Meet the team!

The WW team is truly exceptional. We're fully volunteer with only one goal in mind: to help writers grow. Your success is our motivation!

 

 

Elle Alahmar

CNF Reader/Editor

Hello everyone! my name's Elle. I'm an undergraduate student at Concordia university, studying English literature and professional writing. I love helping writers bring their visions to life and obsessively reading 19th century literature on the weekends.

 

  

Izhan Arif

Back to Basics

Hi! My name’s Izhan Arif and I’m an English graduate from the University of Illinois, Chicago. My interests tend to revolve around all things superhero, whether it be comics, shows, or movies! I also love to write (go figure) and when I’m not working on Back to Basics, I’m also writing videos for WatchMojo!

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Bruce Buchanan

Conference Assistant // Copyeditor, Brand

Bruce Buchanan has been a fan of fantasy and heroic fiction for most of his life. His influences range from the novels of Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman and Stephen King to the Marvel Comics stories of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. Bruce is the author of the NA fantasy novel The Blacksmith's Boy (Aug. 2025), its sequel, The Queen’s Daughter (2026), and the adult superhero novel The Return of the Cerulean Blur (2026), all from Wild Ink Publishing, He lives in Greensboro, N.C.

 

 

J. Claire

Poetry Editor, WayWords // Indie Author Spotlight

J. Claire, known as the Poet of the Wild, is a poet and author whose work is rooted in nature and the emotional terrain of the human experience. Her debut collection, Revelry, has earned national and international recognition for its exploration of love, healing, and transformation. Her writing has appeared in Harness Magazine, and she is currently a writer for Colorado Springs Lifestyle magazine. A spoken word performer, J. Claire has shared her work at arts festivals and literary showcases, including opening the Word is Art showcase at the Columbus Arts Festival. An endurance athlete and traveler, she writes with reverence for both wild places and inner landscapes.

 

 

Coffee Quills

Contest Curator

Coffee Quills is a quaffer of coffee, a hugger of hedgehogs, and a slinger of ink. Writing under flickering neon lights, they take inspiration from a range of media and enjoy mashing together genres as they write. Post-nuclear apocalypse cozy mystery? Working on it! Detecting in a steampunk/magic ocean-side fantasy? Sounds good too! Most of their writing has an optimistic slant to it with found families, protection, and love wins being found in most (if not all in varying degrees) of their writing. Describing Coffee is akin to describing one part of a patchwork cloak, and that can be seen in their writing. Spells, Snow, & Sky is a polyamorous paranormal romance, but they also write for 4thewords (an online RPG for writers) and have horror drabbles published with The Horror Tree and Black Hare Press, not to mention a few post-apocalyptic books. Coffee runs on ink and is a friendly person, so feel free to say hello on BlueSky, Twitch, or in 4thewords!

 

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Carly Colbert

Floating Judge, Education

Bio coming soon! 

 

 

Raegan Cole

Fiction Editor, WayWords

Raegan is an aspiring editor with a B.A. in English. Their hobbies include a variety of fiber arts, such as crochet, cross stitch, and finger weaving. They are a lover of dystopia and adventure fantasy, with their all-time favorites being the Lord of the Rings and Hunger Games series.

 

 

Seth Cupery

Editor, WayWords // Potluck Judge

A college graduate with a bachelor's degree in the humanities, Seth considers himself a historian as well as a writer. He enjoys reading incredibly long books about science fiction and fantasy, including both narrative works and guides to worlds that don’t exist. He is currently in the process of writing stories of his own, providing input for various group projects, and learning from the work of others. He also works as a small-town librarian, running a blog by the name of The Archivist’s Pen in his free time that has been active for over five years and counting.

 

 

Tosin Ebunola

Reading Team, WayWords

Tosin Ebunola is an alumni of Mercer University. She’s currently working as a content creator and daydreaming endlessly. She has a particular love for fiction that’s interesting and weird.

 

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Lindzey Jacoby

Administrative Assistant

Lindzey is a recent graduate who fell in love with creative writing in the fifth grade. Since then, their love has branched out to other areas of writing and language, especially editing and publishing. They hope to help writers develop their ideas and see their stories come to fruition one word at a time.

 

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Nicole Hurley

Potluck Judge

Bio coming soon! 

