Antonia (Toni) Allegra is an author, editor, poet, teacher and professional coach dedicated to working with food and wine professionals regarding their writing and careers. As a professional career/writing coach to the culinary and wine writing fields, she inspires culinary starters and stars, having influenced the creation of more than 200 books, columns, blogs, radio, TV shows and more. She is a wine/food/travel writer and international speaker. An advocate for writers, she founded the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood Napa Valley in 2004. She is launcher of La Cocina que Canta culinary center at Rancho la Puerta in Tecate, Baja California. She co-founded the Culinary Coaches and Consultants Collaborative and other culinary communities. Toni authored Napa Valley: The Ultimate Winery Guide (Chronicle Books), over 100,00 copies sold and printed to a fourth edition, and the Napa Valley Tour Guide (TravelBrains) and the Wine Country Deck (Chronicle Books). Her writing is included in Travelers’ Tales Adventures in Wine (Travelers’ Tales), the 2019 Napa Valley Writers’ Anthology and other collections. Toni was founding editor of Napa Valley Tables, Appellation, and VINE Napa Valley magazines, all award-winning publications. Also, she was food editor of the San Diego Tribune (1982-88). 
Stephen (Steve) Bakalyar had a diverse writing career as a chemist, writing marketing materials as well as research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Now retired, he writes poetry, memoirs, essays, and short stories. He took 1st place in the Fifth Annual Flash Prose contest of Writer Advice. A notable essay, on the history of astronomy, was published in The Redwood Coast Review. His short stories and poems have appeared in the anthologies of Napa Valley Writers and the Redwood Writers. He enjoys reading his work at the salons and open mics of these two clubs. Baker is managing partner of Book Marketing Mentor, a resource and consulting group based in Sonoma. She is past President of The Bay Area Independent Publishers Association, BAIPA); on the Board of the Bay Area Consultants Network (BACN); Membership Chair of Redwood Writers and Redwood Writers Academy. A member of the Napa Valley Writers Club and the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).
Baker earned an MHROD from USF, B.A. in Drama from San Diego State University, certificate in Applied Graphics from Santa Rosa Junior College, is a Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach, a certified Constant Contact service provider, and engagement marketing expert. She lives in Sonoma, California with four chickens and her husband Garry.
Baker is writing a memoir/guidebook that proves women with ovarian can take charge of their treatment and recovery.
You can learn more at:
Gary F. Bengier is a writer, philosopher, and technologist. His futuristic novel, Unfettered Journey, is nearing release later this year.
After a career in Silicon Valley, Gary pursued passion projects, studying astrophysics and philosophy. He’s spent the last two decades thinking about how to live a balanced, meaningful life in a rapidly evolving technological world. This self-reflective journey infuses his novel with insights about our future and the challenges we will face in finding purpose.
Before turning to writing speculative fiction, Gary worked in a variety of Silicon Valley tech companies. He was eBay’s Chief Financial Officer and led the company’s initial and secondary public offerings. Gary has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MA degree in philosophy from San Francisco State University. He has two children with Cynthia, his wife of forty-three years. When not traveling the world, he raises bees and makes a nice Cabernet at the family’s Napa vineyard. He and his family live in San Francisco.
While living in London began volunteering for Cerebral Palsy and continued volunteering when I moved back to the States.
Many of my poems are subjects of those experiences. I’ve authored 2 poetry books:
My Heart Sings
Dancing with God
I write almost daily, short stories, some for children, and poetry.
Lance Burris is a fifth generation Northern California who lives in Napa. After retiring from a long career in land assembly, planning, and development, he began writing and painting on a full-time basis—activities long pursued apart from his career as a continuation of a multi-generational family tradition. Lance is particularly interested in illustration which allows him to explore the relationship between the written word in time and visual art in space. He has written and illustrated the following:
- Paint with a Typewriter/Type with a Brush, Exploring the Imaginary Worlds of Ray Bradbury through the Art of Illustration
- The libretto for Bradbury’s Mars, the Musical
- The Man in the Hat, the Poetic Spirit at Work in Poetry, Painting, and Prose
- The White Book: The Apollonian System, a Complete Metaphysical Philosophy in Three Volumes
- The Art of Poetry in Twelve Poems
Lance also exhibits his paintings, reads his prose, and recites his poetry in what he characterizes as performance art.
