Our Team

As BookTrib's Editorial Director, Cynthia keeps projects moving and content flowing. Her marketing background, editorial chops and deep love of books all come together in everything she does at BookTrib. Cynthia was formerly an editor of the independent literary zine Dirigible Journal of Language Art, and is also a songwriter and poet.

Favorite Books
The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, The Riverside Shakespeare

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Actually, I have a lot of author friends … and even more now that I’m working at BookTrib!

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
… I’d write an autobiography of my life in an alternate universe.

Words To Live By
“Begin anywhere.” — John Cage

Barbara has a varied career background, having worked in education, sales for several start-up magazines, fundraising and event planning for the American Heart Association, and marketing, communications, PR, and social media for a congregational church, a children’s non-profit, and an emergency and specialty veterinary hospital.

Barbara is also the co-founder of an award-winning website, Motherrr.com, that focuses on healing difficult mother-daughter relationships from the adult daughter’s perspective. Look for a Motherrr.com book in the not-too-distant future!

A Stamford, CT, native, Barbara has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and English, and an MS in Education. She loves to act and is honored to be a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Favorite Books
Harriet the Spy (series), Wuthering Heights, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Kite Runner, The Great Alone (and many, many more)

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Many of our BookTrib authors!

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
For her adventurousness — Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus books (Plus, I dressed as her for Halloween several years when I was a 3rd-grade teacher!)

Words To Live By
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Confucius

Katie graduated from UNC Asheville with bachelor’s degrees in Creative Writing and Mass Communication. Originally from Dallas, TX, she moved to Appalachia to escape the heat and enjoy the mountains. As an avid reader and aspiring writer, her favorite genres include fantasy, romance, literary fiction and feminist works. (She’s also a big fan of manga!)

Aside from reading and writing, her hobbies include yoga, photography, antique and clothes shopping, archery and curling up with her cat, Oso, and dog, Circe, to watch a movie. She’s seen every Marvel movie at least four times, but her favorite movie is the 2012 Les Misérables.

Favorite Books
Circe by Madeline Miller, The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Tiger’s Curse Series by Colleen Houck, The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami, The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Katee Robert

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Maximum Ride

Words To Live By
“Stop and smell the roses.”

Monique Snyman’s mind is a confusing bedlam of glitter and death, where candy-coated gore is found in abundance and homicidal unicorns thrive. Sorting out the mess in her head is particularly irksome before she’s ingested a specific amount of coffee, which is equal to half the recommended intake of water for humans per day. When she’s not playing referee to her imaginary friends or trying to overdose on caffeine, she’s doing something with words — be it writing, reading or editing.

Monique Snyman lives in Pretoria, South Africa, with her husband, daughter and an adorable Chihuahua. She’s the author of the Bram Stoker Award® nominated novels, The Night Weaver and The Bone Carver, and the South African adult horror novel, Dark Country.

Favorite Books
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett, Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangerembga, Catch Me A Killer by Micki Pistorius

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Kurt Vonnegut

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Emma from Jane Austen’s Emma

Words To Live By
“I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

Kelsey Hall graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Deaf Education. She is a born and raised Texas gal that can’t stand country music and loves everything bookish. She can often be found cuddled up with her two Pyrenees pups and a good book, The 1975 playing in the background. In addition to working with the BookTrib team, she shares her love of stories by reading to groups of children on the weekends, making sure to pass along the magic and adventures to the next generation.

Favorite Books
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Stolen by Lucy Christopher, and Circe by Madeline Miller

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Gloria Steinem

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Hermione Granger

Words To Live By
“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality” — Lewis Carroll

Olivia Wieland is a recent graduate of Kenyon College and the Columbia Publishing Course at Oxford. She previously worked for The Kenyon Review, and BreakBread Literacy Project, a nonprofit organization committed to the literary arts. As a writer, her publications include a few short fiction pieces and a chapbook. Beyond the written word, she is passionate about traveling, playing guitar, boxing, and cats. She is a proud Scorpio.

