This page will be updated as more faculty members are
confirmed for the 2026 Kansas City Writing Workshop.
Chuck Sambuchino (@chucksambuchino) is a freelance editor, bestselling book author, and former longtime staffer for Writer’s Digest Books. For many years he edited the GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS and the CHILDREN’S WRITER’S & ILLUSTRATOR’S MARKET. His Guide to Literary Agents Blog was one of the largest blogs in publishing, and he wrote the platform guidebook CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM.
He is the co-director of Writing Day Workshops writers conferences, and he has taught at more than 175 writers conferences throughout his career. He is the co-coordinator of the Kansas City Writing Workshop.
His humor book, HOW TO SURVIVE A GARDEN GNOME ATTACK, was optioned by Sony Pictures. Chuck’s books have been mentioned in Reader’s Digest, USA Today, the New York Times, The Huffington Post, Variety, New York Magazine, Buzzfeed, Mental Floss,New York magazine, and many more media outlets. All his latest books are about pickleball, including ULTIMATE PICKLEBALL, a 2026 tear-off desk calendar due out in August 2025 (Sellers Publishing). His picture book, GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL, released from Hachette in August 2025, was carried by Target, and hit the USA Today bestseller list.
He is a successful freelance editor of queries, synopses, and manuscripts—seeing dozens of clients get agents or book deals following his consultations/edits. He loves meeting new writers.
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Tiffany Killoren is a storyteller. The stories may have come in all shapes and sizes over the years, but in her heart, she simply loved to tell them. As an attorney, she understood that each case is a story, full of facts that will shape the opinion of the person who hears it based on how it’s told. As a magazine writer, she enjoyed diving into complex topics that required her to challenge herself, interviewing experts and educating herself to craft a finished product that she felt fortunate and honored to be a part of. As a magazine editor, she was drawn to the obscure, the stories that aren’t often told, but which have so much to say. And, as an author, she shapes her own fictional worlds, creating characters with beautiful flaws that she wishes she could sit down and get to know over a latte.
After graduating from the University of Iowa with majors in Journalism and Russian, Tiffany studied in St. Petersburg, Russia before earning a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School. Working as a litigator for 15 years, she left the practice of law to pursue her dream of becoming a professional writer. Good Will, Tiffany’s second novel, was released in February 2020 by Amphorae Publishing. Her first novel, Six Weeks in Petrograd, was published in 2013. Tiffany has regularly appeared on local morning shows to discuss parenting tips and life lessons, and enjoys any opportunity to speak to young people about writing their own stories in life. Now working in internal communications with three additional novel manuscripts in the works, Tiffany embraces the new and creative chaos that she has welcomed to her life, sharing it with her husband, two boys and a crazy pup named Dover Floyd in their home near Kansas City.
At the KCWW, Tiffany is teaching a speech and offering in-person add-on manuscript critiques.
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Brandy Vallance is a literary agent with Barbara Bova Literary Agency.
At the KCWW, Brandy is teaching a speech. She is also meeting with attendees for one-on-one meetings. (See her wishlist here.)
Brandy comes from a long line of storytellers. An old soul, she fell in love with passed-down tales, the odd and unexplained, and the pursuit of answering the mysteries that perplex us all. She loves to wander down ancient paths, explore dusty libraries, and does occasional archaeology. Her books are a lush escape into timeless romance, breathtaking adventure, and push the boundaries of what is expected.
Brandy is the winner of two national writing awards, one of which included a $20,000 prize. Her critically acclaimed novel, The Covered Deep, has been featured in USA Today and Writer’s Digest. Romantic Times called her second novel “passionate and riveting” and Publishers Weekly encourages those who like sweeping Scottish sagas to dive in because “the journey is wonderful.”
After more than two decades in the world of publishing, Brandy has joined Barbara Bova Literary Agency, and she is looking forward to being a champion of amazing writers and outstanding books.
Throughout the years, Brandy has been a Writing Coach, a Story Consultant, and an international Publishing Specialist. For hundreds of writers, her mentorship has broken the chains of fear and self-doubt. From teaching Master Classes to sitting at quiet tables, Brandy loves helping people explore their deepest truths.
Brandy believes in the high calling of storytelling, and she lights the way for writers, as well as readers. Page by page, she walks in the legacy of those who have gone before her, and she holds a torch for any who are seeking their way.
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Morgan Wilson is a literary agent with Belcastro Literary Agency.
I am dedicated to supporting marginalized voices and focused on increasing the representation of those voices in the publishing industry. I am only open to receiving work from authors who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, ND, and/or DIS. Please note that I will not ask you to disclose your marginalization unless you feel comfortable doing so.
At the 2026 event, Morgan is teaching a class, and also meeting with attendees for one-on-one pitches.
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Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and Hugo-nominated editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. See all his books here.
His debut novel, The Worker Prince received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases.
His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and online and include entries in The X-Files, Pedator, and Decipher’s WARS, amongst others. As book editor for Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta’s WordFire Press he has edited books by such luminaries as Alan Dean Foster, Tracy Hickman, Frank Herbert, Mike Resnick, Jean Rabe and more. He was also the first editor on Andy Weir’s bestseller The Martian.
