​

Tracy J. Jones is a professional content writer, developmental editor, and writing coach with more than twenty-five years of experience writing and editing for private clients, nonprofits, and corporations.

Since its inception in 2015, she’s been involved with the San Diego Memoir Showcase—first as a participant and now as a co-producer, head judge, writing coach, and co-director of the popular theatrical program. She co-edited the award-winning San Diego Memoir Showcase anthology, Shaking the Tree: Brazen. Short. Memoir. The fifth volume of Shaking the Tree was published in January 2024.

She is a co-instructor for the year-long Memoir Certificate program at San Diego Writers, Ink, and runs three writing groups. She is the President and a founding board member of the International Memoir Writers Association. Tracy is the Warwick’s + San Diego Writers Festivals Book Club interviewer.

In her previous corporate life, Tracy spent more than fifteen years doing C-Level executive communications (primarily as a speechwriter), internal communications, and public relations at organizations such as Porter Novelli PR, The New York Times, Avon Products, Inc., and KPMG LLP.

Tracy is a lover of salted caramel anything, the purr of her cat, Lulu, cult documentaries, and rainy days spent reading. And she’s happiest when helping writers find their voice and confidence to pursue their literary dreams.

Caroline Gilman is a California native who moved to San Diego in 2014. She is the co-founder and Director of Marketing for The Deal Firm, a Southern California based business brokerage firm, and a residential real estate agent with Keller Williams. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Caroline is currently working on a middle grade fantasy novel- an adaptation of her recent screenplay.  Her short memoir was one of 10 performed in the 2021 Showcase at The Conrad, La Jolla.   Caroline serves at Director of Middle Grade Programming and Head of Social Media for the San Diego Writers Festival. She co-founded the @MiddlegradeHub and @YAWritersHub on Twitter to help promote opportunities for writers, facilitate small writer groups, and promote middle-grade and YA publications. She is also a freelance graphic designer for writers, specializing in custom social media graphics, newsletters, and book trailers.

Janet Hafner born and bred in Queens, New York, married her high school sweetheart after graduating college in Maryland. As a military wife, she was always on the move with her husband and their three sons. 
She doesn’t have a long history of writing accomplishments. Her passion and strength have always been teaching. A thirty-year career teaching English and Spanish at Palomar College was followed by a second career as a communication/language trainer for international corporations. So . . . when did writing enter the picture? Late in life. A dream, complete with plot, characters, setting and lots of conflict compelled her to write it down. That became her first middle grade novel, Peter Poppin and the Lost Emerald. The decision to self-publish gave her an opportunity to learn more about writing and the art and science of putting a book together.  

As if by fate, Janet met Marni Freedman whose infectious drive for engaging story telling stimulated her to write scenes from her life which she shares with other memoir writers in Marni’s memoir critique group. Her life episodes have been published in Shaking the Tree anthologies and have been selected twice as winners for the Memoir Showcase. 
A desire to learn more about writing led her to join the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild where she served on the Board of Directors for four years. She is now honored to be a member of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association board. 
She is currently working on her second middle grade novel about a dog named Tessa who loves being an author. Her website is jrhafner.com 

Leslie Ferguson, author of the award-winning memoir, When I Was Her Daughter, is a Southern California native and former high school English and psychology teacher and college writing instructor who earned her MA in English Literature and MFA in Creative Writing from Chapman University. A new board member of the International Memoir Writers Association and an active member of The San Diego Writers and Editors Guild, Leslie has served as a contest judge, panelist, interviewer, and social media assistant. She enjoys performing her original poetry and stories at Poets Underground and So Say We All’s VAMP. Leslie’s writing centers on loss, love, hope, and the consequences of trauma, and her work has been published in a variety of literary magazines. As an editor and book doctor, one of Leslie’s passions is helping other writers find the courage to tell their own stories and tell them well. She works in the publishing industry and resides in San Diego, California, with one husband and two cats.

