STAFF
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It takes more than a full year to prepare for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, so some members are active year-round, while others serve primarily at the conference itself. The Conference Committee is chaired by the Conference Director, who is responsible for holding meetings as needs dictate. Typically the Conference Committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month in the Colorado Springs area. For more information about how you can become involved in planning a future conference, or to find out when and where to find the next Conference Committee meeting, please email our Conference Director.
CONFERENCE DIRECTOR – JENNY KATE
Jenny has been a communicator and public relations professional since 2001. She has been quoted by the New York Times, CNN, FoxNews, and Time Magazine, and wrote her first novel in the second grade. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, judges contests for the Utah League of Writers, and freelanced for New York literary agent Ethan Ellenberg. She co-founded Writer Nation and is the author of the “Marketing for Writers Who’d Rather Write” book series.
CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATOR/BOOKSTORE COORDINATOR – LAURA HAYDEN
Laura is one of the founders of the Pikes Peak Writers and served as it first president. She’s been associated with PPWC since its inaugural year, 1993. In addition, she’s held the position of PPWC director for an unprecedented eight years (non-consecutive).
Laura is the author of thirteen books, four short stories and a novella and has been published by Berkley, DAW, Tyndale, St. Martins, Zebra, Cumberland House, Harlequin, TOR and Bell Bridge.
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR & FLASH FICTION COORDINATOR – TORIE FOX
Torie is a Business Intelligence Analyst, more commonly referred to as the “Report Guru” at a local bank headquarters in Denver, CO. An aggressive multi-tasker by day, and a social moth by night, she either traverses the world, or ignores it entirely, with her husband and small army of pets. When she’s not writing, or re-writing, or re-writing the re-writes, she is devouring books of all genres. With her main inspirations being R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series and the TV show Supernatural, most of her stories have a horror twist of some kind – but she’s really a lovely person. Really.
PROGRAMMING & FACULTY – KAREN FOX
When not embroiled in the adventure and romance of her latest characters, Karen shares her house in Colorado Springs, CO with her husband, her granddaughter, and four cats. She has published eight paranormal romance novels, one short story and one young adult novella. Her second book, SOMEWHERE MY LOVE, was a 1998 RITA Finalist for the Romance Writers of America. She’s currently at work on a young adult urban fantasy and new romance.
TRANSPORTATION – BOWEN GILLINGS
Bowen is an award-winning author featured in the Fresh Starts anthology, Allegory e-zine, and the Stories Alive!, Voices and Views, and Rocky Mountain Writers podcasts. He is an active member of Pikes Peak Writers and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Learn more about him at storiesbybowen.com.
REGISTRAR – CHARISE SIMPSON
Charise is a recovering IT executive and longtime Pikes Peak Writers member. She has served as Treasurer for six years and on the conference committee for over ten years. She finds ongoing inspiration in the PPW community, and agrees their annual conference is truly “The Friendliest Writers Conference.” Her writing projects include a humorous travel memoir and a true crime story from the 1940’s.
READ & CRITIQUE COORDINATOR
SPONSORSHIP COORDINATOR – NIKIA HUNT
REG DESK COORDINATOR – OPEN POSITION
BOOKSTORE COORDINATORS – JIMS SAMS & CHRIS MANDEVILL
TECH TEAM LEAD – LOU BERGER
Lou J Berger lives in Denver, Colorado with his high-school crush, three kids, a rescued Sheltie dog and a brilliant rescue mutt with a nefarious agenda. H A member of SFWA, h e has been published in a variety of venues, including Clarkesworld, Galaxy’s Edge magazine, and a host of anthologies. He is STILL working on his first novel.
Although a fan of science fiction since he was a small boy, reading Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, and of course the Heinlein juveniles, Lou also enjoys good mysteries and has a special fondness for noir environments. His favorite authors are Ray Bradbury, John D. MacDonald, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Follow him on the following social media platforms:
His author website can be found at LouJBerger.com.
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/loujberger.bsky.social
Facebook: https://facebook.com/AuthorLouJBerger/
TECH TEAM – KILAH STORM
Kilah Storm is an author, illustrator, and professional puppeteer. She has published a zine collection titled The Canine Bible and has hundreds of fans who follow her fan fiction: Avatar Strife and Harmony. She has been able to take her stories to the Denver Performing Arts Center as well as to many comic cons in multiple states. When not writing or performing, Kilah can be found hiking with her dog or working with people and their pets.
TECH TEAM – KATHERINE ANDERSON
Katherine Anderson writes ‘smut’ under the pen name Olive Spencer. Having spent the last decade honing her craft, she pulled the trigger and published 11 novellas and novelettes in 2023, her word count totaling over 300k words for the year. She is a lifelong resident of Colorado Springs, and this is her third Pikes Peak Writers Conference as part of the illustrious Tech Team.
TECH TEAM – CARLY STEVENS
Carly Stevens lives in beautiful Colorado where she’s lucky enough to make a living as a book nerd. Her life revolves around stories. From devouring The Lord of the Rings at fourteen, crushing on Sydney Carton in high school, escaping to New Beijing and Cabeswater, to now teaching the books she loves, stories have always been her driving force. She writes dark and immersive books about finding hope against the odds—sometimes fantasy, sometimes dark academia, but always with a hint of magic. She enjoys connecting with other authors in person whenever she can.
MODERATOR COORDINATOR/READ & CRITIQUE/QUERY – CARA ALLEN
Cara is an English Teacher who loves nothing more than sharing her love of reading and writing with her students (especially the ones that insist they HATE either or both of them – her goal is to try and find that one book or that one piece of writing that excites them before they leave her classroom). She lives in Centennial, Colorado with her husband, daughter, and crabby old lady cat. In her spare time, she gets lost in books or her writing and re-writing. Thinking of herself as an extroverted introvert who enjoys being around like-minded people. PPWC showed up in her life when she was ready to give up writing and instead it sparked it back up and helped her find a family of like-minded people.
WEBMASTER – SHARON MANISLOVICH
Sharon has a broad background in the technology field – teaching, constructing, and supporting website applications and infrastructure for over 25 years. She is currently working as a Web Systems Administrator, supporting over 150 websites and 55 servers.
Sharon has taught computer software courses for Delaware Technical & Community College, UCCS Adult Education, Colorado Springs IBEW, PPLD, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, and an assortment of private corporations.
MOBILE APP (SCHED) COORDINATOR – JEFF SCHMOYER
Jeff Schmoyer, a recovering tech entrepreneur, tries to find humor in the everyday world around him. He’s had several of his short plays produced, and a flash fiction story published in the Pikes Peak Writers anthology, Journeys into Possibility. Several titles in his new Snack-Sized Mystery, series are now available. Find more at JmarsInk.com.
BALLROOM COORDINATOR – DEBORAH BREWER
Deborah joined Pikes Peak Writers a decade ago, seeking help writing a mystery. When the novel was completed, she stayed for the camaraderie. An editor for the PPW anthologies Dream and Journeys into Possibility, she is also a contributing editor for the PPW blog Writing from the Peak. Visit Debby at her website https://deborahlbrewer.com
EMCEE – JOHNNY WORTHEN
SCHOLARSHIP COORDINATOR – CATHERINE DILTS
Catherine is the author of a dozen published novels, and her short stories regularly appear in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She recently retired from her position as an environmental compliance specialist with a global corporation. A former recipient of a conference scholarship, Catherine decided the time was right to pay back PPWC for setting her on the path to publication.
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR – MANDY HOUK