Menu
Log in

Login to see member resources.


2019-2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CONTACT US Palm Springs Writers Guild, P.O. Box 947, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270-0947

Sign up to our mailing list.
(Non-Members)
Keep up to date on the activities of the Palm Springs Writers Guild. Your information is secure, we will not share your information with anyone and you can unsubcribe at any time.

Subscription form

* Mandatory fields
*First name
*Last name
*e-Mail
 

PRESIDENTMarly Bergerud

president.pswg@gmail.com

Marly Bergerud, President, Strategic Alliance Solutions®, LLC. Marly Bergerud established Strategic Alliance Solutions in 2004 after a lifetime career of 30+ years in higher education within the California Community Colleges.
Her higher education career was primarily in management leadership and included serving as Vice President at DeAnza College in Cupertino, CA and Dean of Business at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA. Her earlier career was that of a Professor of Business at Cypress College, Cypress, CA.  Her reputation is that of a nationally recognized educational leader, author and speaker building national and global partnerships between educational institutions and their industry partners specializing in technology innovation and restructuring for the workforce of the 21st century.
Recently, Marly moved to Palm Desert, CA and continues to be dedicated to building collaborations that “see the future” for the advancement and use of beneficial technologies for changing the way people learn, work and connect.  Her interests are serving as an advisor and consultant to businesses and educational institutions for analysis, design, and implementation of innovative, experiential and immersive learning systems, leading edge technologies and alternative modes of delivery. Additionally, Marly is an active member and Educational Ambassador of the Muses, a women’s fundraising and leadership group for the McCallum Theatre that provides enrichment, education and entertainment to the community. As a writer she is actively working on a book and enjoys being a Board Member on the Palm Springs Writers Guild and engaging with the Guild’s ever-expanding membership of talented writers.
Bergerud has authored and published 25 computer technology textbooks and most recently co-authored and led a team in the development of Interactive 3D Visualization Development.  She has a B.S. degree in Business Education from California State University, Fresno, CA and a M.S. degree in Education from the University of Southern California.

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Matthew Lancellotti
mlancellotti@fullerton.edu

Originally from northern New Jersey, Matt has lived most of his adult life in California. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz he joined Out magazine in New York from its inaugural issue, working in advertising and leading their online media team. He returned to California to attend USC, earning his MBA in product marketing, and then his PhD in consumer psychology. He is currently Professor of Marketing (Consumer Psychology) in the Department of Marketing at Mihaylo College of Business, Cal State Fullerton. He has published numerous research articles for academic journals and business-trade and -advice publications. At the same time he has always enjoyed writing fiction, and has done so in fits and starts since childhood. He has finally just finished writing his first novel, and is in the final editing process. He has found tremendous value and camaraderie as a member of the PSWG to help him through that journey.Matt has a passion for geography and weather, and can often be found pouring over Google Earth or scouring radar images and weather alerts. He lives in Palm Springs, a truly inspirational place for writing, with his loving husband and adorable pooch Ollie.

Acting VICE-PRESIDENT, PROGRAMS
Kristina Hoffman

Programs.PSWG@GMAIL.COM
Kristina VanKirk Hoffman was born and raised in Northern California. After studying Art History and Political Science at UCLA and Barnard College, she directed Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica from 1984-1988 and Ace Gallery in Los Angeles from 1988 – 1997. During that time, she wrote press releases for each exhibition, coordinated exhibitions, acted as docent to museum tours, provided information and loans of artworks to major museums, placed artworks in significant collections and contributed an article to Flash Art Magazine. She then returned to the Bay Area and began her art consultant/interior design business. During that time she volunteered, chaired the annual fundraiser, and then became the President of Marin Charitable serving at-risk youth. In 2012 she and her husband moved to Sonoma, California where she served on the board of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and was the Chairperson for their annual fundraiser. She was also a contributing writer to Valley of the Moon Magazine. She is passionate about education, fundraising, writing and contemporary art.

