Author Interviews

Carmelinda Blagg was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Texas at Dallas, and fondly recalls those years as a time when she fell in love with literature and writing. After graduating, she spent several years traveling throughout Europe, living and studying in Florence and Perugia, Italy, and later in Paris, France, where she earned a certificate in paralegal studies from the American University in Paris, focusing on International Trade Law and European Union Law. After returning home, she resettled in the Washington, D.C., area where she went to work for the World Bank for fifteen years. In her free time, she began writing short stories and pursued her M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University.

Alan Cohen had his first poem published in the PTA Newsletter at the age of ten. He graduated from Farmingdale High School (where he was Poetry Editor of The Bard), Vassar College (with a BA in English), and UC at Davis Medical School. He was then a Primary Care physician, teacher, and Chief of Primary Care at the VA. He has over the years had letters to the editor in Poetry and The New Yorker and articles in the American and New England Journals of Medicine, and has had 178 poems published in ninety venues over the past three years. He’s been married to his wife, Anita, for forty-two years, and they’ve been living in Eugene, OR, these past twelve.

Mark Pickvet was born in Pinconning, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He went on to obtain a PhD in History and has written many books, especially on the history of glassware and the State of Michigan, and several works of fiction.

What makes a person believe they understand a non-fiction problem to such a degree they decide to spend four years writing a book about it? First, there has to be a need for the story—to make people want to read it. I believe the first complete story of red tape: a condition that has existed in the administration of government at all levels and in all democracies for literally centuries, a very real problem that threatens democracy as a form of governance and a problem that impacts all people meets the need of a story to be told.

Albert Jaskula is the author of the novel The Fall. He never imagined he could write a book after living in London for nearly a decade. Working as an assistant manager and then as a driver gave him plenty of time to contemplate and write down ideas for something unique. The plot evolved over time until it came together as a cohesive whole. His writing career began in a very unusual way. When he became a co-author of a children’s book (which has yet to be published), he realised what a joy it was to write.

Sally Stevens has worked in film, television, sound recordings and commercials music in Hollywood for many decades, as a singer/choral director/lyricist. She has written lyrics for Burt Bacharach, Dave Grusin, Dominic Frontiere, Don Ellis and others, and her short fiction, poems, and personal essays have appeared in Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journay, Mockingheart Review, RAven’s Perch, Funny in Five Hundred, The Missouri Review, Los Angeles Press, The Voices Project, The OffBeat, and Between the Lines Anthology: Fairy Tales & Folklore Re-imagined. Her memoir, I SANG THAT – A Memoir from Hollywood was published in October of 2022.

Milda has produced, written, and directed short films, documentaries, as well as commercials for both television and radio, winning many awards for her achievements. Having the passion to write, Milda retired early, trading the whirlwind world of the Big Apple for a quiet, relaxed lifestyle in the resort city of Ostuni (also known as the White City).

Sarah Lutterodt was born and educated in England, gaining a BA degree in physics from the University of Oxford, an M.Phil. in nuclear physics from the University of London, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Birmingham. She has spent most of her adult life outside England, working for two years at the University of Lovanium in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and subsequently for ten years at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Since 1980, she has lived in the United States, where she worked as a technical training consultant for General Physics Corporation before starting her own business, Quality Training Systems, in 1997.

I was born in Brooklyn, NYC. I received a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University. I had a forty-two-year career in healthcare at Kaiser Permanente and in the Sutter Health Care system. My positions included Director of Business Relation, writer/editor, director of marketing & community relations, and a lobbyist for Kaiser in Sacramento.

Rebecca Himmel Glassman is new to the publishing world even though she has been writing since childhood. After honing her legal writing skills while working as a paralegal for well over twenty years, she decided it was time to tap into her creative side.

Born in Zimbabwe, Mwana waMusikavanhu has a Master of Business Administration. For twenty-four years, he worked in the insurance industry and later engaged in financial planning before pursuing a role in consulting and strategy. He is currently the Chief Executive of a financial services organisation. The Sacred Passage is his first novel. Mwana is married and has three children. Mwana lives in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Maria Caponi was born and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she spent a large part of her waking hours making up stories and working on mathematical equations. She has a Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Maryland, and a Creative Fiction writing certificate with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of An Accidental Pilgrim, a memoir in prose and verse, released in February 2024. Two of her recent poems and four of her photographs have been included in the recent publication of ONWARD, a MB Poetry Circle and Mira Cost HS book of poems (March 2024). She is currently completing a collection of personal essays. More details about her previous work and publications can be found at mariacaponi.com.

Sarah Jolicoeur is a Corporate Coach with over fifteen years of leadership experience. As a National Director of Training and Development, she helps develop and implement new coaching programs. She is a certified Executive and Life Coach. Sarah and her husband have been in the poly and swinging lifestyle for fifteen years and she is moving her skillset into the lifestyle arena. They currently have a farm in South Florida. This is her first book, chronicling her personal journey into polyamory.

I have been a writer and avid reader for several decades. I have an MFA from Hamline University (2008) and have taught at The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, am a member of The Loft and several other literary organizations. I’ve published fifteen works of fiction and nonfiction in a variety of literary journals in addition to two novels published in 2024. Both novels have received an IndieReader review with an IR approved rating of 4.0 for Quiet Desperation and Indie’s highest rating of 5.0 for Too Many Stones.

Florida-based, Slovak-born author and creator Christiaan A. Lecky is the designer of the CHALstories platform, an ever-growing collection of literary works of varied genres spreading across three primary timelines. A mixed background of interests in business, history, and enjoyment of technology and culture provides the reader with a unique worldbuilding, writing, and execution. Christiaan hopes to pull from his backlog of ideas the right one for his next writing campaign and is already working on the sequel for Gasoline Cowboys.

Kira Metzger is a mother of four and a wife. Her writing has always been a passion of hers. With her imagination and creativity, she can draw her readers in and leave them hanging.

Margaret Mandell’s life story is one of adaptation. Earning her BA and MA in History at the University of Pennsylvania, she has been a doctoral candidate and college teacher, mother of two, entrepreneur, independent school admissions director, triathlete, and certified yoga instructor. When her husband of many years passed away, she became a widow, a woman still in the midst of becoming. Her debut memoir And Always One More Time was released by Atmosphere Press in print and audiobook, narrated by the author, in early spring 2024.

I am a dental professional by trade, but my true passion lies in storytelling. I was born and raised in Amman, Jordan, and currently reside in Long Island, New York, with my husband and our dog, Domino. My debut novel, Dance Around the Dandelion, marks the beginning of my career as a published author.

An RN for nearly twenty years, mostly in the ICU, David Kyrie was also a captain in the US Army Nurse Corp with seven years of experience, and is also fully credentialed Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP).

I am a North Carolina native living in the Blue Ridge mountains. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in English with honors in creative writing and then pursued a career as a professional journalist for over twenty years, working in print and television journalism. My lifelong interest in archaeology led me to change careers and earn a second degree in anthropology in 1998 followed by a master’s degree in medieval archaeology from the University of York in York, England.