Sips & Stories Author List
Adult Fiction
Brittany Arreguin
Brittany Arreguin is an Asian-American romance author from the San Francisco Bay Area. She writes contemporary sports romances, but loves to craft any story with some adventure and characters that will make you swoon. She works full time in Experiential Marketing and is the founder of Love & Tech Book Fest, a romance book signing event in Silicon Valley. She lives with her husband and two cats.
David Avallone
Writer David Avallone works in a variety of mediums: short stories, comic books, movies, television and role playing games, including many iconic characters, like Batman, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Bettie Page, Zorro, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Luke Skywalker, and John Carter of Mars. Recently, his short story “The Golden Road” was selected by John Grisham for inclusion in the 2025 edition of the Best Mystery Stories of the Year. He’s also an award-winning podcaster, but we don’t have to talk about that.
Jude Berman
Jude Berman is an award-winning author whose novel The Vow was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie Books of 2024. The Die was the 2024 International Book Awards winner in both cross-genre fiction and visionary fiction; its sequel, The Lie, will be published by She Writes Press in August 2026. Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost, a collection of short stories about gun violence prevention, was the 2025 Living Now Book Awards gold winner in general fiction. Jude lives in Berkeley, CA, where in addition to her own writing, she continues to work with authors, both as an editorial and publishing consultant.
Patricia Bossano
Artisanal wordsmith and old-school scribbler of no A.I. philosophical fictions and supernatural escapes, some of them en español.
Camille Cabrera
Camille Cabrera is a #1 bestselling American author and entrepreneur. She writes both holiday-themed mystery and suspense novels. Her books frequently rank within the top 10 on Amazon charts.
Ayla Cox
Ayla Cox serves sexy, character-driven stories filled with passion, humor, and enough spice to make you clutch your pearls and the pages. Long Beach born and Bay Area based, she stays busy writing sexy as fuck romances, chasing the sunshine, and keeping two chaotic cats from climbing on her motherfucking kitchen counter. She loves love and finds purpose in creating inclusive love stories that feature curvy, bold heroines, and fine ass fictional men that keep readers up way past their bedtime. Pull up to her table and find your next obsession—you'll leave blushing and in love with your new book boyfriend.
Melissa Geissinger
Melissa Geissinger never dreamed of being a writer until one day, when a story grabbed her by the throat and wouldn't let go until it became real. That story, a San Francisco-based historical fiction called Nothing Left But Dust, changed everything. Now a published author, Melissa is addicted to storytelling and has about seven thousand incomplete manuscripts, including a memoir and character-driven psychological sci-fi. She’s a mom of two fiercely curious boys, loves being outdoors, and her new mantra is, “more spaghetti, less upsetti.”
Tom Hazuka
Tom Hazuka has published the novels The Road to the Island, In the City of the Disappeared and Last Chance for First, as well as seventy short stories, two books of nonfiction and a memoir, If You Turn to Look Back. Visible Human, a collection of his flash fiction, was published in 2025. He has edited or co-edited ten anthologies, including Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Funny, Flash Nonfiction Funny, Sudden Flash Youth, A Celestial Omnibus, You Have Time for This and Flash Nonfiction Food. Tom is also a singer-songwriter; links to his writing and original songs are at tomhazuka.com.
Miah Jeffra
Miah Jeffra is author of four books—most recently The Violence Almanac (finalist for several awards, including the Grace Paley and Robert C Jones Book Prizes) and the novel American Gospel, finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award—and is co-editor of the anthology Home is Where You Queer Your Heart. Miah is co-founder of Whiting Award-winning queer and trans literary collaborative, Foglifter Press, and teaches writing and cultural theory at Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco's MFA Writing program.
Alyssa Jarrett
Alyssa Jarrett is a romance author and content marketer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the only thing funnier than working in tech is writing about it. Her novel, Love Apptually, is the first installment in a 5-book series of Silicon Valley rom-coms. When she’s not telling steamy, satirical love stories, she can be found drinking an iced tea or cuddling with her cats. You can follow her @authoralyssajarrett on Instagram and subscribe to her newsletter, Grumpy + Sunshine, on Substack.
