Author interviews

Along with being a mental health therapist, Kirsten Miles is an award-winning author and writer. She has been writing since about four years old, when she used to poke holes in the paper and tie ribbons to keep the pages together. Kirsten volunteers at an animal rescue and is a proud vegan. She has published several poems, including, “If Love Was a Color” in the 2019 edition of New Jersey’s Best Emerging Poets. She has self-published an award-winning novel and has a new published book out now. She lives with her wife and dogs, Ruffles and Jack Jack, in the heart of New Jersey.

A.M. Davis is an artist and an author from Ohio. She co-authored her first novel, The Shrike and the Shadows—a dark and twisted retelling of the classic tale, Hansel & Gretel. By daylight, she is the marketing manager for an upscale resort. By night, she is seeking out her next story, playing video games, or imagining what new piece to draw and anguish over-dramatically.

Koushik Banerjea is the author of two novels, both written while still the sole carer for his late mother: Another Kind of Concrete (Jacaranda 2020) and Category Unknown (London Books 2022). His short stories have appeared in Feign Lit, Jerry Jazz Musician, Salvation in Stereo, Minor Literatures, Verbal, Writers Resist, and in the crime fiction anthologies Shots in the Dark and Shots in the Dark II. He has had poems published in Third Space, Building Bridges (forthcoming Renard Press November 2024), Mogadored (Tangerine Press), Razur Cuts Magazine, and online in House of Poetry magazine.

Paul Jantzen grew up in what would be described as typical Americana, and from an early age, he was fascinated with the art of storytelling. Paul loves captivating his audiences with his imagination and sense of humor. He took up filmmaking in college and his first short film, The Leopard Frog, debuted on the USA network in 1991. He then took up writing, a more budget-favorable medium. Though he enjoys a good novel here and there, he was never big on reading so he wrote a book instead. Sour Apples is his award-winning debut novel.

Mirka Hokkanen is a Finnish-American author-illustrator who likes quirky animal characters and stories that make kids laugh. She began her career as a fine art printmaker before transitioning to book illustration. Mirka is the illustrator for Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book, and the author-illustrator for the graphic novel series Mossy and Tweed (Holiday House), the picture book series Kitty and Cat (Candlewick), and the non-fiction picture book series Little Seasons (OddDot).

John Peragine is an award-winning author and master storyteller of the fantasy genre. With a passion for world-building and character development, John has created immersive and unforgettable worlds that have captivated readers around the globe. He is known for his skill in crafting complex characters that readers can relate to and root for.

Sophie is a professional blurb writer, cover designer, and mother of six children aged eleven and under. She received a Master's degree in writing genre fiction from Edinburgh Napier University, which presented more than the usual challenge considering she homeschools all her children. She is an avid Ben and Jerry's eater, lover of cosiness, and holds the award for the ultimate cookie-making mama. She currently lives in the gorgeous folds of Scotland where nature abounds and no one can hear the gunshots.

Liz Cain is a nuclear medicine physicist by day, and an urban fantasy author by night. She was born in East Yorkshire in the UK and grew up near the sea with her parents and two sisters. She moved to the midlands, which was much too far south for her, and spent 2twenty0 years trying to move back to her hometown.

I am a small-town girl who has always loved to read and write creatively. I always wanted to be able to be an author but never was able to try and didn't know where to start. But now, in my middle age, I have decided to give it a try.

Gabriella Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech author and chemical engineer based in Texas who likes to keep explosive pyrophoric materials safely contained in pressure vessels or between the covers of her books. She writes adult romantic fantasy for bold, bi, brown women who deserve to see their stories centered. Her debut Saints of Storm and Sorrow is a Filipino-inspired epic fantasy out with Titan Books. Daughters of Flood and Fury is to be released July 2025