2024 Faculty: A through F
Traci Hunter Abramson
Traci Hunter Abramson, a former employee of the CIA, was born in Arizona, where she lived until moving to Venezuela for a study abroad program. She has written more than fifty best-selling novels and is an eight-time Whitney Award winner, and a five-time Silver Falchion Award Finalist. https://www.traciabramson.com/
A.M. Adair
A.M. Adair is a retired Navy Intelligence Officer with over two decades of experience. She specialized in counterintelligence, human intelligence, interrogation, and analysis within the Naval Special Warfare and Expeditionary communities. She is currently pursuing her degree in screenwriting and is the award-winning author of the Elle Anderson series. https://www.amadair.com/
Lewis Allan
Lewis Allan is a pen name used by the two authors behind Mason Mitchell — a veteran criminal defense attorney, and a well-traveled freelance writer. These childhood friends reconnected after thirty plus years to create a story that is entirely fictional, except for Clyde, who is 100% real. Mouse In The Box is their debut novel. They look forward to continuing their unlikely journey with more titles to come…
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez received her English Literature degree from UC Berkeley. She is the author of ten novels, including two Young Adult thrillers. Her books have received praise, award nominations, and international press for their themes on friendship, bullying, personal responsibility, and climate change. She lives in Middle Tennessee with her husband and a cat named Cheeto.
Photo credit: Karen Perez
Carmen Amato
Ex-CIA officer Carmen Amato crafts crime fiction brimming with danger and deception. Beginning with Cliff Diver, her Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series pits the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico's cartels and corruption. A judge for the BookLife Prize and Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award, Carmen’s essays have appeared in Criminal Element, Publishers Weekly, and other national publications. Find out more at carmenamato.net.
Elaine Aradillas
Elaine Aradillas has been a crime journalist for 20 years. She spent most of her career at People magazine. Her work has appeared in multiple publications including The New York Times, and she appeared on ID’s People Magazine Investigates. She recently completed the manuscript for her first mystery novel Grand Slam Weekend.
Leigh Ann Arcuri
Leigh Ann is writer, editor and member of the coveted New Orleans writing club, The Wednesday Riders. She is currently working on a true crime memoir set along the banks of the Mississippi River in Southeast Louisiana.
Laura Ayo
Laura Ayo is one of the advisors for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ (SCBWI) Midsouth region, which encompasses Tennessee and Kentucky. When she isn’t bringing creators of children’s books together, she’s writing historical fiction and making sure her friends and family have bellies full of gumbo and jambalaya.
R.G. Belsky
R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist. His latest, BROADCAST BLUES, was published this year. He also writes thrillers us Dana Perry. Belsky has published 24 novels—and also been a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News and NBC News.
Joseph Benedetto
Joseph Benedetto is an award-winning international author, editor, and historian who specializes in five genres: mystery, science fiction, historical, action-adventure, and steampunk. Born in Germany and educated in Rome, his stories have appeared in magazines, short story collections, and anthologies in Australia, the UK, and the United States.
Paula Gail Benson
A legislative attorney and former law librarian, Paula Gail Benson’s thirty plus short stories have appeared online and in publications including, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold Blooded and Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Diabolical. She blogs with partners at The Stiletto Gang and Writers Who Kill. Her website is http://paulagailbenson.com
Chris Berg
Retired police detective Chris Berg, started his career in ’77 with postings as patrol officer, evidence technician and vice/intelligence detective. His time as an undercover narcotics agent fit him best. He relished the life of hand to hand undercover drug “buys”, clandestine lab investigations and the requisite counterfeit persona. https://www.nightpolice.com/
Mark Bergin
Mark Bergin was a police officer and newspaper reporter before writing the award-winning police procedural APPREHENSION. His short stories appear in PARANIOA BLUES and LAND OF 10,000 THRILLS from Down and Out Books, THE EVICTION OF HOPE from Original Ink Press and THE TATTERED BLUE LINE from Code Four Press. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Baron Birtcher
Baron Birtcher is the winner of the Silver Falchion Award (Hard Latitudes); Winner of Killer Nashville Readers Choice Award (South California Purples); and Best Book of the Year Award for Fistful of Rain. He has also been nominated for the Nero Award, the Lefty, the Foreword Indie, the Claymore, and the Pacific Northwest's Spotted Owl Awards. Baron's writing has received starred reviews and been hailed as "The real deal" by Publishers Weekly; and "Solid, Fluent and Thrilling" by Kirkus.
