Authors
Ana Vélez
Ana Gabriela Vélez is an author, illustrator, and teacher living in Portland. She was born in Quito, Ecuador, and was drawn to art from a very young age. With her grandmother, she molded clay flowers, painted wooden houses, and glued little birds to a papier-mâché tree. As an adult, she began her career in Graphic Design in Louisiana, and this profession led her to the world of early childhood education. Through her work with children and the use of design and color as teaching tools, she discovered a deeper and more engaging side to her calling. She then completed a Master’s degree in Education in Washington, specializing in children with learning disabilities. Since then, she has been working with and learning from neurodivergent students in Oregon public schools.
Russell Rogers
Russell Rogers worked with kids for 20 years as a personal trainer in baseball and softball and currently runs a landscaping company. In 2020, he pivoted, and stepped away from training and coaching and in 2021 began writing ideas in a journal. Two years later Russell launched five books for families, encouraging them to do activities together outside. In June 2024, he launched the anniversary edition of his book called Today (Baby Steps, My Firsts, Something New, Great Adventures and Here I Go).
Emmanuel Valtierra
Mexican-American artist Emmanuel Valtierra studied Graphic Design in the University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) and Photography in San Antonio College. After some time, he adopted the aztec codex style for most of his works bringing him attention from the public and press. To stablish himself as a “tlacuilo”, he released a series of pop culture images, playing cards, and book. All with Aztec style. The love Valtierra has for history has influenced him on all his projects. The goal is to keep teaching new generations about our past in a fun way in every media possible.
Some of his most populare releases are: Codex Valtierra (sidewise award), Codice peregrino (white raven award), Aztec tarot, Blue beetle #1 (DC comics variant cover art), and many more.
Emmett Wheatfall
Emmet Wheatfall has been twice nominated for Oregon Poet Laureate and is the winner of the prestigious 2024 Oregon Poetry Association Patricia Ruth Banta Award. Press, an imprint of Barclay Press has published 3 books of Emmett’s poetry. Emmett has performed lyrical and spoken word poetry in Portland jazz venues such as Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant, Tony Starlight’s Supper Club and Lounge, Backspace Café (formerly), Portland’s fabulous Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, and many venues in Portland and throughout the State of Oregon.
Valentina Ortiz
Valentina Ortiz has been on stage since she was 6 years old. She is an actress, a musician and a storyteller. She takes her stories to schools, parks, theaters and festivals in Mexico, the US, different parts of Asia and Latin America. She has published 5 books and produced 4 records with her original stories and music. Since 2017, she is the founder and director of Zazanilli Cuentos A.C., Mexican nonprofit that takes storytelling and music to underprivileged communities. She now deeply enjoys multilingual storytelling, Spanish, Nahuatl, English, French. Since 2023, she is the recipient of the Mexican Government three year grant, Creadores Escénicos.
Juan Cervantes
Juan Cervantes Morales, born in Oaxaca, Mexico, is the author of two poetry books: Voices of Freedom and Endless Word. He has been a member of the Silverton Poetry Association (2010-2018) and co-founder of Spiral Publishing. It is at this time a special guest as a reader and exponent of topics on poetry for students at Portland State University. In 2020, together with German Rizo, published La Otra voz, a poetic anthology that includes poems by Oregonian authors of our time. In 2018, he founded the Arte Poética club to promote poetry in the Spanish language in the state of Oregon. Cervantes practices the art of digital photography and as such he photographs landscapes and people.
José Gomez
José Gomez has over 30 years of experience in the field of social development, working primarily with minority communities and vulnerable groups. Throughout his career, he has developed a solid understanding of the challenges these communities face and has implemented successful strategies to promote their economic and social development.
For the past seven years, he has worked in nonprofit organizations focused on the social development of the Latino entrepreneurial community in Oregon. In this role, he has led training, mentoring, and capital access programs to support small business growth. His work has had a positive impact on the lives of hundreds of entrepreneurs, enabling them to create employment opportunities and strengthen the local economy.
Alba D. Reboyras
She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and after an initial stint as an elementary school teacher, she moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2013. There, she formalized her partnership with writer Eduardo A. Borges Medina, and together they founded Special Novels Inc., an imprint with which she has guided dozens of Spanish- and English-speaking authors through the entire publishing process: from the conception of the idea to global distribution. Her specialty is biographies that highlight the stories of the Hispanic community, although her catalog includes cookbooks, children’s literature, poetry, fiction, reflective journals, picture books, educational manuals, and translations (English ↔ Spanish), as well as audiobooks and niche academic works. As an author, she has published two of her own books—one autobiographical and the other focused on well-being and personal development—that reflect her commitment to promoting diverse voices and creating tools for growth. To maintain the quality of her projects, she trained in professional editing and is proficient in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, allowing her to oversee every technical phase of layout, design, and printing, offering her clients competitive products in any market. Her ability to reconcile editorial rigor, visual creativity, and cultural sensitivity has made her a benchmark for authors seeking to self-publish with international standards without sacrificing their identity.
Eduardo A. Borges
He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, discovered his literary calling very early on: at 19, he published his first book, paving the way for him to become a bestselling author, screenwriter, motivational speaker, and founder of Special Novels Inc. With a solid background in marketing and more than a decade of experience in sales and network marketing, he developed strategic skills that he now applies to guiding new authors throughout the publishing process. His work focuses on personal growth and spirituality, highlighting self-reflective titles such as the journal series “The Compass of Well-Being,” designed to guide readers through eight dimensions of holistic well-being. In addition to his own books, Eduardo has overseen the publication of dozens of works—biographies, essays, poetry, children’s literature, and educational manuals—in both English and Spanish, with a special emphasis on highlighting voices from the Latino community. Among his greatest publishing successes are the bestsellers My Damned Mind Is for Rent, Learning to Relate, and Day by Day; three works that combine experiential narrative, practical exercises, and profound reflections to help readers transform mental patterns, improve their interpersonal relationships, and cultivate habits of daily well-being. A visionary and mentor, Eduardo also works as a creative writing coach and ghostwriter.