 

 

Will Kelly

Fiction Potluck Manager

Will is a 5th grade English teacher from Las Vegas, Nevada. He needs a deadline and a prompt to write, so he joins just about any creative writing he can find. Most of his stories tend to be set in the real world with adolescent characters at the forefront. Will prefers to read psychological thrillers and mysteries, but is a sucker for meaning of life stories. When not reading or writing, you can find Will at pub trivia, a stand-up comedy show, or rooting on the San Francisco 49ers.

 

 

Susan Kier

Poetry Editor, WayWords

With roots in the Texas hill country, Susan is a lover of rivers, mountains and nature. Her writing swings from the branches of outdoor adventures in her quest to grasp the intricacies of human nature. Her journey in studying professional writing led to poetry and fiction workshops, a publishing internship, a BA in English and SHSU’s Excellence in Writing Award. Publications can be found on Instagram: @susan_m_pendley 

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Kit Lloyd

Fiction Reader, WayWords

Kit is an illustrator and writer (under the pen name Alexander Cowey) from London. He is heavily inspired by folklore and Arthurian Legends. He is currently attempting to write too many projects at once on account of his terrible concentration skills. His favourite genres are horror and fantasy, but he will read almost anything, especially if it is a little bit weird.

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Jennifer Martin

Reading Team, WayWords

An avid reader and lover of words, Jennifer holds a BA in Creative Writing and Publishing & Editing from Susquehanna University. Unable to keep her hands still, she is either spending her time flipping through a mystery/horror/fantasy novel, writing a new short story, or starting another crochet project when they already have three started.

 

 

Jessica Morris-Reade

Fiction Editor, WayWords // Blog Manager

Jessica lives in the back-end of nowhere with her cat and three children. Straddling the border of New Mexico and Texas, Jessica enjoys long hikes through a barren desert environment that’s dotted with hidden pockets of beauty (if you know where to look), going to the shooting range and exterminating plastic bottles, and, of course, reading and writing. Jessica works as a freelance editor, and while she enjoys writing historical fiction, Jessica’s library is full of fantasy, romance, westerns, and the occasional sci-fi.

 

 

Amelia Napiorkowski

Poetry Reader, WayWords

Amelia Napiorkowski lives on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband, son, and stepdaughters. Her work appears in wildscape. literary journal, the Broken Teacup, Mania Magazine, Midsummer Dream House, and other literary magazines and journals.

 

 

Charlotte New

Floating Judge, Education // Back to Basics

Charlotte (she/her) is a graduate of Cornell College's Creative Writing program. She's a lover of stories in all forms, whether they come in books or video games. She's especially fond of reading and writing within the fantasy genre, especially alongside her beloved cat, Mimzy.

 

 

​Michael Parker, Jr.

Editor, WayWords

Michael is the typical workaholic who always has to be doing something! When he's not busy losing hair over work, you can find him catching up on his backlog of fantasy novels he's reading ever so slowly. When he's not reading, Michael writes stories in the dead of night like the owl he is. He is glad to be part of a community of writers supporting writers. 

 

 

Taylor Pittman

Workshop Presenter

Taylor Pittman is a recent graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute. She is a freelance game journalist and the editor-in-chief of Rooted Literary Magazine, a Texas-based literary magazine. She loves horror but also dabbles in fantasy and the occasional romance. You’ll probably find her singing karaoke, reading about vampires, lurking in bookstores, or listening to D&D podcasts when she’s not writing. Taylor currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, their two dogs, and two cats.

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Cassell Presnell

Editor, WayWords // Potluck Judge

Cassell is an undergraduate studying creative writing, rhetoric, and psychology. In addition to being a full-time student and writing consultant, she’s a fantasy writer and wannabe poet. Every free moment of her day is spent writing, reading, or playing with her little black kitten, Mosi—he rather enjoys watching people type! Cassell also enjoys teaching and helping others, which led her here, and will inevitably lead her to law school in the near future.