Tim Bischoff
Tim Bischoff, born in Kentucky and raised in Bourbon country on a dairy farm. Writing along with cooking and fishing are some of his passions. Tim has had two two short stories published, conducted his own workshop on being creative during times of grief and trauma, plus participation on panels dealing with mental health and gender esstionalism. Work has begun on future projects after the passing of both his parents after being their main caretaker, dealing with Alzhiemer’s for one of them. Tim is also a part of the Snakes and Otters podcast with five friends who have known each other since college in the mid 80’s, and one friendship with fellow author R. C. Reid that spans over 50 years. The podcast is available on all major platforms with over 7000 downloads to date.
EL Block
Formerly an award-winning designer in the art, music, publishing, and film industries, EL Block recently sold her design company to pursue her secondary dream of becoming an author. In addition to modern gothic fiction novels, she writes short stories, flash fiction, and poetry.
Venita Bonds
Venita Bonds is an Alabamian who worked in Louisiana as a critical care nurse. She was a Longridge Writers Group instructor for fifteen years and published four historical romance novels through HarperMonogram and Leisure Books. More recently, she was a researcher/ technical writer for a competitive intelligence company—i.e., spy shop, where she engaged in certain “resourceful” activities best done under the cover of darkness. Now a law-abiding grandma, she’s working on paranormal mysteries set in the fictional town of Lick Skillet, Louisiana. One of her short stories has been selected for the 2025 Sisters in Crime Guppy Anthology. Law-abiding or not, she still loves bad guys. https://www.venitabonds.com/
Stephanie M. Braun
A storyteller since childhood, Stephanie M. Braun writes adventures that center on connection and found family. When she's not writing she is looking for the magical in the mundane and seeking to be brave every day. She, her husband, and their kids live in Nashville with their dogs.
Kayla Brown
Elise Burke Brown’s novel, CHASE HARLEM, won the 2023 Killer Nashville Claymore Award for Best Unpublished Investigator Novel. It will be published by Rising Action in June 2025. She teaches composition at the University of Alabama and runs the popular book blog, https://coupleofbeesread.com/. She is agented by Rachel Beck.
Mark Bruce
Mark Bruce graduated from UC Berkeley’s law school in 1987 and has tried over a thousand cases in criminal and family law courts. He won the 2018 Black Orchid Novella Award for his story of Minerva James, a woman lawyer in 1962 Sacramento. Since then, Minerva has been published in magazines and anthologies, including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. https://markbrucewriter.com/
David Bushman
Tony Burnett is an award-winning poet, songwriter, and novelist. He served as president of the Writer’s League of Texas from 2011- 2017. He now manages Kallisto Gaia Press. His recent publications include the prize-winning novel, Watermelon Tattoo. He wanders aimlessly around central Texas poking wasp nests with short sticks.
David Bushman
David Bushman is the author of five traditionally published books, two on true crime and three on pop culture and copresident of Fayetteville Mafia Press and Tucker DS Press He is a former TV curator at The Paley Center for Media, program director at TV Land, and TV editor at Variety.
Ross Carley
Ross Carley’s first four novels feature PI and computer hacker Wolf Ruger, an Iraq vet with PTSD. His fifth novel, The Three-Legged Assassin (2022), features assassin Lance Garrett, an assassin with PTSD. The Pro Bono Assassin (2024) was just released. Ross and his wife Francie split their time between Indiana and Florida. Instagram: @RossCarleyAuthor
Gloria Casale
Gloria Casale has worked in Emergency Rooms all over the United States.
Kathryn Caraway
Kathryn Caraway looks like any other woman, but she lives a very different life as the target of a sadistic stalker. She has a true crime memoir and is a thriller novelist where fiction is rooted in reality. Kathryn has a B.A., MBA and held elected office for 14 years.
