Featured Authors & Speakers.

Guest Host

Jessy Ruiz

Jessy Ruiz is a bilingual radio and television host and community advocate based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She is the creator and host of ASPHALT: Vallarta's Own Local All-English Radio Show and co-host of CPS News with Jessy and Brent, the region's only English-language television newscast. Through her work with CPS Media and Asphalt Radio, Jessy highlights local news, businesses, and community events while connecting residents, expats, and visitors across Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas. At Wanderlust Puerto Vallarta 2026, she will serve as Guest Host for the featured author and speaker presentations.

Speaker

Valerie Branch

Valerie Branch led careers in stand-up comedy and radio in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a co-author of Expats: Living the Dream, where she shares her personal story of leaving California and embracing a new life in Mexico. Following her pivotal move to Puerto Vallarta in 2025, Valerie settled in Yelapa, where she enjoys gathering the stories and intergenerational wisdom of its people. Her work reflects a love of storytelling, community, humour, and the adventure of starting over abroad.

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Speaker

Vincent Traughber Meis

Vincent Traughber Meis is the author of ten novels and the short story collection Far from Home. His award-winning novels Tio Jorge, Down in Cuba, and Deluge received Rainbow Awards, while The Mayor of Oak Street and First Born Sons earned Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards. A lifelong writer of plays, short stories, and novels, he has also published travel articles, poems, and book reviews in publications including The Advocate, LA Weekly, In Style, and Our World. He lives in Oakland, California and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. [www.vincentmeis.com

Speaker

María Velázquez Ammerman

María Velázquez Ammerman is a southern California native and dual U.S.-México citizen based in Puerto Vallarta, México. She is also a co-author of Expats: Living the Dream, where she shares her personal story of moving to Mexico and embracing life abroad. When she’s not volunteering for her church or animal-welfare causes, you can find her beachcombing with her rescue dogs or hunting for the next great street taco. Her additional interests include voiceover work, home improvement, pub trivia, and travel.

Speaker

Ilana Long

Ilana Long is the author of the romantic comedies Pickleballers and Pickle Perfect, published by Berkley Publishing in 2024 and 2025. A stand-up comic, sketch comedy writer, and actress, Ilana studied and performed improv comedy at The Second City in Chicago. She is the author of the picture book, Ziggy’s Big Idea, and her essays appear in multiple books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She is a mom of twins. She lives in Bellevue, WA and Puerto Vallarta, MX. www.ilanalong.com
 

Speaker

Michèle Favarger

Michèle Favarger is a Canadian non-fiction author whose curiosity refuses to stay in one lane. She writes about health, Mexican culture, Stoicism, and rescue dogs under her own name and the pen names Summer Fitchley and Casey Rowan. A certified Nonviolent Communication trainer and Hispanic Studies graduate, she has presented workshops at home and abroad. Since 2019, she has lived part of each year in Mexico, helping extranjeros better understand the culture she now calls home. 

Speaker

Jodi Bradbury

Jodi Bradbury is a writer, culinary professional, and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, originally from Boston and currently based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She is at work on a memoir exploring identity, grief, and reinvention. She is an active member of Plumas Azules, a Puerto Vallarta writers' group, where the work she will share at Wanderlust began as a timed writing prompt.

Speaker

Seth Davenport

Seth Davenport is a recent Puerto Vallarta transplant, having moved here with his wife in search of new adventures. His passions include writing, social justice advocacy, storytelling, running, and video games. He has been a member of the Plumas Azules Writers' Group since August and looks forward to sharing his stories of liberation, Afrofuturism, and science fiction. He is excited to participate in Wanderlust Puerto Vallarta 2026 and share his work with attendees.