Meet our board.

Romelee Lantano balances a multifaceted professional life as a corporate consultant while managing a very active creative career as an independent author. Her organizational expertise and sharp management skills, honed through her primary career in consulting, directly fuel her active advocacy for the literary community. She leverages these capabilities in her leadership role as board secretary for Indie Authors Canada, providing critical structural and administrative support to fellow independent writers across the country.

Romelee’s creative drive is evident in her extensive literary output; she has successfully self-published over a dozen distinct works, strategically navigating diverse storytelling styles across three separate pen names. When she finally steps away from drafting multiple manuscripts at once, she happily shifts from creator to consumer. She can usually be found relaxing indoors, passionately binge-reading books and enjoying the sun alongside her beloved companion cat.

Professional role: Writer & Publisher

Tao Wong has been a full-time author since 2019, having published 50+ books and co-written more than a dozen other works. His works have been translated and published in multiple languages, and he is currently a hybrid author, with multiple books released by Ace Books.

Industry organizations: SFWA

Professional role: Author, Book Industry Consultant

Mark Leslie Lefebvre is a Canadian author, speaker, podcaster, and book industry professional with more than three decades of experience spanning bookselling, bookstore management, digital publishing, and self-publishing distribution. He is Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital, where he builds and manages distribution partnerships and regularly hosts the company’s Self-Publishing Insiders livestream. Previously, he founded Kobo Writing Life, Kobo’s self-publishing platform, and served as the company’s Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations. A former bookstore manager and past president of the Canadian Booksellers Association, he brings a retailer’s perspective to the business of books. Writing as Mark Leslie, he is the author of books of horror, urban fantasy, thrillers, and true paranormal collections as well as nonfiction guides for writers. He hosts the Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast and is a long-standing advocate for publishing wide.

Industry organizations: Writers Union of Canada, Alliance of Independent Authors, Horror Writers Association, Board Member of Superstars Writing Seminars

Professional role: Author

Charlotte Morganti is the award-winning author of the Gabrieli Mysteries. Her novel, Breaking News: Local Heiress Dead, won the inaugural Toby Award for Best Mystery by a Canadian indie author. She is a former corporate finance lawyer (with 25 years’ experience at a national law firm) and holds an MFA in creative writing. She is a former president of the Canada West chapter of Sisters in Crime, and a current member of Crime Writers of Canada.

Industry organizations: Crime Writers of Canada, BC Federation of Writers, Writers Union of Canada, Sisters in Crime

Professional role: author

Dana Gervais is a Canadian author with experience in both traditional and independent publishing.

Writing under the pen name Reagan Davis, Dana is known for her clever mysteries and has built an established author brand around entertaining, character-driven fiction that offers readers a cozy escape from reality.

Before becoming a mystery author, Dana was an accomplished knitwear designer whose original patterns appeared in numerous books and magazines. She also worked as a technical editor for several publishers, developing expertise in editorial processes and content development.

Earlier in her career, Dana worked in wealth management as a financial advisor to high-net-worth clients, drawing on her educational background in accounting.

Her diverse experience in finance, design, writing, and publishing provides her with a broad understanding of both the creative and business sides of the publishing industry.

Dana lives in the Greater Toronto Area with her family and a menagerie of pets.

Industry organizations: NINC, ALLi

Professional role: Project Officer

Holly B. Gutwillinger is an author, podcaster, and literary volunteer based in northern Ontario. Her debut novel, North of Broken & Furever Home (February 2026), examines a woman’s complex relationship with her rescue dogs, exploring healing, family, and the ways animals shape our lives. Her podcast extends this inquiry through conversations about the bond between people and animals and its influence on creative life.

Holly holds a certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies and is completing an MFA in fiction at the University of King’s College. Holly has been a speaker with the Wordstock Festival in Sudbury, Ontario and facilitates a local writing group for older adults. She also serves on the board of her local writers’ guild, supporting emerging voices. Holly writes from a small northern community, bringing a regional, family-centred perspective to contemporary fiction.

Industry organizations: Sudbury Writers’ Guild, Sisters in Crime, Toronto Romance Writers, Women’s Fiction Writers Association

Professional role: Author

Samreen Ahsan is an international award-winning author. She holds a Master’s degree in Creative and Critical Writing. She works as a Digital Marketing Director at The Artist Cube, a non-profit community hub that supports Muslim artists.

As a bibliophile, she loves visiting old libraries in castles, palaces and monasteries and wishes to own a vast library. As an avid reader, she loves to visit every real place from the books and admires the architecture of historical cities. Her favourite hobbies besides reading are visiting art galleries (which she often shares on her social media). She is a traveller and a history buff at heart. She wishes to run a travel show one day.

She lives in Ontario, Canada.

Industry organizations: Canadian Authors Association, The Artist Cube