Tom Joyce
Tom Joyce will neither confirm nor deny having any association with persons, living or dead, that have worked for intelligence gathering agencies, in the United States or abroad, in any capacity. He can, however, confirm that he has spent time in Northern Afghanistan and most of the other places mentioned in The Missing Peace. When not writing or traveling, Joyce is a creative director, graphic designer and photographer for an international clientele. He sometimes resides in Europe, sometimes Washington DC. You can find out more, but not all, about him at: www.tomdjoyce-writer.com.
Lisa Manterfield
Lisa Manterfield is the award-winning author of five novels and two works of non-fiction, including All Our Lies Are True, a psychological suspense that Publishers Weekly calls “gut-wrenching…and legitimately gripping.” As a book coach and editor, she loves to help writers take their work to the next level and is a regular instructor for Stanford Continuing Studies Creative Writing program. Originally from northern England, she now lives in Northern California with her husband and cat. When not writing, she can be found hiking in the redwoods and digging in her vegetable garden.
Kirsten Menger-Anderson
Kirsten Menger-Anderson is the author of The Expert of Subtle Revisions, one of NPR's 2025 Books We Love, and Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain, a collection of short stories that was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award in fiction and one of Time Out Chicago’s top ten books of the year. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications including Ploughshares, the Southwest Review, LitHub, and Undark. She currently lives in San Francisco with her family.
James Moorer
Cleveland, Ohio native, James Moorer is a Los Angeles based best-selling author, actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is an unflinching storyteller who isn’t afraid of the dark passenger in the souls of man. He writes dark, character-driven dramas where the road the hell is paved with good intentions, the good fight is more than an idea, and where blood-covered heroes love Pancakes.Lisa Manterfield is the award-winning author of five novels and two works of non-fiction, including All Our Lies Are True, a psychological suspense that Publishers Weekly calls “gut-wrenching…and legitimately gripping.” As a book coach and editor, she loves to help writers take their work to the next level and is a regular instructor for Stanford Continuing Studies Creative Writing program. Originally from northern England, she now lives in Northern California with her husband and cat. When not writing, she can be found hiking in the redwoods and digging in her vegetable garden.
June Patrick
June Patrick writes feel-good romantic escapes set in swoony faraway places designed to make you forget about real life. A Northern California native, she now lives in Denver with her husband and daughter, where they begrudgingly battle snow and dream about like on the Mediterranean. When she's not in the writing cave, you can find her at bookish events across the country, sipping champagne and dreaming of travel. Connect with her on socials @junepatrickauthor.
Julia Park Tracey
Julia Park Tracey is an award-winning journalist and author. Inspired by a mysterious train receipt in her family’s scrapbook, she researched her Orphan Train roots and wrote The Bereaved. She has ancestors—or should we say an-sisters? Another such ancestor is the Puritan woman named Silence Greenleaf; Silence: A Novel is published by Sibylline Press. New in November 2025 is Whoa, Nelly! —a contemporary journey into literary fandom by a lonely librarian who lives through a fixation on the Little House books.
Jordan Rosenfeld
Jordan Rosenfeld is author of the novels Fallout, Women in Red and Forged in Grace and 7 books on the craft of writing, including The Sound of Story: Developing Voice and Tone in Writing and 6 others. Learn more about her freelance writing, editing and coaching. Follow her on Substack at Writing in the Pause.
Irony Sade
Irony Sade grew up immersed in nature and surrounded by science, leaving him with an abiding appreciation for both. He traveled widely, earning degrees in Ethics and in Biotechnology before turning his attention to medicine. At times he worked as a blacksmith, a traveling musician, and a Peace Corps Volunteer, before eventually completing his training as a General Surgeon. He lives with his wife on a small farm in Northern California. When he is not writing, he gardens, takes care of animals, performs advanced robotic surgery, and sometimes dreams of dragons.
Cody Sisco
Cody Sisco is an author of cautionary utopias in science fiction settings. His Resonant Earth series explores fractured realities where truth is contested and survival is resistance. He is also an editor, publisher, and literary culture producer.
James L Sweeney
James Sweeney's novels focus on the last indigenous Caribbean people to resist European imperialism.
