Author Interviews

Janine is the Owner/Chief Innovations Officer for Talent Think Innovations, LLC, a multidisciplinary business strategy and management consulting firm. Her career spans eighteen years in HR, Talent Acquisition, and Talent Management that has taken her through the world of pharmaceuticals, the arts, K-12 education, technology, private equity, healthcare, staffing, and R&D, just to name a few sectors she has worked in. Janine is a dynamic speaker, entrepreneur, and an important and respected voice bringing both a human touch and business savvy to the companies and businesses she works with.

Jennifer Sara Widelitz graduated with a BFA in Visual Effects from the Savannah College of Art and Design and worked as a compositor, creating special effects for film and television. She is an artist with a deep-rooted passion for storytelling in a variety of mediums: film, photography, writing, painting, poetry, etc. She likes to view the world as a grand storybook and can’t wait to see what adventures the next chapter brings. Battle Cry is her first poetry collection, although her poetry and photography have appeared in several literary publications. Much of her poetry is based on her personal experience with autoimmunity and chronic invisible illness, writing for the warriors fighting unseen battles and the survivors of the human condition. She is a dog lover and a cat mommy and is rarely seen without a cup of tea or a good book.

JB Blake—student of military history, behavioral science, servant leadership, critical thinking, innovation, and economics. Successful entrepreneur and intrapreneur, corporate executive, and university professor. Every career path has led to interactions with fascinating characters whose traits could be woven into this story. They are like the ingredients that make an amazing recipe! See you on the other side.

Author, life and career coach, Akashic worker, and all-around provocateur Amrita Rose has navigated three major careers, lived in two countries and seven states, and continues to plan her next adventures. She has garnered enthusiastic appreciation for her community-based programs of yoga, meditation, integrated art practices, and Positive Psychology “Positivity Slams,” all of which have enhanced the lives and not depleted the pockets of diverse groups of attendees.

Hidden Shadow is Jennifer’s first novel. Being a vivid dreamer, always intrigued by human behavior and a love for mysteries, sparked her passion for writing. Jennifer lives in Michigan with her family and two golden retrievers. She is a former art and English teacher turned entrepreneur, immersed in interior design, real estate, graphic design, and photography. Jennifer believes in the importance of kindness and the healing power of dogs, humor, and writing. She appreciates creativity, palm trees, and a good margarita.

Cassandra Kildow is a native Texan who lives in a small town in the Texas Panhandle with her five-year-old son, ailing mother, and stepfather. Cassandra picked up writing at the tender age of twelve as a way to cope with middle school bullying. Every fantasy world she created was her way of escaping the difficulties of real life. Fortunately, those troubles gave Cassandra a push in the right direction with her decision to write fiction novels.

George Tymitz was born and raised in Chicago. While he attended the University of Illinois and earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, he never spent a single day as an engineer. Instead, he spent forty-five happy, fulfilling years living his dream of flying—rather than designing—airplanes. As a United States Air Force pilot, he flew F4 Phantom and F15 Eagle fighter planes, followed by commercial passenger and freight aircraft with several airlines. Upon retirement in 2011, he started writing his first novel, Key Number 17: A Ukrainian Grandfather’s Odyssey of Courage, to honor his Ukrainian heritage through a fictional tale. It was published in 2023.

Dominic Butler is a qualified journalist, photographer, and illustrator living in Manchester, England. He also works as a manager for an online educational program.

Peter Gibb is the author of the critically acclaimed, multiple-award-winning memoir, King of Doubt (2017), several children’s books, two unpublished novels, and his most recently published non-fiction, Mindful Conversation: Speak Openly, Connect Deeply, Live Joyously (2022).

Jocelyn lives in Colorado where she sleeps under a couple cats, wanders alone in the forest, plays the singing saw with her band, 2 Star Hotel, explores the world with her drummer, and loves, above all, reading with her two children every night.

Kwame Sound Daniels is a traditional and fiber artist based out of Maryland. Xe are an Anaphora Arts Residency Fellow and an MFA candidate for Vermont College of Fine Arts. Xir first collection of poetry, Light Spun, was published in 2022 with Perennial Press. Xir second book, the pause and the breath, was on Lambda Literary’s Most Anticipated for January and came out in 2023 with Atmosphere Press. Kwame learns plant medicine, paints, and makes what can tentatively be called potions in xir spare time.

Ecuadorian-American M.Z. Medenciy was born and raised in the beautiful ocean state of Rhode Island. She thoroughly enjoys adventuring—if there are lands to be discovered, stories to be told, or fun to be had, you can count on her to be there.

I was born in Virginia and grew up in Switzerland. I started Latin at the age of twelve. That is when I fell in love with history more than Latin. I was intrigued by the organization of the Roman Empire and horrified by the absolute power of their emperors. Growing up in a family of theologians I have always been fascinated by the first century where Judaism and Christianity collide with each other and with the Empire.

A lifelong devotee of Jane Austen and all her works, James Wollak has worked as a financial data analyst and lives in San Francisco, California, a third generation San Franciscan. He is an avid reader, numismatist, and music lover, enjoying all kinds of music such as classical and opera, Motown and soul, ABBA, Celtic, blues, bluegrass, and zydeco. He also loves silent and classic Hollywood films, and the Poldark, Downton Abbey, and Sanditon series. He is a confirmed Anglophile, and Pride and Prejudice is his favorite novel of all time.

Amika Caruso is a twenty-three-year-old woman from interior British Columbia. Raised in the mountains, she cherishes the pleasures of solitude and nature for inspiration. She has been filling journals with romantic language since childhood, writing nearly as many pages as she reads. Caruso is currently studying for her BA in English while living in the small island town of Ucluelet, meaning “people with a safe place to land,” on the traditional territory of the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ.

Hello! My name is Jessie McDonald and I am a new author from Southern Indiana. Novels have always gripped me and writing has always been a way for me to process my thoughts and feelings about the world around me. My hobbies include reading, writing, playing video games, creating art, gardening, and playing music.

I.D.G. Curry is a fiction novelist who was compelled to bring what started as a dream into an entire universe of characters that interact and intertwine with the mythology he loves. He believes that fiction, folklore, and myths are the true essences of storytelling which open the reader’s mind to what could be possible or even what the truth might actually be. Curry aims to collide the world we live in with centuries of mankind’s imagination, even scattering elements from his own life into the journey. Fall of Immortals is the journey’s beginning.

Mark Henry Thienes is the great-grandson of Steve Gillis, author and best friend of Mark Twain. Unraveled is his first novel.

Karen J. Laakko has explored many forms of fantasy and science fiction, and that varied experience inspires her to use and combine the genres’ motifs in different ways. At the same time, her love of imagery comes through in her simple yet rich setting descriptions (and her many references to glowing objects!). She strives to create immersive, innovative fictional universes in which those who read her words can both see and feel the action.

Janice Laakko likes to have fun! When she was a young child, she enjoyed doing character imitations and performing in backyard plays (she was once an explorer, and another time a “professor of magic tricks”!). As a mother, she threw themed birthday parties for her kids and their friends. Whether they were baking in her kitchen, building spaceships from giant boxes and foil, or competing in backyard Olympics, a good time was had by everyone!