CAROLINE GREEN CHRISTOPOULOS, Gold Leaf Co-Founder

Caroline works part-time at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, where she has been a bookseller for twenty years and buyer for sixteen. She worked on the steering committee of the Asheville Grown Business Alliance and continues to be on the programming committee for the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival. In addition to bringing authors and their works the attention they deserve, her focus includes strengthening community and promoting local business. She and her husband live in Asheville with their daughter and their dog, Tiny Cakes.

LAUREN HARR, Gold Leaf Co-Founder

Lauren has worked in the book world for twenty years—as a bookseller in Asheville and Albuquerque, an assistant at literary nonprofits in Santa Fe, an intern at Graywolf Press, and a marketing assistant and publicist at Coffee House Press. She spent eight years at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe where her passions were connecting readers and books and assisting the events program. She lives in Asheville with her husband and daughter and holds an MFA from Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing.

GRACE CHASTAIN, Author & Publicity Assistant

Grace first joined Gold Leaf Literary as an intern in January of 2023, and officially became part of the Gold Leaf Team just a couple months later! She graduated from Western Carolina University with a B.A. in English where she focused her studies on professional writing and literature. She is currently in the Master of Professional Studies program at George Washington University working toward a degree in Publishing. Grace is a lover of stories and is thrilled to be a part of the Gold Leaf Team!

JOANNE O’SULLLIVAN, Manuscript Evaluation & Consultation

Joanne has worked on nearly all sides of book business in the past 20 years: as a nonfiction editor at Lark Books, as a freelance developmental editor, as a book features writer and reviewer for the Asheville Citizen-Times, as a contributor for industry publications such as Lit Hub and Publishers Weekly, and as author of over a dozen books, including The Great and the Terrible: The World's Most Glorious and Notorious Rulers and How They Got Their Names and Between Two Skies, a Southern Book Prize finalist. You can check her books out at joanneosullivan.com. Joanne brings her personal experience as an editor, author, and journalist to bear in helping authors to polish their manuscripts and position them to reach their intended audiences. 

JODI ANDERSON, Manuscript Evaluation & Consultation

Jodi is a former editor for HarperCollins Publishers and a New York Times Bestselling author of fiction for children and adults, including Midnight at the Electric and National Bestseller Peaches. You can check out her books at jodilynnanderson.com. She has shepherded many successful novels toward publication, bestseller lists, and film, and has spent twenty years navigating both the business and the craft of writing. Jodi is passionate about supporting other writers in the challenging and rewarding work of crafting their stories to their highest potential—whether that be through constructive editorial and structural feedback or by being a deeper support system, sounding board, and accountability partner.