Favorite Books
Beloved by Toni Morrison, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, Crush by Richard Siken, Mongrel by Hanoko Footman, The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Melissa Broder, or Virginia Woolf

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Elizabeth Bennet

Words To Live By
“Every day is all there is.” Joan Didion

Cameron Kimball is an illustrator, graphic designer, and book reviewer with a deep passion for storytelling. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a degree in Communications Design and a minor in Art History, and is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators and the Society of Illustrators. Based in the New York Metropolitan area, when not writing or drawing she can be found in a café drinking tea and listening to Celtic folk music. For more of her work, visit her website at cameronkimball.myportfolio.com.

Favorite Books
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Tamsyn Muir

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature


Words To Live By

Natalie Garrison is a Marist College (now Marist University) graduate. Some of her poetry and short stories have been published in two editions of the Marist Mosaic, the University’s only student-run literary and arts magazine. Besides her love for all things literature, she is passionate about singing, fitness and Western films and fashion.

Favorite Books
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins, I’m With The Band by Pamela Des Barres, The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Emily Dickinson

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Scarlett O’Hara or Jane Eyre

Words To Live By
“Don’t compromise yourself. You’re all you’ve got.”- Janis Joplin

As a recent graduate from The Fashion Institute of Technology, Kendall has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration, a minor in Creative Writing and an unhealthy obsession with the Fantasy Adventure books that fueled her way through school.

Kendall previously worked at an Independent Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY, experiencing as much as she could about the publishing industry. Now at MMMG, she hopes to bring everything she learned about book trends, social media and industry communication into play as she dips her toes into the world of publishing and publicity.

When she isn’t reading, Kendall spends her free time drawing, listening to True Crime Podcasts and spending an unnecessary amount of time online shopping.

Favorite Books
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Sarah J. Mass

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Aelin Galathynius

Words To Live By
“It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful.” — Vincent Van Gogh

I was born in Colombia, South America and raised in the charming town of Easton, CT. I come from a large Italian family, where the love of family and pasta was handed down to me. I graduated from Norwalk Community College with an Associate’s degree in Business and Marketing. I have been working here at Meryl Moss Media Group and BookTrib for almost 15 years now. As an avid traveler and amateur photographer, I love traveling the world, seeing amazing places, meeting awesome people and taking incredible pictures. I have been to 35 out of 50 states here in the US so far! Aside from traveling and photography, my hobbies include cooking, hiking, movies, music and spending time with family and friends. I’m a huge movie nerd and I love every genre except for foreign. I recently started a YouTube channel and a podcast in the works dedicated to all things movies, TV and celebrities news.

Favorite Books
The Presidents Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, Team of Five by Kate Andersen Brower, The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy, James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, Searching For David’s Heart by Cherie Bennett, Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
Mitch Albom

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
James Bond (He gets all of the cool gadgets, drives amazing cars and dates beautiful women!)

Words To Live By
“Trust, but verify.”

Jim has retired from BookTrib.com but we are happy that he will continue to write for us as he has time between golf games. He is an avid reader (shocking!), lover of dogs, sports and music (he plays the piano by ear), and he is a writer at heart, whether a book review, corporate communication, blog or white paper — it doesn’t really matter as long as his words are making someone happy somewhere.

Favorite Books
A Tale of Two Cities, Atlas Shrugged, I Am Pilgrim (Terry Hayes), Stone’s Fall (Iain Pears)

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
John Irving

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
James Bond

Words To Live By
“Laugh a little and learn a little every day.”

Dawn Ius is a novelist, screenwriter, professional book coach and editor, and a communications specialist. She is the author of three young adult novels published by Simon & Schuster — Anne & Henry, Overdrive, and Lizzie. Dawn has also written 16 educational graphic novels, and was a regular contributor to the Nickolodeon Jr TV series, "Rainbow Rangers." She is the former Managing Editor of The Big Thrill, the online magazine published by the International Thriller Writers, and is currently an editor with BookTrib as well as the BookTrib Book Club Coordinator. Dawn is represented by Anne Tibbets at Donald Maass Literary Agency. Connect with her on socials @dawnmius. 

Favorite Books
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Heartsick by Chelsea Cain, Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, On Writing by Stephen King

Author You Could Be Best Friends With
I'm fortunate to be good friends with so many great authors!

If You Could Be Any Character in Literature
Tough one, but I'm going to go with Alice from Alice in Wonderland. So many adventures! Because of my vivid imagination, my mom called me Alice as a child.

Words To Live By
It's never too late to be what you might have been.