Janice Hallett

Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea.

A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and is the author of The Examiner, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, The Appeal, The Christmas Appeal, and The Twyford Code.

Transcription available on request.

Troy DeVolld

Troy DeVolld has been, for more than two decades, one of America's leading experts on the unscripted storytelling process.  His credits span more than 50 projects reaching as far back as regional television in the 1990s to modern hits like The Surreal Life, Dancing With the Stars and Basketball Wives.  He's currently a partner in the fledgling Big Picture Collective, has written five bestsellers including Reality TV and And Another Thing, and is a sought-after keynote speaker and industry pundit.

Transcription available on request.

Mark Greaney

Mark Greaney is the #1 NYT Bestselling Author of The Gray Man series, the 13th of which, The Chaos Agent, will be released in February 2024. The film version of his first novel, the Gray Man, was released in July 2022 starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.  He is also the author or co-author of 7 Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Novels, and the co-author of Red Metal, a NYT Bestselling thriller released in 2019.  In research for his novels Mark has visited dozens of countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in firearms tactics and battlefield medicine.

Mark lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

Transcription available on request.

Jean Kwok

Jean Kwok is the award-winning, NYT and international bestselling author of The Leftover Woman, Searching for Sylvie Lee, Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in twenty countries and taught in schools across the world. She was one of twelve contemporary authors asked by the Agatha Christie estate to write an original, authorized Miss Marple story. All of her novels are in development for film and television. The Leftover Woman was a Good Morning America Book Club Buzz Pick, CBS New York Book Club Top 3 Pick, Book of the Month Pick, and a LibraryReads Top 10 Pick selected by library staff across America. An instant New York Times bestseller, Searching for Sylvie Lee was chosen for the Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club. She divides her time between the Netherlands and New York City.

Transcription available on request.

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Hank Phillippi Ryan is USA Today bestselling author of 15 thrillers, winning five Agathas and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award, as well as 37 EMMYs for television investigative reporting. Her newest novel is the page-turning standalone ONE WRONG WORD – a twisty non-stop story of gaslighting, manipulation, and murder.  She is host of CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze, as well as co-host of THE BACK ROOM and FIRST CHAPTER FUN. She lives in Boston.

Transcription available on request.

Jon Lindstrom

Jon Lindstrom is a 4-time Emmy© nominated actor, an award-winning filmmaker, sometimes-a-drummer, and now a published author. By most accounts, he is a pretty nice guy. He lives mainly in Los Angeles, which is what he mostly writes about: The good people, the bad people, the business of show and the experience of living in sunny, glittery, seductive, corrupt LA.

Transcription available on request.

Amina Akhtar

Amina Akhtar is a novelist and former fashion editor. Her satirical first novel, #FashionVictim, drew critical acclaim. Kismet, her second book, was set in the stunning and creepy world of wellness. 

Akhtar has worked at Vogue, Elle, the New York Times, and New York Magazine, where she was the founding editor of the women’s blog The Cut. She currently lives not too far from the Sedona vortices.

Almost Surely Dead is Akhtar’s third novel.

Transcription available on request.

Bob Saenz

Bob Saenz is a screenwriter, author, and actor from Nashville with 20 produced films. His film works include “Extracurricular Activities”, “Church People”, “Help for the Holidays”, “Rescuing Madison”, “The Right Girl”, “The Christmas Yule Blog”, the award winning “The Farmer and the Belle”, and “A Dash of Christmas”. He regularly does rewrites, adaptations, and polishes on film and TV projects for Producers and Production Companies. He speaks and teaches at Film Festivals and Writer’s Conferences across the country and is the author of the popular screenwriting book, “That’s Not the Way It Works: a no-nonsense guide to the craft and business of screenwriting” and his first novel, which released in November of 2023, “Jessica’s Vampire Diary”, a unique and funny take on the undead. Acting roles: six seasons on “Nash Bridges”, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Jack”, David Fincher’s “Zodiac”, and Finn Taylor’s “Unleashed”, among dozens of others.

Transcription available on request.

Joe Castillo

After 21 years in advertising Joe has become a highly requested Keynote Speaker, SandStory artist and best selling Author.

His SandStories have been performed for Pope Francis, presidents, kings and dignitaries in 45 states, and 27 foreign countries and reached the finals on America’s got Talent.

Joe has mastered the ability to share his art stories in a way that inspires, motivates and touches the heart. Speaking, drawing and performing at corporate events, churches, and conferences makes him a perfect solution for your event. Whether online or live your audience will leave his sessions feeling uplifted and filled awe.

Transcription available on request.

Emily Bleeker

Emily Bleeker is the best-selling author of six novels. Combined, her books have reached over 1.5 million readers. She is a two-time Whitney Award finalist, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, Amazon charts bestseller and was recently listed as one of the top 100 Kindle authors “of all time.”

Emily lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her four kids and a growing menagerie of animals. Between writing and being a mom, she attempts to learn guitar, sings along to the radio (loudly), performs with a local improv troupe, and embraces her newfound addiction to running. 

Transcription available on request.