Board of Directors

Ginger Haggerty serves WFWA as the President on the 2026 Board of Directors. 

Her career centers on building connections—between people, ideas, and organizations working toward real-world impact. With a background in public policy and over a decade of experience across the nonprofit and research sectors, she has led advocacy efforts, managed national learning and practitioner networks, and designed convenings that bring together diverse stakeholders from across the country. Her work consistently emphasizes collaboration, engagement, and knowledge-sharing.

In 2021, Ginger and her wife relocated to Washington, DC, where she began focusing more intentionally on her writing. Now, four years later, she continues to develop her current manuscript while actively supporting WFWA and her writing communities. Outside of work and writing, Ginger enjoys gardening, walking her dog, and trying to slow down time as she watches her young daughter grow up far too fast. 

Michele Lugiai serves WFWA as the VP of Technology on the 2026 Board of Directors.

She has worked in the international development sector for the past 30+ years, leading global IT teams and guiding organizations through complex digital transformations across 40+ countries. Her objective is to implement technology solutions that meet the goals of organizations, departments, and teams, and to enable people to be successful in their work. 

A native Chicagoan, she happily settled in the DC/Maryland area many years ago. She is an avid traveler, having visited 13 countries and 26 states—and counting! And when she’s not at home, you can most likely find her in her favorite city – Paris.

Michele discovered WFWA in 2019 and immediately joined. She writes historical and contemporary fiction, is in the querying process for her first completed novel, and is drafting two other books.

Natalie Ihli serves WFWA as the Vice President of Programs on the 2026 Board of Directors. She oversees all programming for WFWA members, including workshops, the critique and mentorship programs, the Pitch Program, and Writing Dates—all supported by their own dedicated and savvy volunteers.

Natalie’s social work career has given her the opportunity to bridge cultures and communities through various projects around the world, while also serving individuals and couples in her private practice. Her freelance consulting and writing involve collaborating with professionals and organizations to help them communicate with clarity and impact. In her fiction writing, she blends suspense and thriller elements with the emotional depth and character growth central to women's fiction. After spending over five years of full-time RV life, she and her husband are settling down as snowbirds in Tucson, Arizona. 

 Vice President of Communications: Vacant

Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion: Vacant

Debbie Abbott serves WFWA as the VP of Events on the 2026 Board of Directors.

Brain tumor-survivor and angel believer, Debbie Abbott understands the importance of recognizing and pursuing dreams. Along her journey to become a novelist, writing has been a constant beacon guiding Abbott’s life: both in her career in PR & Marketing and her dream job as Managing Editor of a Scottsdale, AZ print magazine and companion TV show. 

Abbott has penned more than 100 articles printed in local and regional publications and worked as a freelance editor and writer for the same national publishing company for 15 years. Recently, Abbott’s first published poem was included in an all women’s anthology.

Passionate about helping other writers perfect their craft, Abbott has been a volunteer for WFWA since January 2023, creating and growing the association’s members-only platform. 

Krista White serves WFWA as the VP of Membership on the 2026 Board of Directors.

Krista White began volunteering with WFWA only months after joining the organization in early 2022. She first served as Volunteer Coordinator, before being promoted to Manager of Volunteer Recruitment and Membership Director, Special Projects. Her career choices have centered around effective communication, first as a figure skating coach, then direct sales professional, sales manager, executive recruiter and co-owner of a small recruitment firm. Krista is now Agency Assistant to CEO of The Rights Factory literary agency in her journey toward becoming a literary agent in January 2027. Krista began writing seven years ago, and her first book, a novella, was published in 2021. She lives north of Toronto in a quiet hamlet, where she reads obsessively amidst the chirp of birdsong and flush of farmland breeze.

David “D.L.” Williams serves as Secretary on the 2026 Board of Directors.

David “D.L.” Williams is a retired thirty-year public safety officer with assignments having included Advanced Life Support ambulances, tactical medic, helicopter rescue, police patrol, mental health liaison, and violent crime investigations as a detective. Williams is the bestselling author of Fighting for Her Life: What to do When Someone You Know is Being Abused and Textbooks, Not Targets: How to Prevent School Shootings in Your Community, and he now teaches criminology at the University of Arkansas. He and his family have settled in the Arkansas River Valley where they offer a haven for rescued horses and donkeys.

Stephanie Claypool serves WFWA as VP of Finance/Treasurer on the 2026 Board of Directors. She is responsible for managing all funds for the organization and assisting and advising others.

A native New Yorker, Stephanie graduated from the University at Albany with a BS in Accounting. After many years as a CPA working for a large accounting firm in New York, she moved to London and began working in the corporate world. Her career led her to San Diego where she spent many years and eventually ended her accounting career.

Stephanie now lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and a menagerie of pets. She devotes her time to writing and other pursuits. Her debut novel is expected in the fall of 2024. 

Christine Orchanian Adler serves as the Past President of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) on the 2026 Board of Directors. In addition to advising the board, she volunteers on the Inside WFWA Newsletter editorial team and in the Mentorship Program. Previously she served as President of WFWA, as well as VP of Programs.

After nearly a decade in IT, Christine earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing. She’s a former editor of the literary journal Inkwell and the regional NY parenting magazines Westchester Parent and Rockland Parent. Her articles, essays, poems, and book reviews have appeared in various print and online publications throughout the US and Canada. Her poetry chapbook Undressing the Heart was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021.

She writes poetry and historical women’s fiction and lives in New York with her husband and son as well as a rescue dog who’s too smart for his own good.

Maggie Marr serves as Legal Counsel and is one of the founders of Women's Fiction Writers Association. She is the USA Today Best Selling author of over 20 books, including the wildly popular series, Hollywood Girls Club. She is a successful attorney, author, and producer.

As a former ICM motion picture literary agent, she worked on such projects as Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Underworld, Last First Kiss, Bourne Identity, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Game of Thrones, as well as a host of books to film and TV projects. Her extensive background in entertainment and intellectual property law led her to found Maggie Marr Legal, a boutique intellectual property law practice dedicated to the needs of Hollywood's creatives.

Maggie Marr Legal provides comprehensive legal services to clients in the entertainment industry with a specialized focus in representing creators, financiers, publishers, producers, and production entities in publishing, film, television, gaming, and digital content. The firm provides experienced legal services to optimize its clients' financial, legal, and business position in the financing, production, and monetization of their content.

She is also the founder of Happily Ever After Inc., a media company specializing in books and mobile games. She's also the co-founder and managing partner of Tule Productions, a subsidiary of Tule Entertainment Group.

Laura Drake serves as the Guiding Scribe of the Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association on the 2026 Board of Directors. 

A WFWA member since 2013, Laura Drake was raised in snowy Michigan but went west as soon as she could. She was corporate CFO for twenty-five years. She fell in love with a crazy motorcyclist and rode behind him for over 100,000 miles, propping a book on his back and reading on the boring stretches. Riding in Central California they came around a corner to see an old Victorian on a hill like a shoddy queen surveying her territory—it captured her imagination and she began writing.

After 417 rejections, she secured an agent and sold in 2013.

She’s since published 10 romances, 4 Women’s Fiction and in 2025, indie published a Domestic Thriller. Though she’s genre-hopped, at their core, every story is a woman’s journey of becoming.

Laura now lives outside Fort Worth and is working on her next Suspense/Thriller.