His anthologies as editor include Shattered Shields with co-editor Jennifer Brozek, Mission: Tomorrow, Galactic Games and Little Green Men–Attack! (forthcoming) all for Baen, Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6, Beyond The Sun and Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age. He is also coediting anthologies with Larry Correia and Jonathan Maberry set in their New York Times Bestselling Monster Hunter and Joe Ledger universes.
At the 2026 event, he is teaching a class.
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Swati Hegde is a romance and YA author, as well as a freelance editor, mindset coach, and self-proclaimed coffee shop enthusiast. She lives in Bangalore, India, and can often be found at the nearest café with a hot mug of tea or singing her favorite songs off-key at karaoke night. She looks forward to a long career bringing Indian stories and voices to light.
Swati is represented by Rachel Beck at Liza Dawson Associates. Her debut romance novel Match Me If You Can is out now from Penguin Random House, with forthcoming books Can’t Help Faking in Love releasing in February 2025 and As Long as You Loathe Me releasing in 2026.
Find her on Instagram @SwatiHegdeAuthor and Twitter @SwatiHWrites.
At the event, Swati is offering add-on virtual manuscript critiques for attendees.
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Michelle McGill Vargas is an author. At the event, she is offering add-on virtual manuscript critiques for attendees.
“I am writer of speculative historical fiction, flash fiction, and short fiction. I’ve published in The Lutheran Witness, Splickety Magazine, The Copperfield Review, and Typehouse Literary Magazine. I’ve also contributed at Short Fiction Break and Noir Expressions.
“I’m currently represented by the amazing Melissa Danaczko of Stuart Krichevsky Literacy Agency, Inc. I pay the bills as a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing. I’m a member of Highland Writers Group, Valparaiso Writers Group, served as vice-president of the Indiana Writer’s Consortium and chair of its 2016 Steel Pen Conference, and am currently on the board of Midwest Writers.”
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Lorin Oberweger is a highly sought-after independent book editor and ghostwriter with almost thirty years experience in publishing. Her company, Free Expressions, offers intensive, deep craft workshops nationwide. She’s also known for her one-on-one story mastermind session for writers of all genres of fiction and creative nonfiction.
At the event, she is offering add-on virtual manuscript critiques for attendees.
Lorin’s students and clients have been published by HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Disney, and many other presses. They have also gained representation with some of the industry’s leading literary agents and several have had work optioned for film and television.
An award-winning author, Lorin has co-written and ghostwritten eight books, several for New York Times bestselling authors of fiction and nonfiction. Her work, commissioned by major publishers, has received glowing notices from the New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and others. Her latest co-author credit is THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK, written with Chris Anderson, director of TED Conferences.
With bestselling author Veronica Rossi, Lorin is the author of the New Adult books, BOOMERANG, REBOUND, and BOUNCE, published by Harper/William Morrow under the pen name Noelle August. The novels were praised by Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, among others, and BOOMERANG was chosen as a “new and notable” selection for Target Stores across the US. She is represented by Tracey Adams at Adams Literary.
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Bob McGough is a novelist.
Born and raised in South Alabama, Bob is an Eagle Scout who picks up hitchhikers with reckless abandon and once skinny-dipped at a wedding. To go along with his two useless college degrees he has roadied for a band you’ve never heard of and broke his wrist in a wall of death at a Divine Heresy show. He once licked the Wailing Wall, shook hands with Glenn Danzig, and is owed a fair ride by a carnival worker.
He’s written for video games, designed board games, and owns a disturbing number of roleplaying games. He’s given a camel a coke in Israel, got flashed in Paris, and watched a monkey steal a man’s wallet in Costa Rica. In addition to the passible podcasts he’s made he has also filmed terrible short horror movies and been the producer on a trio of albums. He’s worked and written for musical acts ranging from Upchurch the Redneck to Stitches.
He runs a non-profit while thriving on the groans of those he has punned around. He once dug up a dead cow in a creek thinking it was a human cadaver and has a cousin that’s a water witch,. In college he used to give haunted ghost tours of Troy (even though he’s pretty sure ghosts aren’t real). He’s been stalked, gave a Prophet a lift, and been stagger drunk in more states than he would care to admit.
More relevant he wrote some books, then self-pubbed some other books, and has also been published by a number of other folks with questionable judgment. The fictional things he writes sometimes come weirdly true. (Find all books here.)
He lives in the middle of Alabama with his amazing LadyFriend, the Kiddo, and a clowder of increasingly portly cats. At the event, he is offering add-on manuscript critiques.
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Rosie J. Pova is a multi-published and award-winning children’s book author, poet, writing coach, and speaker. Her picture book, Sunday Rain, was featured in The New York Times and recommended by Parents magazine. The School of Failure: A Story About Success is a Readers’ Favorite Awards silver medal winner and is now available in both China and the USA. Her latest picture book, Sally’s Musical Tale will be released in the spring of 2025.
Rosie loves doing school visits to encourage kids to read, write, create and inspire them to follow their big dreams. In her role as a Writing Coach, Rosie’s has helped many aspiring picture book authors advance their careers and reach their publishing goals through her popular mentorship programs and signature Picture Book Mastery course.
Originally from Bulgaria, Rosie now lives in Texas with her family. At the event, she is offering add-on manuscript critiques.