Wendy Tokunaga
Wendy Tokunaga is a novelist, editor, writing instructor and acclaimed cat servant, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of the novels “Midori by Moonlight” and “Love in Translation” (St. Martin’s), among others. Her latest novel, “Brenda Barker’s Next Chapter,” is published by Blydyn Square Books. She holds an MFA from University of San Francisco and teaches for Stanford’s Novel Writing Certificate Program. When not writing, editing, teaching, or discovering the best new restaurant, she sings jazz and bossa nova standards with her keyboardist husband.
Christine Walker
Christine Walker is a visual artist and author of “Tap Dancing at the Bluebird” (novel, Sibylline Press), “A Painter’s Garden: Cultivating the Creative Life” (memoir, Warner Books), and co-author/illustrator of “Wooleycat’s Musical Theater” (children’s book, Tortuga Press). She has an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington, an MA in Creative Arts Interdisciplinary, and a BFA. She consults in strategic visioning and teaches writing. For Sibyl Writing Craft, she has authored “A Writer’s Resolution: A Guided Journal for Realizing a Rewarding Writing Practice” and “Our Writing Minds in Play: The Nine Ways Approach to Masterful Fiction and Memoir” (2027).
Adult Nonfiction
Nina Amir
Nina Amir, the Inspiration to Creation Coach, is a 20X Amazon bestselling hybrid author. She supports writers as an Author Coach, nonfiction developmental editor, Transformational Coach, and Certified High Performance Coach.
Nina’s most recent traditionally published book is Change the World One Book at a Time. She also authored How to Blog a Book, The Author Training Manual, and Creative Visualization for Writers and a host of self-published writing guides. She has had as many as six books on the Amazon Authorship bestseller list at the same time.
Nina runs the Nonfiction Writers’ University and Inspired Creator Community.
Jack El-Hai's
Author Jack El-Hai's book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, was adapted into the newly released Sony Pictures Classics film Nuremberg. El-Hai shows how Dr. Douglas M. Kelley’s research, the product of months of interviews and psychological evaluations of members of the Nazi German high command on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, offered a key to understanding the potential rise of fascism in the United States. The German leaders encouraged citizens to react with their emotions, weaponized the rights of democracy in anti-democratic action, exploited racial and national myths, and harnessed the power of the police.
Jósa Goodlife
Jósa Goodlife is a multi-faceted artist, energy healer, and facilitator whose work bridges the mystical and the tangible.
Originally from Iceland, she now resides in the Bay Area, California, where she serves her community through somatic yoga, sound healing, and one-on-one sessions.
Jósa is especially passionate about supporting people in reconnecting with their creative essence and restoring their nervous systems after illness, stress, or major life transitions. She is the author of Elemental Rebirth and offers elemental soundBaths, workshops, and retreats devoted to elemental healing, rediscovery of self, and inner 'homecoming'.
Devoney Looser
Devoney Looser, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, is the USA Today Bestselling author or editor of twelve books, most recently Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane (St. Martin’s Press). Her previous titles include Sister Novelists (2022), The Making of Jane Austen (2017), and The Daily Jane Austen (2019). Looser—a Guggenheim Fellow and a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar—has published essays in The Atlantic, New York Times, Salon, Slate, The TLS, and the Washington Post, and her lectures on Austen are available through The Great Courses and Audible.
Memoir
Theresa Chen Arzola
Theresa Chen Arzola is Taiwanese-American graphic novelist & illustrator based in Millbrae, CA. She is passionate about telling stories involving self discovery and rising above the odds, especially women who challenge societal norms and stereotypes. Her works are inspired by her personal experiences and love of fantasy, adjusting her art style to the theme and audience as needed.
Rebecca Knuth
Rebecca Knuth, while a professor at the University of Hawaii, wrote "Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century" and "Burning Books and Leveling Libraries" Her memoir, "London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement" (She Writes Press, Jan 2026) is about the two years post-retirement, when she lived in London and reinvented herself as a writer of creative nonfiction. Rebecca lives in Portland, Oregon. Her book on a little known serial killer, "The Many Wives of James P. Watson: The Story of the "Prince Charming" Serial Killer" (She Writes Press) comes out March, 2027.