Molly Detwiler is a native of Indiana and longtime resident of Northern California. She graduated from Purdue University and worked in corporate communications for more than 30 years in editorial staff, management, and consulting roles. In 2010, she earned an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She is currently working on her first novel. 
Jan M. Flynn’s short fiction appears in literary journals including Midnight Circus, The Binnacle, and Nojo River Riview, as well as anthologies including First Press from Napa Valley Writers. Her stories have won both First Place and Honorable Mentions in Writer’s Digest national competitions, and an excerpt from her novel THE MOON RAN AFTER HER won First Place in the novel category at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. As well as NVW, she’s a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Women’s National Book Association, and Women Writing the West. A regular contributor on Medium.com, she lives in St. Helena with her husband Michael.
I’ve been interested in being creative, which is surely a subjective version of the world as I see it-since a child, and have practiced it my entire life in various forms: writing poetry, stories and songs, painting, mural work, and surface textile design. I received a well-rounded classical training at Paier College of Art during the early ’70s, majoring in illustration. I earned an MA in Art Therapy in 1994. Following an intense career as Art Therapist and instructor/teacher for 16 years at several institutions, I retired in 2009, joined AANV in 2010; have served as President since 2014. I fulfilled a long-held dream-to facilitate a writing course, and began one with support from Napa Valley Writers and the Art Association-called “Invite the Muse Writing Course”, ongoing since March of 2017-which uses narrative writing, poetry, and art-making as modalities to pique creativity. It was partially funded by a grant by Arts Council Napa Valley for 2019. I plan to produce an illustrated workbook for course facilitators, called “Invite the Muse”. My Writing/Blog site is: https://trustyourcrookedeye.blogspot.com/?view=magazine 
Lenore Hirsch is a retired educator who writes features for the Napa Valley Register, poetry, and stories. Her books include her dog’s memoir, My Leash on Life; a poetry collection, Leavings; and Laugh and Live, Advice for Aging Boomers. See lenorehirsch.com, laughing-oak.com 
Kymberlie Ingalls is a blogger and author, native to and still living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creator of the successful Writer of the Storm and Neuroticy = A Societal Madness sites, she began blogging in the late 90s, before it became the phenomenon that is prevalent today.
Her work focuses on personal topics such as love, relationships, grief and memory loss.
Ms Ingalls has a colorful history in stage, comedy, auto racing, radio broadcasting, and teaching. All of this feeds her broad scope of writing in memoir, prose, fiction and opinion essays. She has received praise from critics, colleagues and writers for her heartfelt honesty and emotional depths.
Scott James is a veteran journalist and the author of TRIAL BY FIRE (St. Martin’s, October 2020). Since 2009 Scott’s reporting has appeared in The New York Times, and he is the recipient of three Emmy Awards for his work in television news. He’s also the author of two bestselling novels, SOMA and THE SOWER. 
Bo Kearns is a journalist and writer of fiction. His novel Ashes in a Coconut received the 2020 Finalist Eric Hoffer Book Award and the 2020 NextGen Finalist Book Award for First Novel and Suspense categories. He is a feature writer with Northbay biz magazine and the Sonoma-Index Tribune newspaper. Several of his short stories have won awards and been published. He is a UC Naturalist, beekeeper, avid hiker and active supporter of conservation causes. Bo lives in Sonoma with his wife and rescue dog Jake. Learn more at http://bokearns.com/
Sue Kesler, a native of Minnesota, lived on both coasts and in between before settling in the Napa Valley. A copywriter, assistant editor, and freelancer in prior lives, she currently specializes in tongue in cheek urban fantasy. She has three titles published, My Partner Jakup the Jay , J&R Rides Again and Jaybird in a Lei. She has some published short pieces in anthologies and magazines as well. Two novels are in progress, one an urban fantasy historical saga, the other a YA novella set in 1860’s Minnesota. A past president of Napa Valley Writers as well as their first newsletter editor, she is now concentrating on travel and intends to see the world in coming years. She had a four-month cruise to check off much of the eastern hemisphere. Her website is Enjoythisbook.com.
