Author Interviews

Writer, translator, and college professor, Teresa Dovalpage is a Cuban transplant firmly rooted in New Mexico. She is the author of four short story collections, four plays, and thirteen novels—including the Havana Mystery series. Her most recent novel, the fifth one in the series, is Last Seen in Havana, a multigenerational story that moves back and forth between 1980 and 2020 in Havana. Teresa lives with her husband, one dog and too many barn cats

Clifford Garstang’s most recent novel, The Last Bird of Paradise, was published in February 2024 by Black Rose Writing. He is also the author of two other novels, Oliver’s Travels and The Shaman of Turtle Valley, and three story collections, House of the Ancients and Other Stories, In an Uncharged Country, and What the Zhang Boys Know, which won the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. In addition to a JD, Garstang holds an MA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing. A former international lawyer with a large US law firm and the World Bank, he currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Born in Washington DC in 1955, Brenardo (the Sing-Song Poet) is currently a resident of Baltimore County, MD. He has been writing poetry of all facets for over two thirds of his life. This journey has taken him to platforms all over the world, where his work has been seen in countless journals, newspapers, magazines, poetry anthologies in print and online. He has performed his poems and songs at festivals, schools, libraries, coffee houses, cruise ships and assorted other public and private events, where he has astounded those in attendance.

Diane Piron-Gelman writes as D. M. Pirrone and works as a freelance editor when she isn’t spinning her own novel-length yarns. Her debut suspense novel, No Less in Blood, came out in 2011, followed by the award-winning Hanley & Rivka Mysteries (Allium Press of Chicago), set just after the Great Fire of 1871. Shall We Not Revenge (2014) was a Kirkus Prize nominee, and along with For You Were Strangers (2015), was named a Notable Page-Turner in the Shelf Unbound Indie Novel Competition.

As a Reiki Master Healer and Intuitive guide, Elle brings a unique perspective to overcoming grief and depression. Her personal experiences, including the loss of her mother and surviving three suicides including her fiancé, lend authenticity and empathy to her writing.

Caleb Michael Sarvis is the author of Dead Aquarium or (i don’t have the stamina for that kind of faith) and currently owns and operates Bridge Eight Press, where he edited the anthology Fifteen Views of Jacksonville. His work can be found in BULL, Hobart, Joyland, storySouth, and others. His story An Unfaded Black was named one of the “Other Distinguished Stories of 2017” in Best American Short Stories 2018.

Christina Milliner was born in Queens, NY, and raised in Brooklyn, where she still resides. She holds an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and running. Meet Clay Brown is Christina’s first novel, it was selected as a finalist in the 2023 IAN Book of the Year Awards and is available in Indie New York on the BiblioBoard Library platform.

Award-winning author Sinmisola ‘Sinmi’ Ogúnyinka enjoys creating stories across cultures. A wife, mother, movie producer, and talk-show host, she is also a Craftsman of the Jerry B. Jenkins former Christian Writers’ Guild, Colorado, USA, and founder of Pleasant Writers’ Guild.

I was born in England. Now I live with my family in Chicago. Years ago, I had a children’s book published entitled Little Lord Blink and His Ice Cream Castle. I worked with a French illustrator in Paris named Georges Lemoine, recommended to me by the illustrator Etienne Delessert. I never had the pleasure of meeting Georges, but he created wonderful illustrations that enhanced my story immeasurably. Recently, the book was translated into French and published in France.

I have self-published a children’s book, Little Critters: Beyond the Pond, and I am a retired NYC guidance counselor.

Latoya grew up in Seattle but lived in the United Kingdom during adolescence. Latoya is a multi-talented writer with non-fiction, fiction, creative writing, and illustration expertise. She’s been a member of the African American Writers Association (AAWA) since 2019, hiatus from 2021 to 2024. Latoya’s publications include BLK Excellence—Return to the Eternal Self and KERNE Magazine.

Brian Sluga is a customer experience consultant, author, and avid bicyclist. Brian has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Bradley University and in December 2023 received an MFA in creative writing at Lindenwood University.

J.E. Boydston is a retired Professor Emeritus, has an extensive background in education, technology, and publishing. He authored a popular annual reference guide for school personnel in the U.S. while serving as the Technical Manager and Consultant in a central Florida school district. For fifteen years, he served as a professor of Networking Technologies at a Florida State College. A Vietnam Veteran, he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for valor during his tour. With three loving adult children and a new granddaughter, he’s a very happy writer! Boydston is currently working on book two of the Kyle McNally detective series, Cigar City Crimes.

Metaxia Tzimouli is a reader, storyteller, creative writer, and music lover. When she’s not writing fiction on Reedsy, she writes essays (which she also loves) on Substack. Winner of some accolades, mainly in poetry & short story fiction.

Helene Kiser is the author of Topography (Linear Arts Books, 1998). Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in dozens of literary magazines and anthologies (Clockhouse, Hawaii Review, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Borderlands, Connecticut River Review, Sycamore Review, Paterson Literary Review, Soundings East, The Cape Rock, etc) and been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.

My writing reflects my upbringing on a rural island in NC, a place often visited but seldom understood. I’ve recently returned to this area to research the impact climate change and overdevelopment has had on the region. I’ve also conducted interviews that support this memoir project. In essence, these works address how geography contributes to the shaping of an artist and give some voice to an underclass culture that is seldom heard in the fields of literature and visual arts.

Jordan Merlino is a nonbinary poet and watercolor painter. Jordan writes poetry and paints as outlets for their mental health. They currently live in Santa Fe, NM, USA.

I grew up in New England, but moved to Arizona in 2007. I’ve loved Sci-fi and fantasy my whole life, and started playing Dungeons and Dragons shortly after I moved to AZ, when a friend invited me. When I decided to run a game, I created the world of Talloxxis, which I then set my series in.

Michael Barrington, MA., M.Ed., Ph.D., has written ten books, typically historical fiction: Let the Peacock Sing, The Ethiopian Affair, Becoming Anya, The Baron of Bengal Street, No Room for Heroes. The Bishop Wears No Drawers recounts ten years as a missionary in Africa. Passage to Murder is a mystery novel set in San Francisco. Magic at Stonehenge is a collection of 42 short stories. His memoir, Grandma’s Priest, will be published in April 2024.

Rebecca Faulkner is a London-born poet based in Brooklyn. The author of Permit Me to Write My Own Ending (Write Bloody Publishing, 2023), her work appears in New York Quarterly, The Maine Review, The Poetry Society of New York, CALYX Press, Berkeley Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She is a 2023 poetry recipient of the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund for Women, the winner of Black Fox Literary Magazine’s 2023 Writing Contest, and the 2022 winner of Sand Hills Literary Magazine’s National Poetry Contest.