Midwest Writers Room

BIO:

Katie Venit is a children’s author who writes children’s books filled with wonder, humor, and a deep respect for the emotional power of language. Her titles include USA Today bestselling picture book FORTS, and CASSINI’S MISSION: A Spacecraft, a Tiny Moon, and the Search for Life Beyond Earth. Her nonfiction essays have appeared in Literary Mama and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Wisconsin Life. When not writing, Katie works as an in...

BIO:

Agnes Patenaude, writing as Olivia Karimi Jones, is a Kenyan-American author, psychiatric nurse, and passionate advocate for resilience and healing. Her powerful debut memoir, *Scarred, But Not Broken*, chronicles her extraordinary journey from poverty and trauma to education, motherhood, and personal restoration. Olivia writes with unflinching honesty, weaving emotional depth with cultural insight, and inspiring readers to con...

BIO:

Janis M. Falk, in her first act, raised her family, pursued a business career, and lived large and wide—and now she has something to write about. She is a graduate of both University of Michigan and Northwestern University. Now in her second act, she can often be found kayaking the Great Lakes or pruning lavender plants on her organic farm. Janis was born in Detroit, then took a multiyear tour through Chicago. She and her husba...

BIO:

With a background in Special Education, Lorisa Wiedenheft is now pursuing her dream career of being a children’s author. She has two poetry collections, Love Complications and Reflections, and her poetry has been featured in Creative Wisconsin, Bramble, and Remington Review. 

Lorisa enjoys matcha lattes, supporting the Milwaukee Bucks, and going to the beach. When not writing, she’s either curled up with a book, working on an em...

BIO:

Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Joan Elizabeth Bauer lives with her husband Paul in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they have raised three children. Joan holds a master’s degree in English from Marquette University and has worked as a trust officer in a bank. Her short fiction and book reviews have appeared in various journals, including Dappled Things, The Windhover, and Last Syllable. “Consignment,” a novelette, was published in...

BIO:

Mike is a Wisconsin native, first time author and 2 time father. He worked in film and television for thirty plus years, some credits include, Fight Club, Meet Joe Black, Monk, and a bunch of Warner Brothers cartoons. He spends time in Door County in the summers, and Lambeau field in the winters. Mike most recently was a consulting producer on the new CNN original, Breaking Bread. The Universe is his first novel, there’s anothe...

BIO:

Christopher is a life-long horror junkie, an award-winning filmmaker, and a frequently published writer of horror-themed fiction and non-fiction. A member of the Horror Writers Association and the Wisconsin Writers Association, Christopher recently received the Wisconsin Backbone of Horror Award for “crafting amazing horror experiences” and “supporting Wisconsin horror.” His two feature films, THE NURSERY and THE HEADMISTRESS, ...

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Once upon a time, Amanda was an avid gymnast. Today, she’s a writer, educator, and content creator. A former teacher turned full-time authorpreneur, Amanda is the founder of The Word Nerd Collaborative, a membership that supports middle school ELA teachers with engaging resources and classroom strategies. She also shares literacy tips, reading recommendations and bookish fun on her YouTube channel, Learning with the Word Nerd. ...

BIO:

Tricia Quinnies writes contemporary romances/women’s fiction under the pen name Audrey Lynden. Living in Wisconsin, she’s inspired by her home state’s charming small towns, celebrity residents and the beautiful beaches along Lake Michigan. Because of the many interesting histories and quirky traditions happening all around Wisconsin, her contemporary romances will make you laugh, cry and cheer. With her love of British mysterie...

Bio: 

After earning Bachelor and Master’s degrees, Mary Ann Noe spent 29 years in Waukesha classrooms, first teaching 7th grade language arts and social studies, followed by high school English and psychology.  Upon retirement, she joined a writing workshop where she reinvented herself as an author.  Mary Ann publishes novels through Black Rose Writing.  Her non-fiction essays and poetry are in numerous print and online magazines.  ...

BIO:

Lisa is the owner of Books & Company in Oconomowoc.  She has been a bookseller since 1992 at bookstores in New Mexico, Kansas, and Iowa before she moved to Oconomowoc in 2007 to purchase Books & Company.  She served on the Board for the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association and on the American Booksellers Association’s Booksellers Advisory Board.  Lisa grew up in New Mexico in a family of readers, artists, and tea...

BIO:

A longtime Madison newspaper features writer, Tom Alesia wrote one of 2022’s bestselling baseball books, Beauty at Short: Dave Bancroft, the Most Unlikely Hall of Famer and His Wild Times in Baseball’s First Century, described by Wisconsin Public Radio host Larry Meiller as “such a fun book – I really loved this.” The Des Moines Register added, “Alesia does more than offer statistics; he brings Bancroft to life!”

Alesia won the ...

BIO:

A Milwaukee native, Ken graduated Ripon College and was later selected for the inaugural American Film Institute’s Writer/Director Program.

He wrote/directed the Warner Brothers film, “Howzer,” has written teleplays/episodic television, and produced On-Air promotions for CBS-TV. 

Ken’s feature film “Road Goddess” is under option; his novel “The Sun Jumpers” is optioned by G7 Animation. He wrote the book/lyrics for “Esperanza—The ...

BIO:

Tamara Dean has been camping, fishing, hiking, and gathering wild foods from an early age, led and inspired by her parents. She writes fiction and nonfiction and teaches creative writing. Her essays and stories have appeared in The American Scholar, The Georgia Review, the Guardian, One Story, Orion, The Progressive, and elsewhere. She’s also the author of The Human-Powered Home: Choosing Muscles Over Motors. She lives in Madis...

BIO:

Felicia is a literary fiction and creative memoir writer and published poet with her debut book AWAKE: Poetry for the Healing. Her work has also appeared in magazines, newspapers, calendars, blogs and multi-authored books. Felicia lives as a nomad in a house on wheels with her three fur babies and partner Vinny. Follow her writing and traveling adventures at FeliciaClarkAuthor.com.

SYNOPSIS:

AWAKE: Poetry for the Healing invites ...

BIO:

To honor the just concluded National Poetry Month, today we are interviewing Brenda Cárdenas, Wisconsin’s newest poet laureate. Brenda has authored Trace (Red Hen Press, 2023), winner of the 2023 Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry and silver winner of Foreword Review’s Indie Poetry Prize; Boomerang (Bilingual Press); and three chapbooks. Her poems and essays have also appeared in many literary journals and anthologies,...

BIO:

Evelyn Ann Casey writes stories filled with grace and gumption. A love of language and storytelling grew from her Chicago roots in a multi-ethnic neighborhood filled with Irish brogues and pubs, Sicilian music and cannoli, and the Yiddish banter of delis. 

Evelyn’s poetry, essays and flash fiction are published in Midwest Review, Medium.com, Potato Soup Journal and elsewhere. She worked in government relations in Milwaukee and M...

BIO:

Kevin holds a BA in journalism and an MBA from Marquette University.  He’s worked as the outdoor writer for a daily newspaper, taught at the undergraduate and graduate level, and served as the president of an urban safety net hospital and a mental health emergency center.  A Wisconsin native, The Killers’ Terms is his third novel set in the state.  He’s recently been a guest on WTMJ4’s Morning Blend and 620AM’s “What’s On Tap.”...

BIO:

Kristin is the author of two award-winning suspense thrillers, Carpe Diem, Illinois and God on Mayhem Street, and the young adult dystopian Devil Particle Series. She teaches writing workshops, has critiqued manuscripts through the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies, and has helped writers hone their agent pitches at the Division’s Writers’ Institute. As a past Chicago Writers Association board member, she was the managi...