Broadleaf Writers Association Founder & Executive Director Zachary Steele is the author of four novels, including The Weight of Ashes, nominated for Georgia Author of the Year in 2021, and Perfectly Normal. He has been featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Publisher’s Weekly, Writer’s Magazine, Shelf Awareness and City Lights with Lois Reitzes on NPR. Currently, he is hard at work on The Fallen Hero, the first in a series of fantasy novels. You can follow his ramblings on writing and life at http://zacharysteele.com/.
Jessica Bowers brings a deep love of storytelling and a drive to help writers amplify their voice. Her day job revolves around social media marketing, content creation, and performance management coaching for organizations throughout North America. She graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor’s in Sociology with a concentration on Social and Organizational Change.
Jeff Clemmons has a degree in business administration from Reinhardt University and a degree in creative writing and theater from Georgia State University. He created and conducts walking tours for the Atlanta Preservation Center, serves on the board of the East Point Historical Society, and is a cofounder of Marthasville, an Atlanta-based writing salon. In addition to writing two books – Rich’s: A Southern Institution and Atlanta’s Historic Westview Cemetery – and a screenplay, Jeff, along with three others, was nominated for an Emmy Award for producing Georgia Public Television’s “Rich’s Remembered.” In 2025, one of his short fiction pieces was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is currently at work on his third book, a biography of forgotten Atlanta avant-garde novelist Frances Newman, who gained national attention alongside Hemingway and others in the 1920s.
C. O. Davidson’s fiction has appeared on PseudoPod and in Vastarien, Cemetery Gates, and the anthologies Georgia Gothic and Generation X-ed. She also co-edited Monsters of Film, Fiction, and Fable, a collection of scholarly essays. A founding member of the Atlanta Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, she also teaches Gothic lit., slasher films, and comic books as an English Professor at Middle Georgia State University.
A graduate of Florida State University, Robert Gwaltney presently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. By day, he serves as Vice President of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., a non-profit organization that strengthens children and their families during the most critical times in their development. Through his non-profit work, he is a champion of early childhood literacy. Robert also serves as contributing editor for The Blue Mountain Review. In all the hours between, he writes. The Cicada Tree is his debut novel.
At age 51, Ann Hite became a published novelist. Hite’s debut novel, “Ghost On Black Mountain”, won Georgia Author Of The Year and was a Townsend Prize Finalist in 2012. She is the author of the following books, The Storycatcher 2013 Simon & Schuster, Where The Souls Go 2015 Mercer University Press, Sleeping above Chaos 2016 Mercer University Press, a novella Lowcountry Spirit 2013 Pocket Book, Going to the Water Firefly Southern Fiction 2021, Haints on Black Mountain: a haunted short story collection 2022 Mercer University Press, and a memoir, Roll The Stone Away 2020 Mercer University Press. Her books have been finalists in IndieFab and Georgia Author of the Year Awards. She has been nominated for two Pushcarts. Being a city girl most of her life, Ann now writes each day in her home office that looks out on a decent clutter of trees, where she is hard at work on a biography of Lucille Selig Frank, Leo Frank’s wife.
Piper Huguley is the author of two historical fiction novels: By Her Own Design and American Daughters. An English professor at Clark-Atlanta University, she can be found on social media on Threads @piperhuguley and Instagram @piper_huguley. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and son.
Lorraine Lai’s short story “No Questions Asked” won recognition in the 2025 Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition. She is currently working on her debut novel, a cosy fantasy-mystery set in a magical small town filled with eclectic and endearing residents. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in several anthologies, and she began her writing career as a journalist for the Fayette County News in the 1990s.
In the (far too many to count) years between the ’90s and now, Lorraine has worn a collection of hats. The longest, and perhaps the most hard-earned, was that of a street-wise, snarky paramedic racing across the streets of metro Atlanta. Today, she wears two: a gardener’s hat while chatting with stink bugs, dragonflies, and bees; and the crown of a domestic goddess presiding over a household that includes her husband, two dogs, and one aloof, notably opinionated cat. Through every chapter of her life – from journalism to emergency medicine – Lorraine has always returned to storytelling, where she finds both her creative home and greatest joy.
Even though she majored in English at Florida State University, Maryann Lozano didn’t start writing until later in life. After spending many years noodling around with NaNoWriMo, books about writing, and writing prompts, she decided to get serious and enrolled in the Masters of Professional Writing program at Kennesaw State University. She graduated with honors in December 2019.
Dawn Major’s debut novel, The Bystanders, was named finalist for 2024 Georgia Author of the Year for Best First Novel. Major has a graduate degree in Creative Writing, is associate editor at Southern Literary Review, and a co-editor at WELL READ Magazine where she writes a column called “TripLit with D. Major.” She enjoys advocating for Southern writersand artists on her blog, SouthernRead.
Association, is a member of multiple writing association, as well as a member of M’ville, an Atlanta-based artist salon. She has been published in multiple journals, reviews, and anthologies. For a full list of publications and to learn more about Major visit www.dawnmajor.com. Major lives in Atlanta, GA with her family and is currently working on her novelette, The Dandy Chronicles.