Anastasia Zadeik is a writer, editor, and storyteller.  After graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in psychology from Smith College, she had an international career in neuropsychological research while raising her children. She now serves as Director of Operations for the San Diego Writers Festival, as a co-producer of the San Diego Memoir Showcase, and as a mentor and board member for the literary nonprofit So Say We All.

A frequent performer of narrative non-fiction in a hushed bar, her work has appeared in the San Diego Decameron Project, LitHub, writeordietribe.com, Literary Vine Review, and the award-winning anthology, Shaking the Tree: Short. Brazen. Memoir. Her debut novel, Blurred Fates, was released August 2, 2022.

When she isn’t reading or writing, you can find her hiking, biking, swimming, practicing yoga, or hanging out with her husband, Tom, and their empty-nest rescue dog, Charlie.

Saadia Ali Esmail was born in Pakistan, raised in Long Island, and has lived in San Diego from 2004-2006 (her 2-year honeymoon) and since 2015. She has 3 kids, ranging in age from 11 to 17 who love to keep her on her toes, as well as a newly adopted ragdoll cat who is her latest shadow. With a Bachelor’s in International Relations from the George Washington University and a Masters in Biotechnology from Hopkins, one would think she would have career aspirations but after working a handful of years for others, she loves to be her own boss. She has co-founded a business for baby products (www.zcush.com), and has partnered with others for various NGO’s, the latest focused on wildlife preservation. With two kids nearing college, she has agreed to take on a part-time job which thankfully gives her freedom to write in her spare time. She is working on her first memoir about the challenges of an arranged marriage as a Pakistani-American with an autoimmune condition called Myasthenia Gravis. Her pieces have been included in the anthologies, Shaking the Tree, and A Year in Ink, with one chosen to be performed in the 2018 Memoir Showcase. She is humbled and honored to be asked to serve on the Board of IMWA and looks forward to working with the talented writing community in San Diego.

Michelle is a full time mom who is proud to join the Board of the International Memoir Writers Association. She completed the Memoir Certificate Program in 2022 where she learned how to write powerful scenes in a raw and honest voice and make everyone cry. She hopes to publish her memoir under a pseudonym and is bummed to miss this opportunity for self promotion. She is looking forward to using her previous experience with local craft beer festivals and fine catering to grow the San Diego Writers Festival. She graduated cum laude from UC Riverside with a degree in Business Administration and spent nine years as a Commercial Property Manager. She is a yoga enthusiast, as well as a prior snowboard instructor and triathlete. She lives in San Diego with her husband, rescue dog from Baja, and toddler.

Jane Muschenetz, a Ukrainian Jewish refugee who arrived in the US as a child, is a 2023 City of Encinitas Exhibiting Artist and Director of Partnerships at the San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild. Her debut chapbook, All the Bad Girls Wear Russian Accents, (Kelsay Books, 2023), was shortlisted for the Jacar Press Chapbook Prize. Jane is the winner of the 2022 Good Life Review Poetry Prize and took First Place in the 2022 LSAG Art Show. Connect with Jane’s work at her website, www.PalmFrondZoo.com, and in various publications.

Laura L. Engel, born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast transplanted in San Diego 56 years ago. She is married to the love of her life and the mother of five beloved grown children and an adored golden retriever, Layla Louise. Laura is Grammy to ten cherished grandchildren.

In 2016 Laura retired from a 35-year career in the corporate world with plans to quietly catch up on hobbies and travels. In October of that year those plans changed when a miracle happened in her life. She soon found herself busier than ever, joining San Diego Memoir Writers and writing about a secret she thought she would take to her grave.

Laura is a member of the International Memoir Writers Association, based in San Diego and is an active member of the International Women Writers Guild, San Diego Writers Ink, San Diego Writers and Editors Guild, and the National Association of Memoir Writers.

She has been published in three of IMWA’s anthology Shaking the Tree series, in Writers Digest, and in several online adoption triad magazines. She is a firm believer that writing memoir heals and is available to speak on the subject.

Laura’s first memoir You’ll Forget This Ever Happened – Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s was published by She Writes Press in May of 2022.

You can reach Laura at https://www.lauralengel.com
FB lauralengelauthor
IG storytellerlaura