Leslie Daniels’ first novel, Cleaning Nabokov’s House, has been published in translation in four languages. The novel, now under option for film, fights the good fight of being both literary and funny. Daniels’ stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications. Her background in publishing includes over a decade as a literary agent in New York, as well as serving as the fiction editor for Green Mountains Review. Leslie Daniels lives in Ithaca, New York. www.lesliedaniels.com
2023 Special Programs Staff
Sands Hall is the author of the memoir Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology (Counterpoint). Blackstone Audio produced the audio book, read by the author. Other books include the novel, Catching Heaven (Ballantine), a Random House Reader’s Circle selection and Willa Award Finalist (Woman Writing the West); and a book of essays and exercises, Tools of the Writer’s Craft. Her stories and essays have appeared in such journals as Alta, New England Review, Iowa Review, and Los Angeles Review of Books. Professor Emeritus at Franklin & Marshall College, she lives in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada. www.sandshall.com [Fiction/Memoir]
Photo Credit: Tracy Hall
In her long career as a screenwriter and producer, Meyer has sold and written numerous feature screenplays, from dark comedies to true crime dramas, for Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and all the major studios. In addition, she has written network miniseries and movies-of-the-week, as well as an original drama pilot for CBS. Her scripts have placed in the top percentiles with such competitions as the Sundance Lab, the Austin Film Festival, and Screencraft.
Her producing debut, the ABC 4-hour miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place, starring Oprah Winfrey, earned an Emmy® nomination and Image Award. She also executive produced Nora Ephron’s directorial debut, This is My Life, for 20th Century Fox. Meyer is a longtime member of the Writers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
An educator for 24 years, Meyer has thrived teaching screenwriting to emerging visual storytellers. After a decade at AFI, she is now an assistant professor of screenwriting at LMU. In 2019, she was named one of the top film educators in the country by Variety: https://variety.com/2019/film/features/entertainment-education-report-best-films-schools-for-2019-1203213637/
Patricia K. Meyer earned a BA in History & Literature from Harvard University and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Boston University.
Will Richardson is Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Tahoe Institute for Natural Science (TINS) which is a member-supported nonprofit organization seeking to advance the natural history, conservation, and ecosystem knowledge of the Tahoe region through science, education, and outreach. Since 2010, TINS has promoted stewardship of the Tahoe region, bringing a deeper understanding and appreciation of the region’s natural resources to children, adults, and land managers.
Will has lived in the Tahoe area since 1994, and has been intensively studying the region’s natural history and ecosystems ever since. He is slowly chipping away at a status and distribution guide for the birds of the Lake Tahoe basin, but his interests span all taxa: he has authored papers on chipmunks, butterflies, tiger beetles, dragonflies, and the discovery of a second species of salamander occurring in the Tahoe basin.
Will received his Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Nevada, Reno, studying bird communities in Sierra Nevada aspen habitats. He’s never not birding, but he also attempts to squeeze in backcountry skiing, climbing, sea-kayaking, Ulitmate Frisbee, and the occasional music gig. He has been leading nature walks for the Community of Writers since 2012.
Stacy Spruill watched an ungodly amount of television as a child and her bad habits actually paid off. She is a screenwriter, director, TV showrunner, and university professor. Stacy has had features optioned by notable Hollywood talent and has written for streaming networks on both multi-camera and single-camera series. Her shorts have screened at over forty film festivals, including Cannes and Toronto. A proud alumna of U.C. Berkeley and The AFI Conservatory, Stacy lives in Los Angeles and is the Assistant Chair of The Screenwriting Department at Loyola Marymount University.