Author Interviews

Sneha Villalva served as the executive speechwriter for the UCLA chancellor and two Pomona College presidents. She previously worked as a journalist with The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.

Growing up in Southern California, I’ve always had a wild imagination, thanks to my love for history and storytelling. Some of my favorite authors, such as Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, and Brian Jacques, have greatly inspired my writing. This passion for history and knack for spinning myths and fantasies pushed me to write my first novel, The Gathering, while I was chasing my MA in history. Since then, I’ve rolled out two more books, and there’s a fourth one on the way!

Marí is a debut author from West Virginia. Her poetry is inspired by her own experiences with love, loss, motherhood, identity, and family. As a lover of the outdoors and the mountains that she calls home, much of her work is heavily rooted in nature imagery. The Line Between is her first published collection of poetry that began as an emotional outlet and diary of sorts, before morphing into words that she wanted to share with the world. When Marí isn’t writing (or reading), you can find her on a nature trail or at her favorite beer garden with her husband, son, and their two dogs.

Makayla Ghazal is a fifteen-year-old author who published her debut novel, The Ungoblin Brother, at fourteen. She loves her family, chocolate, and Jesus, everything a girl needs! She has lots of pets and enjoys writing stories and watching movies with her dad.

Cisco Gonzalez is an American author who writes fictional stories with a comedic twist under the name Matt Peterson. As a military brat, he grew up all over the place. He enjoys any well written and funny fiction and is influenced by authors such as Christoper Moore, John Scalzi, and Martha Wells. He currently resides in Tucson.

Blake Anderson spent more than three decades in the technology industry, including over twenty years at Microsoft, before retiring to pursue new passions as a certified life coach and author.

Chester is a young trans man from Hertfordshire, England. With an overactive imagination, he has always used writing to bring the worlds and ideas in his head alive, even when he was still small and just learning to write! To have his words printed in books is a massive achievement that he’s entirely honoured by.

I am James Abbot, ‘Jim’ to my family and friends, and the author of The Burdens of Aeneas: A Son’s Memoir of Duty and Love, which was a finalist for a 2018 Georgia Author of the Year Award. I have a doctorate in classics and have written and taught courses on Latin poetry and Roman history. Born and raised in rural Georgia, I now live with my family in Brooklyn, where I dream about wild rivers and deep forests.

Andy Barrow is a New York–based writer whose debut novel, Peter in Progress, draws inspiration from his own later-in-life gay awakening. When he’s not writing, Andy is likely perfecting his backhand, chasing his next cold brew, or making up for lost time on the dance floor — preferably with nineties icons (Crystal, CeCe, Whitney …) on rotation.

An award-winning published author and multicultural communications strategist, guest speaker, business writer, and small business advocate, Susana G Baumann, MAA, MLS, is the president of Excel Branding, and founder and former editor-in-chief of LatinasinBusiness.us.

I am a lifelong learner and very passionate about education. However, growing up in Nigeria opened my eyes to issues of gender inequities around me. It was a common challenge encountered in different facets of the society, even in education. So, I chose to write this novel to add my voice to especially the issue of girls’ education.

Terry Cozad Taylor is a raconteur and photographer who has gained local fame for his storytelling ability and his image-creating acumen. He grew up in an industrial suburb of Chicago, and has earned degrees in English and philosophy, journalism, and art. He spent the first two-thirds of his life doing public relations for universities; the final third he spent leading non-profit organizations in the field of spirituality.

Evan Hulick, PhD, is a visiting instructor of English (VI) at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA. He graduated with his PhD from The Catholic University of America (CUA) in May 2024 after successfully defending his dissertation titled, ‘Transcending Genres: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Influence on Narrative Worlds in Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, and Junot Díaz.’

Marina Lizio is a data scientist and a writer. She grew up in Sicily, Italy, where she studied computer science and bioinformatics. She moved to Japan in 2006, working as a bioinformatics researcher at the RIKEN institute in Yokohama until 2019.

For years, I had a dream. I wanted to write a book. Stories swam around my mind heading in no particular direction. Then one Christmas season, our elves came to visit. A little story began to brew in my mind and grew throughout the month. Then another lockdown hit us. This time, in January, I decided to tell the tale to my daughter Kayla on one of our frosty January walks. I went home and jotted down what I thought would be a simple eleven-chapter story. When lockdown ended, this dream was put to one side but remained in both my heart and my mind.

Susan Brink O’Flaherty is a writer, former sommelier, and stage-four cancer survivor. Taste, A Novel is her debut. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two terrier scruffs.

I have been writing since I was a teenager. I was born into an upper middle class African American family that had adopted me out into a working class family. My older adopted sister was an English teacher and encouraged me to write and she would give me Maya Angelou books to read. Later, when I found my African American family, I learned that they were English teachers as well.

Natalee P. Starkes is a wife, mother, educator, school leader, content creator, and first-time author from South Carolina. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Winthrop University and a Master of Education in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina.

I am an author from South Carolina. I have been writing as a coping method since the days of a child. I love what I do, and I hope that if I put my 10,000 hours into writing, I will accomplish many things. I currently have a cat named Marcus that lives with me. I have two books published and a paper through Midlands Tech. I love writing and would not have made it this far without it. Thank you for reading.

I’ve been a storyteller since I was small — long before my handwriting was legible — and now, from my home in Derbyshire, I spend my free time crafting deliciously compelling, impossible mysteries designed to keep my protagonists — and readers — guessing. All my work is published through my own imprint, Crimson Nightingale Press.