TREASURER
Kathy Weyer
Treasurer.PSWG@gmail.com
Kathy Weyer is a writer, having retired from many different professions including Human Resources Administration, Marriage and Family Counseling, and running several non profit agencies. Her experiences in those roles have given her fodder for writing fiction and some fact-based articles that have run in national magazines.A native San Diegan, she recently moved to Palm Springs with her husband of 40 years. She is involved with the Palm Springs Rotary Club, the Friends of the Palm Springs Library, Voices For Children, and devotes her time to creative arts and animal welfare.
She lives with her husband and two black labs named Nick and Nora, a black cat named Freddie, who is her office mate and is sometimes helpful, but not always, at the keyboard, and a cockatiel named Socrates.
You can find Kathy at www.kathyweyer.com or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/kathyweyerauthor.

VICE-PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP
Mark E. Anderson
Membership.PSWG@gmail.com
Mark Edward Anderson was born in Peoria, Illinois and lived in the southeast before moving to Palm Springs in 2002 with his husband Dan Jones and their dog Joy. He earned his visual communications degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta. Employed by Delta Air Lines for 10 years, Mark created communications for their marketing, branding, product development and training departments. He established AquaZebra Web, Book and Print Design in 2007 and quickly began designing communications for authors, retail stores and service companies. 
He has been a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild since 2009. As past president during the 2010-2011 season, he redesigned the PSWG website, worked with the Board to create a successful Desert Writers Expo and secure 501c3 non-profit status.
He is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many Guild members helping them with cover design, interior design, bookshepherding, marketing and publishing. “Authors are passionate about their story and I enjoy being part of their process. I’ve met some incredibly gifted authors here.”
You can find Mark athttps://aquazebra.comor on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AquaZebra/ 

SECRETARY
Candace Lee Fagan (Ace)
Secretary.PSWG@gmail.com

Account Manager, Visual Numerics, Inc. Accomplished, innovative, highly focused Enterprise Software Sales producer with 15+ years experience offering proven track record of consistent over quota performance. A driven leader with a career of profitable growth for corporations across various IT and computing sectors including technical solutions, new business development, custom enterprise applications, and consulting services. Generator of new revenue streams through achieving trusted advisor status with clients by offeringexpertise and experience with major OLAP, CRM, and BI tools.
I am a highly skilled contract negotiator, sales closer with an expertise in marketing and strategic planning.
Author and Writer: CL FaganProductions
Lightning Strikes the Colonies is my first novel published with AEG publishing Group and now I am in the process of publishing my second novel, Enlightening Strikes England. Stay tuned for further updates....

VICE-PRESIDENT EDUCATION & TRAINING
Cynthia West
cynthia.pswg@gmail.com

Cynthia’s background has been almost completely focused on education, having received her B.A. in English from the University of Tennessee and an M.A. and Ed.M. in English and History from Columbia University.  She has held teaching and administrative positions in a series of East Coast schools, each time increasing her teaching loads and levels of responsibility. She worked as a speech and grant writer for Princeton University.
Cynthia is also a Fulbright Exchange Fellow, spending a year at the Antwerp International school in Belgium teaching the International Baccalaureate curriculum and researching World War I and World II landscape memorials.  Following that experience, she created a short documentary video, Remembrance and Reconciliation based on Carl Sandburg’s war poem, Grass.  Additionally, Cynthia contributed a chapter and video to the iBook, Bringing the Great War Home, produced by University of North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and The American Battle Monuments commission. 
In her earlier years, Cynthia played competitive tennis and enjoyed a decade as a teaching pro. She is a Life member of the United States Tennis Association, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and a certified professional with the Professional Tennis Registry. For the last five years, Cynthia has enjoyed working in Media Services for the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament.
That exposure to the Coachella Valley is what brought Cynthia to Palm Desert, where she plans to continue Fine Tutoring, a service she started in North Carolina where she worked with high school and college students to improve their English and History skills.  She perfected the art of tutoring via Skype sessions to expand her geographic reach and now looks forward to teaching Coachella Valley students while keeping many of her former East Coast students and their siblings.
When she is not tutoring students or writing her first novel, she can be found biking, photographing, hiking and volunteering for the Disabled American Veterans and for the P.E.O. Sisterhood.
You can contact Cynthia at www.finetutoring.com

Acting VICE-PRESIDENT, DEVELOPMENT
Kristina Hoffman
philanthropy.pswg@gmail.com

VICE-PRESIDENT, CONTESTS
VICE-PRESIDENT, CRITIQUE GROUPS
Kathy Weyer
katweyer@att.net

