2026 Faculty: S through Z
Mark Rein
Mark Rein is a Desert Storm era Marine Corps veteran. His path into law enforcement began while studying criminal justice at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, balancing coursework with a job as a security officer for the college police department.
In 1995, Mark joined the Anchorage Police Department, where he worked the streets as a patrol officer, field training officer, and Sergeant. Over the years, he received two life-saving awards and the Police Medal of Valor. As a detective and detective sergeant, he tackled cases in burglary, vice, sexual assault, and major narcotics, gaining firsthand insight into the darker corners of crime.
After retiring from law enforcement, Mark turned his focus to storytelling, channeling his real-life experiences into crime thrillers and hosting Crime Raven, a true-crime podcast. When he’s not writing, he’s tending to Three Little Birds Farm in eastern Kentucky, where he raises Katahdin sheep and breeds registered Anatolian shepherds.
He can be reached at Markrein907@gmail.com.
Alan Spira
Dr. Alan Spira has degrees in emergency medicine, tropical medicine and acupuncture. He is a retired reserve Navy doctor, and served as a Battalion Surgeon for the United States Marine Corps. In 2006 he deployed to the combat area of Al Anbar province in Iraq, spending seven austere and turbulent months providing trauma and medical care for US troops and Iraqi nationals. He is a graduate of the Stanford Online Writing Certificate Course and a member of the International Thriller Writers. He won the Conference Choice award at the 30th Annual SDSU Writing Conference. He is an instructor at KillerNashville, teaching writers about the craft of medicine in fiction. He has written both fiction and non-fiction. He received his BS degree (Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) as well as his MD degree from UCLA, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine. He is the founder and director of Jamii Health International, an international non-profit organization dedicated to creating local self-sustaining health care systems in the developing world.
Jaden (Beth) Terrell / Editor
Jaden (Beth) Terrell is a Shamus Award finalist and the internationally published author of the Nashville-based Jared McKean private detective series. Terrell’s short stories, which range from cozy to noir, have appeared in several anthologies, and she’s a contributor to ITW’s The Big Thrill online magazine and Now Write! Mysteries, a collection of how-to essays for writers of crime fiction. Terrell is the recipient of the Killer Nashville Builder Award and two awards for service to the Southeast Mystery Writers of America. She offers workshops, coaching, and courses for writers.
Website: https://www.jadenterrell.com
Kristen Terrette / Agent
Kristen is honored to be a literary manager with Martin Literary and Media Management. She’s excited to continue building her list featuring titles in young adult, new adult, fantasy, thrillers/mysteries/suspense, romance, women’s fiction, horror, literary fiction, historical fiction, contemporary, non-fiction, all faith-based books.
She has a BA in Early Childhood Education and MA in Theology and Religious Studies which led her into children’s ministry for many years. Eventually, her lifelong love of books and authors drew her back to her original dream of entering the publishing world. Kristen is a multi-published, award-winning author and freelance writer. She’s held such positions as the Blog Manager for a national women’s ministry and the Social Media Manager for a publishing house. All these components landed her a spot in the coveted Writers House Intern Program. There, she received valuable hands-on agenting and publishing experience which she brought into her position, and now learns every day beside her amazing MLM colleagues. She was also named an ECPA Emerging Leader in 2023 and went through a precious mentorship during 2024 to further her understanding of the Christian Publishing landscape.
Kristen has long been a voice for diversity. She’s written extensively on topics of racial reconciliation and unity and has been a facilitator of groups around these topics in her church. In all her focused genres, she welcomes books with BIPOC or disabled main characters and diverse friendships. She believes books change people in all the best ways and that every child should see themselves in the pages.
Helen Thornton-Gussy / Editor
Helen Thornton-Gussy has been the editor and owner of Edit Co. since 2017, offering developmental (structural) editing, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, and formatting. She works in both US and UK English and loves a good Oxford comma. Even though Helen is based in New Zealand, she works predominantly with US authors.
Helen specializes in adult commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller, mystery, epic fantasy/fantasy, and women’s fiction. She has a soft spot for thrillers and epic fantasy and considers herself fortunate to have worked with Grim Oak Press (Washington State), who produce limited-edition books for fantasy authors such as Robin Hobb, Terry Brooks, Raymond E. Feist, and others.
Learn more about Helen, and the services she offers here (https://www.editco.nz/) or on Instagram
@edit_co._ or Threads https://www.threads.net/@edit_co._/
Becky Tuch
Becky Tuch is the Founder of Lit Mag News, a bestselling Substack dedicated to demystifying the world of literary magazines. Lit Mag News has over 17,000 subscribers and has been listed in Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Her short fiction has been honored with a MacDowell fellowship, First Place in Moment Magazine’s Karma Foundation Fiction Prize, and has appeared in STORY, Gulf Coast, Post Road, Best of the Net, and elsewhere. She has taught newsletter writing and fiction writing to kids, teens and adults throughout the country. She lives with her family in Philadelphia, PA.
Steven Womack
Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author Steven Womack created the groundbreaking Music City Murders series, the first series to put Nashville on the map as a mystery setting. He’s also the author of a number of other novels, including the New York Times Notable Book Murphy’s Fault. A screenwriter and member of the Writers Guild of America as well, he co-wrote the ABC-TV movie Volcano: Fire On The Mountain. For twenty-five years, he was on the faculty of Tennessee’s first film school, the Watkins Film School.
He also writes a monthly column for Killer Nashville Magazine called This Crazy Writing Life.
Visit his website: www.stevenwomack.com.