Featured Guest Authors
Erin Gates
Raised in Connecticut by a self-taught architectural designer, Erin Tubridy Gates learned to love every aspect of the home building and decorating process from a very young age. Over many years Erin has honed her skill set through working in fine art curation, event planning and for other design firms. In 2007 she founded her blog in an attempt to catalog her varied design passions into one place and shortly thereafter formed her own firm, which now designs residences from Maine to California and just about every spot in between.
Erin published her first book in 2014, the New York Times bestselling “Elements of Style: Designing A Home & A Life” and her second book, “Elements of Family Style: Elegant Spaces for Everyday Life” in April 2019, both with Simon & Schuster. She is slated for a third book, chronicling the process of creating a “forever” home, to be released in 2024.
Erin also designs licensed collections, including rugs, wallpaper and decor, as well as various other product collaborations under her growing global brand, Erin graduated from Miss Porter’s School and received a B.A. in Studio Art from Connecticut College. She lives in Wellesley, MA with her husband, adorable son and daughter, and very bad dog.
Sara DiVello
Sara DiVello is a true crime writer and the creator/host of Mystery and Thriller Mavens, a popular author series and interactive Facebook group. For her weekly Mystery and Thriller Mavens live events, she has interviewed more than 300 authors, ranging from the bestselling and world-renowned (Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwell, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, Tamron Hall, Karin Slaughter, Ruth Ware, Lisa Unger, and many more) to the buzziest debuts.
While creative and active on her own social media platforms, DiVello also serves as the director of social media strategy for the International Thriller Writers association. Sara has appeared on CBS, ABC, and CNBC, as well as in the New York Times, Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
Her articles have been published in Marie Claire, Elle, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Woman’s Day, among others. In her spare time, she loves to teach yoga, cook (and eat!), garden, and go for leisurely walks with her husband and their beloved rescue mutt, Peluda.
Sara is passionate about all things books (especially mysteries and thrillers), the craft of writing, and connecting readers to their favorite authors, as well as introducing them to their new discoveries.
Ilyon Woo
Ilyon Woo is the New York Times best-selling author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, one of the New York Times’s “10 Best Books of 2023” and People Magazine’s “Top Ten Books of 2023,” also named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, Time, NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, Boston, Chicago Public Library, and Oprah Daily.
Time Magazine called Master Slave Husband Wife an “edge-of-your-seat drama”; The Wall Street Journal pronounced it: “A narrative of such courage and resourcefulness it seems too dashing to be true…. a “genuine nail-biter.” A finalist for a Kirkus Prize, the book was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal, nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards, and supported by a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Writing Grant.
Ilyon is also the author of The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother’s Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times, Her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and The New York Times, and she has received support for her research from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Antiquarian Society, among other institutions.
Ilyon has traveled the country to speak at bookstores, museums, schools, and book festivals, and she has been featured on such programs as NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and CBS Sunday Morning. She holds a BA in the Humanities from Yale College and a PhD in English from Columbia University, where she first came upon the story of William and Ellen Craft.
Emily Franklin
Emily Franklin is the author of more than twenty novels and a poetry collection, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her award-winning work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Guernica, JAMA, and numerous literary magazines as well as long-listed for the London Sunday Times Short Story Award, featured and read aloud on NPR and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Christy Cashman
Christy Cashman is an author, actress, and producer who has appeared in more than twenty films, including American Hustle, Joy, The Women, Ted 2, and The Forger. An active member of the Boston community and beyond, she is on the board of directors for the Associates of the Boston Public Library and co-chairs its Literary Lights committee. Christy also serves on the board of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and supports the nonprofit Raising A Reader.
Her first novel, The Truth About Horses, published in August 2023, has earned significant praise in the literary world and admiration from the equestrian community. Christy is also the author of two children’s books, The Not-So-Average Monkey of Kilkea Castle and Petri’s Next Things, inspired by the true story of a heroic monkey who lived at that historic Irish castle.
In 2021, Christy founded YouthINK, a nonprofit that connects passionate teenaged creators with leading industry creatives to provide a supportive, encouraging, and nurturing space for mentorship and artistic expression. Established in Ireland, YouthINK debuted in the U.S. in August, 2023, for its first immersive workshop in Boston, Decisions We Make—Macbeth. Christy also founded YOUthink Creative Wellness Retreats in 2024 which were established to provide a spiritual, creative and physical oasis for guests while supporting YouthINK teen mentorship programs.
The second youngest of ten children, Christy was named after Catherine Marshall’s novel Christy, and grew up in North Carolina where her love for horses began at a young age. When she’s not writing or working on production projects, she is most likely riding throughout New England and Ireland. Christy lives with her husband, Jay; two sons, Jay Michael and Quinn; their three dogs, Ben, Lucy, and Dan; and three horses, Calvin, Butterscotch, and Victor. The family lives in Boston and spends their time in Ireland and on Cape Cod.
