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). 
Kathleen is a retired physician who moved to the Napa Valley over thirty years ago after completing her naval service. In her retirement, she is encouraged by her writing group to paint more, and her art friends to write more. The Sonoma Sun has published selections of her memoir, fiction, and poetry. Kathleen is pleased to have pieces accepted for the new NVW anthology and her family is grateful that she has a new audience for her stories. She is working on a collection of short works accompanied by her art.
Kathleen is married and the proud mother of two fledged children. Other avocations are playing cello in the Napa Valley Chamber Orchestra and making noise on a viola in a quartet of friends. She is a passionate advocate for single-payer/Medicare for all and serves on the national board of Physicians for a National Health Program.
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. His poem was one of three selected in Napa’s Rail Arts District poetry contest. The poem will be painted as a mural on a building in the district. 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.
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.
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.
Penelope Anne Cole, children’s author, also writes poetry, short stories, and short memoirs included in California Writers Club Branch Anthologies: Tri-Valley, High Desert, Napa Valley, SF Peninsula, and Redwood Writers; and in San Mateo County Fair’s Literary Stage. Her children’s books are: Magical Matthew, Magical Mea, Magical Mea Goes to School, Magical Max and Magical Mickey, and Magical Max and Magical Mickey’s Big Surprise; In and Out, All ‘Round About – Opposite Friends; What’s for Dinner? and ¿Qué vamos a comer? My Grandma’s Pink House, My Grandma and Me coloring book; for Halloween: Ten Little Tricksters and Diez pequeños bromistas. Ms. Cole tutors K-6th graders, crochets, gardens, sings in choir, blogs, and enjoys special time with her daughter, two cats, and one dog. 
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. 
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 received a BA from New College of California in 1984 and further honed my studies to earn 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; served as President for five years, through 2018. 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”, for adults, facilitated from March 2017 to December 2019. This was a community-building exercise, where I utilized narrative writing, poetry, and artmaking as modalities to pique creativity. The course 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”.
Two of my poems-written during the early covid times-were accepted into Third Harvest, NVW’s upcoming 2022 anthology.
My Writing/Blog sites are: 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.
Joanne Jagoda is a longtime resident of the Oakland hills. After retiring in 2009, one inspiring workshop, Lakeshore Writers, using the Amherst method, launched Joanne on an unexpected writing trajectory. Her short stories, poetry, and creative nonfiction have appeared online and in numerous print anthologies including, Quillkeepers Press, The Awakenings Review, The Deronda Review, Dreamers Magazine, Passager, Pure Slush, Better After 50, Heat the Grease We’re Frying up Some Poetry, Is it Hot In Here Or Is it Just Me?, Project Healthy Love (Riza Press) and Still You, Poems of Illness and Healing, and forthcoming in the next Napa Valley Anthology.
Joanne received a Pushcart Prize nomination and has won a number of contests including the Benicia Love Poetry contest. Several of her poems have been published in the San Francisco Chronicle. She continues taking Bay Area writing workshops and Writer’s Studio workshops, enjoys Zumba now on-zoom, and spoiling her seven grandchildren who call her Savta. .Joanne’s first book of poetry My Runaway Hourglass, conceived while she was home sheltering-in-place, was published in summer of 2020 (Poetica Publications), Joannejagoda.com
David Kerns spent thirty-five years in academic pediatrics before turning to a second career, combining a life-long love of music with a knack for writing lively, entertaining prose. For the past decade, he has reported on live musical performances for the Napa Valley Register.
His debut novel, STANDARD OF CARE (Sentient Publications), is a tale of ethical crisis and redemption set in the world of mega-corporate health care. It was a finalist in the 2008 Indie Excellence Awards for fiction. His multiple award-winning novel, 2018’s FORTNIGHT ON MAXWELL STREET (Bay Tree Publishing), is “true fiction,” a medical drama set in inner-city Chicago in the days immediately preceding and following the assassination of Martin Luther King. It is available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. He is currently working on a third novel, set on the island of Kauai in the late 20th century.