 

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S.E. Reed

Community Liaison // Conference Organizer, Brand

S.E. Reed lives in the south and writes strange, haunting, real stories of people and places along old highways. Winner of the 2023 Florida Book Awards, the 2024 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, and a finalist in the 2024 Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award. Additionally, she's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, the Indie Ink Awards, and won honorable mention twice in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest. Her short stories have been featured by The Writer's Workout, SEMO Press, Parhelion Lit, Adimverse, The Writers’ Co-op, Wild Ink Publishing, Hey Hey Books, and Tempered Rune's Press.

www.writingwithreed.com

https://x.com/writingwithreed

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Grace Renshaw

Floating Judge, Education

Grace is a student at Gettysburg College majoring in English and Cinema and Media Studies. She enjoys sci-fi and is working on a novel (most of the time). Her work is upcoming in Millennial Pulp Literary Magazine.

 

 

Karen Scott

Craft & Chaos // Blog Curator, Brand

Karen is a writer, teacher, audiobook lover, and unapologetic Wordle enthusiast from New Jersey. She will likely never finish editing her first novel. Her favorite activities are spoiling her granddaughter, traveling to warm climates, snort-laughing with friends, and sipping a good Cosmopolitan. Visit her online at www.karenkinley.com.

 

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Rebecca Sharp

Fiction Reader, WayWords // Workshop Presenter

Rebecca is a travel and culture writer as well as a published creative writer. Her short fiction and non-fiction pieces have appeared on BBC Radio and in literary magazines. As a travel and culture journalist, she has published work in Matador Network, Thrillist, Culture Trip, Pit Magazine, Filmotomy, and more. She has earned an M.A. in English—Creative Writing—and is a British immigrant currently living in Utah. She aspires to publish her work-in-progress novel and a memoir based on her experiences living abroad. Find her expert film tourism guides at offscreentourist.com, and her portfolio at rebeccakathrynsharp.com.

 

 

Brittany Smith

Editor, WayWords

Brittany is a long-time lover of all things fantasy and dragons. She has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and master’s in Publishing, but had an extended break from the world of writing until inspiration struck again in 2024. She’s been writing ever since, and is currently hard at work on a dragonrider novel from the sunny beaches of Florida.

 

 

Jules Tobias

Fiction Reader, WayWords

Jules Tobias (she/they/he) is an emerging author and substitute teacher armed with a BA in Creative Writing and an Associate's in Literature. Her favorite genres to indulge in are fantasy, horror, and LGBTQ romance. When they're not writing, Jules enjoys playing video games, watching cartoons and anime, and spending time with their girlfriend. One fun fact about Jules is that he can read tarot cards!

 

 

Andrea Tode

Floating Judge, Education // Reading Team, WayWords

Andrea is a Spanish-Peruvian writer and editor with a degree in English Literature and Drama. She has had three short children’s novels published by Editorial San Pablo under the pseudonym ‘Andrea Todde’ and currently works as a freelance writer. She’s also dabbled in journalism, having written over 350 articles across International Business Times UK, Deep Travel Magazine and multiple Peruvian newspapers. Having grown up reading translations of Stephen King and Agatha Christie’s works, Andrea is deeply fascinated by language and adaptation, often translating her own works for fun. She’s currently adapting her original full-length stage play into a novel, as well as working on a bilingual mystery novel. 

 

 

Loren Whitmore

Reading Team, WayWords

Loren Whitmore is an avid reader who appreciates the art and function of the written word. She possesses an Associate’s in Professional Communication and is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s in Communication, which she hopes to use for a career in publishing. Outside of work and school, she enjoys spending time outside and visiting the local library.

 

 

Réven Widener

Blog Curator, Brand

Réven went from palmetto trees to the Smokies—she’s a South Carolina native now residing in east Tennessee. Faith, family, and friends make her complete. She is a full-time editor but helps others write confidently through her writing review services on the side. She also enjoys writing poetry, reading creative nonfiction and fiction, eating banana pudding without bananas, and racing her husband in Mario Kart if they’re not whisked away to a soccer tournament he’s coaching in.

You can connect with Réven on Instagram: @musings.of.sunshine

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Jesse Wooton

Reading Team, WayWords

Jesse fancies herself a writer and spends most of her time reading, writing, and playing video games. When not doing any of the above, she devotes her time to spoiling her dog, Antigone. She’s got a degree in neuroscience which is mostly used to try and figure out how other people work rather than doing much science at all.

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