August Meeting- Local Author Spotlight

Anastasia Zadeik is a writer, editor, and narrative nonfiction performer. She lives in San Diego, CA, where she serves as Director of Operations for the San Diego Writers Festival and as a mentor and board member for the literary nonprofit So Say We All. When she isn’t reading or writing, you will find her hiking, practicing yoga, playing tennis, swimming, or hanging out with her husband and their empty-nest rescue dog, Charlie. Blurred Fates is her first novel. Visit her website at www.anastasiazadeik.com

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 www.jrhafner.com 

Laura L. Engel, born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast transplanted to San Diego over 50 years ago. She is married to the love of her life, Gene, and the mother of five beloved grown children and an adored golden retriever, Layla Louise. Laura is the proud Grammy of 10 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 with her husband Gene. In October of that year her plans changed when a miracle happened in her life. She soon found herself busier than ever taking writing classes and writing up a storm about a secret she thought she would take to her grave. 

Along with writing her memoir, Laura holds the office of President of San Diego Memoir Writers Association and is an active member of the International Women Writers Guild. She is also a member of San Diego Writers Ink and San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. 

Today finds Laura fulfilling her life-long dream having written her first book, a memoir she never dreamed she would write, You’ll Forget This Ever Happened -Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s published by She Writes Press in may May 2022 and is now available wherever books are sold. Visit Laura’s website at www.lauralengel.com

Lindsey Salatka is an author, ghost-writer, and editor. She is best known for her debut novel, Fish Heads and Duck Skins. Her writing has been featured at Blog Her and in Shanghai Family Magazine, Urbanatomy: Shanghai, and Volumes 3 and 4 of Shaking the Tree: Brazen. Short. Memoir. She is on the advisory board of the San Diego Writers Festival and serves as Director of the KidsWrite! Children’s Writing Contest. You can find Lindsey at www.lindseysalatka.com, on Instagram @mywhatlovelygillsyouhave, on Facebook @fishheadsandduckskin, or on Twitter @lindseysalatka.

Madonna Treadway is an award-winning author. She is also a mentor and speaker passionate about helping others learn to move beyond grief after losing a loved one. Her first book, Six Healing Questions: A Gentle Path to Healing Childhood Loss of a Parent, walks readers through gentle healing steps, current research, and her own powerful story.
The loss of her parents at age eight inspired a life-long quest investigating the meaning of grief and loss in her life and the lives of others.

Her new book, due out in late 2022, Grief Hack, A Creative Process for Coping with Everyday Loss, is a short, inspirational guide that walks readers through a creative process that can transform the pain of grief and loss into profound, life-altering realizations. Dedicated to ongoing research and creative discovery, Madonna wants to change the narrative around grief and loss from one of avoidance to sharing, embracing, and, ultimately, transformation. Visit her website www.madonnatreadway.com

Nancy Johnson is a retired high school English teacher, writer, wife, mother, and grandmother. She published articles in La Mesa Courier Newspaper, Discovering My City La Mesa Magazine, and English Literature Journal. Her short stories appear in Sunshine Noir II (Working and Walking the Boulevard), Shaking the Tree II (Glass Shards), and Shaking the Tree III (The Sky is Falling). Her blog is Slightly Squinting. She had a blast writing and performing “The Armpit Years” for So Say We All. She volunteers for San Diego Writers Festival and San Diego Writer’s Ink. Her book, Things My Mama Never Told Me, will be launched in 2020. She is a student of Marni Freedman, V.A.M.P., Writer’s Elements, all the writers who have gone before her, and the amazing teenagers who have shared their lives with her and who will remain part of her forever. Visit her website at www.nancypantsjohnson.com

Who am I? Suzanne Spector asked herself as she stripped off the bonds of marriage and conventional suburban life. Her adventurous journey of discovery led her from a nude beach on Ibiza at 41, to a banya in Siberia at 55, and into a hot love affair at 80.

These probably would not be the tales your mother or grandmother would tell about her life, but this 85 year old’s ebullient memoir of the second half of her life will move you to weave some rich new yarns into the tapestry of your own story. Her message: It’s never too late. Visit her website at www.suzannespector.com

Leslie Ferguson is an accomplished educator, editor, and writing coach. As a youth in foster care, she dreamed about becoming a teacher. After earning her teaching credential from the University of Redlands, she taught high school English at her alma mater for nearly two decades. During that time, she obtained a master’s degree in English literature and an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. She lives with one husband and two cats in the greater San Diego area, where she binge-watches dark character dramas and reminisces about her glory days as an All-American basketball player and collegiate Hall-of-Fame athlete. When I Was Her Daughter is her first book.Visit the author at LeslieFergusonAuthor.com