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Manuscript Mentor Author Spotlight

Nancy Ancowitz

A pioneer of popular introvert advocacy, Nancy has been speaking, writing, and advising professionals on communication and career advancement since the early 2000s.

Zoom to Success

Present Like A Pro

Zoom to Success: Present Like a Pro by Nancy Ancowitz

Presenting online can rattle your nerves, scramble your tech, and sink your message. But it doesn’t have to. Nancy Ancowitz shows you how to deliver with clarity, confidence, and authenticity—whether you’re speaking to a virtual audience, running a high-stakes meeting, or interviewing for your next role.

You’ll learn how to:

Keep distracted audiences focused on you
Lead virtual meetings that spark ideas and results
Apply the same strategies to ace virtual job interviews

Packed with quick wins and practical tools, Zoom to Success turns virtual stress into professional strength.

About the Author

Nancy Ancowitz is a career strategist and career director at NYU. Earlier on, she was a VP at JPMorgan. She is the author of Zoom to Success: Present Like a Pro (fall 2025), Self-Promotion for Introverts®, and Business Writing: Say More With Less. A pioneer of popular introvert advocacy, Nancy has been speaking, writing, and advising professionals on communication and career advancement since the early 2000s. Her work has been published in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and she blogs for Psychology Today and The Times of Israel. She helps clients get the job, the promotion, and the recognition they’re seeking.
www.nancyancowitz.com

Testimonials and Reviews

“One of the most common questions I now hear is how introverts can make their voices heard—and actually enjoy—virtual meetings and presentations. That’s where Zoom to Success comes in.”
— Susan Cain, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts

“Many folks are uneasy taking center stage — either in-person or virtually — to speak before an audience. Take a breath. Nancy Ancowitz is the go-to leading career strategist to help you calm the queasiness of insecurity with practical strategies to take control with confidence and have some fun along the way.”
— Kerry Hannon, Bestselling Author of In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work

“Zoom to Success is like Waze for the chaotic world of virtual presentations. If you’ve ever felt like you’re shouting into the digital void, this book will help you find your voice, connect confidently with your audience, and present like the master you’re meant to be.”
— Savio S. Chan, Co-founder & CEO, American AI Leadership Institute & Asian American Authors Book Club

“Nancy provides excellent advice and truly helpful tips to make you a confident and successful virtual speaker. She’s an experienced coach who helps even the most reluctant speakers become productive. I highly recommend Nancy’s book to ensure you are prepared, focused, and at ease for your next presentation!”
— Paul Marrandino, Head of Sourcing, Cloud Tech, Google

“With empathy and expertise, Nancy Ancowitz demystifies the art of presenting online. Whether you’re new to sharing your ideas publicly, a seasoned speaker, or somewhere in between, this book gives you the tools to connect with your audience and lead with confidence.”

 — Dorie Clark, executive education faculty at Columbia Business School and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game

Manuscript Mentor Author Spotlight

Nil Demicubuk

Nil empowers her clients and students to get in touch with their own intuition and combine it with their intellect to make better decisions, improve their relationships and performance, and live more fulfilled lives.

Down to Earth

Demystify Intuition to Upgrade Your Life

Down to Earth Demystify Intuition to Uplift Your Life

by Nil Demircubuk

Discover the art and science of intuition-a practical guide to smarter living.

If you’ve ever wondered how to harness your intuition to make better, more informed decisions, this is the practical guide you need. In Down to Earth, intuition teacher Nil Demircubuk guides you in understanding how to distinguish your conscious thoughts from your intuition, then intentionally combine it with your intellect for everyday decision-making and personal growth.

The book introduces “priming,” a method for tapping into intuition by achieving mental and emotional calmness, offering several techniques tailored to different learning styles. As you practice reaching this state and tuning in, you’ll also learn what makes your intuition come alive through a nonconscious process.