Geoffrey K. Leigh taught classes in human development, family relations, and marriage and family therapy at universities in the Midwest and West. He co-edited Adolescents and Families, and recently published a non-fiction book, Rekindling Our Cosmic Spark. He has served on the NVW Board, has attended the Napa Valley Writers Conference, and is working on a fiction trilogy while working locally in real estate. See Noussentrism.com Rebecca was born and raised in New York City, and practiced medicine on Long Island before moving to Napa in 2008. She and her husband, Bill Gantt ( a retired music teacher at Vintage High School) have 5 children between them ( “yours, mine and ours”) and the youngest is in college. Read the blog at PremierObGynNapa.com, on the tab that reads, “My Life Until Now“. You can also read her online health related articles at Medium.com, by putting her name in the search bar.
Sarita Lopez (nom de plume: S.L. Cunningham) currently calls Napa Valley home (again) after stints of living in Texas, Nevada, South America and Spain.
Her first Young Adult novel, Fauxcialite, was published in 2016. Her second YA novel, The Last Pageant in Texas, was published in 2019. She is currently working on her third novel which is of the New Adult genre. Two of her short stories appeared in Napa Valley Writers 2019 Anthology.
Sarita currently serves as President and Publicity Chair for Napa Valley Writers. When Sarita isn’t writing, she focuses on her cactus water business – deserthydrator.com
Marianne Lyon has been a music teacher for 39 years. After teaching in Hong Kong, she returned to the Napa Valley and has been published in various literary magazines and reviews. She has spent time teaching in Nicaragua. She is a member of the California Writers Club, Healdsburg Literary Guild. She is an Adjunct Professor at Touro University Vallejo California.
Marty Malin is a semi-retired psychotherapist who began his writing career as the editor of a small college student newspaper and moved on to a career as a medical and technical writer. He has written a bunch of boring papers and book chapters for psychiatric journals and textbook publishers.
He has published a handful of poems and short stories online and in several print anthologies. A few months ago, he published his first book of fiction, a collection of short stories about six unconventional grandmothers titled “Grandmother’s Devil and other Tempting Tales.” You can read some snippets from the stories at www.grandmothersdevil.com and buy the print or eBook on Amazon or your favorite bookseller.
Marty hosts “The Storytellers” program on OZCAT Community Radio in Vallejo, the third Thursday of each month and is a member of the Benicia Writers Workshop, Napa Valley Writers and Redwood Writers. He is working, more or less feverishly, on a novel or two.
Juanita J. Martin was Fairfield’s First Poet Laureate, 2010-2012. She was a longtime member of Redwood Writers, 2007-2017, and is a current member of Napa Valley Writers, Benicia Writers Salon, Ina Coolbrith Circle, and Benicia First Tuesday Poets. Juanita is listed in Poets & Writers Magazine, Directory of Poets. Her poetry book The Lighthouse Beckons was accepted in Solano County Library. Her poetry appears in Blue Collar Review, SoMa Literary Review, Rattlesnake Review, and others. She contributed non-fiction to Sonoma Discoveries Magazine. Juanita reads all over the Bay Area and has been a featured reader at Beat Poetry Festival, Petaluma Poetry Walk, Berkeley Poetry Festival, and 100 Thousand Poets for Change. When she is not writing or volunteering, Juanita reads on Vallejo Ozcat radio’s ARTbeat or with Benicia First Tuesday Poets.
Jim Mc Donald retired from his career as a podiatrist in 2014 and began a creative journey as writer and painter. He lives in Yountville and chairs the Yountville Arts Commission.
His most recent chapbook is Visual Language with poems that dwell in the space between the visual and language. Previous chapbooks include Takeoff (2018), Hourglass (2019), and also the broadside Fly Museum (2020).
Sandra V. McGee’s writing career began in the 1990s as a publicist for a professional ballet company in Southern California.
William Carroll (Bill) Moore lives in the Napa Valley where he writes fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. A retired architect/urban planner and university professor, he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Athens Technological Institute in Greece. His career includes international urban planning in Germany, Greece and the USA, specializing in the planning and design of new towns. He was also a professor at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, CA.
Born in Arkansas, he moved with his family to California as a young boy. Following publication of technical research and report documents during his professional career, he now writes biographical short stories of his early years, and fictional works from his years living in Europe, Florida, and California. Two of his short stories appear in the anthology Meritage; Collected Works From Napa Valley Writers 2019, and he has written articles for a regional newspaper.
