Your Guides
Meet the Instructors
Mansi Shah is the bestselling author of the upmarket novels Saving Face, A Good Indian Girl, The Direction of the Wind, and
The Taste of Ginger, which center Indian characters and explore generational rifts and reconnections across the Indian diaspora. Born in Toronto to Indian immigrants and now based in Los Angeles, she left a long-time career as an entertainment attorney in Hollywood to write full-time and travel the world—having visited all seven continents.
Mansi’s books have reached over 500,000 readers worldwide and received numerous accolades. A Good Indian Girl was selected as a 2024 Lilly’s Library pick and named one of Indigo’s Best 100 Books of 2024, while both The Direction of the Wind and The Taste of Ginger were Amazon #1 Bestsellers and Amazon First Reads picks.
As a workshop instructor, Mansi guides writers to sharpen their unique voice, ensure every scene propels the larger story arc, and (gently) slay darlings that no longer serve. With a keen eye for detail, she ensures each word earns its place on the page—crafting stories that resonate deeply and authentically with agents, editors, and readers.
When Mansi is not writing, you’ll find her in the kitchen experimenting with ways to blend Indian flavors with other cuisines. She also loves the satisfying pop of a tennis ball leaving her racket, the rhythmic glide of swimming laps, and getting her hands muddy at the pottery wheel.
Anoop Judge is an award-winning novelist and former litigator whose work explores identity, family, and the complexities of contemporary life. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Saint Mary’s College of California, where she received the 2021 Advisory Board Award and the 2023 Alumni Scholarship.
She is the author of The Rummy Club, winner of the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Award; The Awakening of Meena Rawat, an excerpt of which was nominated for the 2019 Pushcart Prize; No Ordinary Thursday, an Amazon First Reads pick; and Mercy and Grace. Her short story Wherever We Go was a finalist for the Robert Day Fiction Award.
Anoop has taught creative writing at Stanford University, The Writers’ Grotto in San Francisco, Book Passage, and Savvy Authors, where she is known for her supportive, practical approach to helping writers find and refine their stories. Her popular courses—Novel Writing: From Concept to Creation, Brilliant Openings, and How to Outline & Plot Your Novel in Five Weeks—have helped writers transform ideas into compelling, publishable work.
At this retreat, she will lead a manuscript-driven workshop for aspiring and established authors, offering in-depth feedback on participants’ pages, focused craft discussion drawn from their work, and clear next steps to strengthen voice, structure, and character on the page.