Philip Cioffari
Philip Cioffari is the author of the novels: NIGHT AND ITS LONGINGS, IF ANYONE ASKS, SAY I DIED FROM THE HEARTBREAKING BLUES; THE BRONX KILL; JESUSVILLE; DARK ROAD, DEAD END; CATHOLIC BOYS; and the story collection, A HISTORY OF THINGS LOST OR BROKEN. He has a Ph.D in literature from NYU. www.philipcioffari.com
T.M. Clark
Zimbabwean-born T.M. Clark crafts captivating literature spanning diverse cultures and wildlife, appealing to all ages. She has been nominated for a Queensland Literary Award and is a Children's Book Council Notable. She is passionate about nurturing writers and is the coordinator for the CYA Conference in Brisbane, Australia. www.tmclark.com.au
Sandy Clements
Sandy Clements is the author of Kaleidoscope of Secrets, a novel that has earned acclaim for design and storytelling - First Place from The Bookfest Awards for Cover Design and Top Pick for the Silver Falchion Awards. Sandy Clements -Thrilling suspense. Resilient Women. Heart-pounding Moments. Learn more at www.sandyclements.com.
Mary Lynn Cloghesy
Mary Lynn is a fiction writer from Calgary, Alberta, and the founder of the Leadership Literary Lab. She was a finalist in the supernatural category for the Claymore Award last year and has been selected as a top pick this year. She holds two graduate degrees, including a master’s in creative writing. www.marylynncloghesy.com
G. A. Cockerham
G. A. (Georgia) Cockerham lives with husband Bruce on the southern Oregon coast, an area that has inspired her writing, including the O’Toole/Starker murder mystery series. She is a retired investment advisor and is a member of MWA. Georgia enjoys time spent on the beach and with family and friends.
Bruce Robert Coffin
Bruce Robert Coffin is an international bestselling novelist. A retired detective sergeant, Bruce is the author of the Detective Byron Mysteries and the forthcoming Detective Justice Mysteries and co-author of The Turner and Mosley Files. His Anthony Award-nominated short fiction has been published in more than a dozen anthologies. https://www.brucerobertcoffin.com/
Elizabeth Copps
In the summer of 2010, Elizabeth Copps did what any starry-eyed word nerd would do: she used her savings to move from Florida to New York City with the goal of doing something—anything—related to books.
When she was offered an internship with Maria Carvainis Agency, Inc., she discovered her passion for publishing. She founded Copps Literary Services, LLC in 2021 and is thrilled to continue building the agency and her list of award-winning and eclectic clients from her current home of Denver, Colorado.
For the past fourteen years, Elizabeth has dedicated herself to the care and management of author careers. Her business philosophy is simple: to foster relationships across the industry that are equitable, transparent, and long-lasting.
Elizabeth is drawn to fresh takes on timeless plots, and stories that are thought provoking and discussion spurring. She loves complex, voice-driven characters who are brimming with personality and burst off the page. She specializes in humorous and heartfelt contemporary novels, horror, and historical fiction for middle grade, YA, and adult audiences. She is also partial to gut-busting romantic comedies. In nonfiction, she loves platform-driven memoir and biography, as well as policy-driven, narrative nonfiction.
She is not seeking cozy mysteries, political thrillers, hard sci-fi, epic fantasy, short story collections, or poetry.
To learn more, please visit www.coppsliterary.com, connect with her on Instagram or Twitter @elizcopps, or visit her Manuscript Wish List (https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/elizabeth-copps/).
Susan Crawford
Bestselling author of The Pocket Wife and The Other Widow, Susan lives in Atlanta with her husband and a trio of rescue cats, where she dabbles in local politics and is a member of the Atlanta Writers Club and Sisters in Crime. She is currently working on her next book.
Elizabeth Crowens
Elizabeth Crowens, an entertainment industry veteran, writes in the Hollywood mystery and alternate history genres and has a popular Caption Contest on Facebook. Awards include a Leo B. Burstein Scholarship from MWA-NY, NYFA grant, Eric Hoffer, a Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, two grand prize and six first prize Chanticleer Awards.
Honorée Corder
Honorée Corder has published 65 books in 40 languages and sold more than 4.7 million copies. She's a book marketing expert with a duplicable process you can apply to your books. https://honoreecorder.com/
Kimberly Dana
Kimberly Dana is an award-winning author, literacy specialist, and founder of Nashville's Thrills and Chills Book Club boasting over three hundred members. When she's not writing, Kimberly enjoys traveling around the country giving author presentations to children and young adults. Her picture book Millie and Mina (Picklefish) is set to be released in 2025. https://kimberlydana.com/
John DeDakis
Novelist, writing coach, and manuscript editor John DeDakis is a former editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of five mystery-suspense novels. His fourth novel, Bullet in the Chamber, is the winner of Reviewers Choice, Foreword INDIES, and Feathered Quill book awards. In his most recent novel, Fake, protagonist Lark Chadwick is a White House correspondent dealing with “fake news” in the era of #MeToo. Fake earned Honorable Mention for the Reviewers Choice Award and was a Finalist for Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion, and for CIBA’s CLUE Award. DeDakis is also the host of the video podcast “One-to-One with John DeDakis” on YouTube.