Eliot Parker is the author of five novels, most recently A Final Call, recipient of an Eric Hoffer Book Award – Finalist The da Vinci Eye for best cover design, Southern California Book Festival Award – Best General Fiction, London Book Festival Award, National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist – Thrillers and a Los Angeles Book Festival Award. A Knife’s Edge, which was an Honorable Mention in Thriller Writing at the London Book Festival, and is the sequel to the award-winning novel Fragile Brilliance. His novel Code for Murder was named a 2018 Finalist for Genre Fiction by American Book Fest. He is a recipient of the West Virginia Literary Merit Award and Fragile Brilliance was a finalist for the Southern Book Prize in Thriller Writing. He recently received with the Thriller Writing Award by the National Association of Book Editors (NABE) for his novels.
D.C. Phillips has received praise for his dynamic and darkly ironic style, once described as “Flannery O’Connor meets Tales From the Crypt.” D.C. lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his husband and two dogs. He cites Southern Gothic culture and classic horror as two of his major influences. He draws inspiration from his surroundings, from the subtle anxieties of suburbia to the creaky halls of a Victorian manor. He can be reached across social media (@FrightfulFables).
Kim Poovey is a bestselling author of gothic and horror fiction. In addition, she has written for several magazines to include Beaufort Lifestyles, Bluffton Breeze, Citizen’s Companion, and the Civil War Times. Her passion is teaching about writing and publishing. Kim lives in a haunted 1890s Victorian cottage in the SC Lowcountry with her husband, Darryl, and their furry children.
Shay Rodricks started her storytelling journey in musical theater and obsessively reading fantastical worlds from her favorite authors. She fell in love with writing as a way to tell the stories she wants to read and explore the worlds she wants to explore.
She studied History, English, and Theater at Mercer University, although her parents believed she majored in extracurriculars from all her involvement on campus. Currently, Shay is a board member for Broadleaf Writers Association based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she aims to help bring writers together.
Her titles other than author include: coffee queen, tattoo addict, trashy tv lover, wishful dragon rider, world traveler (when she can afford it), and dancer. Shay currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her wonderful hubs, their (mostly) angelic kiddos, an old man dog, and a ball python named Steve.
Crystal Wilkins holds a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University. She completed an internship with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Georgia Chapter, and has self-published several young adult novels. Through her work, she strives to raise awareness and foster understanding of mental health, using storytelling as a way to inspire empathy and connection.
Outside of writing, Crystal enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, and cheering on her hometown Atlanta Braves.
Emeritus Board Members
One of Broadleaf Writers Founding board members, Bill Bridges continues to function with the organization, assisting in conference planning, connecting with writers and offering his expertise on panels and as a moderator. Bill is a writer and game designer, most known for developing White Wolf’s World of Darkness setting and the Fading Suns science-fiction universe.
Bill lives near Atlanta, GA, wondering how in the world he survives the humidity. When he’s not playing RPGs or reading comics, he serves as a Fellow at Atlanta’s Mythic Imagination Institute, and sits on the boards of the C.G. Jung Society of Atlanta.
One of Broadleaf’s most enthusiastic and passionate advocates and board members, Benji Carr utilized his role on the board to connect the organization with writers, board members, and supported and inspired writers at every opportunity.
As a child growing up in the South with cerebral palsy, Benji Carr developed an eye for the bizarre and quirky, which provided all of the stories he told his friends and family with a bit of flavor. Working as a journalist, storyteller and playwright, his work – whether the stories be personal tales of struggle and survival or fiction about cannibal lunch ladies, puppet romances, drag queen funerals, and perverted killer circus clowns – has been featured in The Guardian, ArtsATL and Pembroke Magazine. Onstage, his pieces have been presented at the Center for Puppetry Arts, Alliance Theatre, and as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival in Manhattan. He lives in Atlanta and helps run the online literary magazine, Gutwrench Journal. Impacted is his first novel.
Jessica Nettles grew up with one foot in the real world and the other in a world mixed with dabs of spiritual belief, science-fiction and fantasy dreams, and spooky experiences that she, nor her family, could quite explain. At age 11, she found the perfect outlet for this bizarre childhood in the form of writing. Her influences range from Ray Bradbury to Flannery O’Connor and Shirley Jackson. She reads as voraciously as she can while balancing her career as an English Instructor and a writer of Southern Gothic and Historical Fantasy.
Her first novel is Children of Menlo Park. Her short fiction is featured in Off the Beaten Path 4, Georgia Gothic, A Woman Unbecoming, Lonely Hollows, League of Monsters, and Effigies and Incantations. Also check out her voice-over work on Episode 775 of the horror podcast, Pseudopod, where she reads Michael McDowell’s “Miss Mack.” She has most recently written an adventure for the game Cryptid Capture Corps, which will be included in a supplement published through Bearded Bard. Her next novel, Kudzu Ridge, is coming soon!
Carmen Tanner Slaughter has been a voracious reader since age three. Her love of the written word and its importance led to a career in both the public library and public education systems. She also worked as an event coordinator with independent booksellers, hosting literary festivals as well as moderating book discussion groups, reading series, and conference panels in metro Atlanta. Her passion for words is not limited to those on the page. Carmen has been a raconteur since she was a toddler telling stories to her dolls but in 2009 she achieved professional status and has been a featured storyteller at MothUp Atlanta, Carapace, Stories on the Square, and the Peach State Storytelling Festival series “Stories on the Edge of Night”. Carmen is an avid cinephile and music lover who spends hours indulging in those forms of creative expression. She channels her passions into serving her community and is a former board member and executive officer of the Cherokee County Arts Center and the Cherokee County Historical Society. In addition to serving on the BWA board, Carmen is a trustee of the Sequoyah Regional Library System and a contributing writer for Enjoy Cherokee magazine.