VICE-PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS
Carol Lansen
carollansen@yahoo.com
As the former CEO of Columbia Lake Consulting Group (North America), Carol was responsible for planning and developing business strategy initiatives, channel allocation recommendations, integrated business solutions as well as the overall management of projects.
Carol is a creative, problem-solving leader with a (30-year) history of driving consumer connections and building brand equity.  She  is experienced in creating unique media/channel plans across many categories, including Entertainment, CPG, Travel, Gaming, Automotive, Financials and more—representing billions of dollars in US ad spend.  Carol’s responsibilities have also included group development and synergies across agencies, as well as financial performance. Carol assumed the role of consultant after a long and successful career at media companies and full service agencies, beginning with the legendary Ted Bates and concluding with MEC Global. She was awarded Ad Week’s marketing plan of the year for team participation on Lord of the Rings, created, with all strategic partners, the first truly global reveal campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty and led the agency’s movie group in their successful NBCUniversal ($700MM) pitch.
As the former head of Columbia Lake Group, she oversaw the activities of non-profit organizations as well as growing entries in the digital and digital content business—described by clients as “an advocate of the big idea”, “causal and tenacious”, “a curious, self-aware person who embraces change”. She has also started a concierge business in the greater Palm Springs area called Hoptuit, that begins operation in May, 2019. The Yale/VIA personality evaluation lists “love of learning” and “curiosity” as Carol’s top attributes…this is not surprising.
Carol now lives in Palm Springs after spending the majority of her life/career in NYC and LA, although…it’s widely known that she loves her Midwesterner upbringing and will die a Cubs fan. She also follows the Packers and UW Badgers. Carol is an avid supporter and lover of animals and their causes (Pacific Whale Foundation, ASPCA,  Bill Foundation) and of course, dedicates much of her time to writing and the prospect of publishing her first novel: Rough Water as she works on a comedy script Going Down on Madison Avenue©. She looks forward to her new role as VP Publicity on the Board of Directors for the Palm Springs Writers Guild and enjoying the programs and activities provided by the PSWG.



Advisory Committee

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: 
John Peters
drp1951@gmail.com

Committee Chairpersons

SCHOLARSHIP
Diane Kline
dianemkline@mac.com

AUDIO/VISUAL TECHNICIAN
B Channing Hillway
bchillway@gmail.com

DESERT WRITERS EXPO
Rachel Druten
rdruten1@gmail.com

FUNDRAISER
Matthew Lancelotti
mlancellotti@fullerton.edu
Kristina Hoffman: Director, Fundraising Events
philanthropy.pswg@gmail.com
Elizabeth Moritz
Elizabeth.harrismoritz@gmail.com

Website Contributors

PHOTO JOURNALIST
Allen Plone
allen.snowlion@gmail.com

MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS & MEMBER BOOK PAGE
Mark E. Anderson
WebEditorPSWG@GMAIL.COM

NOMINATING COMMITTEE
TBD


Assistant/Coordinators

To: PRESIDENT
TBD

To: EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Karen Morison-Knox: Bootcamps
authorariellamoon@gmail.com
Allen Plone: Bootcamps
allen.snowlion@gmail.com

To: VICE-PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP
Jackie Peters - Member Renewals
jayp@sedona.net
Ruthie Gassner: Monthly Meeting Greeter
ruthiedarling8@aol.com
Leanne Daniele: Technical Assistant
leanne.daniele@gmail.com
Ruth Lindemann: Monthly Meeting Greeter/Ambassador
mermaid168@aol.com

To: VICE-PRESIDENT PROGRAMS
Leanne Daniele: Program Committee Communications Director
leanne.daniele@gmail.com
B Channing Hillway: Book sales prior to general meetings
bchillway@gmail.com
Jackie Peters: Pick up speakers at the airport
jayp@sedona.net


To: TREASURER
TBD

To: SECRETARY
TBD

To: VICE-PRESIDENT CONTESTS
Lynn DeTurk
lwdeturk@hotmail.com

To: VICE-PRESIDENT EDUCATION & TRAINING
TBD

To: VICE-PRESIDENT CRITIQUE GROUPS
TBD

To: VICE-PRESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS
TBD