Carole Malone Nelson grew up in Southern California and has lived in the Bay Area since entering Cal in 1959 – except for the 12 years she and her husband Gene lived on Kaua’i. She always enjoyed writing, vowing she’d write a book in her sixties after she retired. She was in her sixties when she started her memoir, “Well, Now You’ve Done It,” about those twelve years on Kaua’i, but after nine years, she was well into her seventies when it was finally published. She now lives happily with Gene in Napa and they have traveled to 38 of the 50 United States and to well over 100 countries since they retired in 1994. She recently published her second book, a traveler’s memoir, titled “What in the World are You Doing Here?” that she hopes will educate, entertain, and inspire others to get out of their bubble. 
Joan Osterman grew up in Philadelphia, then transplanted to Northern California where she extended her roots. She uses poetry, memoir, and fiction to mull the mysteries of the familiar. Her poems have been published in the anthology Meritage: Collected Works From Napa Valley Writers 2019, and additional poems will be released soon in Third Harvest, the Napa Valley Writers Anthology. She has presented her poetry at the Meritage book launch, and other venues, including the Sonoma Festival of Light and Rhymed Verse and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. napa.joan.o@gmail.com
John Petraglia is a writer, editor and poet living in Napa. He is currently completing a children’s picture book manuscript and moving it towards publication. He just completed 10 years of service as a literary docent at American Poet Robinson Jeffers’ Tor House in Carmel, California. Originally from New York (with an extended stint in Boston), he is winding down his corporate professional career which includes 30 years of experience in communications for major global environmental and engineering corporations. His avocational interests are wide-ranging and include great wine and food, travel, art, reading, baseball, hiking, running and the environment. jsapet@gmail.com
Peggy Prescott grew up in a very Irish Catholic part of San Francisco. She went to UC Berkeley, traveled and studied in Europe, and then began a teaching career she stills enjoys part-time today. Her first book, Neurotic’s Guide to Retirement, was published in 2010. A long time member of the Solstice Writers Group, Peggy has won multiple awards in local Jessamyn West contests and has studied with Jane Hirschfield, Brenda Hillman and Carl Dennis at the Napa Valley Writers Conference. She worked on the joint project Napa Valley Writers did with the English Department at Vintage High and loved the experience. When not writing, she enjoys working with student teachers at Pacific Union College, reading, playing tennis, watching the Giants, and finding any excuse to be outdoors.
Lise Quintana has been podcasting since 2003, most recently with Living Large in America. She is a writer, editor, publisher, and software designer. 
Dana Rodney began her writing career upon retirement at the age of fifty-five, when she enrolled in a writing class at Napa Valley College. She was hooked from the start.
Dana recently completed “The Butterfly Wing,” an historical fiction novel which opens with the journey of a female Chinese immigrant to San Francisco in 1855 and follows her to the Napa Valley, where she encounters the volatile and infamous Sam Brannan. Her next project is a collection of essays based on the comic-tragic observations of a menopausal woman. It is titled- “Turning into a Pumpkin.”
Dana is currently a member of Napa Valley Writers and Redwood Writers, and continues taking writing classes at Napa Valley College. She is the founding member of PENS—Publishing Entrepreneurs of Napa-Sonoma.
Gary Silva was born in the East Bay and has lived in California most of his life. He completed his M.A. in literature and poetry writing at CSU, Fresno, and his M.F.A. in poetry writing at U.C., Irvine. He taught at Napa Valley College since 1990 and retired in 2008. He was also Poet Laureate of Napa County from 2008-2010. Gary Silva has had a lifelong passion for poetry and has published four chapbooks, as well as poems in dozens of literary magazines throughout the United States. He practices meditation and painting, and enjoys being involved in various study and writing groups.
