medina
OPENING KEYNOTE: Writing for Young People in Times of Turmoil
How do authors write honest and impactful works for children in times of division and turmoil? Join Newbery Medal-winning children’s author Meg Medina as she takes a historical and current perspective on the role of children’s literature in times of national divisions and discusses the essential contract authors make with readers that can help them navigate the terrain.
CRAFT SESSION: The Way In and the Way Out: A Blueprint for Writing Children’s Literature
Writing for young people can be challenging, especially in today’s shifting marketplace. Plot, characters and more require thought and contemplation. In this educational session, award-winning children’s author Meg Medina will discuss the strategies and short exercises she uses to create works for readers of all ages.
Meg Medina served as the 2023-2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, sponsored by the Library of Congress in partnership with Every Child a Reader. She is also the author of the Newbery Medal-winning book Merci Suárez Changes Gears, which was followed by two more acclaimed books about the Suárez family: Merci Suárez Can’t Dance and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool. Her young adult novels include Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, which won the 2014 Pura Belpre Author Award; Burn Baby Burn, which was long-listed for the National Book Award; and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind. Meg has also authored several picture books, as well as young-reader biographies of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and author Pura Belpre. Her newest middle-grade novel, Graciela in the Abyss, is her first fantasy. (megmedina.com/)
Don Vaughan
50 Years A Writer: 10 Career Lessons from the Freelance Trenches
A writer’s education never ends – valuable lessons are gleaned over years of effort. Join veteran writer Don Vaughan as he taps 50 years of writing experience for advice that will put you on a smoother path to freelance success. His 10 vital lessons are guaranteed to help you improve your craft, level up, and become the professional writer you’ve always dreamed of.
Don Vaughan has written professionally for five decades. He got his start at a small community newspaper, then worked for a national health magazine and a midlist tabloid newspaper before becoming a full-time freelance writer in 1991. Since then, Don has published more than 2,000 articles, columns and stories in an eclectic array of markets, including Writer’s Digest, Publishers Weekly, The Saturday Evening Post, MAD Magazine, Scout Life and Encyclopedia Britannica. Don is the founder of Triangle Association of Freelancers.
Sarah Merritt Ryan
Writing Personal Truths That Resonate
In a world craving authenticity, sharing your truth can be a powerful act of vulnerability that resonates with your audience. Opening up about your own life experiences makes your work compelling because it rings true. This thoughtful session will guide you through the art of self-disclosure. You will learn what to ask yourself to identify your intentions in revealing your experiences and why they matter, explore self-disclosure as a path to personal healing and authentic expression, craft your narrative to speak your truth in a way that connects with people, and identify the relevant platforms on which to share your story.
Sarah Merritt Ryan, MS, CPSS is a writer, speaker, and advocate for people with psychotic disorders. She is a survivor of schizophrenia and has been in full remission for 13 years. Her Psychology Today blog called "Healing Mind" is republished by the UNC School of Medicine. She also writes for Life Effects, a UK blog on living with mental illness by Teva Pharmaceuticals. Sarah has been published on the National Alliance on Mental Illness website (Nami.org), and in Writer’s Digest magazine on the topic of writing about mental illness. Prolific Pulse Press will publish Sarah’s first book of poetry, “My Soul to Keep: Faith in the Midst of Suffering Leads to Deliverance and Praise,” in June 2026. She has given presentations for various organizations including NC State University, UNC Psychiatry, and NAMI NC. (sarahmerrittryan.com/)
Rita Lewis
Shadow Writing: How to Write When You Can’t
Sometimes you just can’t write---and it isn’t a matter of will or motivation or garden-variety writer’s block. Burnout, trauma, or major life changes can make it difficult to tap the cognitive functions you need. In this workshop, Rita Lewis will explore ways to give yourself mental and emotional space before you try writing again, and writing-adjacent techniques to get you going. You’ll come away with a new appreciation for your brain, techniques to try, and (hopefully) a spark of creative joy.
Rita Lewis has lived many professional lives: writer, editor, grant coach, speaker and, at the beginning of her career, musician. She presents on writing, editing, and making a strong case for funding support. As a poet, she also speaks about creativity, trauma and life – the good, the not-so-good, and the transformative promise of the human experience. (ritalewiswriter.com/)
Karin Wiberg
Crafting Emotion on Purpose
What should your reader feel in any given part of your book---curious, seen, inspired, grounded, unsettled, hopeful? Establishing emotional anchors allows you to name the effect you want to create so your choices about tone, structure, language and story become more deliberate, leading to a richer experience for your reader. In this interactive session, attendees will receive practical strategies, clear examples and tools they can put to immediate use. While the focus will be on nonfiction books, these concepts apply to fiction and short-form writing as well.
