2024 Rising Star Award First Round Judges

Karen Cino is a multi-published author who has been writing since she was fourteen years old. She started her career by writing poetry, short stories, and articles for her high school newspaper. She loves writing about local places that people can relate to. Her recent books include: CAROUSEL PLAZA (Women's Fiction) and SEASIDE REBOOT (Cozy Mystery). When she isn't writing she does coaching and editing. Karen is a member of WFWA and New Jersey Romance Writers. Currently, Karen is working on a Cozy Mystery Series and a Women’s Fiction Series. Find her on Facebook or on her website, karencino.com.

Bestselling author Barbara Claypole White writes emotionally-charged book club fiction about the impact of mental illness on families. Her novels include: The Unfinished Garden, which won the Golden Quill for Best First Book; The In-Between Hour, a SIBA Okra Pick Winter 2014; The Perfect Son, a 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist for Best Fiction; Echoes of Family, a WFWA Star Award Finalist; and The Promise Between Us, a 2018 Nautilus Award Winner and a 2019 American Fiction Awards Finalist. Novel six is currently on submission.  She is also on the advisory council for the A2A Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes a simple idea: we help ourselves by helping others. Visit her at barbaraclaypolewhite.com.

Grete DeAngelo is the author of GIVING MYSELF AWAY (women's fiction, Assent Publishing, 2013). She has been a Rising Star judge for the past several years and teaches high school history and research writing. Her website is www.gretedeangelo.com.

KJ Dell’Antonia is the New York Times best-selling author of the novels The Chicken Sisters, Playing the Witch Card, In Her Boots, and the non-fiction book How to Be a Happier Parent. She is also the former editor of the New York Times’ Motherlode blog, the co-host of the #AmWriting podcast, and a passionate bookstagrammer (@kjda). She lives in Lyme, New Hampshire with her husband and an ever-evolving cast of children, dogs, cats, chickens, horses and houseguests. Visit her website at kjdellantonia.com.

Heather Dixon is an author of contemporary women’s fiction, including BURLINGTON, LAST SUMMER AT THE LAKE HOUSE and THE SUMMERVILLE SISTERS. In addition to writing fiction, Heather is a managing editor of a non-profit website. She is an active member of WFWA, and lives just outside of Toronto with her husband and three daughters. Follow her on Twitter @hdixonwriter and Instagram @heatherdixonwriter.

Laura Drake is a hybrid author of Women's Fiction and Romance. Her debut, THE SWEET SPOT, won the 2014 Romance Writers of America® RITA® award. She’s since published 10 more romances and four Women’s Fiction. She is a founding member of Women’s Fiction Writers Association and Writers in the Storm blog. Laura is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full time. She realized a lifelong dream of becoming a Texan and is currently working on her accent. She's a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her website, lauradrakebooks.com.

Lisa Fellinger is the author of THE SERENDIPITY OF CATASTROPHE as well as a developmental editor and book coach. This is her third year as a Rising Star Judge. Follow her on Instagram @lisafellinger_editor and on Facebook. Her website is www.lisafellinger.com.

Heather Garbo is a 25-year communications professional, a freelance developmental editor and book coach, and the director of a small regional press in Denver, Colorado, where she manages acquisitions, editing and production. Heather especially loves working with women writers who are discovering their writing voice later in life. She has a BA in English literature, an MA in sociology, and a master’s certificate in publishing. Follow her on Instagram at @hbgarbo, or follow her on Substack at whiteknucklingcalm.substack.com.

Karin Gillespie is the author of nine novels and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Converse College. She's written for the Washington Post and New York Times and has taught writing at the college level for 10 years. Follow her on Facebook, Tiktok, and Substack.  

