Category: WilWrite26 Faculty

Leticia Gomez is an Editor-at-Large for Dafina Books, an imprint of Kensington Publishing Corp., which focuses on high-quality fiction and non-fiction that centers on race, identity, and its impact on our experiences. She is also the founder and principal agent of Savvy Literary Services, a Texas-based literary agency that specializes in bringing culturally diverse voices to the forefront. She has helped her clients secure deals with the largest publishers in the world and has seen several of her projects successfully optioned for TV and film adaptation. Find out more at www.savvyliterary.com.

Leticia is actively seeking to acquire fiction and nonfiction in all genres as well as stories for marginalized communities with a focus on voices of color.

She receives submissions at savvyliterary@gmail.com and lgomez@kensingtonbooks.com.

Laurie Scheer is a media goddess who has worked with writers for decades. As a former vice president of programming for WE: Women’s Entertainment, Laurie analyzed manuscripts and scripts as they entered the competitive media marketplace. Laurie has been an instructor at numerous universities across the U.S. from Yale to UCLA. A seasoned professional speaker, she has appeared at annual conventions, including the Willamette Writers Conference, and she served as the Director of UW Madison’s annual Writers’ Institute from 2010-2020. Laurie also served as the managing editor of The Midwest Prairie Review, a judge for various writing awards and contests including the prestigious Wisconsin Writers Association Jade Ring Contest. She is a writing mentor/instructor/facilitator for hundreds of students (of all ages) in person and online. She specializes in developmental editing, book coaching, composing book proposals and prepping writers and their writing to be sold within the publishing marketplace. She is currently the Vice President of and a Board Member of the Wisconsin Writers Association, the Co-founder/Instructor/Fellowship Mentor of the New Nature Writers and Planet Women Indigenous Writing Program, and a Screenwriting Fellowship Mentor of Women in Film & Video/DC.

Kagan Tumer is a science fiction author and professor of Robotics and AI. He attended seven schools in five cities in four countries, all before reaching high school, and is steadily moving west, from Virginia to Texas to California to Oregon. Along the way, Kagan worked as a food server, registrar’s office clerk, print shop copier, soccer referee, math tutor, and well logging analyst. He is a member of SFWA, has a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, and spent nine years at NASA working on multi-robot coordination. When not writing, he studies AI ethics, teaches AI and robotics, consults for TV/movie AI projects, and mentors future scientists.

Find out more at https://kagantumer.com.

Julie Artz helps writers who are almost there across the finish line. She is an Author Accelerator-certified Founding Book Coach and a sought-after writing instructor and speaker. She regularly contributes to Jane Friedman and Writers Helping Writers, and is an instructor for AuthorsPublish. A consummate social justice minded story geek, Julie lives by an enchanted river in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband, two naughty furry familiars, and two college-aged children who occasionally manifest.

Find out more at https://julieartz.com.

Joy Lotus has a Masters of Arts in Clinical Counseling with over ten years of direct experience. She also has both Ganja Magic and A Poet’s Guide to Ireland available on Amazon. Her short story, “Park Ranger Cinderella,” was published with The Rapids. She spends her days wrangling her small children and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

She can be found on Instagram @joy_lotus_author and at https://joy-lotus.com/.

Jared Agard is the author and illustrator of the middle grade supernatural thriller, Dread Watch, published by Chicken Scratch books in 2021. The first book in his middle grade science fiction trilogy, Intergalactic Backpack, will be published in September 2026.

Jared is also an art and film teacher for high schoolers in the Beaverton School District in Oregon. Besides middle grade, Jared has also written many young adult books in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres as well as several screenplays. He is represented by Colleen Oefelein of MacGregor & Luedeke Literary.

Find out more at www.jaredagard.com.

Janée J. Baugher, MFA is the author of the only craft book of its kind, The Ekphrastic Writer: Creating Art-Influenced Poetry, Fiction and Nonfiction (McFarland, 2020), and she’s been a featured reader at the Library of Congress and on Seattle Channel TV. She’s a longtime assistant editor at Boulevard magazine (St. Louis) and lives in Seattle, where the Office of Arts & Culture awarded her a 2024-2025 CityArtist grant for a memoir project. For her third full-length poetry collection, she won Tupelo Press’s Dorset Prize for The Andrew Wyeth Chronicles (2026).

Find out more at JaneeBaugher.com.

Hillary Leftwich is a multi-media writer and the author of Ghosts Are Just Strangers Who Know How to Knock (Agape Editions, 2023), Aura (Future Tense Books, 2022), and Saint Dymphna’s Playbook (Limit Zero/University of Hell Press 2025). She teaches creative writing, business writing, environmental writing and environmental storytelling at several universities, writing organizations, and nonprofits for adults, previously incarcerated and hospitalized youth, and unhoused populations. She centers her writing around themes of class struggle, the impact of disease, ritual, and the supernatural.

Find out more at www.hillaryleftwich.com.

Glen Erik Hamilton writes crime thrillers. A native of Seattle, Glen’s novels have won the Anthony, Macavity, and Strand Magazine Critics awards, and been nominated for the Edgar, Barry, and Nero awards. His series featuring reformed thief Van Shaw has been called “outstanding” (Publishers Weekly), “perfect mix of serious crime and caper movie” (Criminal Element), and “a must-read series” (Mystery Scene Magazine). The latest, Island of Thieves, was named one of USA Today’s “5 Books Not to Miss.” Glen grew up aboard a sailboat, playing around the islands, marinas, and commercial docks of the Pacific Northwest.

Find out more at glenerikhamilton.com.

Eric Witchey has sold stories under several names and in 14 genres. His tales have been translated into multiple languages, and his credits include over 170 stories, including 5 novels and two collections. His work has received recognition from New Century Writers, Writers of the Future, Writer’s Digest, Independent Publisher Book Awards, International Book Awards, The Eric Hoffer Prose Award Program, Short Story America, the Irish Aeon Awards, and other organizations. His How-to articles have appeared in The Writer Magazine, Writer’s Digest Magazine, and other print and online magazines.

Find out more at www.ericwitchey.com.