Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series and authored Should Have Played Poker and IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue.

Her short stories and novels have been named Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, Claymore, and Silver Falchion finalists and received AWC, BWR, and Silver Falchion awards. Debra’s short pieces have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Malice Domestic Murder Most Edible, and Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon.

Debra recently rejoined the national board of Sisters in Crime, having previously been a national board member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and president of the Guppy and SEMWA chapters.

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Michelle McGill Vargas is an author. At the 2024 Alabama conference, she is offering add-on virtual manuscript critiques for attendees.

“I am writer of speculative historical fiction, flash fiction, and short fiction. I’ve published in The Lutheran Witness, Splickety Magazine, The Copperfield Review, and Typehouse Literary Magazine. I’ve also contributed at Short Fiction Break and Noir Expressions.

“I’m currently represented by the amazing Melissa Danaczko of Stuart Krichevsky Literacy Agency, Inc. I pay the bills as a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing. I’m a member of Highland Writers Group, Valparaiso Writers Group, served as vice-president of the Indiana Writer’s Consortium and chair of its 2016 Steel Pen Conference, and am currently on the board of Midwest Writers.”

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Brian A. Klems (@BrianKlems) is the former online editor of WritersDigest.com. He is current the director of Writing Day Workshops.

He is the coordinator of the 2024 AWW. At the event, he is offering add-on query critiques for attendees.

His blog during his tenure there, The Writer’s Dig—which covered everything writing and publishing—was one of the largest blogs in the writing community.

Brian’s first book, Oh Boy, You’re Having a Girl: A Dad’s Guide to Raising Daughters (Adams Media) was released in 2013. It received high-level buzz and praise from some of the funniest writers alive, including Dave Barry and Bruce Cameron. Brian is also a proud graduate of the Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, a husband, softball infielder, perennial fantasy sports underachiever, and father of three lovely girls.

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Brittany J. Thurman writes award-winning books for kids. At the 2024 AWW, she is offering add-on critiques for attendees. 

She is the author of Fly, (Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text) and Fearless: Boulevard of Dreams. Her upcoming works include Forever and Always, illustrated by Shamar Knight Justice (2024), Fearless: The Takeover (2024), The First Library: The True Story of the First Library by and For Black America, illustrated by Cozbi Cabrera (2025) and Come Catch a Dream, illustrated by Islenia Mil (2025). (Find all her books here.)

She holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelor of Art in Theater from Kingston University, London, England. Her plays have been produced in Aspen, Colorado, and in New York City. Brittany is a former children’s early literacy specialist. She lives in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where she holds tight to her elders, roots, and her childhood home.

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USA Today bestselling author and Agatha, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity-award finalist Kristi Belcamino writes dark mysteries about fierce women seeking justice. At the 2024 AWW, she is offering add-on critiques for attendees. 

She is a crime fiction writer, cops beat reporter, and Italian mama who also bakes a tasty biscotti. In her former life, as an award-winning crime reporter at newspapers in California, she flew over Big Sur in an FA-18 jet with the Blue Angels, raced a Dodge Viper at Laguna Seca, and attended barbecues at the morgue.

Her nonfiction writing has appeared in several publications, including the New York Times, Salon, Writer’s Digest, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, and the San Jose Mercury News. Kristi now works part-time as a police reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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Lorin Oberweger is a highly sought-after independent book editor and ghostwriter with almost thirty years experience in publishing. Her company, Free Expressions, offers intensive, deep craft workshops nationwide. She’s also known for her one-on-one story mastermind session for writers of all genres of fiction and creative nonfiction.

At the 2024 AWW, she is offering add-on critiques for attendees. 

Lorin’s students and clients have been published by HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Disney, and many other presses. They have also gained representation with some of the industry’s leading literary agents and several have had work optioned for film and television.

An award-winning author, Lorin has co-written and ghostwritten eight books, several for New York Times bestselling authors of fiction and nonfiction. Her work, commissioned by major publishers, has received glowing notices from the New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and others. Her latest co-author credit is THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK, written with Chris Anderson, director of TED Conferences.

With bestselling author Veronica Rossi, Lorin is the author of the New Adult books, BOOMERANG, REBOUND, and BOUNCE, published by Harper/William Morrow under the pen name Noelle August. The novels were praised by Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, among others, and BOOMERANG was chosen as a “new and notable” selection for Target Stores across the US. She is represented by Tracey Adams at Adams Literary.

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Bob McGough is an author, podcaster, and indie tabletop game designer from south Alabama. As an author he has been published by a number of small presses in a range of genres, from steampunk to horror. He is best known as the author of his ‘Rural’ Urban Fantasy series, the Jubal County Saga. He also teaches a number of classes and workshops on various aspects of the business of writing.

As a podcaster Bob is the man behind the Tales by Bob Podcast Network. His first show, Books, Beards, Booze, is a conversational style podcast that has run for over 170 episodes. Southern Fried Fantasy, is a completed interview style podcast where he interviews Southern Authors who write genre fiction set in the South. The Tales by Bob Podcast is an inside look at the business side of the writing business.

A long-time freelance writer, he has worked on a number of tabletop and video games. As a huge fan of one sheet and simple rpgs, he has released over 40 games in that space across a number of platforms.

At the 2024 in-person AWW, he is teaching a class and offering add-on manuscript critiques.