WRITER'S ROAD TRIP - ANNUAL MINI WRITERS CONFERENCE
October 4, 2025
Zem Zem Banquet & Conference Center
2525 West 38th Street, Erie, PA
Speakers
Janyce Brawn
Janyce Brawn, a retired Art/ESL/Spanish teacher, is the author and illustrator of the middle grade Tales of the Teleporting Topsider series. She has written and illustrated for books and the poetry magazine, Time of Singing, for over 30 years. Her rhyming picture book, Hippo Hullabaloo, was published by Dragonfly Publishing, Inc. in the fall of 2024.
Timons Esaias
Timons Esaias is a satirist, writer, and poet living in Pittsburgh. He taught in Seton Hill University's MFA in Writing Popular Fiction Program for 20 years, and his mentees have published more books than he can afford to buy.
His works, ranging from literary to genre, have been published in twenty-two languages. He has also been a finalist for the British Science Fiction Award, twice won the Asimov's Readers Award, and won the Winter Anthology Contest for 2020. His story "Norbert and the System" has appeared in a textbook, and in college curricula. He was shortlisted for the 2019 Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize. His full-length Louis-Award-winning collection of poetry -- Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek -- was brought out by Concrete Wolf.
In recent years, his stories have included a PSA warning about the dangers of werepandaism, a flash fiction about snuff poetry, a story with a pillow as the protagonist, and another with Concord grape jelly packets as the antagonist.
People who know him are not surprised to learn that he lived in a museum for eight years.
He collects chess sets and elephants, and he visits far too many coastal fortifications.
Chuck Kienzle
I’m Chuck Kienzle, a retired computer programmer, currently living in Western Pennsylvania with my wife, Judy, and her cat daughter Molly. I am not her father!
Fifty years ago, I created the backstory for an epic fantasy, with maps, cultural breakdowns, a history, and gods. Then life got in the way.
A decade ago, I started to write again. Now, with four unpublished novels under my belt, and one, after three critique group run-throughs, ready to be sent to agents and publishers, I’m ready to be a published author. HA HA.
I write urban fantasy and participated, with Janet Pierce and her twin sister, Janyce Brawn, in a talk on world-building at the 2023 Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books. I gave a presentation on world-building at the 2024 Writers Road Trip in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Do I wish I had kept on with my writing earlier? To paraphrase a once First Lady and Secretary of State; It takes a village to become a writer. Before I joined Pennwriters and two associated critique groups, my novels were full of imagination and technically inept. This may have come rather late in my life; I have learned so much about the art of writing.
Currently, I’m amid final edits and beta readings of my urban fantasy novel where a sixty-six year old hidden superhero finds himself in a world of magic. Along with the first draft of the sequel and a vampire detective noir novel, in progress.
Catherine McLean
Catherine McLean has been helping writers become published authors for more than two decades. She is a novelist and short story author and long-time Pennwriter who gives in-person and online courses and workshops on the craft of writing fiction. She is a book and story writing coach and freelance editor. Her book for writers, REVISION IS A PROCESS, helps writers take the frustration out of self-editing. Connect with Catherine at—
Janet L. Pierce, Ph.D.
Janet L. Pierce, Ph.D. is a retired ESL teacher. She has written historical nonfiction articles for newspapers, informational articles for Pennwriters, St. Davids’ Christian Writers, and TESOL International; newsletters for professional organizations; and murder mystery scripts. Recent publications include poems, flash fiction and a creative nonfiction story. Currently, her agent is shopping her debut historical fiction novel to publishers. Her devotional book, Observations at the Bird Feeder is available here at the conference and on Amazon and Ingram Sparks.
Fritze Roberts (she/they)
Fritze Roberts is a freelance editor at APeculiarProject.com. She discusses the writer’s life in conference workshops and on her YouTube channel. Her writing contrasts the small activities of everyday with the larger mysteries of life. She also serves on the board of Pennwriters.
To learn more about her, visit or find her on YouTube, Facebook, and Goodreads.
Debra R. Sanchez
Debra R. Sanchez has moved over thirty times...so far. She earned her B.A. in communications and writing from Westminster College. She and her husband have three adult children and seven grandchildren. She teaches writing workshops, provides writing coaching, and hosts writing retreats. Her writing has won awards in various genres, including children’s stories, poetry, fantasy, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Several of her plays and monologues have been produced and published. Her other works have been published in literary magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. Besides being an editor and translator at Tree Shadow Press, she is also a freelance editor and a translator of a wide variety of topics, including numerous books.
For more information, visit her webpage: www.debrarsanchez.com
Follow her on Facebook and Twitter: @DebraRSanchez
Books by Debra R. Sanchez:
- Pages: A Library Play (2016) received special recognition at The Author Zone (TAZ) awards 2022.
- Páginas: Un Cuento de Bibliotecas (2016)
- And My Mother Cried/Y Mi Mama Lloró was awarded “Best Children’s Book of 2017” at The Author Zone (TAZ) awards.
- Prompted, Prodded, Published: How Writing Prompts Can Help All Writers (2017 TAZ award in the non-fiction category)
- Raw & Unfinished received a TAZ award in 2018 for poetry.
- Celebrate: A Collection of Life’s Celebrations (2019)
- Snow Pants for Isabella/Pantelones de Nieve para Isabella won the TAZ award in 2020 for Best Children’s Book
- What’s that Noise? / ¿Qué Ruido Es? (2020) (TAZ finalist)
- Chocolate Spaghetti for Breakfast / Espaguetis de Chocolate para el Desayuno (2021)
- So Much Fun! / ¡Muy Divertido! (2021)
- Looks Matter: Beyond Judging the Cover (2021) (TAZ finalist)
- Flutter Me By/Pelusas de Hadas (2022) (Winner of TAZ award in 2024 for Best Picture Book)
Mary Sutton
Writing as Liz Milliron, Mary Sutton is the Shamus award-nominated author of The Homefront Mysteries, The Laurel Highlands Mysteries series, and The Jackson Davis Mysteries. Her short fiction has been published in multiple anthologies. Liz is a member of Pennwriters, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and The Historical Novel Society and is the current Secretary of the Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Education Liaison for the National SinC board. Liz lives in the Laurel Highlands with her husband and a very spoiled retired-racer greyhound.
Contact info:
Mary Sutton (writing as Liz Milliron)
www.lizmilliron.com
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