Author Interviews

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author of the critically acclaimed, multiple-award-winning memoir, King of Doubt (2017), several children’s books, two unpublished novels, and his most recently published non-fiction, Mindful Conversation: Speak Openly, Connect Deeply, Live Joyously (2022).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

Roger Danchik has had one of those lives that is much more interesting to talk about than to actually have lived. The stories of a life like this can be great. For instance, how he almost decided to climb Mount Everest when he was in Nepal—where pot was legal in the 60s—because it didn’t look that high.

My wife and I have resided and traveled extensively in Russia and Eastern Europe, which provided valuable cultural context for Lost Roots. We now live in New Jersey with our mouthy cat, but I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. For ten years I taught history at the university level and published many academic articles and one book.

Cecil Homer grew up on an Illinois farm and survived the shock of applied science studies at the University of Illinois. From milking a cow in the early winter morning to sleeping through a lecture on Taylor series expansions, it was a long journey in ever-evolving iron cages. CH revels in the midwestern humor but only observes the real tragedies of life—his good luck.

Amy J. Schultz is an author and award-winning photographer who explores unique aspects of modern culture that hide in plain sight.

Kathryn Lund lives in the historic city of York in the north of England. She studied archaeology as an undergraduate and postgraduate before doing her masters in Creative Writing. It was from her masters’ submissions that she created her two books, a collection of short stories called The Things We Keep in the Cupboard and her critically well-received novel The Things We Left Sleeping. Released in 2022, The Things We Left Sleeping was named an Indie Top 100 by Shelf Unbound Magazine.

I was born in Mexico. My first language is Spanish. When I immigrated to the United States at age fifteen, I learned English, finished high school, then college, earned an M.A., and finally a Ph.D. I then taught at Harvard and other American colleges and universities. I was also a university administrator, the first director of La Casa Latina: The University of Pennsylvania Center for Hispanic Excellence, and the resident director of a study abroad program in Seville, Spain, for students of Cornell, Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. I am now a full-time poet, essayist, and independent researcher.

Daphne Birkmyer’s background as a teacher and biologist continues to exert its influence on her written work. Born overseas and currently living in California, she observes Americans through an immigrant’s eyes. She shares her home with a multitude of reptiles and mammals and the occasional child who comes home to roost. Book four of the Comfrey, Wyoming series is nearing completion.

Bryan McBee is the author of Vector Zero, also from Atmosphere press. After serving in the U.S. Army, he attended Boise State University, graduating in 2018 with a degree in writing and communication. He is an avid bookworm, movie nut, and gamer. He lives in Idaho with his wife and daughter.