John Patterson started working as a kid. He’s worked in a variety of service, retail, as well as light and heavy blue-collar gigs for almost a decade. After law school and clerking at the California Supreme Court, he practiced law for almost twenty years before going into education for almost twenty years. He retired from public secondary education teaching and administration positions. He’s served on five boards, including our CWC-Sac Board for two years. He hosts our Open Readings, which he started four years ago. He’s written for work, but now he is currently writing a memoir based on his childhood. When not writing, seeing family, or travelling, he tells true stories. He is screening for beta readers. Contact him at: 2johnpatterson@gmail.com

Making words come alive. That’s what floats audiobook narrator Dena Kouremetis’ boat. Whether it’s a memoir, a fantasy, or a novel replete with character accents and mood-altering scenes, she considers it her job to make an audio “movie” out of your written word.

Having been a professional writer for more than 25 years, Kouremetis is unique in the voice-acting world. Her name has appeared on articles and blogs ranging from the Sacramento Bee to Forbes to the New York Post to Psychology Today, where she maintains a light-hearted blog titled (R)aging with Grace — a Nora Ephron-esque column on aging well.

“Narrating audiobooks is an honor for me,” she says. “I have a special understanding of how authors wear their hearts on their sleeves. My job is to handle their words with both imagination and care.” Find a collection of Kouremetis’ colorful narration talents at DenaKouremetis.com.

Nida is a regular contributor to CAUpdate.com, an online magazine, with articles about her travels and life in the Philippines and the United States.

Nida currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Youth Symphony (SYS). Her articles about SYS have been published in Valley Community News. She is a Distinguished Toastmaster and has served as District 39 Area Director and as President, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer and Secretary for different Toastmaster clubs. She is the Treasurer for the International Philippines Association.

Nida was born in Larena, a town in the enchanting and mystical island of Siquijor, Philippines.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication at Silliman University. As a reporter for the Weekly Sillimanian, the official student newspaper, she covered the office of the University President. She worked as a summer intern in DYLA in Cebu City. After college, she worked as a writer for the Tourist Research and Planning in Metro Manila, Philippines. In 1980, Nida migrated to Northern California. Before joining the California Highway Patrol (CHP) where she worked for 22 years, she worked for Verbatim Corporation and the U.S. Postal Service.  At CHP, Nida rose through the ranks and attained the position of Commander for the CHP’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. Before retiring, she accepted a promotion at the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation as a Program Manager then as Chief of their Office of Civil Rights.

Ann Saxton Reh is an educator and award-winning author of mystery. Her novels See the Desert and Die, Meditating Murder, and forthcoming A Killing in Kasauli, grew out of her own adventures.

Aside from tornadoes in Kansas and a 9.2 earthquake in Alaska, Ann nearly drowned in a hurricane in Bermuda, lived in a squire’s manor house in rural England, survived a riot in Libya, rode polo ponies in India, worked illegally in Saudi Arabia, and wrote her Master’s thesis in a marble villa in Greece. Relationships among people of all cultures, servants to statesmen, fascinate her. Ann transports readers to the stormy bluffs of Mendocino, the burning desert of Arabia, or the forested hills of India to solve a mystery they’ll never forget.

Kathy Lynne Marshall is a Black Ancestor Biographer who works as a Diversity and Inclusion specialist on behalf of our ancestors. She’s written eight books that enhance the American historical record with well-researched, factual accounts of the lives of women, enslaved African Americans, and other groups. 

As an instructor, she leads workshops to guide others in writing the untold stories of historically excluded individuals. Her successful genealogy research and self-publishing strategies can help anyone realize their inner author.

Kathy has been featured in Sacramento Magazine, The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Observer, Sacramento News & Review, and Elk Grove Citizen. She has been interviewed on CBS-TV and Fox40-TV, American Spark-TV and the Research from the National Archives and Beyond and other genealogy podcasts. She has delighted audiences at local and national genealogy and writing conferences. She has also served as a consultant to West Virginia’s Beverly Heritage Center. 

Kathy has won multiple Book Awards from the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Sons and Daughters of the US Middle Passage, and Northern California Publishers and Authors. 

As the exhibiting artist known as Kanika, her welded steel and ceramic sculptures have been shown and sold at the Crocker Art Museum, the California State Capitol, the California State Fair Fine Arts Show, and in the Maya Angelou Annual Fiber Arts Exhibit in North Charleston, South Carolina. 

For more information: KathyLynneMarshall.com, Kanika Marshall Art Facebook page, and Kathy Lynne Marshall Linkedin.