Speaking Engagements and Topics
Who we are
May McGoldrick, Nik James, and Jan Coffey are pen names for USA Today bestselling authors Nikoo Kafi and Jim McGoldrick. Together, they have crafted over fifty historical, contemporary, and Western novels, as well as two works of nonfiction.
Garnering numerous awards over the years, their work has been published in print, digital, and audiobook form by Penguin Putnam, HarperCollins/Avon, MIRA Books, St. Martin's Press, Heinemann, Sourcebooks, Macmillan Audio, Dreamscape Media, and Tantor Audio. Their stories have also been translated into over a dozen languages.
Jim holds a PhD in sixteenth-century Scottish and English literature. As a tenured Associate Professor of English at DeSales University, he taught literature and creative writing before pursuing a full-time writing career. Despite her love of writing, Nikoo’s education and training were in engineering, and she worked in robotics and submarine shipbuilding before her change in career. In addition to writing, Nikoo served for seven years as the State of Connecticut Education Connection Writer-in-Residence, developing and teaching an inclusive creative writing program for middle school students.
Workshops and Talks
Workshops and lectures may be combined for two-hour, half-day, full-day or weekend presentations.
Programs are flexible and effectively tailored to the skill level and time constraints of the host group, from middle school to MFA Low Residency programs, from beginners to published authors.
Some topics of interest:
How to pave your Traditional or Independent Publishing path
Crafting a Solid Story Structure: everything there is to know about plotting your novel
Any topic on writing or publishing not mentioned above. (There is nothing that we can’t speak about.)
Marriage of Minds: A Complete Guide to Collaborating on Writing with a Partner
Creative Writing Institute: soups-to-nuts, from idea conception to publication.
Creative Writing Workshops for Middle School and High School student writers (School visits or small group seminars for homeschoolers)
Mentoring and Coaching
Writing and publication is a complicated business. If you need someone to personally help you through the process, we are presently taking clients for individual mentoring and coaching.
Email us at NikooandJim@gmail.com to start the conversation.
