Our Executive Team
Claudia Suzanne, Founder/CEO
A professional ghostwriter for over 30 years, Claudia is the first person to deconstruct how she does what she does. She then created the award-winning Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program, Claudia also produced the 2013 Ghostwriters Unite! international conference and developed the first and only apprentice program in the world.
Eric “Kata” Schuyler, Dean of Students/Operations Director
Passionate about good stories and helping students succeed, Kata runs GPDP’s intricate learning environment. He handles all inhouse and student technical issues, manages student issues and concerns, and provides expert fiction guidance. Besides being only our go-to answer man, Kata is also a careful, caring professional ghostwriter.
Liv Haugland, International Outreach Director
A natural diplomat, teacher, and world traveler, Liv supports international students and authors. She’s visited or knows someone in almost every corner of the world, so she keeps a close eye on cultural aspects of our clients’ manuscripts. Liv also troubleshoots author/personnel issues, and helps develop our team’s strategic planning.
Sabriga Turgon, Marketing Director
A former Peace Corp volunteer, Sabriga brings a strong social advocacy to every Wambtac project. She makes sure clients and students understand the boundaries (and advantages) of political correctness and diversity. Sabriga also handles our teams’ marketing and content and provides student support.
Our Board of Advisors
Penni Wells, Strategy and Development
Known for her versatile approach to creating and delivering training and education, Penni was the first academic to recognize GPDP’s value. Now retired from CSULB/CPIE, Penni lends organizational and development guidance to our team and helps tweak strategic planning.
Carol J. Amato, Writer/Editor/Publisher
Author of twenty-nine books and 200 articles and editor for major publishers and magazines, Carol is our team’s developmental, copy editing and proofreading expert. She also provides self-publishing and business insights.
About the name
Wambtac (wham-bee-tack) Communications LLC is the third incarnation of the acronym for “Words and Music by Tom and Claudia.”
It was first used back in 1980, when the husband-and-wife team Tom Stein (pianist) and Claudia Suzanne (drummer) began copyrighting the songs they wrote together. They soon took their act on the road, where they were best known for his virtuosity, her comic relief, and their love/hate, push/pull, fight/kiss relationship. They were, as one club owner put it, “vewy entertaining.”
Once daughter Lona was born, life quickly came down to the act or the marriage, so Tom went on with his music career and Claudia segued into writing and ghostwriting books. This reduced their involvement in each other’s lives by a good 6.42 percent.
In 1995, the couple formally opened an “umbrella” company to simplify their tax status. What better name than the acronym they still used to describe their life? Thus, Wambtac (Music and Books) was born.
After Tom passed away, Claudia and Lona, now an accomplished ghostwriter in her own right, created a new enterprise focused entirely on ghostwriting, ghostwriter training, and client publication.
But in the rage of widowhood, Claudia was still hooked on the acronym. Rather than choose a new, more descriptive name for the company, the mother/daughter team—best known for Claudia’s expertise, Lona’s clear-headed leadership, and their love/hate, push/pull, fight/kiss relationship—settled on Wambtac Communications LLC.
When in 2016 Lona and her husband, therian-artist Joshua Ward, left team to create their own enterprise, the executive team changed, but the name—now known by at least five or six dozen people—remained the same.
Wambtac Today
Wambtac today is a far cry from the fiercely independent husband-wife duo of the late 1980s.
Our Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program is now the #1 ghostwriter-training course in the world!
2012: we formally established Wambtac Communications LLC.
2013: we produced Ghostwriters Unite! the world’s first international conference by, for, and about ghostwriting. Liv Haugland became a permanent member of our Executive Team.
2014: we brought in Eric “Kata” Schuyler to head up our publishing division, Iridescent Orange Press. He published Secrets of a Ghostwriter: The Only Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering Ghostwriting Theory, Skills, and Politics.
2015: we began actively matching aspiring authors with Certified Ghostwriters.
2016: we published the long-awaited 5th Edition of This Business of Books: A Complete Overview of Today’s Industry from Concept through Sales.
2017: we made a record number of literary dreams come true.
2018: GPDP received the “Outstanding 2018 Noncredit Program Award” from UPCEA Western Region.
2019: GPDP grew to 13 months.
2020: we broke our old record for fulfilling literary dreams and set a new record for gross revenue.
2021: we expanded our 6-week prereq class to include six essential Creative Analysis Action Steps.
2022: we’re overhauling GPDP’s “back end” to standardize our metrics, so we can launch more careers and fulfill more dreams!
Watch the About the Name video