The Story Blender

Margot Leitman is an award-winning storyteller, best-selling author, speaker, and teacher who has taught and performed all over the world. A leading expert in the growing field of storytelling, she has written two books on the subject and has also written for NBC, DreamWorks TV, the Hallmark Channel, the PixL Network, and a variety of print and online sources. Additionally, she is a five-time winner of The Moth StorySLAM and was the Moth GrandSLAM winner in New York City, achieving the series’ first ever score of a perfect 10. In her spare time, Margot is an amateur baker, avid yogi, and devoted bibliophile. A proud graduate of the Ithaca College Theatre Department, she currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Angela Ruth Strong is a romance writer who gave up writing romance novels after her husband left her. Ten years later, she has returned to the realm of romance and is writing books to inspire readers to find deeper meaning and purpose in their lives. Her novels have been chosen for Top Picks in Romantic Times and have won numerous awards. She started IDAhope Writers to help teach and encourage aspiring authors, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK. A movie based on her book Finding Love in Big Sky just finished filming in Montana.

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of over a dozen novels, which have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide.In addition to his work as the humor columnist for Seasons Magazine and a columnist for Slate Magazine, Matthew is a 7-time Moth Grand SLAM Winner and 53-time Moth Story SLAM champion as well as the co-founder and artistic director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces sold-out shows throughout New England. When not hunched over a computer screen, Matthew fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a speaking coach,  a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, and a life coach. He has been teaching for 21 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

Kerry Nietz is an award-winning science fiction author who has over a half dozen speculative novels in print as well as a novella, several short stories, and a non-fiction book called FoxTales.Kerry’s novel A Star Curiously Singing won the Readers Favorite Gold Medal Award for Christian Science Fiction and is notable for its dystopian, cyberpunk vibe. It is often mentioned on “Best of” lists. Among his writings, his most talked about is the genre-bending Amish Vampires in Space, which was mentioned on The Tonight Show and in the Washington Post, Library Journal, and  Publishers Weekly.  Newsweek called it “a welcome departure from the typical Amish fare.”Kerry is a refugee of the software industry who spent more than a decade of his life flipping bits, first as one of the principal developers for the now mythical Fox Software and then at Microsoft. He is a husband, a father, a technophile, and a movie buff.

Bella Mahaya Carter is a creative writing teacher, empowerment coach, speaker, and the author of an award-winning memoir, Raw: My Journey from Anxiety to Joy as well as a collection of narrative poems. She has worked with hundreds of writers since 2008 and has degrees in literature, film, and spiritual psychology. Her poetry, essays, fiction, and interviews have appeared in Mind, Body, Green; The Sun; Lilith; Fearless Soul; Writer’s Bone; Women Writers, Women’s Books; Chic Vegan; Bad Yogi Magazine; and several anthologies, among other works.

John Galligan is the author of three books in the Heidi Kick mystery series: DEAD MAN DANCING, BAD AXE COUNTY, and the newest installment, BAD MOON RISING, as well as five other novels. In addition to his fiction writing, he has also worked as an award-winning journalist, a feature-film screenwriter, a house painter, an au pair, an ESL teacher, a cab driver, and a freezer boy in a salmon cannery. He teaches writing at Madison College, where his experience is enriched by students from every corner of the world.A native of Madison, Wisconsin, John is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Policy and a masters in English Literature.

Dean Koontz is an international bestselling author whose novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. His books are published in 38 languages and he has sold over 500 million copies.

The New York Times has called his writing “psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying” and Rolling Stone has hailed him as “America’s most popular suspense novelist.” His latest collection of stories, entitled /Nameless Season Two/, is available now on Amazon and is sure to both delight his current fans and attract new ones.

Dean lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson are the writing team behind the #1 bestselling Tier One series. Brian is a nuclear engineer who served as an officer on a fast-attack submarine and Jeff is a trauma vascular surgeon who conducted combat operations with an East Coast-based SEAL team. Along with their newest book, SONS OF VALOR, their other novels include the Shepherds series and installments in W.E.B. Griffin’s Presidential Agent series.

Don Bentley spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot during which time he was stationed in South Korea, Germany, and Texas. While deployed to Afghanistan as a Troop Commander in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Don was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal with “V” device for valor. Following his time in the military, Don worked as an FBI Special Agent and was a member of the Dallas Office SWAT team. Since leaving the FBI, Don has worked for a number of companies that develop technology for the U.S. Special Operations Community. He holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Ohio State University, and an M.F.A in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Don is the author of the Matt Drake thriller series including WITHOUT SANCTION, THE OUTSIDE MAN, and two forth coming titles, as well as TARGET ACQUIRED, a Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. novel.

Lisa Cron is a story coach, speaker, and the author of Wired for Story, Story Genius, and Story or Die. She has previously worked as a literary agent, a television producer, and a story consultant for Warner Brothers and The William Morris Agency, among others, and has served on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts MFA program in visual narrative. Since 2006, she has also taught in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.Lisa lives in Santa Monica, California and currently advises writers, nonprofits, educators, and journalists on the art and craft of story.