We're thrilled to welcome an amazing array of facilitators to this year's YA Mini-Fest! With beloved Lighthouse faculty and local YA authors alike, it's going to be a stunning weekend. Check out our lineup below!
Olivia Abtahi
Olivia Abtahi is a film director and writer based in Denver, Colorado. Born to an Iranian father and an Argentine mother, she is a melting pot of distinct cultures. Growing up in the DC area, Olivia always had a passion for cinema and storytelling. She is a graduate of NYU Film School and VCU Brandcenter, and has lived in New York, San Francisco, Richmond Virginia, and Dublin, Ireland. She holds a BFA and MaSC.
Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, was published in 2021 by Penguin Random House Putnam Books For Young Readers, receiving the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, and YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. Her sophomore novel, Azar on Fire, was published in August 2022. Her middle grade debut, Rostam and the Red Dwarf, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in 2025, along with her Picture Book debut from Kokila in the same year. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and daughter. In her spare time, she enjoys watching music videos, laughing so hard it hurts, and hunting down gluten-free pastries.
Olivia Chadha
Olivia writes science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and literary novels for MG, YA, and adult audiences. She has a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing. The Balance of Fragile Things is her debut adult literary novel. Rise of the Red Hand, her YA debut, was awarded the Colorado Book Award for Young Adult Literature. Book two of The Mechanists Series, Fall of the Iron Gods will be out April 2024. She is a contributor to the YA folk horror anthology The Gathering Dark (Page Street), the desi anthology Magic Has no Borders (HarperTeen), and the Star Wars anthology, Return of the Jedi: From A Certain Point of View. She lives in Colorado with her family.
Kellye Crocker
Kellye Crocker is the author of the contemporary middle grade novel Dad’s Girlfriend and Other Anxieties published in late 2022 by Albert Whitman & Co. Her debut novel was a 2023 Colorado Book Award finalist. Kellye is a longtime journalist whose writing has appeared in magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, and Glamour, among others. She’s also worked in library youth services and has taught writing at two universities. For several years, she served on the Young Writers Program faculty at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She’s represented by Kelly Dyksterhouse at Tobias Literary Agency. Kellye lives in Denver, where she’s writing another novel and a nonfiction book about art and science—both for middle-graders. She loves reality TV competitions, black labs, and funny books that make her cry.
Jenny Elder-Moke
Jenny Elder Moke is the award-winning author of children’s and adult literature. She enjoys fast-paced adventures with plenty of mysteries, surprising turns, and laughs along the way. Her most recent release is A Spark in the Cinders. She is also the author of Hood and the Curse of the Specter Queen series.
Jenny lives in Denver, CO. She is represented by Elizabeth Bewley at Sterling Lord Literistic.
Traci L. Jones
While raising her four kids, Traci Jones was reminded of her love for writing and began working towards earning a Creative Writing Certificate at the University of Denver. One of those courses led to the writing and completion of her first book, Standing Against the Wind. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) in 2006, Standing would win the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award in 2006, a national award that is occasionally awarded to new authors. Two more books with FSG followed in 2010 and 2011, Finding My Place and Silhouetted by the Blue. In 2018 she signed with Metamorphosis Literary Agency and is represented by agent Patty Carouthers, who is shopping her fourth and fifth manuscripts Dead Certain and A Blossom Within. She is currently working on her sixth manuscript, Vue.
In 2016 she joined the faculty of the Mile Hi MFA in Creative Writing program at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, where she teaches young adult fiction.
Malia Maunakea
Malia Maunakea is a Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) writer who grew up on Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu before relocating to the continent for college. She writes both middle-grade fiction and nonfiction and is the author of Lei and the Fire Goddess (Penguin Workshop, summer 2023) and Lightweight Backpacking for Families (CMC Press, spring 2023). When not at her computer, she can often be found roaming the Rocky Mountains with her husband, their two children, and a rescue mutt named Peggy.
Kristin Nelson (Agent)
Kristin established Nelson Literary Agency, LLC, in 2002 and over the last decade and a half of her career, she has represented over fifty New York Times bestselling titles and many USA Today bestsellers. One of her client’s books, Bird Box, is a Netflix movie starring Sandra Bullock and Trevante Rhodes and Hugh Howey’s Silo Series is coming May 2023 from Apple TV+. Her goal as an agent is simple: she wants every client of hers to make a living solely from writing and 90% of her clients do just that. Those clients include Shelby Van Pelt, Jamie Ford, Marie Lu, Stacey Lee, Ally Carter, Josh Malerman, Hugh Howey, Richard Chizmar, E.R. Ramzipoor, Swati Teerdhala, and Scott Reintgen. When she is not busy selling books, Kristin plays tennis, pickle ball, and golf. She also enjoys playing Bridge (where she is the youngest person in her club), and can often be found hiking in the mountains with her husband.