Amy Hagstrom is the author of THE WILD BETWEEN US and forthcoming SMOKE SEASON (both with Lake Union). She is an active member of AWP and WFWA, and has two decades of experience in the travel and outdoor industry, recognized as an O Magazine Insider and previous columnist and feature writer at Travel Oregon, US News, and Huff Post. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Whitworth University. A lifelong outdoors enthusiast, she served as a volunteer EMT with her local county search and rescue unit before launching her travel writing career. Visit her at amyhagstrom.com.

writes women’s fiction with a bit of an edge. Her novels explore the role of friendship in the lives of adult women and themes of identity. Her novels include INN ON A WHIM, COTTAGE OF SECOND CHANCES (2024), HOW TO CLIMB THE EIFFEL TOWER, OVERLOOK and ESCAPE PLAN. This is her eighth year as a Rising Star judge. Her website is www.elizabethhein.com.

Elsie Hillman-Gordon is an award-winning women’s fiction author. Her debut novel LOVE IS EVERYTHING is the story of a woman struggling with grief and its ripple effect on her faith and relationships. It was the first-place recipient of two independent book awards. Elsie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and is certified in editorial practices and business marketing. Her lengthy professional background is in managing grant and fundraising programs for major media nonprofits in Washington, DC. Elsie is a member of Women Fiction Writers Association and Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). She enjoys coaching other writers and is currently working on her second fiction novel. This is her first time as a Rising Star Judge. Her website is elsiehillmangordon.com. 

Rebecca Hodge is a former veterinarian and clinical research scientist who lives and writes in North Carolina. Her novels WILDLAND and OVER THE FALLS both place memorable characters in situations filled with suspense. She has three grown sons, one crazy dog, and one patient husband. When not writing on the back porch or brewing yet another mug of tea, she loves hiking, travel, and (of course) curling up with a good book. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram and check out her website www.rebeccahodgefiction.com to sign up for her newsletter, which offers a book giveaway in every issue.

Leslie Lehr is a Novel Consultant, a prize-winning author, and a regular contributor to the WFWA’S Write On Fix-It column. Her memoir, A BOOB’S LIFE, is a Women’s National Book Association “Great Group Read” featured in People, Glamour, and Good Morning America. Her novels include WHAT A MOTHER KNOWS, WIFE GOES ON, and the Pirates Alley Faulkner Prize-winning 66 LAPS. Her essays appear in Writer’s Digest, Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times MODERN LOVE column - read by Katie Couric on NPR. A graduate of USC film school with an MFA from Antioch, Leslie is a four time Rising Star Judge and loves helping bring great stories to life. For more go to www.leslielehr.com. Follow Leslie on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  

Christy Matheson writes romantic Regency fiction about friends, family, and finding one's place in an ever-changing world. She is on the editorial committee for Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women, a short-story anthology coming out in June 2024. Her debut novel was a finalist for the 2023 WFWA Rising Star Award, and is currently on submission, represented by Kristina Sutton Lennon of Focused Artists. She is an award winning spoken word poet. Christy is also an embroidery artist, classically trained pianist, and sews all of her own clothes. She lives in Oregon, on a country property that fondly reminds her of a Regency estate (except with a swing set instead of faux Greek ruins), with her five children, two Shelties, a bunny, and an improbable amount of art supplies. Visit her website at christymatheson.com and follow her on Instagram. 

Lorraine Norwood was a professional journalist for over 20 years before making a career change to archaeology. She worked as an archaeologist and archaeology editor while participating in excavations in the US and in England. Her debut novel, The Solitary Sparrow, was published this year. She is working on the sequel, A Pelican in the Wilderness. Both novels are set in 14th-century England and France. She has won awards in the Atlanta Writers Club contests and an Emerging Artist Award for Western North Carolina for her short stories and essays. She is also the author of DULUTH (Arcadia Publishing 2011), a non-fiction history of a town in Georgie. She has served as a Rising Star judge for three years in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina and is always accompanied by her old Lab Sally and her grumpy old male cat Macavity. She can be found at www.lorrainenorwood.com where you will find links to social media.

A full-time writer in sticky southwest Florida, Dr. Kristin Owens has 100+ bylines in celebrated magazines such as WINE ENTHUSIAST and WRITER'S DIGEST. With Court of Master Sommeliers and Cicerone certifications, she travels the world writing about wonderful wines, beautiful beers, and surprising spirits. Her debut novel, ELIZABETH SAILS, launches in October 2024. For more info visit www.kristin-owens.com. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Threads, and X.

