Novel Kickoff 2024 Directory
Connect with our featured guests (alphabetized by last name) through their websites and social media. Here you’ll also find links to their YouTube channels, podcasts, and other resources they offer.
Featured Guests
Amy L. Bernstein
Amy L. Bernstein is an eclectic practitioner of literary arts—a multi-genre novelist, award-winning journalist, speechwriter, playwright, poet, and certified nonfiction book coach. Her new book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration, will be published by Bancroft Press in January 2025.
Click here to watch Amy’s interview on wrangling your doubt monsters.
Connect with Amy on her website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Pre-order Amy’s book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration.
Nancy Clements
Nancy Clements is an engineer, writer, and Author Accelerator certified book coach. With her experience in engineering and management, she is equipped to help writers stay on course, inspire and hold them to their goals, brainstorm ideas together, and effectively manage the remaining tasks to complete their manuscripts. Nancy owns and operates Second Act Book Coaching and specializes in supporting analytical individuals who crave a project manager's expertise to handle the framework, freeing them to fully indulge in the art of storytelling.
Click here to watch Nancy’s interview on why analytical thinkers make great writers.
Connect with Nancy on her website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Learn more about Nancy’s mini course, “Engineer Your Thriller.”
Stacy Frazer
Stacy Frazer is a formerly repressed creative soul turned fiction writer, Author Accelerator certified book coach, and host of the Write It Scared podcast. Her mission is to help beginning and struggling fiction writers overcome self-doubt, find joy, and gain clarity and confidence in their process and craft so they finish books they are proud of! When not writing, reading, or working with writers, you can find Stacy crafting with her daughter or on the trail with her big, goofy labrador, Gus Gus.
Click here to watch Stacy’s interview on what it means to write scared.
Connect with Stacy on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Listen to the Write It Scared podcast, available on all major podcast platforms.
Erin Michelle Gibes
Erin Michelle Gibes is a neurodiverse writer, editor, book coach, and single parent. She started making books at age 4 and felt like LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow was her first real friend. In her work with neurodiverse writers, Erin creates tools and strategies, unique to each individual, that interrupt shame cycles and self-sabotage, helping writers overcome creative despair so they can finish and publish their work. She brings a master’s degree in education, a lifetime love of books, and over 20 years of experience as a writer, teacher, and mentor to her coaching practice.
Click here to watch Erin’s interview on writing with ADHD.
Connect with Erin on her website.
Learn about Erin’s monthly AMA sessions for writers with ADHD.
Rona Gofstein
Rona Gofstein is a romance author and an Author Accelerator certified fiction book coach with a specialty in romance and women's fiction. A published author since 2007 (you can find out her pen name if you work together!), Rona loves working with writers who have longed to make their book writing dreams a reality. She describes her style as intensive feedback combined with compassionate enthusiasm because she knows that on this journey writers need both clarity and support. She has spoken on writing craft and business across the country and is the past president of the New Hampshire RWA chapter and Broad Universe. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and sons, misses the 24 hour diners of her home state of New Jersey and is always up for getting coffee or talking about books, writing, and where to go out for dinner.
Click here to watch Rona’s interview about writing the Happily Ever After in romance novels.
Click here to connect with Rona on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Rebecca Grogan
Rebecca Grogan is a certified book coach and marketing strategist. In 2022, she founded Kaleidoscope Creative which provides book coaching and writing services. She is an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach who specializes in coaching Holiday themed romances as well as teaching writers to market their books. She lives in North Carolina where she and her husband raised their son and now are empty nesters (except for the two rescue pups who run the house).
Click here to watch Rebecca’s interview on writing holiday romance.
Click here to connect with Rebecca on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Tedd Hawks
Tedd Hawks is a writer, teacher, and creative coach from Chicago. His writing work spans LGBTQ literary fiction, YA, murder mystery, and science fiction. Passionate about fostering creativity, he strives to help others unleash their imaginative potential and confidently tell their authentic stories.
Click here to watch Tedd’s interview on writing mysteries.
Connect with Tedd on Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Deborah Ann Lucas
After a lifetime of physical, emotional, and financial challenges, Deborah’s superpower is persevering through difficult times. A certified book coach in fiction and memoir, she works with women to find the confidence and clarity to draw from their personal struggles the stories they want to tell.
Deborah has completed two memoirs and two novels based on her life experiences with art, spirituality, and the horses that inspire her. Dance While the Fire Burns: a memoir of family, identity, and dreams will be released in 2025. She and her husband live on a twenty-acre farm in north-central Illinois with two horses, a German Shepherd, and a gray cat.
Click here to watch Deborah’s interview on persevering through difficult times.
Connect with Deborah on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, and Substack.
Sandra Postma
Sandra Postma is a former journalist who switched from fact to fiction. Now a speculative fiction writer and certified book coach, Sandra helps sci-fi and fantasy writers find their voice and help them develop their story ideas into novels, with a specific interest in helping those with chronic illnesses. As a woman with multiple chronic illnesses herself, she knows what it is like to feel invisible to society and misunderstood by many. Making her writers feel seen and making them realize how important their individual voices and stories are has become her main goal in her work. She is particularly committed to creating a safe space and community for writers with an illness or disability to come together and find their voice, write and thrive.