Through easy-to-follow exercises, real-life applications, and client stories, Down to Earth helps you use your intuition to make better decisions, improve relationships, navigate challenges, and enhance self-care.

About the Author

Nil Demircubuk is an intuition facilitator and guide with more than three decades of experience. She is also a certified professional coach. She empowers her clients and students to get in touch with their own intuition and combine it with their intellect to make better decisions, improve their relationships and performance, and live more fulfilled lives. Nil has reinvented herself multiple times as a result of significant health and other challenges. This ignited her passion to guide others in their journey through transformation. She studied engineering, obtained a PhD in economics, taught economics, ran the data group in a financial technology firm as a senior director, and led human-rights awareness programs in nonprofit organizations prior to shifting her focus to intuition facilitation and her coaching career.

Testimonials and  Reviews

“What sets this book apart is its bold fusion of science and inner knowing, intellect, and instinct. With warmth, clarity, and zero fluff, Demircubuk demystifies intuition and shows you how to access it with intention and calm.”

-Nancy Ancowitz, career strategist and author of Business Writing: Say More with Less

“Brilliantly written by a maestro of intuition, this book will touch your soul, and show you a path to live with joy, light, and ease. It has already changed the way I use my intuition in my life.”

-Pawan Bareja, PhD, mindfulness retreat teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center

“A supremely practical, wise, and joyful book that will help people learn to tap into all aspects of their intelligence.”

-Sabrina Moyle, co-founder, Hello!Lucky and author of Go Get ‘Em, Tiger!

“Reading Down to Earth felt like returning to who I am. Nil Demircubuk shows how intuition and logic can work hand-in-hand- something I hadn’t given myself permission to explore until now. This book is a wonderful guide back to yourself.”

-Senia Maymin, PhD, coauthor of the business bestseller Profit from the Positive

“What if intuition could be learned? Nil Demircubuk teaches us how. Grounded in science and buttressed by experience, Down to Earth demonstrates how our gut feelings can be tempered, trained, and tapped.”

-Zachary Shore, professor of history and author of A Sense of the Enemy: The High-Stakes History of Reading Your Rival’s Mind and Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions

Manuscript Mentor Author Spotlight

Jeanne Drevas

Jeane spends her time trying to escape into whatever forest is still wild enough and welcoming for her old body to enter.

Handmaking My House And Building My Life

Handmaking My House and Building My Life by Jeanne Drevas

Armed with only a sculpture degree I thought I must go into the woods and build my house. And I did. Handmaking My House and Building My Life to be released (January 2026) follows my journey, from early architectural influences, to the 1930s garage I bought for one dollar that my friends and I tore down and used to build much of my house, not an ordinary rambler, but a crafting of all the special effects you’d expect from handmade. Follow me as I cut down ten locust trees that hold up House, to finer details like my front door and floating dining room table and the piece de resistance, my tiny fish pool outside my kitchen door. And follow finding my husband and our combined efforts to create our unique home.

About the Author

Gosh that’s me. No longer a sculptor of materials who told me to make something of them, but an author! This is my first book and maybe my last, although Jeanne’s History of Dance floats in my head. She spends her time trying to escape into whatever forest is still wild enough and welcoming for her old body to enter. She has a growing stack of handwritten journals with watercolors and cartoons. Some of that is on her website jeannedrevas.carbonmade.com as well as a big layout of pics of House and writings as they occur.

Manuscript Mentor Author Spotlight

LIsa Stathoplos

Lisa is trained in transformative mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice, and the nationwide Open Table movement, welcoming former inmates back into community.

Chimera

A Shapeshifter’s Journey

Chimera – A Shapeshifter’s Journey by Lisa Stathoplos

Chimera is a tapestry of tales told in the manner of things remembered. They are tales of married life and divorce, birth, death and loss, motherhood, a life on the stage and in behavioral education, addiction and its myriad adjuncts, mental illness, and remaking oneself. Lisa’s story is told and shared with hope for compassion, understanding, humor, love and forgiveness.