She is currently looking for literary/commercial novels that tackle timely issues or complicated relationship dynamics, high concept, character-driven novels with one foot squarely in genre, absolutely delightful and emotional engaging novels that can be read over and over again, character-driven novels in the thriller, speculative or science fiction and fantasy realm, historical novels that feature a narrative voice and story that is under-represented in history, young adult novels that pack a serious or a delightful emotional punch.
Ellen O'Clover
Ellen writes YA novels about finding your people, falling in love, and figuring it all out (or she's trying to, anyway). But she wrote a lot of other stuff first: she grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where she wrote piles of angsty love poems at the Thurber House Young Writers’ Studio, and then moved to Baltimore where she spent four years writing grim, minimalist short stories at the Johns Hopkins University. Since then, she's written a bunch of ads for a bunch of brands.
But always, always her heart has tugged her toward YA and the types of stories she grew up reading. The ones that made her fall in love with writing in the first place. And today you can read her debut novel, Seven Percent of Ro Devereux, out now from HarperTeen! Her second book, The Someday Daughter, publishes February 20, 2024.
JC Peterson
JC grew up in Michigan, playing on railroad tracks and swimming all summer. After college (hey, MSU!) she moved to Oklahoma City and worked for several years as a journalist. She continued her slow migration west with a move to Denver, where she lives today with her husband, two young boys, and senior tabby. She might miss the lakes in Michigan, but those mountain views are hard to beat.
In 2019, she was chosen as a mentee for Pitch Wars, and her spectacular mentors Carrie S. Allen and Sabrina Lotfi helped her edit and polish her novel Being Mary Bennet. (Was it stressful? Oh my god, yes. But so worth it.)
Today, she's represented by Amy Bishop of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Being Mary Bennet is her debut novel and released March 15, 2022 with HarperTeen.
Paige Terlip (Agent)
Paige Terlip represents all categories of children’s books from picture books to young adult, as well as select adult fiction, including thrillers/psychological suspense, fantasy/sci-fi, horror, upmarket fiction, romance, and mysteries. Regardless of genre, she is seeking inclusive, intersectional voices and gorgeous line-level writing with emotionally compelling narratives.
Paige has worked at ABLA since 2017. She comes to agenting with a background in marketing, design, and freelance editorial. She’s worked at Charlesbridge Publishing, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and a ranch in the Rockies. She has an MA in Children's Literature and an MFA in Writing for Children from Simmons University. If she’s not reading, you'll find her practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, re-watching the Great British Baking Show, or hiking with her Husky-Shepherd mix.
J.E. Thomas
J.E. Thomas spent her early summers stuffing grocery bags with books at the local library, reading feverishly, then repeating the process week after week.
So it's not surprising that she thinks books + imagination are the best streaming service around.
J.E. is an award-winning writer with bachelor degrees in Mass Communications and Political Science, and a master’s degree in Public Communications.
Control Freaks is her first book. She's working on middle grade book #2 and her debut YA novel. Fun fact: she includes the name of at least one of her dogs in every story.
Mariko Turk
Mariko Turk grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in creative writing. She received her PhD in English from the University of Florida, with a concentration in children’s literature. She lives in Colorado with her husband and daughter, where she enjoys tea, walks, and stories of all kinds.
Her debut novel, The Other Side of Perfect, is a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2022 pick and a Bank Street Best Children's Books of the year selection. It's available in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Spain, and is forthcoming in Bulgaria.
Leslie Vedder
Leslie Vedder (she/her) is a queer ace author who loves fairytale retellings with girl adventurers and heroes! She grew up on fantasy books, anime, fanfiction and the Lord of the Rings movies, and met her true love in high school choir. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in creative writing and currently lives in Colorado with her wife and two spoiled house cats.
When she's not reading or writing, you can find her watching anime and sci-fi shows, walking in the woods and pretending they're enchanted forests, or playing old video games. She always collects all the Skulltulas in Zelda and all the Dalmation puppies in Kingdom Hearts.
Her debut YA novel The Bone Spindle (Penguin | Razorbill) was an indie bestseller.
Rachel Werner
Rachel Werner is the author of the picture books Floods (Capstone 2022), Moving and Grooving to Fillmore's Beat (Capstone 2023), and The Glam World Tour (Capstone 2024) as well as the nonfiction middle grade title Glow & Grow: A Brown Girl's Positive Body Guide (Free Spirit 2025). She is on faculty for Hugo House in Seattle, Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, and the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she leads curricula to educate writers and content producers in marketing their work. A regular book reviewer for Shelf Awareness, she has contributed print, photography, and video content to We Are Teachers, Highlights Foundation, The Spruce Eats, TheKitchn, and MotherUntitled. She is the founder of The Little Book Project WI, a community arts initiative committed to pursuing social justice through narrative.