Meet Jackie Garcia-Morales and Theresa Maria Villarreal
The Storyteller’s Shelf Podcast brings authors and publishing professionals together for candid conversations that demystify publishing.
Jackie Garcia-Morales
Co-Director, Co-Host, Associate Literary Agent and Author
Jackie Garcia-Morales is a proud Puerto Rican and neurodiverse publishing professional raised in New Jersey. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Environmental Science from Drexel University and a Digital Marketing Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2023, she made the leap from medical school to publishing, with experience at Penguin Random House, Baker & Taylor, and Writers House.
Today, Jackie is an Associate Literary Agent and Foreign Rights Agent at Storm Literary Agency. Her publishing background spans trade marketing, publicity, sales, boutique children’s publishing, freelance reviewing for Kirkus Indie and Publishers Weekly, and editing the Journal of the American Herbalists Guild, a nonprofit academic publication. She also serves as the New Jersey Ambassador for the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) and is a two-time member of its Outstanding International Books Committee.
Jackie founded the Catalyst Creators Scholarship & Fund, which supports writers creating picture-book manuscripts featuring underrepresented voices, and Feathered Stag Press, a BIPOC poetry project. As an author, she is represented by Analía Cabello at Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Her debut middle-grade novel, Pesky Roots / Raíces fastidiosas, is forthcoming from Arte Público Press in 2026. Connect with Jackie on her website, Bluesky at @realjackiegm.bsky.social, or Instagram at @nieveesol and @hellojaymorales.
Theresa Maria Villarreal
Co-Director, Producer, Co-Host, Author, and Educator
Theresa Maria Villarreal is a Houston-based author and entrepreneur. She earned her Marketing degree from the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business in 2009, where she was recognized as top in sales, and completed the Bank of America-sponsored Entrepreneur Program through Cornell Online in May 2025. Inspired by C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and her Christian faith, Theresa is the award-winning creator of the middle-grade portal fantasy series Adventures in Oculus. Book 1 received a Christlit Book Award for its exploration of Christian themes, identity, and adventure.
Theresa is represented by Syrone Harvey of Belcastro Agency for another series. She is also the producer and co-host of The Storyteller’s Shelf Podcast and a co-director of The Storytellers Foundation. Through her Literary Ladle platform, she shares book reviews and conversations with authors that support the kidlit community. She is also a co-creator of Storyrise, a writing platform and creative workspace for authors. Follow Storyrise on LinkedIn. Theresa has served as a judge for the Aurora Realm Awards and volunteers in social media marketing for SCBWI Houston.
Theresa is currently developing several book projects, including a graphic novel, as well as poetry. She is also a mom to two incredible children, who sometimes serve as beta readers, and a tiny turtle named Daisy, who may or may not star in an upcoming book series. Connect with Theresa on Instagram at @naturellement_theresa.