Atmosphere Press

Leslie Swartz is an author, ex-poet, and mother of three. She enjoys long walks in the stationary aisle and uninterrupted sleep. Biggest fears include failure of gravity and The Wizard of Oz.

I am an unlikely writer. I was born more years ago than I care to remember, a stone’s throw from Heathrow airport. Even back in those days, I loved stories but never imagined writing them. My bent was always technical. In the 1980s, I started writing articles for a computer magazine. That ended when the publication folded. I didn’t return to writing until I retired, but this time it was fiction. I was actually writing stories that other people wanted to read.

When I first started writing poetry, it was during one of the most tumultuous times of my life; writing became a safe form of expression that, in turn, helped with my journey of healing. Under the alias ‘Nina Deveaux,’ I launched and published my first poetry book, Mythology. When I’m not writing or working on my business, I am taking naps or kissing cats.

I’m Lorraine, mother to Lexie-Rose and currently in chapter fifty-two! Lifesaving surgery in 2020 meant I was going to have to live with a stoma. Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2004 following a trip to India was where it all began. In 2023 I made the decision to make my ileostomy permanent…the Barbie butt…well, if it’s good enough for Barbie, it’s good enough for me!

Johnzelle is a licensed therapist by trade, and believes in the power of storytelling to heal, imagine, disrupt, and inspire. His writing focuses on mental health, race, relationships, and identity.

Dixie L. King has been writing since she was seven years old, when she taught herself to type on her father’s big metal Smith Corona typewriter. She wrote her first novel at eleven; however, despite the fact that it was about drug trafficking (about which she knew nothing), took place in New York City (which she had never visited), and involved a woman working at the United Nations, not only did Harper and Row refer it to the children’s lit editor (she was insulted), but they rejected the book. Dixie gave up writing novels and became a cultural anthropologist. She has since returned to her first love.

Cathy Schieffelin is an avid reader and writer. Years of adventure and travel contribute to her daily writing life. She is a regular attendee of writing workshops and participates in writing contests whenever possible. Her short stories and essays have been published in Adanna Literary Journal, Halfway Down the Stairs online literary journal, Renewed: A New Orleans Public Library Anthology, and the Frontier Nursing Service quarterly newsletter. Her first novel, The Call, came out in December 2024 and was awarded an International Impact Award for Mystery/Thriller genre. Snakeroot and Cohosh is her second novel, published with Atmosphere Press in March 2026.

Jenny is the eldest of six children, raised in a rural community in a western district town of Victoria, Australia. Her formative years in Catholic primary and secondary school shaped her values of compassion and service. From an early age, Jenny was exposed to the principles of social justice and self-actualisation with strong role models in parents who were deeply committed to the local community. As a speech therapist working in disability services, Jenny believes that communication is a fundamental human right, and every individual has the right to express themselves fully and participate meaningfully in their communities.

Sunil Mehrotra is a rocket scientist turned philosopher. This is his third book in a trilogy written at the intersection of science and spirituality.

Celina is a Brazilian writer who crossed the ocean to complete a master’s in social sciences and now lives in London with her cat Trufa. She works in marketing and spends her free time exploring London’s weird corners, the little bookshops, secret queer spaces, and drag events that make you rethink your entire existence.

Heather Jefferson graduated Phi Beta Kappa in English Literature from University of Illinois. She is a wife, mother, yoga teacher, and manager of a wellness center. Daughter Unbound is her first book. Heather lives in Columbia, Maryland, with her husband, Bob, and their two dogs and two cats.

I write dark fantasy romance with teeth – stories where monsters are messy, love is complicated, and the woods are always watching. My debut novel, Lupines Bloom Where Blood Falls, is the first instalment of The Florilegium Cycle, set in the strange town of Lorewood, where the line between human and other is thinner than it should be.

I am retired from the U.S. Air Force. Following retirement, I taught for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at their satellite campuses in Charleston SC, and Jacksonville FL. I also volunteered with literacy programs, teaching and tutoring adult reading and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

I was born in 1956, and am Dad to two grown up children, and Granddad to two little grandsons.