Vice President - Vacant
Treasurer - thomas brauner
Tom Brauner serves as Treasurer on the Board of the SLO NightWriters. He holds a Masters degree in Social Welfare from UCLA and a Doctorate in Social Work from Smith College. For most of his clinical career he worked with neuro-divergent children and their families, as well as with individuals and couples in private practice.
Tom has always loved books and literature and, after retiring in 2023, has finally found the time to write. He is a member of the Atascadero critique group and his first short story, An Arranged Marriage, was published in The NightWriter Review.
Secretary - Jim Livingston
Jim has been a SLO NightWriter member for four years and is the club’s current secretary.
He worked as a secondary vocational education teacher until retirement. He started writing in 2013, concentrating on science fiction. Five years ago, he and his wife moved back to San Luis Obispo to support family members.
He attended his first Central Coast Writers Conference at Cuesta College four years ago, feeling the workshops offered valuable insights, advice, information, and training for budding writers.
Jim learned about the SLO NightWriters at the conference and was encouraged to join. He’s attended the critique sessions offered before each monthly general NightWriters meeting with critiquers Susan Tuttle and Terry Sanville, and now Mark Arnold.
His only published works are his Cal Poly senior project, Chico State master’s thesis and three recent articles in the club’s newsletter.
Jim has written seventeen novels with another mostly finished, none published. His fictional universe, The New Greenland Chronicles, begins in the year 2087 with the novel, A New World, and goes to 2152 with his Blue Angel Trilogy. Utilizing his technical background, Jim projects where today’s technology will be at the end of this century. He explores both the positive and negative possibilities of future technology and their effect on humanity.
Jim joined a critique group a year and a half ago. His group is currently evaluating The Horns of the Borsk, a hundred-thousand-word novel that takes place in the year 2108. He’s hoping to have them finish with it later this year, then send it to beta readers for their evaluations. So if you’re interested in a rip-roaring sci fi yarn let Jim know.
WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR - SHAYNA BAILEY
Shayna is an avid reader who enjoys writing. Though she has wrote a couple of Children’s picture books and completed the first draft of her Middle Grade novel, no works have been published yet. She’s working to rewrite her novel and hopes to have it finished by the end of this year. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Environmental Earth Science from Cal Poly and likes to spend time with her family enjoying the beautiful landscapes and natural biodiversity the Central Coast has to offer.
Marketing director - kevin carr
Kevin Carr is a writer, musician, and digital marketer based in Oceano, CA. His storytelling is deeply inspired by his obsession with old vinyl records, too much coffee, and the stern timelessness of John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury. A graduate of the University of Rochester’s creative writing program and Gonzaga’s post-graduate communications and leadership program, his career spans award-winning one-act plays, musical performances with forgotten indie bands, and digital marketing and advertising for national brands. His writing has been featured in The Inlander, 585 Magazine, New Energy Magazine, CITY Newspaper, Behind the Setlist, Reflections Literary Journal, and FlowerSong Press, among others. His debut novel, the first in a science-fantasy trilogy, will be published in 2025 via Provender Press. When he’s not weaving tales or crafting immersive soundtracks to accompany his writing, you can find him chasing the sunset with his family on the California coast.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR – Dodi champion
Learning the meaning of words like tenacity, discernment, and persistence, grew the author’s determination to develop weaknesses. She conquered working 35 years of long days in Property Management/Marketing, now somewhat retired.
Years ago, Dodi counseled under successful people to investigate other ways to diversify income, and learned an important tip under a network marketing biz – ‘Hang around people you want to become like.’ Another tip - read books by accomplished people- and take the time to get involved in classes or a club that will educate you in the field you’d like to develop.
Her true literary blessing is when she found consistently reading the Bible led her to church and family community, gaining understanding to practice New Testament conservative concepts. She found ways to soften her anxiety and stress battles, gaining wisdom, quietness and peace.
“My mind is always full, the option to create stories, gave her the ‘why,’ to become inspired to write and become a published author. What eventually happens when you stop procrastinating is therapeutic.
It’s a joy to meet new people, to share, care and serve
Golden Quill Contest Director - Harvey Ardman
Harvey Ardman has been a professional writer for nearly 60 years. His work includes many magazine articles, dozens of PBS documentary films and 23 published books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Journalism and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
About a year-and-a-half ago, Ardman left his home of 40 years in Rockport, Maine and moved to San Luis Obispo, to be near his younger daughter. One of the first things he did here was to join Nightwriters. He is an avid participant in a critique group and is in the final stages of completing his first science fiction novel, "Hello, Earth," a book of just over 100,000 words.
Last year, he served as the Golden Quill's short story judge.
Newsletter Editor- denise yaffe
Denise Yaffe is a new author of children’s books. She is from California and has a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the field of chemical Engineering, She has 30 years of environmental experience in compliance, remediation, and sustainability. She has written and published technical papers and scholarly articles for national conference proceedings and various peer-reviewed journals such as Risk Analysis, J. Chemical Information Computer Science, and Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research. She is currently writing the Earth Kids series of books addressing various important environmental issues.
Denise Yaffe is a new author of children’s books. She illustrates and writes environmental fiction and non-fiction for middle-grade. She is currently writing the Earth Kids series of books addressing pollution, global warming, climate change and environmental justice. In the past, Denise authored and published scholarly articles and technical papers for national conference proceedings and various peer-reviewed journals such as Risk Analysis, J. Chemical Information Computer Science, and Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research.
Denise is from California and has a doctorate degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also a Licensed Professional Engineer with experience in environmental and chemical engineering,compliance, remediation, and sustainability. Denise moved to Los Osos in 2019 and later joined NightWriters. Dr. Yaffe is the Environmental Justice Coordinator for the NAACP, the newly appointed editor of Wordsmiths, SLO NightWriters, and works part-time as an environmental consultant.
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