From the Author

The stories in this book are told in the manner of things remembered. Like memory, they jump around in time and spirit; I make no apology for one tale not directly leading to the next but, instead, I attempt to take the reader along with me on my journey as it unfolds in my older mind. Some tellings may read like dreamscape; memory can be a sly trickster. Perhaps some of these remembrances will resonate and be familiar. Or maybe they offer a window into a world unknown to you. Each recounting, largely from the second half of my life, has meaning for me in terms of shaping me, changing or teaching me. Each has lasting import to me. They are tales of married life and divorce, birth, death and loss, motherhood, a life on the stage and in behavioral education, addiction and its myriad adjuncts, mental illness, and remaking oneself. It is a part of my story, told and shared with hope for compassion, understanding, humor, love and forgiveness. A hope I think all humans share.

About the Author

Lisa Stathoplos is a professional stage, voice, film actor, and audiobook narrator with a second career as high school special education teacher/case manager specializing in emotional and behavioral disability. She is trained in transformative mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice, and the nationwide Open Table movement, welcoming former inmates back into community. She is a founding member of Mad Horse Theatre Company, Portland, Maine.  Make Me, Lisa’s first memoir, was praised by Publisher’s Weekly/BookLife: “These vignettes offer flashes of insight… blending her exuberant commentary with finely etched detail…” Forsythe, The Forlorn Firefly—Lisa’s children’s book for children of all ages!—is coming soon. She lives in upper midcoast Maine where, in early summer, fireflies still dazzle watchers of the nighttime sky.

Testimonials and Reviews

“…The author’s openhearted embrace of challenges and clear eye for specific detail consistently shine through.
An impressive and heartfelt collection of memories.”

Kirkus Reviews

“An impressive and heartfelt collection of memories.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Chimera: A Shapeshifter’s Journey, Lisa Stathoplos’ companion to her marvelous coming-of-age memoir Make Me, is also a knockout. Every pulsing moment of pain, anguish, uplift and joy is delivered and the result is stunning.”  – Suzanne Bachner- Award-Winning Playwright, The Good Adoptee and Circle

“In her gutsy new memoir Chimera, A Shapeshifter’s Journey, Stathoplos pulls no punches as she captures in raw and eloquent detail the reality of depression and anxiety. Her first-hand accounts are gut-wrenching, yet we are left uplifted and inspired as her ultimate goal is understanding. Heart and soul, wit and warmth, ring out from every page. Chimera is a dynamic clarion call for compassion and it delivers the message triumphantly.”

Valerie Kuhn Reid- Veteran Educator of Theatre and author of One Stop West of Hinsdale: Love Derailed in a Sixties Suburb

“Truth is the backbone of Chimera, A Shapeshifter’s Journey, an emotionally raw, dramatically charged reminiscence of a life lived to a rock-and-roll soundtrack. Stathoplos takes us on her journey, morphing from actor to child, from educator to parent. Where others might prefer to forget tragedy and heartbreak, Lisa remembers the details and makes us laugh, cry and reflect.”

Joe Sikoryak- San Francisco cartoonist, designer and filmmaker and author of the graphic novel memoir series When We Were Trekkies.

“Ms. Stathoplos has opened a treasure
chest of a memoir that is brutally honest, hugely courageous and deeply
compassionate. With the prose of a poet and the timing of the great
actress she is, she brings you with her into despair, only to use her
raucous sense of humor to bring you back up, laughing out loud. Anyone
who suffers with or loves someone with mental illness or addiction may
find strength, insight and understanding within the pages of this book.”

Mary Lello- High School Biology Teacher and Master in Acupuncture

“Chimera is an enthralling continuation of Lisa Stathoplos’s memoir Make Me.
It is a deeply personal, heart-rending story of marriage, children and
family relationships. It is a book full of life and love. Anyone connected to schools — from writing laws to being in the classroom — could benefit from Lisa’s riveting and amusing personal and professional stories. Lisa is the teacher I could have used in my high school years!”

