Author Interviews

Sally Showalter was born and raised in rural Illinois. Much of her writing lingers through the four seasons and county of Pike. She settled in Tucson, Arizona in the mid-1980s with her husband, cats, and a backyard full of various plants from seeds collected from dozens of road trips over the years. Ms. Showalter has studied at the University of Arizona in the Creative Writing Program, Pima Community College, and the Center for Creative Writing Works. Her poetry has appeared in Pudding Magazine and Festival Writer and her fiction and memoir in collections of anthologies.

Born in Nebraska and raised on a farm, I currently live in the front range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, along with my husband of fifty years and our nine-year-old dog, Rusty. I am thankful to have three children, four grandchildren and three granddogs. My children jokingly claim I love my dogs more than them. I have always been interested in a person’s story and find it helps me in navigating my own life. I am drawn to memoir writing and have been inspired to write my own. In fact, every one of us has a story to tell or write.

Rebecca Jane writes fiction, poetry, essays, and book reviews. She is also a ghostwriter. She has taught yoga and meditation. She has also taught ESL in China and in San Diego. Her work has appeared in TARKA, Literary Mama, Spirit Voyage, Earshot Jazz, The Journal of Expressive Writing, and A Year in Ink anthology. She is a literacy advocate, a musician, and a mother.

David Szczesny grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in Colorado with his wife and two children. He wears a lot of plaid and occasionally navigates by map and compass. David can often be found in his basement watching old movies. In the process, he has seen every film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

I am a native originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I originally grew up surrounded by the history of Creole and Cajun culture, as well as the culinary styles of good old-fashioned southern soul cuisine. Growing up, I was raised under the influence of Christianity by my church and biological families and was always taught right from wrong. However, my Bible teachings were not the only knowledge I retained. Since a young age, I was fascinated by the idea of putting my thoughts into words and decided to ignite that passion by studying English literature.

Born and raised in Kansas City Missouri, after earning a bachelor’s degree in English, I moved to New Mexico where I taught English in a USA government boarding school for Indigenous students, primarily from the Navajo tribe. After two years, I felt called to work in Children’s Protective Services for New Mexico Health and Social Services Department. From there I moved into rehabilitative work in Addictions.

Paris Williams, a promising new author, embarked on his literary journey with the publication of his debut work, Silver. Born in Chicago, IL, in May of 1993, Paris possesses a passion for storytelling and a dedication to honing his craft. His first published book showcases his unique voice, vivid imagery, and authentic characters, captivating readers with its heartfelt narrative.

Rowan is a 25-year-old poet. She currently attends Adelphi University on Long Island, NY, where she is studying to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She has been writing poetry since High School as a way to indirectly express her feelings. Poetry provided Rowan with a voice when she felt like she did not have one. She is inspired by everyday events and nature.

Chris Coward has been a Congressional liaison assistant, ghost writer for CEOs, editor for national magazines, college English instructor, marketing manager, and president of the Florida Writers Association. She now devotes her professional energies to writing speculative fiction.

Cate McNider is a multi-disciplinary artist, and a psychophysical practitioner and movement educator registered as The Listening Body®. Since arriving in NYC in 1985, she has expressed her healing journey through poetry, multi-media movement performances and painting. She has performed her multi-media works in downtown venues and Brooklyn, and exhibited her paintings in solo shows in the East Village and NOHO. Poems from her first collection, Separation and Return, have been in several journals, in print and online. Escape Velocity is the follow-up on the success of her healing practices. Cate still lives in New York.

I grew up in Houston, Texas, and after a brief stint in New York moved to San Francisco where I programmed a popular midnight film series and manage a troupe of outrageous hippy drag queens called the Cockettes. Trippy Hippy is my third novel.

Mr. Clausen is also the author of three books in non-fiction regarding untold archaeology in Mesoamerica; his Norse connection in Scandinavia; as well as drawing on his experiences in a small leafy country previously at war with itself, called Vietnam.

Writing a book out is such a lonely, uphill climb, that simply getting one out deserves a bottle of champagne. Getting good reviews is very self-affirming, but for me, the most rewarding is hearing from readers. I remember one woman thanked me for my book giving her a respite from a tough emotional time she was having. Another wrote and said one of my books turned her nearly non-reading daughter into a reader. I’ve never been more moved and gratified.

J.D. Taylor is a former high school, adult education and college adjunct history instructor. He has published articles and letters in major newspapers, magazines and won a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. J.D. received a B.A. from the University of Maryland, an M. Ed from the University of Virginia and an M.A. from Georgetown University.

I’ve been writing poetry for 25 years. Growing up as a gay man in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, watching progress toward equality happen too slowly, poetry has long been a way for me to reconcile the persistent bigotry endemic to small southern towns with who I factually knew my LGBTQ+ peers and myself to be. It’s also a way for me to relate to life in general, celebrating joys, successes and all forms of love and turning failures, pain, loss and all forms of despair into vigils.

Simon Goodridge is a singer/songwriter and first-time author from Fremantle, Western Australia. Active mostly during the 1980s and 1990s, he is seemingly a renaissance man of sorts, thanks to finding his voice again through the written word.

This is my first novel. I’ve done a lot of writing in my career in law and then as an executive for a financial services company, and then over 250 articles in a business blog over a period of several years.

Karin Gertsch lives with her husband on a Christmas tree farm in a small Massachusetts town. Her travel book, Cape Ann & Vicinity: A Guide for Residents and Visitors, was the first guidebook for this historic area.

Daisy DeMay lives in Illinois with her children and husband of 25 years. She loves sitting and watching the storms roll in. She enjoys reading outside in the warmth of the sun. When she’s not working, she creates stories to share. She has a fascination with the macabre. She approaches everything in life with a mix of passion and logic.

I have heard this a few times and I really hope I hear it more often: “I can’t wait to read the next book so I can find out what happens to Vandar and his comrades.” I am writing to entertain. For the reader to want more means I have struck the right nerve.