President, Celeste Barclay

Celeste Barclay, a nom de plume, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. Before becoming a full-time author, Celeste was a Social Studies and English teacher. She holds degrees in International Affairs (BA), Secondary Social Science (MAT), and Political Management (MPS). From her previous careers, and as an immigrant, Celeste understands the need for inclusion among diverse communities. She values the ideas and complexities of having people from various walks of life engaging in professional development and networking. She merges her cultural identities as an American, European, and North African, along with her education and training in both academia and politics. Celeste brings a wealth of experience in both leadership and inclusion.

Celeste’s goals whenever she’s in a collective environment are to make all members feel welcomed and valued for their unique perspectives and offerings. She sees the merits of encouraging marginalized or underrepresented voices to join the dialogue, especially within the publishing industry. Through her writing, podcast appearances and public speaking engagements, and collaboration, Celeste hopes to continue to encourage the publishing world to expand to better represent our global and diverse author community.

Job description: The President is the chief executive officer of NINC. It is his/her duty to coordinate and oversee the activities of the organization, including the national conference, NINC's various committees, and the organization's special projects. The President leads the monthly Board meetings and sets the agenda; writes a monthly column for Nink ; and presides over the Annual Business Meeting. After serving a complete term in office, the NINC President becomes a member of the Advisory Council.

President-elect, Caethes Faron

Caethes Faron writes across the fantasy and science fiction genres. She loves characters who fall in love and then save the world... or at least their little corner of it. Her first novel was published in 2012, and she joined NINC two years later. Her work has received honorable mention in the Rainbow Awards and been nominated for All Time Favorite Series on Goodreads. Always looking for a fresh challenge, she’s lived in seven states and currently resides in Florida with her husband and dogs. She’s often found at theme parks or gaming when she’s not writing.

Job description: When a current President completes his/her term, the President-Elect shall become the next President. S/he shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President in the events of the latter's absence and shall perform such other duties as the Board of Directors shall from time to time determine, including overall charge of the next annual conference. The President-Elect also serves as NINC's Public Relations Coordinator.

Treasurer, Timothy Cerepaka

Timothy L. Cerepaka writes fantasy and science-fiction stories as an indie author. He is the author of the Prince Malock World fantasy novels, the Mages of Martir fantasy novels, and the Two Worlds fantasy novels. He lives in Texas.

Job description: The NINC Treasurer works with the Central Coordinator to pay monthly bills. The Treasurer receives monthly profit and loss reports from the Central Coordinator and deals with NINC’s bank accounts, CDs and money market account. S/he prepares the NINC budget and conference budget in consultation with the Board and gets the NINC financial records ready for the yearly audit.

Secretary, Sylvia McDaniel

USA Today bestselling author Sylvia McDaniel has published more than 80 western historical romances and contemporary romances. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented stories, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides, Lipstick and Lead Series, Bad Girls of the West, and the Return to Cupid, Texas, series.

Job description: The NINC Secretary keeps the minutes of all meetings of the Board of Directors and all business meetings of the organization. S/he sends material and updates to the NINC archives and also performs such other duties as the Board of Directors determines from time to time.

Nink Editor, Harper St. George

Harper St. George was raised in the rural backwoods of Alabama and along the tranquil coast of northwest Florida. It was a setting filled with stories of the old days that instilled in her a love of history, romance, and adventure. By high school, she had discovered the historical romance novel which combined all of those elements into one perfect package. She has been hooked ever since.

She lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband and two young children. When not writing, she can be found devouring her husband's amazing cooking and reading.

Job description: The Newsletter Editor is responsible for compiling each month's edition of Nink . This includes choosing appropriate content, assigning articles to writers, editing submissions, and working with columnists. The editor works closely with Nink 's publisher each month to produce the print and electronic versions of Nink .

Advisory Council Representative, Steven Womack

Steven Womack is the author of the groundbreaking Music City Murders series, the first mystery series set in Nashville. This award-winning series was the first to put Nashville on the map as a setting for the mystery genre.

Womack began his first novel when he was eighteen-years-old. A short eighteen years later, he finally sold one. His first published novel, Murphy’s Fault, was the only debut mystery on the 1990 New York Times Notable Book List. Since then, he has published twelve more novels, winning an Edgar Award for Dead Folks’ Blues and a Shamus Award for Murder Manual.

A scriptwriter as well, Womack also co-wrote the screenplays for Proudheart, which was nominated for the CableAce Award, and Volcano: Fire On the Mountain, an ABC television movie that was one of the most-watched television movies of the year.