She is currently working on her second novel, Beulah, and her third children’s book, The Cat Named Peanut Shrimp Cookie Fry Muffin Who Lives on Staniel Cay.
Marisa Meltzer
Marisa Meltzer is author of Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music and co-author of How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time. Yes, she really loves the nineties that much.
As a freelance writer, her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Slate, New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, and many other publications. She has covered such diverse topics from why Miley Cyrus is a good role model to which Pride and Prejudice adaptation has the best Mr. Darcy and she's reported on Parisian riots and overachieving New York City high school students.
She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Caroline Kepnes
Caroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence and You Love Me. Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up in Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles.
Daisy Alpert Florin
Daisy Alpert Florin attended Dartmouth College and received graduate degrees from Columbia University and Bank Street Graduate School of Education. She is a recipient of the 2016 Kathryn Gurfein Writing Fellowship at Sarah Lawrence College and was a 2019–20 fellow in the BookEnds novel revision fellowship, where she worked with founding director Susan Scarf Merrell. A native New Yorker, Daisy lives in Connecticut with her family.
Hank Phillippi Ryan
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the USA Today bestselling author of 14 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. National book critics call her “a superb and gifted storyteller”; she’s the only author to win the Agatha in four categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Her newest is the page-turning standalone thriller THE HOUSE GUEST–a story of psychological manipulation exploring the dark heart of marriage and friendship—it’s Gaslight meets Thelma & Louise. Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline says, “Ryan is one of my favorite authors and THE HOUSE GUEST shows why” and Tamron Hall says it “kept me on the edge of my seat…” The Publishers Weekly rave review says, “Ryan is a master of suspense!” and the Library Journal starred review calls it "Binge-worthy.”
Hank is host of CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze and co-host of First Chapter Fun and The Back Room. She is a past president of National Sisters in Crime. Visit Hank at HankPhillippiRyan.com, Twitter @HankPRyan, Instagram @hankpryan and Facebook at HankPhillippiRyanAuthor.
Elin Hilderbrand
Elin Hilderbrand is the author of twenty-eight novels, including the forthcoming THE HOTEL NANTUCKET (June 14, 2022). She is a proud 1991 graduate of Johns Hopkins University where she majored in Writing Seminars. In her senior year at Hopkins, Elin had her first short story, "Misdirection," accepted for publication in Seventeen Magazine.
After a short stint working in publishing and teaching in New York City, she moved to Nantucket permanently in 1994. She attended the University of Iowa writers workshop and earned her MFA in 1998, and published her first novel, THE BEACH CLUB, in the summer of 2000. Her 2019 novel, SUMMER OF '69 was her first novel to debut at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the mother of three children and loves riding the Peloton, cooking, and going to the beach. She will retire with her summer of 2024 book and plans on becoming a book influencer.
Julie Brown
Julie Brown is a networking coach and business development strategist who has helped countless people transform their careers through networking via her newsletter, video series, seminars, private coaching sessions and keynote speeches. Once described as the most informative stand up comedian I've ever heard. Julie will most likely be the only woman you know who can talk about triadic closure and tough titties in the same breath. You can find out more about Julie at juliebrownbd.com.
Rob Cocuzzo
Robert Cocuzzo is the longtime editor of N Magazine, Nantucket Island's leading lifestyle publication. Cocuzzo is also the author of "The Road to San Donato" and "Tracking the Wild Coomba," as well as a contributor to Luxury Magazine, Departures, Outside, Esquire, Town & Country, and Modern Luxury. Cocuzzo lives in Boston with his wife Jenny and daughter Vienna.
Ben Mezrich
The reigning cowboy of narrative non-fiction with a writing career spanning nineteen years, Mezrich has authored twenty-four books – major international and New York Times bestsellers, with well over ten million copies sold. The genre he’s created – cinematic and unique true stories of young geniuses battling their way through the grey area between right and wrong, and succeeding at all costs – includes the wildly successful Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It was adapted into the hit motion picture 21. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal spent eighteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and appeared on hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. It was adapted into the hit movie THE SOCIAL NETWORK, which was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three including Best Adapted Screenplay, and won Golden Globes for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin share a prestigious Scripter Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as well. Mezrich is the only non-fiction author to have two adaptations open #1 at the box office. Mezrich’s latest book, The Antisocial Network, was an international bestseller and is being made into a motion picture, Sponsored by rose-toy. Currently, Mezrich is also a writer and consulting producer for the tv show Billions.