President

Rick Bettencourt
Rick Bettencourt

Rick Bettencourt moved to Florida from Massachusetts to pursue a writing career and soon thereafter joined FWA. He has written several novels including Summerwind Magick, Building Us, Tim on Broadway, and Marketing Beef. Rick likes to entertain readers with compelling, thought-provoking stories involving the LGBT, powerful women, and underdogs. Through his consulting practice, Rick writes business documentation and analyzes sales and marketing data for Fortune 500 companies and private-equity firms. He lives in the Sarasota area with his husband and two dogs. Twitter: @rbettenc  Website: rickbettencourt.com

Executive Vice President

Arielle Haughee

Previously an elementary teacher, Arielle Haughee (Hoy) is a five-time RPLA-winning author and the owner of Orange Blossom Publishing. She is an editor, writing coach, publishing consultant, speaker, and contest judge. She is the author of The Complete Revision Workbook for Writers, Falling Into You, the children’s books Grumbler and Joyride as well as the editor for the How I Met My Other anthology series. She loves dogs, babies, and chocolate. When she isn't writing or editing, she loves diving into a good fantasy romance.

Vice President of Administration & Membership

Mary Ann de Stefano
Mary Ann de Stefano

Mary Ann de Stefano  is an independent editor with 30+ years' experience in publishing and writing consulting. Besides working one-to-one with writers who are developing books, she produces writing workshops and designs author websites, is editor of The Florida Writer, and publishes MAD's Monday Muse. Mary Ann does business at MAD about Words, which she named as a play on her initials and love for writing. She is mad about helping authors achieve their writing goals and nurturing creative and community spirit. Website: madaboutwords.com

Vice President of Finance

chrissy jackson
Chrissy Jackson

At the age of three, Chrissy Jackson received a little red plastic-covered rocker and two books for Christmas. That was the beginning of her love affair with words. She joined Florida Writers Association in 2004, was elected vice president in 2005, and became president in 2009. In 2007, she co-founded Florida Writers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization created to fight illiteracy across the state.

Director Emerita

Anne Dalton, Esquire

Anne Dalton, Esquire, has provided business and personal legal services to writers and other creatives in all phases of their creative development for 43 years. She proudly serves as General Counsel to the Florida Writers Association and is an FWA Lifetime Member. Anne is licensed in Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, and her credentials can be viewed at daltonlegal.com.

Directors

Chris Coward
Chris Coward

Chris Coward is a past president of FWA, chairperson for the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Awards competition, and leader of the Oxford Writers critique group. She has ghostwritten for presidential appointees and CEOs, headed corporate marketing departments, edited national magazines, and taught college English. She has an MA in English (concentration in professional writing and editing) from George Mason University and a BA in philosophy from the College of William and Mary.

Michael Farrell

Michael Farrell was drawn into the world of writing by his childhood dreams and the stories in his head that he wishes to bring to life. He loves Psychology, fantasy worlds, and stories about the wonders of life. He is a black belt in tae kwon do and has practiced the art for ten years. He also has a background in tumbling. Michael joined the Florida Writers Association in 2019.

Su Gerheim
Su Gerheim

Su Gerheim graduated from the book learning world in 1964. Her thirty-three years in the job market taught her the real world has little to do with book learning. After using up all her cold days, Su moved from Minnesota to Florida, retiring in 2003 to become the caregiver for her husband. Today, Su enjoys writing poetry and children’s books. Dabbling in many projects to become the master of nothing, she also enjoys seeing how well she can turn things into chaos. She and her sister, Winnie, are having a ball messing up website building.

Paul Iasevoli
Paul Iasevoli

Paul Iasevoli holds a Master’s in Latin-American Literature. His writing has appeared in various journals including Cathexis, High Shelf Press, Cleaning Up Glitter, and Deep South Magazine where he was winner of Honorable Mention in their 2018 Race in Place short story competition. His LGBTQ+ novella, Winter Blossoms, published by Beaten Track Publishing, was nominated for the 2018 Lambda award for best M/M romance. He is a member of the Bradenton Writers Group and the Selby Poets Society.

Mark H. Newhouse

Mark H. Newhouse, FWA Youth Chairperson, is a multiple Collections and RPLA winner for children’s mysteries: Welcome to Monstrovia; The Case of the Disastrous Dragon; The Case of the Crazy Chickenscratches and more.  NY State Reading Association Elementary/Secondary Teacher of the Year 1989, he was an adjunct professor at SUNY Old Westbury; served on Newsday’s educational advisory board, was founding president of Writers League, and leads Writers 4 Kids. Memberships include The Authors Guild,  SCBWI, and IBPA. Born in Germany to Holocaust survivors, he enjoys working with youth and is an anti-bullying advocate.

Alison Nissen

Alison Nissen is the co-founder of Revel Coach, an inspiration platform for women, a professor at Southeastern University, and writers’ coach. She is the author of the 2016 RPLA Unpublished Memoir of the Year Resolve, Courage, Hope, and host of FWA's The Florida Podcast and Webinars. Follow her Tales from the Laundry Room at alisonnissen.com.

William Opperman
William Opperman

After thirty-five years in Boston, William Opperman has contentedly retired to Central Florida with his husband Scot. Besides the two children and a grandchild, he delights in movies, operas (especially Wagner), and the Oxford comma. He is an editor and writer, an awed admirer of the Chicago Manual of Style, the principal of Keep the Voice Editing, and the author of a television miniseries script based on Thornton Wilder's magnificent novel The Eighth Day. He is currently working on a memoir, a mystery set in Mount Dora, and a gay romance

Elaine Senecal
Elaine Senecal

Elaine Senecal is a former executive committee board of director member as secretary for four years. Six years ago, she co-created the FWA website and continues to support website experiences for our membership. She has volunteered at our annual conferences where needed. Elaine has a business science degree and programming certificates that fulfill her day job as an integration data analyst and application instruction writer. In her downtime, she flirts with hubby, talks to the puppies, stares at the clouds, and writes cozy mysteries as Elaine Braman. Sometime in the future, she hopes to find the time to publish the third book in the series.

Herb Sennett

Herb Sennett is a retired speech and theater arts professor. He is the author of three self-published novels and two published academic books. He is currently working on a biography of one of Palm Beach County’s best-known religious leaders scheduled for release in 2021.