Our Leadership
DeAnna Cameron, an award-winning author who also publishes under the name D.D. Croix, started her writing career more than 30 years ago as a freelance reporter for the Orange County Register, a job that led to a number of staff writer and editor positions at that newspaper, the Daily Breeze, Orange Coast Magazine, and other SoCal publications. With the sale of her first novel to Berkley/Penguin in 2007, she turned to fiction and now divides her time between writing and running O.C. Writers. You can find her online at DDCroix.com and reach her at deanna@oc-writers.com.
Barb DeLong loves contemporary, paranormal, and urban fantasy romance. Her stories have been featured in Romancing the Pages, Secrets of Moonlight Cove, and Love for Christmas anthologies. A transplant from Canada, she enjoys the sunny climate of Southern California with her hubby, and a she’s-not-fat-she’s-fluffy, blue-eyed ragdoll cat. You can find her online at WritingSomethingRomantic.com and reach her at programs@oc-writers.com.
USA Today bestselling author Kristy Tate is writing her own happily-ever-after one day (and sentence) at a time. She’s the author of more than twenty books, including the bestselling and award-winning Beyond Series and the Kindle Scout-winning Witch Ways series. She writes mysteries with romance, humorous romance, and lighthearted but speculative young adult fiction. When she’s not reading, writing, or traveling, she can be found playing games with her family, hiking with her dogs, or watching movies while eating brownies. She’s also a popular public speaker and presents writing workshops for schools, libraries, and fundraisers. References available upon request.
Fred Klein is a member of the Southern California Writer’s Association, O.C. Writers, and Hometown Reads. He has a humorous book, Memoirs of a Road Warrior, for sale on Amazon.com. He writes from his experiences as a salesman, laboratory technician, food service worker, writer, drummer, and pilot.
Amy Gettinger taught ESL at the adult level, freeway flying between the community colleges and adult schools of Orange County for 20 years. She started writing in the ’90s, when computer delete buttons made Wite-Out obsolete. (Yay!) She has three novels, a novella, and a short story collection gathering dust on Amazon. She likes them. Whatever. Now, she writes humorous 6,000-word plays for old folks to perform as Reader’s Theater in assisted living places. To date, she’s written 54 plays, some original, some adapted from movies, plays, and books. Her closets are FULL of costume hats. She also has a dog and two kids and a granddaughter who can do no wrong.
Gayle Carline is the acclaimed author of 15 books, from mysteries to fantasies, with a dash of humor spread liberally among them. When she is not writing, she is leading workshops on writing and publishing, speaking at events, or riding her horse in competitions. Gayle enjoys creating fascinating characters whom she can involve in everything from chasing a killer to sailing a pirate ship. She lives happily with her husband and a sassy Corgi. In addition, she has a son and two horses whom she thoroughly enjoys even if they don’t live with her. You can find out more about her by visiting https://gaylecarline.com.
Charmaine Wakefield, AKA Cee Cee, is a UCI graduate who has enjoyed several careers over the years, including reporting for the Saddleback Valley News. She has spent most of her time as a business owner, dance teacher, or elementary school teacher. Writing has always been her ultimate goal, and she is now happily focused on writing. She loves many genres of books, including romance, women’s fiction, historical fiction, contemporary, biographies, and memoirs. She greatly enjoys meeting and getting to know writers, reading, and critiquing any genre or type of work during the All-Genre Critique Group meetings.
Andrea Lewis lives and writes in Huntington Beach. Born in Romania, she moved to the United States at the age of 34, after meeting and marrying her husband. She writes memoir and personal essays, with a recent attempt at freeform poetry. Her first publication (“How 20 Weeks of Quarantine Healed my Marriage”) came on Aug. 1, 2020, in the Los Angeles Times’ L.A. Affairs section. Andrea has a passion for public speaking, has been a Toastmaster for almost four years, and enjoys serving as an officer in her Toastmasters club.
CASSANDRA RENDON is a writer and artist based out of Mission Viejo, California. Her first book, a children’s book entitled All the Ways You’re Important to Me, was published in 2018. These days she is focused on the literary roots she gleaned from her Creative Writing degree at the University of California, Riverside, writing short fiction and offering freelance editing services to other local writers. You can find more of her work at handcraftingalife.com.
Greta Boris is the author of The 7 Deadly Sins, a series of standalone novels of psychological suspense that expose the dark side of sunny Southern California. Her books have been described as atmospheric, twisty, and un-put-downable. She’s a popular conference speaker and workshop leader, and one half of the team that runs The Author Wheel, an education resource for writers. You can visit her at http://gretaboris.com. She describes her work (and her life) as an O.C. housewife meets Dante’s Inferno.
Megan Haskell is the award-winning author of The Sanyare Chronicles, a fast-paced dark fantasy adventure featuring a kick-ass heroine, snarky carnivorous pixies, and a quest across nine faerie realms. Sanyare: The Last Descendant (Book 1) received a Readers’ Favorite Bronze Award and was a finalist in the 2017 IAN Book of the Year Awards, and Sanyare: The Rebel Apprentice (Book 3), was named a finalist in the 2018 Book Excellence Awards. She’s also the co-founder of The Author Wheel, an education resource for writers. You can find her online at www.MeganHaskell.com, on Twitter @MeganPHaskell, and on Facebook.
Our Story
After the excitement and camaraderie of NaNoWriMo in 2012 our founder, DeAnna Cameron, went looking for a local writing community. Although there are many stellar writing groups in the area, she couldn’t find one that, in Goldie Locks’ words, fit just right. She did what all entrepreneurial-minded people do and started one. It began as a humble Facebook Group and small group of writers who attended a write-in at Panera Restaurant in Lake Forest and quickly grew to include additional write-ins, critique groups, writing workshops, and even a book fair.
In April 2016, DeAnna passed the baton to founding member Greta Boris, who immediately enlisted the aid of Megan Haskell, who joined as Co-Director in May 2016. In February 2020, Barb DeLong joined the team as Community Director, Kristy Tate stepped in as Social Media Director, and DeAnna returned as Managing Director.
Since those first days in 2012, O.C. Writers has grown to more than 1,000 Facebook Group members, many of whom meet up for our weekly write-ins and round-table discussions, and occasional special events and workshops all over the county, all thanks to our volunteer leadership team. To see our updated calendar of events, click here.
You can reach any team member at info@oc-writers.com.
Image credits:
Team member photographs are the property of the respective team members and appear here with permission.
O.C. Writers’ logo was designed by DeAnna Cameron and is used with permission.