Laura Holtz is a novelist, playwright and lyricist who earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University back when applications were submitted in hard copy and Allison Hall was still a single-sex dorm. Her debut novel, Warm Transfer, was published this spring; she wrote the book and lyrics for her original musical, Gatecrashers, which was workshopped as part of Porchlight Musical Theatre’s “Off the Porch” new works program. Laura touches on the issue of intimate partner violence in both her fiction and nonfiction writing, and is active in raising awareness and money to end it.