A native Chicagoan, he counts among his accomplishments a happy family, a career-long commitment to the well-being of children, modest skill as a clawhammer banjo player, and survival, so far, in the arenas of narrative prose and music journalism. He lives in Napa, California.
Jeffrey Kingman lives by the Napa River in Vallejo, California. His poetry collection, BEYOND THAT HILL I GATHER, was published by Finishing Line Press in June of 2021. His poetry chapbook, ON A ROAD, was published by Finishing Line Press in December of 2019. He is the winner of the Red Berry Editions 2015 Broadside Contest, the winner of the 2018 Eyelands Book Award (Greece) for an unpublished poetry book, a finalist in the 2018 Hillary Gravendyk Prize poetry book competition, and he received honorable mention in the 2017 Quercus Review Press Fall Poetry Book Award. He has poems published in PANK, Clackamas Literary Review, Crack the Spine, Visitant, and others. Jeff has a Master’s degree in Music Composition and has been playing drums in rock bands most of his life. 
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 
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, Publicity Chair, Newsletter Editor, and Co-Workshop Coordinator 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, First Poet Laureate of Fairfield, California, 2010-2012, is author of The Lighthouse Beckons poetry book. She’s a member of Ina Coolbrith Circle, Poets & Writers, and Redwood Writers, 2007-2017. She is widely published in poetry and nonfiction, and active in Napa Valley Writers, where she started writing poetry book reviews. Juanita wrote her first memoir and flash fiction story, as managing editor for Napa Valley Writers’ third anthology, Third Harvest 2021. www.jmartinpoetwriter.com 
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 is vice-chair of 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 to mull the mysteries of the ordinary. Her poems have been published in the anthology Meritage: Collected Works From Napa Valley Writers 2019, and additional poems will be released 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
Eli Potter is a CIO as a Service at Insight Partners, advising startups on enterprise technology at scale. She writes fiction and is currently designing HeroMash, a double-sided digital asset marketplace for writers and fans.
Jeanne is a published poet and essayist with five books in print. For ten years she hosted Celebration of the Word,weekly open mic in San Francisco. Her small press, Meridien PressWorks, has published 20 writers. Jeanne loves films old and new, foreign and domestic, and writes reviews for starkinsider online. She has taught in the CS, OLLI, and UB programs on college campuses.Jeanne earned degrees from Wayne State University and University of San Francisco. 
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.
Claudette Shatto is a children’s book author. She teaches leadership skills and the entrepreneur mindset to kids through storytelling in her carefully crafted children’s picture books. Her series aims to instill a growth mindset for the developing young thinker.
Claudette’s experience spans two decades, having received a Master’s degree in Business alongside four other degrees. She served as the VP of sales and marketing at an internationally recognized winery. She currently teaches business and entrepreneurship as a tenured professor at Napa Valley College.
Before she started writing, Claudette worked diligently developing a leadership curriculum for first and fifth graders, which she has since successfully adapted into multiple elementary schools, as well as for the Girl Scouts of America. Additionally, she lends her talents as a radio DJ on 99.3 The Vine, interviewing “Kool Kids” who are making a difference in their community.
When she’s not writing or teaching leadership and entrepreneurship to young minds, you can find her mentoring other female founders, as well as exploring the outdoors in the Napa Valley with her husband and two young sons.
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, and she’s looking forward to another, The Bunny Poets and the Library Book, due to launch in the spring of 2022. In addition a variety of her short stories and poems are printed in anthologies and online. She is a mother and a grandmother and lives in the Napa Valley with her husband. http://www.barbaratoboni.com
A writer, poet, and marketing consultant living in Napa Valley, Lisa previously worked in journalism, public relations, and real estate. She has published a number of business articles in print and online platforms. In addition to writing poetry and personal essays, Lisa is currently working on a children’s picture book. She is a mother, grandmother, and a reading tutor for elementary school students, who loves to watch a child’s delight in a good story. Lisa is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.
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