Learn more about John at https://www.johndedakis.com
Cindy Dees
NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Cindy Dees, is the author of 100+ novels. A former U. S. Air Force pilot and part-time spy, she writes thrillers, military romance, and a bestselling, non-fiction, writing how-to series on using tropes. You can learn more or contact her at www.cindydees.com.
Frank DiBianca
Frank DiBianca is a former industrial and academic medical physicist and biomedical engineer, who served as Children’s Foundation Chair of Excellence and dean at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is the award-winning and Amazon best-selling author of Laser Trap (Iron Stream Media, 2022), a suspense novel.
Kay DiBianca
Kay DiBianca is a former software developer and IT manager who retired to a life of mystery. She’s the award-winning author of The Watch Mysteries, a series of cozy mystery novels, and Lacey’s Star: A Lady Pilot-in-Command Novel. Connect with Kay on her website at kaydibianca.com.
Karen Dionne
Karen Dionne is the USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of the award-winning psychological suspense novels The Marsh King’s Daughter and The Wicked Sister, both published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in the U.S. and in dozens of other countries. The Marsh King’s Daughter was named one of the best books of 2017 by iBooks and many other booksellers and reviewers and released in 2023 by Lionsgate as a major motion picture starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn. Karen enjoys nature photography and lives with her husband on a small lake surrounded by forest in the middle of Michigan. Read more about Karen at https://karen-dionne.com/
Caroline Brooks DuBois
Caroline Brooks DuBois is the author of The Places We Sleep, an NCTE Notable Book in Poetry and A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, and Ode to a Nobody, which received Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and was a nominee for the Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award.
T.M. Dunn
T. M. Dunn is the author of the psychological thriller, HER FATHER DAUGHTER (Crooked Lane Books July 18, 2023.) She is also the author of REBELS BY ACCIDENT (Sourcebooks, 2014) and LAST STOP ON THE 6 (Bordighera Press, C.U.N.Y. 2021). Dunn has served as Senior Director of the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, where she holds an MFA in creative writing. She coaches aspiring and established writers and teaches creative writing workshops. She is a co-founder of, and a lead instructor for, Key to the Castle Workshop and is the co-host of the Westport Library’s podcast, “Go Ahead, Write Something,” and co-chair of programming for Sisters-in-Crime CT.
Emily Dunn
Emily Dunn split her writing personality into three. M.A. Lee hosts The Write Focus podcast and writes historical mysteries & writing guides. Edie Roones pens historical fantasy while Remi Black crafts noblebright fantasy. That’s too many eggs in one basket, but she’s having fun. She’s published over 60 titles.
Pamela Ebel
Pamela Ebel has been published in Shotgun Honey, YELLOW MAMA EZINE, Kings River Life Magazine, The BOULD AWARDS 2020 and 2021 Anthology, Tomorrow and Tomorrow 2021 Anthology and other venues. Her poetry has appeared in the Delta Poetry Review. A native of California, she now concentrates on tales from her original home state and tales from the highways of the South. She also knows, like the Ancient Greeks and the Irish, that as a southern writer you can’t outrun your blood. She has turned to writing full time as of 2020, obviously either perfect or bizarre timing, and this will be her fifth career. She lives in Metairie, Louisiana, with her husband and two cats.
Mary Anne Edwards
Mary Anne Edwards and her husband call Georgia home. She believes life should be lived to the fullest, regardless of age. She is always ready for a ride on a shopping cart and dances with youthful exuberance. The main female character in her series, Charlie McClung Mysteries, reflects this vibrant spirit.
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an audiobook narrator having narrated over 100 audiobooks! He and his wife, Josie, own Scott Ellis Reads, an audiobook production company having produced over 250 audiobooks. They have helped many authors bring their first projects to audio and they look forward to speaking to you.
J.T. Ellison
J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of the literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.
Brenna English-Loeb
Brenna English-Loeb joined Transatlantic in 2019 after working for several years at Janklow & Nesbit Associates and Writers House, where she had the pleasure of working with New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors across multiple genres. Brenna grew up in beautiful Upstate New York and studied English and Theatre at Bucknell University.
