CONFERENCE SPONSORS
Great Lakes Fiction Writers (GLFW) was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1986 by a group of dedicated writers to provide support and encouragement. We welcome fiction writers in any genre, at any point in their career, especially those who wish to explore writing romance or including romantic elements in their stories. As a member of GLFW, you can join our critique group, be featured in member spotlights in our newsletter and across our social media platforms, participate in community anthology projects, and have access to an array of other resources. In addition to the annual conference, we host monthly meetings with guest speakers, a fall get-away-and-write retreat, and a holiday gathering.
Whether you’re a newbie just starting out or a veteran author with multiple publications to your name, we invite you to stop by and check us out. For more information about GLFW or to learn how you can become a member, visit our website.
We look forward to meeting you.
PRESENTERS
Patricia Sargeant is a national best-selling author. She writes romance as Patricia Sargeant and Regina Hart, and mysteries as Olivia Matthews. Several of her books have foreign translations. Her work has been reviewed in national publications such as Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Kirkus Reviews, Suspense Magazine, Mystery Scene Magazine, Library Journal and BookRiot. Patricia was drawn to write romance because she believes love is the greatest motivation. Her mysteries put ordinary people in extraordinary situations to have them find the Hero Inside. Patricia has been a keynote speaker and presenter at various events. She’s conducted numerous writing craft workshops for writers groups and book conferences. For more information about Patricia and her work, please visit PatriciaSargeant.com.
Tiffany Graham Charkosky is an award-winning author whose work has been published or is forthcoming in Gordon Square Review, Mutha Magazine, Avalon Literary Review, South Dakota Review, and The New York Times. Tiffany has worked in arts administration for over twenty years and is dedicated to providing opportunities for artists and writers to share their stories with others. She spends her weekends cheering for her two sons from the sidelines of various sports courts and fields across Northeast Ohio. She lives with her family in Lakewood, Ohio. You can follow Tiffany on Instagram at tiffanygrahamcharkosky.
Denise Crittendon’s Afrofuturist sci-fi /fantasy novel, Where it Rains in Color, earned a 2023 “Indie Author Project Award” for the State of Nevada and a 2023 “Outstanding Book Award” from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). A veteran journalist, Crittendon is a former staff writer for The Detroit News and the Kansas City Star, and a past editor-in-chief of the NAACP’s national magazine, The Crisis. In 1999, she became founding editor of African American Family Magazine where she worked until 2008. As a motivational speaker and author of self-help manuals for teens, Crittendon was named “One of the Most Influential Black Women in Metro Detroit” by the Women’s Informal Network. Among other honors, she was presented the “Life Directions -- Mary Ball Children’s Advocacy Award,” a column writing award from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), “The Best of Gannett” and several gold awards from Parenting Publications of America (PPA). These days, she prefers to conjure up fictitious worlds that offer bold new depictions of the African diaspora. She divides her time between her hometown, Detroit, and Spring Valley, Nevada.
Award winning author Donna MacMeans writes about the humor in relationships in her seductively witty romance page turners. Her books have won the coveted Romance Writers of America © Golden Heart, Romantic Times’s Reviewer Choice Award for Historical Love & Laughter, and numerous regional and local awards. Best known for her historical romances set in the late 1800s, she also writes time-travel and light paranormal romance. Her books consistently receive high praise and glowing reviews and have been published in multiple countries around the world. Before she and her husband moved to Columbus, they lived in Lakewood, Ohio. She still fondly remembers gardening in a fenced section of Edgewater Park, where she could hear the thunder of distant storms and watch the freighters cross Lake Erie. Please contact her at www.DonnaMacMeans.com, or join her on Facebook.
THE PUBLISHERS
Rachel DiScipio Ketler and Katarina Kelley from Queen Anne's Lace Publishing, LLC
We are seeking Middle-Grade fiction in the 20,000-50,000 word range. Also, clean YA and light, swoony romance with an emphasis on fantasy. We want the stories to be vibrant and full of heart. We prefer those in the fantasy and urban fantasy genre but will consider submissions in any genre. We prefer stories that feature the underrepresented. We want to empower the disenfranchised. We want to see stories about those with disabilities, those with chronic illnesses, cultural and racial minorities, and everything and anything in between. We want our readers to read, relate, and understand they are special in God's eyes, no matter how underrepresented they are at large.
AJ Skelly from Quill & Flame Publishing House
Open to any genre, so long as there is a solid romance plot/subplot throughout the story, is geared for a YA or NA target, and is at a PG-13 level or cleaner.
