Millie Copper, President

Millie Copper writes bestselling thrillers that bring a bold, unexpected take to the end-of-the-world genre, where survival is never simple and nothing unfolds as expected.

Mom to five, Millie lives with her husband and teenage son on a small Wyoming homestead where they raise chickens and work toward building a food forest. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, trail running, camping, and spoiling her seven grandkids. 

Since 2009, Millie has authored articles on traditional foods, alternative health, homesteading, and preparedness—many times all within the same piece. Millie has penned nine nonfiction, traditional food focused books.

In 2019, Millie published her bestselling Christian Post-Apocalyptic series Havoc in Wyoming. She’s since written five more series, drawing from her off-grid, preparedness lifestyle. She publishes under her own imprint, CU Publishing, and also writes for Raventhorne Books in their popular October Fall and As The Light Dies worlds. She’s currently contracted with Aethon Books for a three-book series. 

Rochelle Hampton, Vice-President

Rebecca Fuentes has a degree in education from the University of Wyoming and has taught 7th-grade English in both Wyoming and Texas. She can still spot a prepositional phrase at ten paces and knows where to put the commas. Over the past four years, she has had ten short fantasy romance stories published in two indie anthologies. She is a hobby artist and volunteers in her community. Her husband, six children, old dog, and spoiled cats live with her in southeastern Wyoming.

Sarah Reichert, Awards and Scholarships

Sarah Reichert (S.E. Reichert) is an award-winning novelist, poet, mentor and blogger. She is the author of the award nominated “No Words After I Love You”, and the Sweet Valley Series (Colorado Book Awards, Pencraft Book Award, Literary Titan Award). She is currently contracted with 5 Prince Publishing for two more series. Her work has been featured in The Fort Collins Coloradoan, Haunted Waters Press, “Sunrise Summits: A Poetry Anthology”, “Rise: An Anthology of Change”, Poetry Ireland Review, and “We Are The West: A Colorado Anthology” among other journals across the country. Her novella, “Saturn Rising” was produced as a five-part audiocast from Ngano Press Studios

Reichert is the Director for Writing Heights Writers Association. Her organization is committed to helping authors through education and connection, while building a happy and healthy writing community. Reichert lives in Fort Collins with her family. In her non-writing hours, she is a mother to two teenage girls, loves being outdoors, and is a 2nd degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate JuJitsu.

Heather Pristash, Publicity

Dr. Heather Pristash is in her second writing-related life: being an English professor. She is entering her sixteenth year of teaching composition, literature, and creative writing at Western Wyoming Community College. Before her turn to academia, she was a writer and editor in the corporate and freelance worlds, working on a number of licensed products and ghostwritten projects. In the time away from her full-time work and her own writing, her major pastime is community theatre.

Reatha Thomas Oakley, Member At Large

Reatha, looking in a mirror and seeing her mother, says her writing is influenced by birth and childhood in St. Augustine, Florida, and adulthood in the West. 

While a non-profit executive for organizations such as Rocky Mountain College, Billings Symphony, Florida Audubon, and Big Brothers Big Sisters in Montana and Florida, her writing included grant proposals, newsletters, solicitations, and presentations at regional and national conferences. 

In 2015, Reatha returned to creative writing. Embracing Pat Schneider’s definition of writing as memory plus imagination has resulted in multiple awards, including two from Wyoming Arts Council, three from Writers’ Digest, several from WyoPoets, and twenty-nine from Wyoming Writers. A play was recently published, and her debut novel is finished, finally.

Reatha lives in Gillette, with husband Don, an award-winning and published poet. They are active members of Prairie Pens’ writers’ group. Her sons, Ken Thorpe, Sheridan, and Matthew Thorpe, Sao Paulo, Brazil, are involved with the arts as avocation and vocation.

Leslie Colburn, Treasurer

Leslie Colburn is an award-winning children's book author from Wyoming. Leslie loves sharing stories that uplift, inspire, and nurture hearts of young readers. Her books celebrate faith, kindness, and the unique value of every child, reflecting her commitment to encouraging self-worth and a lifelong love of reading. She draws inspiration from her own experiences as a mother and weaves warmth and wisdom into her books. Her latest release, Twinkle, the Littlest Star, offers a heartfelt reimagining of the cherished nursery rhyme by intertwining it with the timeless story of the Birth of Jesus. To find out more, visit her at www.lesliecolburn.com