This page will be updated as more faculty members are
confirmed for the 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida.

---

Brittany J. Thurman writes award-winning books for kids. At the 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida, she is offering virtual add-on manuscript critiques for attendees.

She is the author of Fly, (Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text) and Fearless: Boulevard of Dreams. Her upcoming works include Forever and Always, illustrated by Shamar Knight Justice (2024), Fearless: The Takeover (2024), The First Library: The True Story of the First Library by and For Black America, illustrated by Cozbi Cabrera (2025) and Come Catch a Dream, illustrated by Islenia Mil (2025). (Find all her books here.)

She holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelor of Art in Theater from Kingston University, London, England. Her plays have been produced in Aspen, Colorado, and in New York City. Brittany is a former children’s early literacy specialist. She lives in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where she holds tight to her elders, roots, and her childhood home.

—————————-

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 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida, 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.

—————————–

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. At the 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida, Chuck is offering add-on query critiques for attendees.

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 2025 tear-off desk calendar (Sellers Publishing).

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.

—————————-

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 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida, Swati is offering add-on virtual manuscript critiques for attendees.

—————————-

Joel Brigham is the founder of Brigham Editorial, a fiction editing service that has helped writers find agents and agented authors prepare for submission and publication.

He also is an editorial consultant for The Purcell Agency, a literary agency based out of Chicago, Illinois. As an author, he writes YA contemporary fiction and has two books on submission, both represented by agent Tina P. Schwartz.

He also edits content for Basketball News and spent 12 years covering the NBA as a senior sportswriter for HoopsWorld and Basketball Insiders. He has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and a master’s degree in English Education and has taught high school English for 18 years.

At the 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida, he is offering add-on optional manuscript critiques for attendees.

—————————

Kimiko Nakamura is a literary agent with Dee Mura Literary, representing YA and adult titles within the genres of contemporary, literary, historical, and women’s fiction. In the categories of non-fiction she specializes in cookbooks and memoir.

At the 2025 Writing Workshop of South Florida, Kimiko is offering add-on virtual manuscript critiques for attendees. (She is not taking pitches.)

A graduate of Boston University’s Book Publishing program and Skidmore College, Kimiko has called the publishing industry home since 2006. From production to sales she’s worked within publishing houses to release new titles and foster backlist profits. As an agent, she uses this diverse background to assist her clients with all stages of publication, and well beyond.

Kimiko works with aspiring and established authors alike. She loves projects that reimagine what’s possible, characters with something (or nothing) to lose, unique viewpoints, trailblazing heroines, and cookbooks she can read like the Sunday morning paper.