Author interviews

Braxton Cosby is the CEO of Starchild Comics and Cosby Media Productions Inc., a hybrid company that serves to tell stories in both novels and comic books. They have published over twelve comic books that have tie-ins with different stories from novels from their stable of authors. Braxton has a rotten over twenty novels and four comics himself that have contributed to the mixed format of storytelling. Braxton’s works have garnered him awards for Readers’ Favorite, Literary Titan, Litpick Teen Award, CLC Book Awards, Best Book Fall Awards, and American Legacy Awards.

Marc Dickinson is the author of the short story collection, Replacement Parts (Atmosphere Press, 2024) His stories have appeared in Shenandoah, Cream City Review, North American Review, Greensboro Review, Chattahoochee Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, South Dakota Review, American Literary Review (as winner of the ALR Fiction Prize), as well as other journals. He received an MFA from Colorado State University and now lives in Iowa with his wife and two children, where he teaches creative writing at Des Moines Area Community College and coordinates the long-running reading series, Celebration of the Literary Arts.

Leissa Shahrak experienced the Iranian Revolution firsthand when she taught English in Iran. Her writing credits include stories published in Del Sol Review, the Bellevue Literary Review, and a British anthology, The Final Chapter: Writings on the End of Life.

Lindsay Brown is the author of The Dolan Girls: As The Seasons Go By, a sweet, cozy, coming-of-age middle-grade novel. Aside from writing and storytelling, you'll find her gardening, baking bread, woodcarving, and playing games with her family. Her favorite spot is curled up in a cozy chair with a book and cup of tea, listening to the rain outside.

Gavin Thomas was born in Salisbury, MD, and raised in Ocean View, DE. Growing up, he was sometimes bullied because other students and teachers didn't understand him, due to him having autism. Despite this, he treated them with kindness and made friends with many of his classmates, mostly girls, as a result.

Dr. Zuzana Plesa is a Zurich-trained Jungian Analyst and a Marriage and Family Therapist. She provides counseling to active duty military and their families. She resides in Florida.

From living above her parents’ hardware store in Brooklyn to living down a gravel road in Central Texas, Eva Silverfine has meandered through urban to rural landscapes. A biologist by training, she works as a freelance copyeditor for academic presses. Her short fiction has appeared in a variety of journals, and her novels, How to Bury Your Dog and Ephemeral Wings, were recently published by Black Rose Writing.

R.A. Howitt founded New2theScene in 2022 to help the discovery of new talent in fiction. He creates competitions, podcasts, articles, blogs, all with the aim of unearthing great people in fiction that book lovers may not have heard of.

I have always loved reading and writing was a natural extension. I remember choosing my first poem book from the library as a young child. I really enjoyed it. I wrote short stories and poems throughout my life. I wrote a great many poems when my children were small. That same Children's Literature class with Professor Brody was the catalyst for my renewed interest in poetry. Another assignment was to draft a poem. I submitted My Little Sunshine, a poem about my first son. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching a poetry unit and converting students who were extremely reluctant at first. I encouraged them to play with words and find joy in creating pictures with words.

Danielle Ariano was born and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, but became a Baltimorean when she moved to the city for college. She was charmed by Baltimore’s quirky, artsy vibe. Ariano’s memoir, The Requirement of Grief, is a meditation on the complexities of the sister bond and the grief that comes when that bond is broken by a sibling’s suicide.