Brenna is also the owner of BEL Tower Editorial, where she works with authors as a developmental editor on such big-picture issues as world-building, plot and character development, pacing and theme, among other areas of concern, such as query and synopsis critiques.
Tracy C. Ertl
Publisher Tracy C. Ertl created TitleTown Publishing as a journalist, crime survivor, public safety professional, and author, seeking to change lives through the impact of powerful storytelling. Born from a wish made on Olympic ice at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, Tracy rapidly launched TitleTown into a mainstream publishing company specializing in high-profile memoirs, survival and true crime stories. The house also has an active German-to-English translation arm. Agented out of Los Angeles by Hollywood dealmaker Joel Gotler, Ertl's house stories have been optioned for film and television and sold into multiple countries. She is also a literary coach fostering the dreams of authors all over the World. www.titletownpublishing.com
Vicki Berger Erwin
Vicki Berger Erwin is the author of thirty plus books ranging from middle grade mystery to adult history and true crime, including SLAYING IN SOUTH ST. LOUIS and NOTORIOUS MISSOURI. She lives in St. Louis with her sometimes co-author and husband, Jim, and her never co-author dog, Luna.
Ley Esses
Ley Esses is an award winning action-adventure author and host of the Writing Roots Podcast. She is known for her meticulous attention to violence and old-fashioned stories of good versus evil. She grew up in the forests of northern California before recently making the move to Nashville.
Mike Faricy
Indie author Mike Faricy works full time writing crime fiction, much of it loaded with humor. He currently has eighty-one books across four different crime fiction series, with two series completed. Mike spends his days writing the next work of genius in the Jack Dillon Dublin Tales series or the Dev Haskell Private Investigator series.
Stephanie Faris
Stephanie Faris is the author of a dozen middle grade novels and chapter books, including Finding Normal and the Gabby Ghost Hunter series. When she isn’t crafting fiction, Stephanie writes personal finance content for a variety of websites, including The Penny Hoarder. She lives in Nashville with her husband.
Cindy Fazzi
Cindy Fazzi is a Filipino American writer and former Associated Press reporter. She’s the author of the Domingo the Bounty Hunter series, coming in 2025 from Thomas & Mercer. Her historical novel, My MacArthur, was published by Sand Hill Review Press in 2018.
Dan Flanigan
Dan is a practicing lawyer and has published a poetry collection, a short story collection, and four detective novels. Dan and his wife Candy created Sierra Tucson, a prominent addiction treatment center. He serves on the Board of World Childhood USA. More at www.DanFlaniganBooks.com and his legal bio at https://www.polsinelli.com.
Kallista Foote
Kallista Foote is a certified Story Grid editor and Author Accelerator coach. She also works with The Write Practice to help struggling writers finish their first draft. As a developmental editor, she specializes in taking stories that don’t work and turning them into tales others will enjoy. https://www.kallistannediting.com/
Kathleen Foxx
Kathleen Foxx is a literary agent at The Rights Factory in Toronto, Ontario, representing clients from anywhere in the world. She’s also a fiction editor at Foxx Editorial, host of the #badasswriters podcast, audio editor for The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast, and a founder/organizer/host of #MoodPitch. She’s heavily engaged with the writing community on Twitter and Instagram and also writes thrillers and supernatural horror. She’s a member of Editors Canada, CWC, SinC, and ITW. She’s building her list of exceptionally talented writers!
In adult and YA commercial and upmarket fiction, Kat is looking for domestic/psychological thrillers and suspense, supernatural horror, hi:storical fiction, historical fantasy (witches, time travel, past lives/reincarnation, etc.), and some light speculative fiction. She has a very specific nonfiction wish list available on her website. Kat is NOT interested in picture books, middle grade, political or legal thrillers, space operas, graphic novels, poetry, novellas, short story collections, epic fantasies (kings/queens/kingdoms/wars/mythical creatures/epic journeys), hardcore sci-fi, religion, politics, academia, sports, erotica, gore/body horror, extreme violence, or anything generated by AI.
Learn more about Kat’s MSWL at https://kathleenfoxxagent.com/mswl/ and her editing services at https://foxxeditorial.com
Rea Frey
Rea Frey is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of several domestic suspense, women’s fiction, and nonfiction books. Known as a Book Doula, she helps other authors birth their books into the world. To learn more, visit www.reafrey.com.