Click here to watch Sandra’s interview on being a writer with chronic illness.
Connect with Sandra through her website, Instagram, and Facebook.
Sandra has a free guide, “How to Be a Writer When You Have a Chronic Illness.”
Kim Reynolds
Kim is passionate about fiction and storytelling and has been all of her life. Bookgiddy isn't just her Instagram username, it's her way of being in the world. Kim has been a newspaper editor, ghostwriter, and blogger. Her fiction and essays have appeared in newspapers and anthologies. She has studied creativity coaching with Dr. Eric Maisel and is an Author Accelerator certified fiction book coach. Working with someone as they uncover their best writing and storytelling skills is a privilege she never takes lightly.
Click here to watch Kim’s interview on “The Writer’s Compass.”
Connect with Kim on her website and Instagram.
Download a copy of Kim’s free resource, “The Writer’s Compass.”
Samantha Skal
A fan of the scary, mysterious, and suspenseful, Samantha Skal (she/her) is the Executive Director of ThrillerFest, the co-founder of Shadows & Secrets Writing Retreats (a series of thriller/mystery focused writing retreats; 2024’s is in Salem, MA’s most haunted hotel), and an Author Accelerator certified book coach who specializes in coaching mystery, thriller and suspense authors from novel planning through the delightful hell that is revision. Her superpower as a coach is brainstorming twists without ground-up rewrites. An enthusiast of homemade sourdough and cheese of all kinds, Sam writes stories that keep her up at night and lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Click here to watch Samantha’s interview on writing twisty twists.
Connect with Samantha on her website, Instagram, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn.
Learn about the Shadows & Secrets Writing Retreats for mystery and thriller writers.
Sharon Skinner
Sharon Skinner holds a BA in English, an MA in Creative Writing and is a Certified Book Coach and freelance editor, who helps writers weave their words into stories that shine. Skinner also serves as the Regional Advisor for SCBWI Arizona, a division of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Click here to watch Sharon’s interview on planning your spec fic novel.
Connect with Sharon on her website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn.
Sharon has a new course called “Keys to Creating Compelling Characters.”
Josee Smith
Josee Smith is an indie author and book coach for working moms who want to finish the novel of their dreams. She achieved her childhood dream of finishing a novel and publishing it in 2021, and now she supports other writers with the same dream. As a new mom with a busy job, she understands the challenges of managing it all, and she also believes strongly that writing and creativity can help women feel like themselves again after the chaos of motherhood. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, young son, anxious dog, and semi-feral cat.
Click here to watch Josee’s interview on writing as a working mom.
Connect with Josee on her website and Instagram.
Josee is hosting a virtual mini writing retreat for working moms on October 5!
Stuart Wakefield
With 26 years of experience in theatre, broadcast media, and coaching, Stuart has developed a deep love of character. Holding an MA in Professional Writing, Stuart's latest novel, "Behind the Seams", reached the semifinals of the BookLife Fiction Prize Contest. Additionally, his first TV show, based around celebrity characters, is due to air on the UK’s Channel 4. As an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach, Stuart specializes in story development with a focus on developing character backstory and enhancing emotional depth.
Click here to watch Stuart’s interview on developing character backstory.
Connect with Stuart on his website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Stuart is the host of the Master Fiction Writing podcast.
Stuart has an excellent course, “Emotional Echoes,” on developing character backstory.
Andrew Wall
Andrew Wall is a book coach and worldbuilding consultant at Craft Better Books, the company he runs with his business partner and spouse, Katie. As a coach who specializes in worldbuilding, he enjoys working with people of all genres (yes, stories of all genres need worldbuilding) to ensure that their story worlds feel truly alive and immersive. He is formally trained in philosophy, theology, history, anthropology, and education—all subjects that are EXTREMELY helpful when it comes to supporting writers in their worldbuilding endeavors. When not working on stories and worlds, he enjoys playing TTRPGs with friends, exploring virtual worlds in video games, playing board games with his spouse, wrapping himself in a warm blanket on a rainy day to read, and being the monster/villain that his kids attack as they pretend to be heroes of various sorts.
Click here to watch Andrew’s interview on worldbuilding for ALL genres.
Connect with Andrew on his website, Instagram, and Facebook.
Click here to get Andrew’s free resource, “The 10 Most Common Myths About World-Building.”
Christy Yaros
Christy Yaros is a certified book coach and story editor, working with serious middle grade and young adult writers who want to create stories that engage, encourage, and empower young people. She happily spends her days talking craft and coaxing stories out of her clients. Previous iterations of Christy have done pretty much all the things in the educational publishing world, from proofreader to managing editor to author. Christy holds an MFA in Writing for Children from Simmons University. Christy is also a Co-Assistant Regional Advisors for SCBWI New England and cohost of the Coaching KidLit Podcast.
Click here to watch Christy’s interview on how writers can avoid overcomplicating things.
Connect with Christy on her website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X).
Christy is a co-host of the Coaching KidLit podcast.
Click here to register for Christy’s free Mini Blueprint workshop on October 1.