Kathleen Thomas is a writer, painter, genealogist, gardener, photographer, blogger and frequent traveler. She writes in all genres. Her work has appeared in The Sun magazine’s Readers Write section, the 2015 CWC Literary Review, the Summer 2016 Playa Edition of 1000 Words Press, the Redwood Writers 2016 Anthology: Untold Stories and Napa Valley Writers 2017 Anthology: First Press, Collected Works of Napa Valley Writers. She was interviewed twice on Napa’s local cable TV Tony Kilgalin show. Kathleen is past president of Napa Valley Writers, active in the Best Critique Group Ever, and currently working on two novels and a book of short stories based on her time as a public health and psychiatric RN. You can find her at https://www.facebook.com/Kahtymeridiah, Twitter (@WriterPaints), Instagram (irekathleen), and https://writerpaints.com
Barbara Toboni is a writer, blogger, and poet. Her published works include three collections of poetry, Undertow, Water Over Time, and Light the Way. In 2018, The Bunny Poets, a children’s picture book was published by MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing. In addition a variety of her short stories and articles are printed in anthologies and online including: Cup of Comfort, Wisdom Has a Voice, and Sisters Born, Sisters Found. She is a mother and a grandmother and lives in the Napa Valley with her husband. http://www.barbaratoboni.com
Wendee Walker began to see life in a different light when she adopted a wild Mustang in 2003. She knew almost nothing about training a wild horse and the relationship she developed with Mustang Yogi ever since, has lead her to practicing dressage, earning the Untied States Dressage Federation Bronze Medal, and riding musical freestyles. She has explored many of the Northern California parks on the back of Yogi, and together they have serves as volunteers for Enchanted Hills, Lighthouse for the blind. After 27 years of teaching public school children from Kindergarten and first grade to high school English, and Mindfulness, Wendee decided to take time to explore life as a student once again. Since retirement in 2016, Wendee has deepened her study of yoga, mindfulness, and Reiki. Wendee had thought of herself more as a reader than a writer owing to being a teacher. WILD, by Cheryl Strayed is one of her favorites memoirs and has served as inspiration to begin writing outside of teaching. Her published work can be found in her column, “Dressage Corner” for the American Mustang and Burro Association, and various letters to the editor or reviews in other equestrian publications.
As of 2019, Wendee blends her favorite things, mindfulness, writing, and horsemanship, with “Experiences” through Airbnb. The writing workshop is called “Write with the Herd – Meet me at the Gate” where up to six participants interact with horses, and respond to writing prompts at Brioso Vineyard Stables on Mount Veeder in Napa County, CA.She also guides guests in practicing Reiki with Animals. Please see descriptions in the links here, and if interested in local or NVW discount, call 707.337.8599.
Write with the Herd
https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/1179163
Horse Education and Guided Reiki
https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/966121?source=p2
Hannah Wallenbrock graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2014 with a BA in Literature and a concentration in Creative Writing. She currently lives in Napa with her family and a corgi named Callie. She writes fantasy and science fiction and is fascinated by monsters and what they can teach us about humanity. She is currently working on The Last of Seven (working title), an urban fantasy novel about a deadbeat mage estranged from his family who must confront both literal and figurative demons when the death of his emotionally abusive father brings him back to his hometown.
A musician by trade, Rose Winters loves to write, whether its music or literature. You can find her performing music all over town, from Andaz to the Blue Note to River Terrace Inn, etc. See her performance schedule on www.rosewinters.com/shows
You can find her short stories, essays, poetry and short memoirs on her blog at www.rosewinters.com/blog
Music
(published songwriter, Ray Charles sang one of her songs!) 😊
West Coast Songwriter of the month 2019: Berkeley, Vallejo and Petaluma
West Coast Songwriter of the Year: Petaluma
Literary
(I’m grateful to say that because of NVW’s 2019 anthology, I am now a published writer!)
- Memoire: COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES, METAMORPHOSIS OF A CAVE DWELLER and more
- Dystopian Futuristic Fantasy: THE NETHER and WAR GENE
- Murder/Romance Whodunnit DOUBLOON and MURDER AT THE PINE COVE INN
- Superhero Adventure: CAPTAIN GRIZZLY
- Coming of Age: (At 40!) MARLENA TAKES A TRIP and (at 17) CALI’S MOJO
- Short Stories: EVOLUTION OF AN INNOCENT and much more
- Poetry: (piles of ‘em)
- Essays/Short Memoire: (lots of those too, my favorite being BLACKBERRY LOVE
Short fiction has appeared in American Fiction Volume 13, North Atlantic Review, Pleiades, Palo Alto Review, and other literary magazines.