Karin Wiberg is the owner of Clear Sight Books, where she partners with seasoned leaders to write and publish nonfiction books. Whether ghostwriting, editing or coaching, she helps clients refine their message and develop a compelling style that resonates with their audience. Karin brings diverse experience from Fortune 500, small business, and nonprofit organizations. She holds an MBA from the University of Iowa and a business coaching certificate from NCSU. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary magazines, and she is the author of Chicken Haiku, an illustrated book of poems. (clearsightbooks.com/about-karin-wiberg/)
Mitch Tuchman
Negotiating Your Publishing Agreement: Keeping a Watchful Eye
Attorney Mitch Tuchman has been negotiating publishing agreements on behalf of writers and publishers for more than 40 years. His number one rule: Never sign an agreement that you have not read thoroughly and do not understand fully. In this workshop, Mitch will discuss copyright-based agreements that are intended to connect your book with readers. He will talk about the rights writers grant and the rights they should reserve; the duration and termination of agreements if things don’t work out; royalties and deductions from royalties (a commonly misunderstood topic) and more. In this way, he will sensitize you to contract subtleties before you sign on the dotted line.
As a seasoned publishing lawyer, Mitch Tuchman helps authors and publishers develop mutually beneficial business relationships. He is a copyright attorney with Morningstar Law Group who has advised scores of authors, author’s and artists’ estates, photographers, filmmakers and others with respect to the value and enforcement of their intellectual property and has vetted manuscripts to identify legal risks associated with third-party claims. Before becoming an intellectual property attorney, Mitch spent 10 years as a freelance writer and editor, and 14 years as the publisher of exhibition and collection catalogues at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (morningstarlawgroup.com/attorneys/mitch-tuchman/)
Kianna Alexander
Writing for Harlequin: A Romance Panel
Do you want the opportunity to publish your romance book without an agent? What do you need to know before you submit? And what is it like writing for the largest international publisher of romance fiction? Join romance writers Kianna Alexander, Karen Booth, and Deborah Fletcher Mello to learn about the expectations and editorial process of Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Kianna Alexander published her first book, a suspense novel with romantic elements, with an independent publisher in 2009. Since then, she’s published over 40 more titles across romance, women’s fiction, and historical genres. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from Fayetteville State University, with a minor in history. She is a speaker, workshop facilitator, and professional publication consultant, and has spoken to audiences all over the country. (kiannaalexanderwrites.com)
Karen Booth
Writing for Harlequin: A Romance Panel
Do you want the opportunity to publish your romance book without an agent? What do you need to know before you submit? And what is it like writing for the largest international publisher of romance fiction? Join romance writers Kianna Alexander, Karen Booth, and Deborah Fletcher Mello to learn about the expectations and editorial process of Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Karen Booth writes contemporary romance where the sparks fly. She is a co-founder of the Seasoned Romance Facebook group, devoted to the promotion of romance with characters over age 35. She has been a finalist for RT Magazine’s Series Romance of the Year, RT Magazine’s Gold Seal of Excellence, the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award (NERFA), the Booksellers’ Best Award, and the Holt Medallion. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages. (karenbooth.net)
Deborah Fletcher Mello
Writing for Harlequin: A Romance Panel
Do you want the opportunity to publish your romance book without an agent? What do you need to know before you submit? And what is it like writing for the largest international publisher of romance fiction? Join romance writers Kianna Alexander, Karen Booth, and Deborah Fletcher Mello to learn about the expectations and editorial process of Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Deborah Fletcher Mello is a true renaissance woman who has had a wide variety of jobs, including technical writing and corporate training. She writes poetry, essays, and fiction, and has won numerous awards for her novels, of which she has written several dozen. Her awards include 2008 Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Winner, Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2014 Pick, Library Journal Best of 2015 Pick, and 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Winner. (deborahmello.blogspot.com)
Molly Guptill Manning
CONCLUDING KEYNOTE: Lessons from Wartime Writers: Truth Telling Under Pressure
During World War II, reading and writing provided lifelines and comfort. Nearly everyone wrote letters to loved ones while separated by war. In addition, authors, journalists, and soldiers felt a need to record the history that was being made—especially when they were the ones making history. Yet, many faced extreme challenges in telling their truths due to censorship and the limited information they could access from theaters of war. In this inspiring keynote, Molly Guptill Manning will explore lessons learned from wartime writers ranging from Ernest Hemingway and Ernie Pyle to low-ranking soldiers burrowed in foxholes. Through laughter and heart-wrenching tales, attendees will gain fresh inspiration and ideas in finding and telling their stories.
CRAFT SESSION: Searching for Needles in Haystacks: Adventures in Researching
Every nonfiction writer is confined by the boundaries of the truth—we cannot embellish, guess or finesse certain details to make for a more dramatic or compelling story. However, we do have a lot of discretion in determining what a story’s boundaries should be. Join Molly Guptill Manning as she explores creative research methods to uncover facts that might otherwise be lost to time. Drawing on her own experiences, Molly will provide tips and inspiration for tracking down source material that will make your manuscript shine.
Molly Guptill Manning is an author, historian, curator and associate professor of law at New York Law School. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller When Books Went to War, as well as The Myth of Ephraim Tutt and The War of Words. Her next book, A Librarian’s War, will be published later this year [2026]. Molly has spoken across the country about the power of the written word, and curated the exhibit “The Best-Read Army in the World,” which showcases the essential role that books, magazines and newspapers played in World War II. The exhibit launched in New York City in 2023 and is traveling internationally. Before she became a professor, Molly worked in the New York federal courts for 13 years. (www.mollymanning.com/)