featuring…
Maria Cuccia
Maria Cuccia started making up stories long before she learned to write. As a child she enjoyed telling scary stories to her younger cousins, leading to their parents requesting she quit scaring their kids. She now lives in New Paltz where she enjoys thrift shopping, reading Stephen King, and adores her cat, Toaster.
About the WIP
Reading an excerpt from Thief, a fairy story about a young man who was never invited to wield magic, and the consequences of taking it anyway.
Caroline Francis
Caroline Francis began her writing career at the age of 5 when she dictated her first story entitled “The Bear” to her mother. She then moved on to poetry typical of a moody teen before trying her hand at novels. When not writing about teenage vampires, she enjoys walks by the Hudson, photography, and obscure bits of history. You can find her ramblings on her substack, Female Main Character.
About the WIP
I started my work in progress in the fall of 2008, when I was 17 years old. Back then, it was a coming of age story that rapidly turned into a psychological mystery. I called it Half Crazy. Over the years it’s never quite left me alone, and it’s been through many twists and turns to get to where it is now; a YA urban fantasy novel in progress about vampires, witches, true crime obsession, and the things that we bury within ourselves.
Mark Harris
Mark is a writer and co-owner of Stanza Books. His first novel, HEKATE’S RETURN is available at the shop. In 2025, he’s releasing two novellas through Stanza Publishing. He lives in Beacon with his partner Andrea Talarico and two cats, Hank Williams and Teeny Turner. Mark is also an experience designer who focuses on storytelling in physical space. Clients include HBO, Netflix, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and New York Life.
About the WIP
This novella is called FREE WILL IS AN ILLUSION, FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US HAS A WEAVER. It’s an idea I’ve had for a long time. In 2025, a few threads came together to make this the right time to write it. It’s a horror novella set in an alternate history Beacon. It has a cult, cosmic horror, a hard-boiled protagonist, and a character who sets herself on fire. I took Julia’s workshop to kickstart my writing practice again, and renew my daily writing habit.
Filip Nonkovic
Fil is a creative director who has designed digital products, games, businesses and brands. He lives in an orchard in the Hudson Valley with his wife, four cats, and a dove.
About the WIP
The Gigantomachy is a Homeric epic set in a speculative far future, in which an engineered race of humans rise up and challenge their creators and the Fates themselves to end an occupation that has lasted for 500 years.
Maria Ricapito
I have spent years as a writer and editor for glossy magazines such as Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle Decor, and Cosmopolitan. In my career, I have written about everything from how to apply the latest iteration of green eye shadow to what it’s like to be the daughter of a serial killer (neither from personal experience). I have documented celebrity homes in the Hamptons and Hudson Valley. I have written for The New York Times… albeit about bar carts, vampire movies, and the weird pretzel legs of people sitting in the front row of fashion shows. Recently I collaborated with a woman incarcerated for murder who wanted to write a memoir.Having done almost everything I wanted to do in journalism, I decided I wanted to write a “thriller” or crime novel just like the ones I love to read. I’ve worked on it in two writing workshops so far and find that, without the feedback and deadlines, things slow to a crawl.
About the WIP
My novel is set in the Hudson Valley, and I’ve enjoyed doing historical research on the West Point Foundry and the Civil War.I went to Yale University from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then moved to New York City to start working in publishing. I may be the only person alive who has been a Literature major at Yale, an editorial assistant at Vanity Fair, and (a few years before that) an Arby’s employee. I live with my 90 yo mother, Carolyn, and two cats (Patsy and Dolly) and two dogs (Amber and Gabbie). I ended up in the Hudson Valley about 18 years ago and never want to leave
Kimberly Sabatini
Kimberly Sabatini is the author of a young adult novel, TOUCHING THE SURFACE, and living proof that publishing one book doesn’t make writing new stories easier. Her work-in-progress, another YA she’s titled SPARKED, is a project she’s been trying to bring to illumination for eight years. When Kim feels called to a story, it’s because she has big questions that need to be answered, and complex emotions she’s finally decided she can no longer ignore. Year after year—draft after draft—this story has poked and prodded its creator, but only recently have the pieces fallen into place. And even though the concepts and the characters are finally making sense, Kim struggled to get the words on the page. You can lose a bit of confidence in yourself when a project takes longer than you expect. Thank goodness Stanza offered this Writers Workshop! It was the perfect support at the exact right time and it re-sparked Kim’s confidence and helped her to fall in love with the project all over again. She’s excited to share a little of her manuscript with you.
About the WIP
SPARKED
By Kimberly J. Sabatini
When West Point Foundry Institute's Leadership and Peace Program recruits former best friends, Lennie and Ridley, they discover that everyone in the program suffers from rare and vivid auras. After signing a pre-curriculum, non-disclosure agreement, the girls learn their episodes aren’t a medical issue, but the real reason the Army wants to train them. Learning to manipulate the aura-causing electrical waves in the brain's cortex, the young adults at WPFI discover they each have enhanced sensory skills only experienced by animals. The girls' growing role as new-era peacekeepers energizes them as they hone their unusual abilities, but when they’re reminded that darkness surrounds every spark, they’ll have to decide whether they believe peace and power can coexist in those who lead—and what kind of leaders they will be.