The Staff

Though Jennifer took the helm of Windstorm in 1994, she had been working for the company since its inception in 1989. Publishing her first six novels before she was eighteen, Jennifer learned the ropes of an often brutal but rewarding industry. She met her future life-partner on a book tour... when Cris gave her novel its only bad review. Jennifer's frontline experience extends to all aspects of publishing from production and design to marketing, growth and diversification. Jennifer's job is to grow the company, guide the company and provide the vision for both the present and future Windstorm. Jennifer's uncanny ability to negotiate and foresee trends in the market have made her a respected leader who is rarely, if ever, questioned. She's never been wrong and insists her secret is a great team.

Cris K.A. DiMarco Senior Editor 1994 to present

As the Senior Editor, Cris brings almost three decades of writing and publishing experience to Windstorm. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's in English and Creative Writing from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and went on to receive a Master's degree in Teaching, with a focus on the classroom experience, from Tufts University--also graduating summa cum laude. She taught for nearly a decade in the public school system, at Colby Sawyer College and the New Hampshire Technical Institute, where she developed and taught a comprehensive creative writing course geared toward publication. Cris' own body of work includes two best selling short fiction collections and three novels as well as a collection of photographs and essays. She has several more novels scheduled for publication in the next two years as well as a serialized novel which will premiere in the spring of 2008. In the photos above, Cris is working with Nika and Bandito, two kittens who were gifts from an author.

Launa Sorensen

Associate Publisher

2006 to present

Launa has been writing novels since she was thirteen years old and, at eighteen, is well underway on her second series. Her first series, The Areane Journals, is published by our YA division, Blue Works. Launa brings a calm demeanor and an articulate but firm presence to Windstorm. She works in all aspects of publishing from building Internet marketing campaigns, to planning and implementing public events. Launa has also been involved with extensive layout and editing for the My Adventure series. Though it can't happen every day, Launa enjoys the company-wide "creative lunch" policy, which insists that every staff member take a 45-minute lunch break to write. Here, Launa works with Cookie DiMarco, a new intern with "soulful eyes."

Maxwell and Faith DiMarco

Owners

1999/2002 to present

A family business means the whole family. Seven year old Maxwell and five year old Faith are involved in hosting events, preparing mailings, sending get well cards to authors, and even submission review. Maxwell, the author/illustrator of more than a dozen 100-page graphic novels, was published for the first time in "Tales of the Slug," an anthology of serious and humor fiction about slugs (intended for adults). Faith concentrates her energy on being the charming and understanding co-host of all public events--tournaments, signings, and even late-night meet-and-greets at huge conventions.