Dr Levy
Dr Rebecca Levy is a recently retired Obstetrician and Gynecologist who is originally from New York, now residing in the Napa Valley. She has thirty years of experience n the medical field, including over ten years running a solo private practice. Now Dr Levy lectures, consults and writes about women's health, focusing on perimenopause and menopause. She has published several books on these topics.
Catherine Maxwell
Catherine Maxwell is a writer, a yogini, a traveler, and an artist. She blogs when she is inspired and is currently at work on a handful of writing projects. She is an avid adventurer who splits time between Charleston, SC, and New Zealand. You can find her mosaic art on Instagram @ maxxmosaics, check out the blog at wwwcatnipkiss.wordpress.com, and stay tuned for her new novel, Silver, coming spring 2026.
Bruce Rettig
Bruce Rettig is the author of Refraction: An Arctic Memoir, which recounts his experience working as a merchant marine and laborer at a remote outpost in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska—home to the largest oilfield in North America. Refraction offers intimate insights into the power of Big Oil, the shadow of the Cold War in the 1980s, the dangers of an industrial environment, life in an isolated work camp, and the growing threats of climate change. The book won numerous accolades, including first place in the 2018 San Francisco Writers Contest, and an excerpt was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. At the Community of Writers workshop, it was described as Heart of Darkness meets Into the Wild. Bruce is currently completing a novel set during the 1950s atomic testing era in Nevada. He lives and writes in South Lake Tahoe, works at his marketing and graphic design agency, and serves as a travel writer and photographer for the American Indigenous Tourism Association. More at BruceRettig.com.
Lissa Soep
Lissa Soep, PhD is a Peabody Award-winning journalist, writer, editor, and scholar whose work across media considers the ways that we love and learn, lose and find one another through language. Her 2024 memoir, Other People’s Words (Spiegel & Grau), explores the afterlives of those we’ve lost in the language they left behind. She is a senior editor at Vox Media; editorial lead on Language Please, a dynamic style guide for the people; and founder of Bonus Chapter, a sound-rich audiobook experiment.
Raina Telgemeier
Raina Telgemeier is the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award–winning creator of Smile, Sisters, and Guts, which are all graphic memoirs based on her childhood. She is also the creator of Drama and Ghosts, the adapter and illustrator of the first four Baby-sitters Club graphic novels, and, with Scott McCloud, the co-creator of The Cartoonists Club.
Poetry
Peter Dudley & Antoinette LeCouteur
Peter and Antoinette have published three collections of photography and poetry as well as nonfiction books about making the most out of every day and overcoming burnout. The couple run Gray Bear Advisors, a coaching and advising firm focusing on helping people live a fulfilling life, enjoy a successful career, and feel the inner peace of doing it all right. Peter is also an author coach, having helped 15 people earn the title "best selling, award winning author" for their bios.
Diane Frank
Diane Frank is author of nine books of poems, three novels, and a photo memoir of her 400 mile trek in the Nepal Himalayas. She is also Chief Editor of Blue Light Press. While Listening to the Enigma Variations: New and Selected Poems won the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Poetry. Her new novel, Mermaids and Musicians, was published in 2024. Her first novel, Blackberries in the Dream House, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Al Frankie
Al Frankie is a poet and a writer who lives in the Bay Area, California, with her cat, Charles Magic Bukowski. She has published a poetry book about heartbreak in 2020 and is working on publishing a series of mythic novels and revolutionary poetry books.
Emilie Lygren
Emilie Lygren is a nonbinary poet and educator whose work is grounded in curiosity and reverence. She’s taught writing in classrooms, research stations, graduate programs, parks, libraries, and beyond. Her first book of poetry, What We Were Born For, won the Blue Light Book award was chosen by the Young People’s Poet Laureate as a monthly book pick from the Poetry Foundation. Emilie is currently a professor of creative writing, a poet in the schools, and at work on an anthology of poems on mental health for teens and youth. She lives on Coast Miwok land in San Rafael, California.
Lauren Martin
Lauren Martin is a psychotherapist, an award-winning poet, and a devoted Ìyânífá. She lives in Oakland, California. Lauren studied poetry at Sarah Lawrence College. She spent years writing without submitting her work due to a long shamanic journey, which led her to both Ifá, and to the writing of this collection of poems.