Nol Putnam – Teacher, Artist, Author of Beauty in The Shadows: Wrought Iron in The Washington National Cathedral and Lines in Space

Manuscript Mentor Author Spotlight

Peter Welch

Peter volunteers at the Kittery Freebie Barn and is struck by our human push and pull of material possessions.

Ten Piscataqua Writers 2026

Boyhood, Belonging, Becoming

Boyhood, Belonging, Becoming by Peter Welch

Ten Piscataqua Writers 2026 – An Anthology from the Watershed 

Peter’s chapter in the anthology Ten Piscataqua Writers 2026 is part of his boyhood memoir that he is currently writing, I Kiss the Ground: Boyhood, Belonging and the Kinship of Nature.

The story’s action takes place where he grew up in Moody, Maine, during the 1960s and 70s. Peter explores the labyrinth of his boyhood life through proximity to other boys and men as he unearths a sense of belonging, both within his own being and through the small town world he inhabits.

About the Author

In May 2024, at sixty-three, I completed an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing at Bay Path University. So far, my writing can be found in River Teeth Journal and Multiplicity Magazine. Along with writing, I’m also a watercolor painter. As a cog in the animal transport wheel, I occasionally drive rescued southern dogs to new northern homes. I’ve met extraordinary people here, primarily women, who care about other sentient beings like I do. I volunteer at the Kittery Freebie Barn and am struck by our human push and pull of material possessions. The natural world is both balm and muse in my life, and trees are some of my most revered teachers and companions. I live in Kittery Point, Maine with my partner Michael and our sweet (rescued) pup Dasher. To learn more about me or my work, check out my website: peterwelch@weebly.com

Testimonials and Reviews

With vulnerability that takes great courage and poetic prose that opens our hearts, Peter Welch takes us into the life of a young boy growing up gay in 1970’s America.
 
Catharine Murray, Writer, Author of Now You See the Sky – a memoir
Portland, Maine
 
The first verb in Peter Welch’s “Boyhood, Belonging, Becoming” is “spy,” and the memoir that follows is a meticulous chronicle of watching. The narrator observes his father’s performance of masculinity with the same level of curious scrutiny that the young protagonist directs inward. Poignant and precise, the vastness of the final vista Welch conjures contrasts richly with the attention he has previously paid to the minutiae of memory. The scope of this piece is at once enormous and intimate – limitless as hindsight yet concentrated as a child’s gaze.
 
Joel Iwaskiewicz, educator & theater artist, Exeter, NH
 
Boyhood, Belonging, Becoming: Set against the backdrop of coastal Maine, Peter Welch’s tender and affecting snapshots of his childhood and early adolescence piece together an intimate mosaic of a past laced with confusion, longing, identity-making, and, ultimately, growth.
 
Melanie Brooks, author of A Hard Silence and Writing Hard Stories, Nashua, NH
 
Welch’s Boyhood, Belonging, Becoming renders an endearing tale about navigating the understood but unwritten rules of manhood and a coming of age in this mid-century snapshot of boyhood. 
 
Laura Pope, writer, Eliot, Maine
 
Peter Welch, your words enveloped me like a weighted blanket as you brought me near to fear, hatred, and shame. I wanted to flee but you reached through your lines and gently grasped my hand, keeping me safe with your words kept neatly between the rails. I knew we wouldn’t crash, you and me, as the narrative painted such vivid imagery and engulfed my senses in memories of my own, you kept me close, like your shadow, with your younger self bravely leading the way through your ‘his story.’ YOU are a captivating writer, one who delivers authenticity as if it were an appetizer, main course, and dessert all wrapped up as one.
 
Jennifer Ellen Parker, daily writer of Just Love and author of Think but a Thought, a children’s book, South Berwick, Maine

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