The presenters and facilitators of the sessions, thus far…
AMYLEE is a Californian author and poet. She has written two books of poetry, Bird with a Bright Object, and More Bright and Shiny Things, as well as the historical fiction, The Secret Lives of Ancestors. Her poems have also appeared in the anthology When Rain Will Come. She lives in the California Foothills with her husband. AmyLee can be found at https://www.instagram.com/amy.luning/, https://x.com/amylee_writer, and https://medium.com/@amylee_53969
WENDY BROWN-BARRY has been a writer, poet, and performer of cowboy poetry since 1996. An educator and entertainer, she keeps the history and oral traditions of the Old West alive through poetry and story. Her poetry can be found in Mountain Majesty and Other Poems: Anatomy of a Cowboy Poet, a self-published work. Wendy has lived in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in the Gold Rush-era town of Mariposa since 1971. She and her husband, Kevin, live on the Round Tuit Ranch with their horses, dogs, and cats.
CONNIE CORCORAN is a retired librarian and author. Her previous books include Gumption, a Grandmother’s Story, and The Red and the Blonde, My Father’s Family. Her short stories have appeared in Out of the Fire and Voices of Wisdom, published by Manzanita Writers Press. Her work also appears in the anthology When Rain Will Come, published by The Sonora Writers Group. She lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills with her husband. Contact her at sierrabookie@gmail.com or visit her on Facebook.
GLENN ALLEN DITMAN is a substitute elementary school teacher, a writer, and a poet. He’s written Riverbank, a historical non-fiction book published in 2013; The Glenn Allen Anthology, which contains three children’s stories published in 2017; and a children’s book, Spoiled Rotten Reggie, published in 2024. His poetry and short story appear in the anthology When Rain Will Come, published in 2024. His work with children inspires his writing to be both creative and humorous. He resides, works, and plays in the Gold Rush Town of Sonora, California, and is a long-time member of the Sonora Writers’ Group.
KRISTIN FULTON is the author of middle-grade novels Snake Food, The Haunting, and Henry Bingle’s Transformation; picture books, Is THAT a Hat? and Don’t Blame Sam; Christmas in July, a two-act play for family entertainment, and the historical novel, Sisters of the Soul. She is currently working on her next adult novel, The Fever, and is poised to publish A Dangerously Close Encounter, a second-in-series YA adventure, later this year. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys playing music with friends and having fun in her art studio.
NICK HUGUES generally writes about the restless. His work has appeared pseudonymously in Manzano Mountain Review, Popshot Quarterly (UK), and Big Windows Review. His work appears in the anthology, When Rain Will Come, published by the Sonora Writers Group. Having lived in Kansas, Idaho, and Kentucky, he currently lives in Sonora, CA where he is a member of the Sonora Writers Group. Kangaroo is his first novel.
KENT REEVES is a local photographer, poet, and storyteller whose work documents the culture and lifestyle of the modern cowboy. He works as a wildlife-range ecologist and has a graduate degree in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Science. His professional career includes ecological consulting and work in the public sector, from Resource Conservation Districts to Federal Agencies. He’s a Certified Wildlife Biologist and Certified Professional in Rangeland Management Emeritus. Kent guides people in California on listening to the land and one another as a team member of the Rancher-to-Rancher Network within the NGO, The Soil Carbon Coalition. He has ‘cowboyed’ and started colts in California and New Mexico. and continues to pack mules and guide in the Sierra Nevada Wilderness.
CYNTHIA RESTIVO works as a storytelling/theater arts teacher at Aspire charter public schools in San Joaquin County, CA. She’s been the proud recipient of the California Arts Council’s Artist in the Schools grant for year-long residencies in Tuolumne County schools for several years. She’s constantly developing and refining new stories to tell her 700+ students weekly and each year directs student productions of storytelling, musical theater, puppetry, reader’s theatre, mime, improvisation and other short plays. Cynthia is a member of National Storytelling Network, the California Arts Project, Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and Association of Personal Historians.
Blanche Abrams, as President of the Writers RoundTable in the Bay Area, was active
in the literary movement for over twenty years. She organized literary evenings, writing
contests, anthologies, and poetry readings. Blanche served on committees to choose
Poet Laureates for Pleasanton and Livermore. For the Alameda County Fair, she
choose the judges and organized poetry of over 100 poets. Her short stories have taken
1 st place awards at Las Positas College, and her essays poetry and short stories have
been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The
Raven is a favorite of hers which she performs for groups and functions. She
resides in the Mother Lode and is a proud member of the Sonora Writers Group.
She organized the popular Tuolumne Writers Retreat for Sonora and Mother Lode writers, which was well-attended.