Wicked Writers

Yzaura Vanegas is a director, producer and trainer of interactive live events for Nickelodeon and the host, producer and writer of the podcast How About A Story. This season on her podcast she wrote her first audio drama where she combined her love for fairy tales and true crime together to create season 4 Following the Big Bad Wolf: A true crime investigation in Fairytale Land.

Make sure to subscribe to her podcast: How About a Story and visit her website at https://www.howaboutastory.com/. 

One rainy day and a flat tire later, Jonathan’s life would change forever when car troubles inspired him to write a book. In March 2016, Jonathan published his debut book, “Master of Ceremonies: A Male’s Guide for a Successful Life." In February 2020, he became the owner of Jharris Publishing, LLC to help more aspiring authors feel comfortable telling their story. In July 2020, Jonathan released his 2nd and 3rd books "Growing Gents" and "Girls With Pearls." Learn more at https://www.authorjon.com/. 

Raised in Fort Washington, Maryland, Jonathan C. Harris is no stranger to leadership, hard work, or success. At the age of ten years old, he earned the right to be a guest weatherman for a day on Fox 5 DC News. He has already received over 100 honors and awards including Forty Under 40 for Prince George’s County, MD, TEDx Talk speaker, TEDxFortWashington Founder, American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Outstanding Men’s Program, high school Valedictorian and the Kiwanis Club Citizenship Award. 

Jennifer Dupee's debut novel, The Little French Bridal Shop, was published by St. Martin's Press on March 9, 2021. Visit her website to order a copy: https://www.jenniferdupee.com/. 

Jennifer is a graduate of Brown University, where she received her honors in Creative Writing.  She is an active member of the Grub Street writing community in Boston and has published in The Feminist Press.  She was a semi-finalist for the 2016 James Jones First Novel Competition and a semi-finalist for the 2016 Faulkner-Wisdom competition.  Jennifer lives in a historic house just outside of Boston with her family and is currently at work on her next two novels.

Emily Edwards is the creator and host of a comedy podcast about books where she and a guest discuss toxic personalities from the world of Western lit. FBOL can be found on all podcast platforms. When Emily isn’t reading or chatting about books, she is writing her own. She specializes in historical mysteries with a modern, feminist twist.

Rachel Sharona Lewis is an accidental mystery novelist. By day, she organizes faith communities in the Boston area around local social justice efforts. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction and non-fiction alike, attending committee meetings and playing the trombone. She lives in Watertown, MA with her wife, Liz.

She just published her first book “The Rabbi who Prayed with Fire”. Her website is https://www.rachelsharonalewis.com/. 

Tim Whelan Jr. is a sports journalist with 15 years of experience in the field. Tim spent 11 years with the MetroWest Daily News sports team, from correspondent, to weekly editor, to staff writer, to Patriots beat writer and columnist. And after a two-year stint out in Denver, Colo., as a sports blogger with USA TODAY and the regional director for Gatorade’s Player of the Year through 3Step Sports, he returned to the Wicked Local family in 2018 as the regional director of sports where he overseen the digital transformation of the sports departments in Eastern Mass. 

Dan Cagen worked at Metrowest daily news, local paper in Framingham, MA for 6 years as a sports writer and editor, where he met Tim. Mostly covered high school sports as well as 4 seasons as the Boston Bruins beat reporter for the paper. Dan has since transitioned out of sports writing in the last 5 years and graduated in 2020 with a marketing analytics degree from Bentley University.

​Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Zorana studies the role of emotion and emotion skills in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills.

​Zorana has collaborated with colleagues from Denmark, Spain, China, and Croatia and published her research in journals such as Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Personality, Sex Roles, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Creativity Research Journal, Journal of Creative Behavior, Career Development International and others. She is Associate Editor of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, and the International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving.

She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, received a doctorate from the University of New Hampshire (with Dr. Jack Mayer, co-creator of the theory of emotional intelligence), and did postdoctoral research at the Interpersonal Communication and Interaction laboratory at Tufts University (with Dr. Nalini Ambady who pioneered research on thin slices of behavior).

Her website is https://www.zoranaivcevicpringle.com/.

Originally from the Chicagoland area, Jamie is a professional in the Cambridge biotech scene, a graduate student at Boston University School of Public Health, and a lifelong multi-hobbyist. He enjoys reading, writing, singing, playing music, photography, cooking, creating, exploring, travelling. Jamie is also a burgeoning advocate and activist within the transgender community.

Sasha Cagen is a writer and life coach who specializes in helping brilliant women and sensitive, self-aware men who identify with her quirkyalone concept (now a word on dictionary.com). She is the author of the cult favorite Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics and To-Do List: From Buying Milk to Finding a Soul Mate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us. Her work as an author, life coach for women and entrepreneur has been featured everywhere from NPR and the New York Times to CNN and Vogue.

Her website is www.sashacagen.com. Find her on Facebook at Sasha Cagen Writer and Instagram @sashacagen.

Andy Michaels is not a professional writer. He's not even that successful. He's the author of numerous unpublished short stories, poems, and songs, two unfinished novels, and a now-defunct webcomic, appropriately titled Modern Failure. He's also written for the similarly defunct outlets Pluck Magazine and YankeeSmartass.com. He's previously been a guest on the Fuckbois of Literature podcast. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @stopthatandy.

Zenda Walker is an author, licensed cosmetologist, and beauty marketing executive. Originally from the Bronx, New York, she enjoys traveling, spontaneous dance parties, exploring and developing beauty trends, and chocolate desserts. Zenda is a co-founder of Bounce Mobile Fitness Club, LLC. – a fitness business specializing in rebounding workouts. Zenda resides in Los Angeles, California with her six-year-old daughter Zara. She is currently working on her first children's book: Know your Hairitage: Zara's Wash Day.

In this special pre-election episode, I talk with Dave Cavell, lawyer and former presidential speechwriter. We talk about the importance of giving voice to others, where we were on election night in 2016 and how we want election night 2020 to be boring. Take a listen for great advice on what's at stake on November 3rd and make sure you go vote! Visit iwillvote.com or whenweallvote.org for more information.

Tune into my interview with Emily Smith of Guide to Wholeness Healing! We talk about how to harness your writing rituals and inspiration, what it looks and feels like to heal through writing, essential oils, how napping helps us write and so much more. Learn more about Emily's business at www.guidetowholenesshealing.com.

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Why do you write? Why does anyone want to expose their inner most thoughts? Subscribe to Wicked Writers as I talk to cool writers about why they do what they do and share my thoughts on how writing creates connection in our communities.