Our Quadrennial Conference Faculty
Meet the experts who will be leading workshops, presenting on industry insights, and inspiring you at the Carteret Writers one-day conference. Our talented faculty includes award-winning authors, experienced writing coaches, editors, and publishing professionals, all eager to share their knowledge and help you take your writing to the next level. Check out their bios below to learn more about each of our esteemed faculty members.
Thomas Kies
Master of Ceremonies
Thomas Kies lives and writes on a barrier island on the coast of North Carolina with his wife, Cindy. He has a long career working for newspapers and magazines, primarily in New England and New York. He released Whisper Room, the fifth in his Geneva Chase Mystery Series, in August 2022, and he is currently working on his next novel. When he’s not writing mysteries, Thomas Kies is the President of the Carteret County Chamber of Commerce.
Visit Tom online at https://thomaskiesauthor.com/.
Sara Johnson
Keynote Speaker & Fiction Workshop Facilitator: The Importance of Setting
Sara E. Johnson spent nine months exploring wondrous New Zealand. Everywhere she snooped, there was a mystery that needed writing. The Bone Riddle, Sara’s fourth novel in the Alexa Glock forensic mysteries set in New Zealand, comes out June 2023. Molten Mud Murder, The Bones Remember, and The Bone Track proceed it. With cutting-edge forensic technology and stunning settings, the Alexa Glock series (Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks) will delight science geeks, armchair travelers, and procedural buffs who like a little romance with their body count. Sara graduated from UNC-CH with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in education. A former reading specialist, Sara lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband. She is a graduate of Durham Citizen Police Academy, is past president of Triangle Sisters in Crime, and is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
Visit Sara online at https://www.sarajohnsonauthor.com/.
John DeDakis
Afternoon Panelist & Fiction Workshop Facilitator: Buffing and Polishing: The Art of the Rewrite
Award-winning novelist, writing coach, and manuscript editor John DeDakis (pronounced dee-DAY-kiss) is a former editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of five mystery-suspense novels. In his most recent novel, Fake, protagonist Lark Chadwick is a White House correspondent dealing with “fake news” in the era of #MeToo. DeDakis, a former White House correspondent, regularly leads writing workshops at retreats, literary centers, writers’ conferences, and bookstores. He is also the host of the video podcast “One-to-One with John DeDakis” on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. In his spare time, what little he has of it, he’s a jazz drummer. Originally from La Crosse, Wisconsin, DeDakis now lives in Baltimore, Maryland with Cindy, his wife of 44 years.
Visit John online at www.johndedakis.com.
Tim Hatcher
Creative Non-Fiction Workshop Facilitator: Running With An Egg: Creative Nonfiction from idea to publishing
Tim Hatcher lives on the southern Outer Banks of the North Carolina coast with several beach cats. He has traveled the world as a quality inspector, taught in the field of human resources at NC State University, and was the editor of Human Resource Development Quarterly. He is an avid saltwater angler and a semi-professional, part-time musician.
Learn more about Tim’s new book Time and Tide: The Vanishing Culture of the North Carolina Coast here.
Malaika King Albrecht
Poetry Workshop Facilitator: Zen Telegrams and Other Prompts for Writing Epistolary Poems
Malaika King Albrecht is a renowned poet and author of four poetry books, including The Stumble Fields, which was a finalist in the 2021 Eric Hoffer Award. She is also a founding editor of Redheaded Stepchild, an online magazine that only accepts rejected poems. In addition to her writing, Malaika is a yoga instructor, Reiki practitioner, and equine specialist in mental health and learning, working with Mane Source Counseling and the nonprofit Horses and Health. She resides on Freckles Farm in Ayden, NC with her family.
Sherri Hollister
Afternoon Presenter on the Alliance of Independent Authors
Sherri Lupton-Hollister is an author who has been writing since she learned to read. Her Leeward Files stories are set in a small, rural town in North Carolina, where her characters blend local flavor with her vivid imagination to create people who could be her friends and neighbors. Chairperson of the Pamlico Writers’ Group, the oldest writers’ group in eastern North Carolina, Sherri is excited to talk to other authors and share her passion for books. She is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors as well as the Romance Writers of America and recently self-published Christmas Inn at Teach’s Island, a novella that is part of her Harrell Family Chronicles series.
Rose Cushing
Afternoon Presenter on Podcasting
Rose Cushing is a writer, publisher, and podcast producer based in North Carolina. She founded Cushing Media Productions and published Southeast Hoofbeats magazine, focusing on the equine industry in North Carolina. Rose also hosts Carolina Hoofbeats TV, the state’s first 30-minute equine industry television show.
Ed Southern
Afternoon Panelist
Ed Southern is the author of Fight Songs: A Story of Love and Sports in a Complicated South (2021, Blair), a finalist for the 2022 Southern Book Prize (no relation). His shorter work, in a variety of genres, has appeared in The Bitter Southerner, storySouth, the North Carolina Literary Review, the North Carolina 10×10 Festival, South Writ Large, The Dirty Spoon, the Asheville Poetry Review, and Wake Forest Magazine, among others. Since 2008 he has been the executive director of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, one of the largest writers’ organizations of its kind in the country. In 2015 he won the Fortner Award for service to the literary arts in North Carolina.
Robin Miura
Afternoon Panelist
Robin Miura is Senior Editor and Associate Publisher at Blair and has worked in publishing for more than 20 years. She has worked with all types of books, but her passion is literary fiction and creative nonfiction. She is also a founding editor of the online magazine South Writ Large.
L. Diane Wolfe
Afternoon Panelist
L. Diane Wolfe, also known as "Spunk On A Stick," is an award-winning author, business owner, and speaker with extensive knowledge in marketing, book publishing, and leadership. She travels the East Coast for media interviews and speaking engagements, offering seminars on a variety of topics including writing and goal-setting. Diane is the founder of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C., which now boasts over 50 titles, including several best sellers and award winners. Her young adult series, The Circle of Friends, has been described as "encouragement personified." Diane currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and two cats.
