Donald Maass - Agent, Donald Maass Literary Agency

Donald Maass is the founder of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York. He is the author of The Career Novelist (1996), Writing the Breakout Novel (2001), Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (2004), The Fire in Fiction (2009), The Breakout Novelist (2011), Writing 21st Century Fiction (2012), and The Emotional Craft of Fiction (2016).

Since 2001, Don has teamed up with Free Expressions to offer more than sixty writing workshops. His pioneering work and writing about the development of fiction careers
has made DMLA a leading agency for fiction writers.

Lorin Oberweger - Director/Owner, Free Expressions

Lorin is a highly sought-after independent book editor, story mastermind, and author with almost twenty-five years experience in publishing. As of 2016, she has also taken on the role of literary agent with the acclaimed Adams Literary agency. 

Lorin’s students and clients have millions of books in print and have been published by imprints of HarperCollins, Random House, Penguin, Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and many other mainstream and independent presses. They have also gained representation with some of the industry’s leading literary agents.

A popular instructor, Lorin has served as a faculty member for writing workshops around the country, specializing in high level craft classes as well as one-on-one critiques and brainstorming sessions.

Along with New York Times bestselling author Veronica Rossi, Lorin is the author of the New Adult series, Boomerang, Rebound, and Bounce published by Harper/William Morrow.

Brenda Windberg - Editor, Free Expressions

Brenda has been on the staff of Free Expressions since 2002. In addition to her work as staff editor and speaker at the Breakout Novel Intensives and several other workshops, she  has worked in publishing for more than fifteen years—both as an editor with dozens of client successes to her credit and as an accomplished freelance writer, whose articles have won numerous awards.

Brenda specializes in helping writers plumb the emotional depths of their stories, to reveal the rich inner lives of characters and deepen story themes. 

Her work has been featured in such publications as PARENT GUIDE, HARTFORD TIMES PRESS, FLORIDA HEALTHCARE NEWS and many others.  Her fiction is represented by Matt Bialer at Sanford J. Greenburger.

Grace Burrowes - Author / Editor

New York Times bestselling author, Grace Burrowes is the author of an amazing eighty-three novels. Her debut work, THE HEIR was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Top Five Romances for 2010, and is the first in an eight-sibling historical romance series published by Sourcebooks Casablanca.

Grace writes Georgian, Regency, Scottish Victorian and contemporary romances in both novella and novel lengths. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America and enjoys giving workshops and speaking at writer’s conferences.

Laurie Calkhoven - Author / Editor

Laurie Calkhoven is the author of more than fifty books for young readers, including six novels for American Girl, the BOYS OF WARTIME series, and more nonfiction books than she can count. Her most recent novel is ROOSEVELT BANKS, GOOD-KID-IN-TRAINING (January 2020).

Before she discovered she was a children’s book writer, Laurie spent twenty years in various editorial capacities in adult book publishing. She transitioned into children’s publishing as an executive editor for the Scholastic Book Clubs before becoming a full-time writer.