Author Interviews

Sarah Karasek lives in rural Pennsylvania with two long-haired cats and one long-haired human. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing from Rosemont College and is currently a freelance writer and copyeditor. She’s also an assistant editor at Space Squid Magazine. Weird Waypoints: A Speculative Travel Guide to the Between is an anthology she edited, and it’s full of really stellar stories by really rad authors.

I am an actor and extra, and have appeared a in number of movies, TV series, music videos, and commercials, one advert I was featured with Idris Elba for Booking.com, which was seen worldwide during the World Series final in America. I am very pleased to say that my credits have been seen across the world on the telly and in cinemas.

Sam feels her feelings like it’s her job…because it is. Crying often as a means to process and release, she strives to uncover all her deepest wounds and salve them with aloe. You can find Sam at her favorite coffee shop (literally named “Poets”) sipping an iced vanilla chai and eating something delicious on a croissant while she scribbles poems into one of her many half-filled notebooks, living her best main-character life.

I’m J.D. Harbor, an author who loves crafting heartfelt romance stories filled with self-discovery, second chances, and unforgettable journeys. My debut series, RomantiSea Serenades, brings readers aboard luxurious cruise ships, where love and adventure meet on the open ocean. When I’m not writing, I’m exploring the world, soaking up inspiration, or dreaming about my next story.

Elenor Pountain is a wife and mum of two young children. She is also a contemporary romance author known for crafting emotionally engaging and relatable love stories. A self-proclaimed hopeless romantic with a penchant for dark humor, she creates characters and storylines that resonate deeply with her readers. Her books often explore the complexities of relationships, personal growth, and self-discovery.

Peggy Gerber hails from Teaneck, NJ, and enjoys traveling, reading, and anything magical. Most mornings you’ll find her indulging her love of weird things by writing stories of time travel, friendly aliens, and other phantasmagoria. She is the author of the two poetry chapbooks, Stumbling in CrazyTown and The Big Indignity, and is proud to introduce her new collection of speculative fiction entitled Once Upon a Time Machine.

Originally from West Virginia, Joyce Serrano now lives in Ladson, South Carolina, where summers are too hot for her taste, and she misses the uniqueness of changing seasons. Well-traveled and tragically widowed, Joyce was inspired to write her first novel after binge-watching superhero movies and supernatural creature television shows during a hurricane lockdown. Original Grace started as a series of recurring dreams, which turned into a short story, then a full-length novel. Immortals In The Everything is the sequel to Original Grace and she has written two side-character novellas, with more on the way.

Joel Shulkin, MD, is the author of the psychiatric thriller series The Memory Thieves and the military medical thriller series Death Benefits. He has also penned award-winning short stories and poetry. A developmental-behavioral pediatrician and United States Air Force veteran with a master’s in public health, Joel lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters.

Meet Sarah Iverson, the creative mastermind behind the spooky and whimsical Mazey Misterie series! Based in Denver, CO, Sarah is a multi-passionate creative entrepreneur and illustrator with a knack for infusing magic into the mundane. Armed with a B.A. in Art and an M.A. in Environmental Leadership, she combines her artistic talents and visionary mindset to inspire readers to unleash their imaginations.

Early on, my professional career took me into the nonprofit world, and a part of my responsibilities always included the “art of writing” – program materials, contractual agreements, and a lot of “ghostwriting”! Only recently did I decide to publish personally in my own name again, and now I’m working on two additional books. I guess it’s always been about the fun for me and especially hoping to make a difference to someone out there. I’m sure I’ll be writing down my thoughts until I can’t hold a pen or use a computer any longer.

I want to make them feel as if they are actually there in the book. A distraction like that takes us away from the everyday stressful situations in our current lives. It’s nice to give your mind a break.

I was born and raised in Australia with a background career working across various Art Departments in the Film and Television Industry. Helping to make other people’s stories come to life gave me the knowledge and structure I needed to build my own story. It has taught me the layers of storytelling and complex nature of interweaving characters and storylines.

Chris Bache, a single father raising three children, stepped back from full-time work to fulfill a lifelong dream by authoring his first book, Children of Earth. He considers this creative journey to have been enriching and sincerely hopes that readers worldwide will connect with it as deeply as he did while bringing it to life. He is profoundly thankful for his children, whose unwavering faith has constantly encouraged him throughout this endeavor. Chris is currently working on the second book of the series.

M Tobias Harris is a fantasy author who enjoys creating exciting, honor-driven worlds with stories that attempt to teach a moral lesson. When he is not mentally creating battles between monster-like creatures and modern-day special forces, he is raising his two rambunctious boys and attempting to be a better man, husband, and follower of God.

Paula Kerman grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, but has made Des Moines, Iowa, her home since attending college at Drake University, where she completed a bachelor of fine arts degree. She also has a master’s in education and was an art educator for forty-three years in the Des Moines Public Schools, at the Des Moines Art Center, and at her in-home studio. She is passionate about her art practice and has exhibited and sold her work. After experiencing significant loss, she began researching and painting strong women who inspired her. Hooligans, Rebels, and Rabble-Rousers is her first book.

Award-winning author Sarah Branson was a midwife for close to thirty years, helping families welcome their little ones into their arms in the hospital, at a birth center, and at home. Now she writes tales of action, adventure, revenge, and romance. Her stories are firmly rooted in the strength of the human spirit with themes of resiliency, family, and personal growth entwined throughout.

Aimie McAllester (also known as Sylvia Rose) was born in Houston but raised in East Texas. Her childhood was largely shaped by her severely autistic, non-verbal brother, as the entire family had to learn to adapt to abnormal stresses that most families would never think of. She used music and writing to cope and is now looking to finish her undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in English. Following graduation, she hopes to go to graduate school and get her counseling license, then go to medical school for psychiatry.

Lorraine Russell is a southeastern transplant who now calls upstate South Carolina home. Originally from the Midwest, Lorraine’s love for words has been a constant thread throughout her life. From penning poetry in her youth to crafting short essays and keeping detailed journals, writing has always been her passion. After years of dreaming about sharing her stories with the world, Lorraine is thrilled to finally have her debut novel, Love and Shadows, in print. When she isn’t writing, Lorraine spends time with family and friends enjoying new experiences in her newly found home. She believes that every experience enriches her storytelling, making her writing journey as fulfilling as the stories she tells.

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.