Lissa/E.A. Provost
Lissa Provost is the founder and chaos director of New Alexandria Creative Group. She is always working on projects as an author, publisher, graphic designer, content creator, and doll collector. Her biggest ongoing project is the San Francisco Writers Conference, held in February each year. As the Managing Director, she shapes the program to help emerging authors learn how and make the connections needed to break into print. She also edits and publishes the conference's Writing Contest Anthologies.
Teen/Young Adult
Chris Mancini
Chris Mancini is a writer, comedian, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has written on everything from soap operas to parenting books to comics to horror films. He has written and directed award-winning short films along with a horror/comedy feature film (Asylum) for Lionsgate, and was a writer/producer on Ear Buds: The Podcasting Documentary for Comedy Dynamics.
His published works include Pacify Me: A Handbook for the Freaked Out New Dad from Simon and Schuster, The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies from Morgan James, and Long Ago and Far Away and Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master from White Cat Entertainment and Massive Publishing.
E Provost
E Provost is a founding member of New Alexandria Creative Group, a skilled editor and an emerging author just breaking into print with original work after racking up millions of reads on aer fanfictions as a teenager. Ae also manages volunteers for the writers conference and keep big projects organized.
Children
Laura Atkins
Laura Atkins is a children's book author, editor, and co-organizer of the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair and Family Day at the Bay Area Book Festival. She has written five books for young readers (nonfiction and picture books), including her latest, Bringing the Beach Home. With her background as an editor (including at Lee & Low), Laura is passionate about true access to all voices in children's publishing.
Ying Compestine
Ying Chang Compestine is the multi-talented author of 27 books, spanning fiction, picture books, and five internationally acclaimed cookbooks. Her work is enjoyed by readers worldwide. Ying has been featured on numerous national television programs, profiled in leading news outlets, and named one of the "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" by The Author's Show. Beyond her writing, she is a dedicated mentor and educator, teaching workshops, speaking at major writers’ conferences, and guiding emerging writers in developing their craft and storytelling skills.
Dr. Korie Leigh
Dr. Korie Leigh is an internationally recognized thanatologist, child life specialist, and educator with over 20 years of experience supporting children, families, and professionals navigating grief and loss. An award-winning graduate professor and program director, she teaches and consults on grief, trauma, and child development. Dr. Leigh is a sought-after speaker at national and international conferences and the author of three acclaimed books on grief for children and families, including What Does Grief Feel Like?, It Won’t Ever Be the Same, and When Everything Changes. She is the founder of Willow Ritual, a grief-informed company centered on meaningful ritual. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Harshini Vankineni
Harshini Vankineni is a writer, and a perpetual student of literature and languages. She is an immigrant from India and lives in Southern California with two Light-bearers and a Rock, also known as children and husband. She knows four languages, which makes it impossible for her to ever finish her reading list!
Harshini writes picture books, young adult and new adult fiction. What Color is the Baby? : A Celebration of Skin Tones is her debut picture book by Candlewick Press. She is a member of SCBWI and loves writing conferences, retreats and coffee. In her spare time, you can find her snuggled with her Kindle E-reader or binging a web series.
Monica Wesolowska
Monica Wesolowska writes for both children and adults. Her most recent children’s book ELBERT IN THE AIR was named a “Best Book of the Year” by the Bank Street College of Education while her debut LEO + LEA won an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award. Her adult memoir HOLDING SILVAN: A BRIEF LIFE which was named a “Best Book of the Year” by The Boston Globe. In addition to teaching creative writing at Stanford Continuing Studies and working one-on-one with clients as an editor, Monica loves to do author visits with children in their schools. Read more at www.monicawesolowska.com.
Natasha Yim
Natasha Yim is a children’s author and freelance writer. She’s published twelve picture books including her newest release Luna and the Case of the Missing Mooncakes (Charlesbridge Publishing, Aug. 2025). She’s also written for children’s magazines Highlights for Children, Appleseeds, Faces, and Muse. Her upcoming book Luna Picks a Lucky Dumpling (Charlesbridge Publishing) will be out in May 2026. Natasha grew up in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong and loves to write about people and cultures from around the world.