Quill & Flame PublishersOur Team
APRIL J. SKELLY, CEO of Quill & Flame
April J. Skelly is the founder of Quill & Flame Publishing House. As a former high school English teacher and author of multiple books, she saw an enormous gap in industry. Quill & Flame seeks to fill that gap by producing wholesome, if not always squeaky, romance across all genres for YA and NA audiences. Give her some toe-curling kisses, some monsters, or a dash of suspense, and she’ll read it. She lives in Ohio with her husband and her three children, and one ten-pound ball of fluff that thinks he’s the big dog on the block.
She loves to see submissions that follow all Q&F guidelines, and wants to see manuscripts with high stakes, a hook in the first paragraph, and character chemistry that leaps from the page that is singeing in its intensity, but not in its physicality. She’s here for all the kissing but likes the door to shut around second base. Stories with darkness and grit balanced with hope are particularly appealing. While she enjoys lots of bookish characters, the White Knight is her favorite.
BRITTANY EDEN, Assistant Acquisitions Editor for Quill & Flame
Incredibly detail-oriented, Brittany is a keen reader and is always growing her knowledge on the craft of writing and loves learning all things marketing and publishing. She’s a fan of the existential issues of time travel stories, K-dramas, and cliffhanger chapter endings. She will read any genre as long as there’s kissing. Thrilled to be part of the Quill & Flame team since the publishing house began in 2022, in the best queries Brittany loves to see strong taglines, clever comparable titles (books or on-screen equivalents), and a unique marketing angle. The bottom line? The best submissions are the kind of book you can’t put down, and the kind of story that sticks with you long after that.
AMANDA WRIGHT, Assistant Acquisitions Editor for Firebrand
Amanda prefers the term book-DRAGON to bookworm, because she literally consumes books. An avid reader, Amanda will quite easily take down three to four books a week if the world is kind and leaves her to her own devices.
Since 2011, Amanda has worked with Graf Martin Communications, reading all the ARCS from Bethany, Revell, Tyndale, and Baker Publishing Houses. More recently, she has made an effort to read as many Christian Indie authors as she can find, and has a passion for spreading the word about excellent, lesser known stories. Amanda has favorites in every genre and will enjoy a good story no matter if it’s fantasy, science fiction, contemporary, historical, or something else. Be warned, she will take a hard pass on horror and the glorification of evil; she will not read porn or ‘spice’. A lover of grammar, Amanda will take personal offense to the butchering of the English language, and has a soft spot for well written prose. She is looking forward to all the submissions the Firebrand imprint is sure to bring. Find her on Instagram here.
MEGHAN KLEINSCHMIDT, Director of Anthologies
As someone who has been a reader since the tender age of four, Meghan proudly accepts all bibliophile nicknames: book nerd, ink drinker, book dragon—you name it. While romance (but keep the door closed, please and thank you), mystery, and sci-fi are her favorites, she will happily read most genres. She is a pastor’s wife from Northwest Indiana with a son, a bonus daughter, and a wild, tail-chasing dog with a sweet face and a scary growl. Meghan has been an in-house editor with Quill & Flame since 2022 and is the owner/editor of Literary Pearl Editing.
Curating anthologies to support various charities is a true joy. She looks for stories that grab her by the hand and take her on a bite-sized adventure. She appreciates both traditional and unique takes on the chosen themes and loves the way authors weave the idea into their own creation. Find her on Instagram here.
STEPHANY ARAUJO, Editor
Stephany Araujo has loved books since before she could read. Her love for words and storytelling first led her to her bachelor’s in journalism from Regent University and being published in Oncourse magazine. Combining her love for books and words brought her to her final destination as an editor, where she discovered she has a keen eye for the nitpicky details. When she’s not editing, she enjoys knitting, crocheting, and geocaching/hiking with her family.
Stephany’s desire is to promote and support clean books full of hope and the Truth—especially in speculative fiction. You can find her reviews and recommendations @newsysteph on Instagram.
BRIGITTE CROMEY, Editor
Brigitte Cromey is the published author of multiple indie books and co-editor of the Crowns anthology. She lives in Arizona, where she reminds her children not to touch the cactus and tries to remember to drink enough water. With an eye for detail, a penchant for sarcasm, and a love of stabby things, she’s not entirely certain how she ended up on staff for a clean romance publisher, but is happy nonetheless to eradicate typos and obsess over the correct formatting for dialogue. When not polishing manuscripts, she writes hopeful fantasy and sci-fi, and can be found @yarrowleafauthor on Instagram.
CRYSTAL D. GRANT, Editor
Crystal Grant is the author of Shadowcast, book one of The Gateway Trilogy, along with multiple short stories and poems. As a hearing-impaired, home-school graduate, she found her voice in writing about characters fighting to overcome their obstacles. A self-described daydreamer who adores freshly baked cookies and anything with fur or feathers, she strives to instill a love of books and learning within her young students. When she’s not reading or writing stories that sweep her away to another time and place, she watches classic movies and TV shows that do the same. Or she works on jigsaw puzzles. Crystal currently resides in small-town Missouri, where she is always looking for space for another book or scented candle. Find her on Instagram here.
Interested in being one of our authors? See guidelines on how to submit your manuscript here! Want to intern with us and learn the behind-the-scenes of book publishing? Email us at info@quillandflame.com!