Linda Bennett Pennell has been in love with the past for as long as she can remember. Anything with a history, whether shabby or majestic, recent or ancient, instantly draws her in. It probably comes from being part of a large extended family that spanned several generations. Long summer afternoons on her grandmother's wrap around porch or winter evenings gathered by the fireplace were filled with stories both entertaining and poignant. Of course, being set in the American South, those stories were also peopled by some very interesting characters, some of whom have found their way into Linda’s work. You can find her on her website at www.lindapennell.com, her blog at historyimagined.wordpress.com, and on Facebook. 

Grace Santamaria is a Colombian American writer. She writes women’s fiction about Latinas making bold moves and crushing life’s challenges. She holds a BBA and a Master of International Business, and for the past fifteen years she has worked in different marketing roles in consumer products companies focused on the Latin American market. Through storytelling, Grace hopes to join the new wave of Latin voices who are passionate about raising awareness regarding the lives of the Latin diaspora and women empowerment. Her debut novel SEA SALT AND COFFEE BEANS is forthcoming from Rising Action Publishing Collective, November 2025. Grace lives in sunny Miami, Florida with her husband, children, and overly enthusiastic golden retriever. Follow her on Instagram @gracesbookcollection

Karen Winters Schwartz wrote her first truly good story at age seven. Forty-five years later her professional writing career finally began in 2010, when the first of three widely praised novels, Where Are the Cocoa Puffs?, Reis’s Pieces, and The Chocolate Debacle were published by Goodman Beck Publishing. Red Adept Publishing released Legend of the Lost Ass in 2020, and her latest novel The Vast Clear Blue in 2023. Both are richly emotional stories about love and relationships and take place in the exotic setting of Belize. Educated at The Ohio State University, Karen and her husband moved to the Central New York Finger Lakes region where they raised two daughters and shared a career in optometry. She now splits her time between Arizona, a small village in Belize, and traveling the earth in search of the many creatures with whom she has the honor of sharing this world. This is her sixth year as a Rising Star judge for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Her website is www.karenwintersschwartz.com

Rosemary Shomaker is a women’s fiction and mystery short story and novella writer. You may find her two novellas in the Mutt Mysteries collections and her short stories in several of the Virginia is for Mysteries and the A Shaker of Margaritas series. She writes about the unexpected in everyday life--she's the woman you don’t notice in the grocery store or at church but whom you do notice at estate sales and wandering vacant lots where she is collecting story ideas. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and national and local Sisters in Crime chapters. Follow her on Instagram @rosewritesva.

Olivia Sparrow is a debut indie author, professional photographer and active member of WFWA. She writes Up-Lit and women's contemporary fiction. Her first novel, Secret Of The Sassafras was released October, 2023. This is her first year as a Rising Star judge. Follow her on TikTok @olivia sparrow, Instagram and Facebook @oliviasparrowauthor. For more information on Olivia, please visit her website at www.oliviasparrow.com.

is the award-winning author of three novels from Kensington Books: A MEASURE OF HAPPINESS, WHAT’S LEFT BEHIND and EQUILIBRIUM. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and their youngest offspring. When she’s not reading, writing, or hunting for collectibles, you can find her climbing indoor walls, hiking outdoor trails, and pedaling upon the seat of a bicycle built for two. Learn more about Lorrie’s work at www.lorriethomson.com. Connect with Lorrie on Facebook and Twitter. 

Delise Torres grew up in Puerto Rico, watching telenovelas and re-enacting scenes with her Barbies. Once she outgrew her dolls, she turned to daydreaming, and it wasn’t until her late thirties when she finally put her own stories to paper, and her passion for writing was born.
She has a PhD in Food Science and former work experience as a quality assurance manager in the food industry. When not writing, you can find her trying to time-manage her life, singing, reading, and streaming shows and movies. She lives in Germany with her daughter and German husband. Her first novel, ONE TOUGH COOKIE, came out last year from Alcove Press. Follow her on Instagram @torresdelise or visit her website, delisetorres.com, to learn more.