Our Team
Gabrielle Luthy
Co-Founder/Author
The 2016 winner of RWA’s Golden Heart award for long contemporary romance, Gabrielle Luthy lived in a bijou apartment at the top of Montmartre for five years before returning to her native Australia.
When she woke to the news of Notre Dame in flames, she decided to take a break from the corporate world to combine two passions with one longterm goal: showing the best of Paris (especially the quirky, hidden side) to friends + sharing writing information + inclusive retreats crafted for commercial women’s fiction and memoir writers. Read more about that here.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with two cats. Her 2018 Golden Heart-finalist novel is on submission, and she’s hard at work on two new novels about life in Paris.
Lisa Anselmo
Co-Founder/Author/Branding Expert
Lisa Anselmo is an author, speaker, and coach, focusing on helping individuals and brands connect on a personal level with their audience.
Anselmo has spent most of her professional career as a creative director in magazine publishing, working on such iconic brands as Allure (Condé Nast), InStyle, and People (Time Inc./Meredith).
Her unique background in design and branding, as well as writing and performing, uniquely informs her coaching method, Finding Your Authentic Voice, which helps writers create—and market—compelling reads.
Anselmo lives in Paris and NYC, and is the author of My (Part-Time) Paris Life—How Running Away Brought Me Home (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press).
Keris Stainton
June 2022 In-Resident Author/Coach
Keris Stainton is the bestselling author of fourteen novels, including adult and YA romcoms and one Christmas novel for younger readers that is not a romance, but does star a talking pug. She previously worked as a bookseller, a PA in the music industry, and once got a casual job as an arena steward so she could see New Kids on the Block for free.
She was born in Canada, grew up on the Wirral, lived in London for a while and now lives in Lancashire with two boys, one guinea pig, an unhealthy obsession with One Direction (yes, she has a boyband problem) and a plan to move to the seaside in the next 12 months.
She can almost always be found on Twitter or Instagram, avoiding writing her next book (but she’s working on it in her head. Probably).
Édith de Belleville
June 2022 Tour Guide
Native Parisienne Édith de Belleville is the author of Belles et Rebelles, tales the flamboyant, extraordinary women–including Joséphine de Beauharnais, George Sand and Sarah Bernhardt–who have left their indelible marks on the City of Light.
Passionate about Paris her whole life, Édith left a 20-year career as a lawyer to become a licensed tour guide, officially recognized by the French government. A voracious reader, Édith combines her love of literature, formidable knowledge of Paris, and admiration of rebellious women to lead engaging, witty tours. We’re thrilled that she’ll be showing us the Marais, with its richly diverse culture, through her unique perspective.
As well as her own writing, Édith is featured in Jamie Cat Callan’s Parisian Charm School, and is currently collaborating on a book about Marie-Antoinette.
Care to join us?
If you’re an author or other industry professional interested in joining the team for a future retreat, we’d love to hear from you! Please send us a message via the Contact page.
