Author Interviews

Steven Barron is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but spent many formative years in Southern California. He currently resides in Leawood, Kansas, with his wife, Renee, and their two kittens, Hazel and Henry. Steven enjoys (in no particular order) books, espresso, anytime rain or snow, cycling, and staying in touch with family and friends—he also adores cats and still loves rock ’n’ roll. Madame Curie’s Piano Tuner is his first published work.

Carlota Josefina Bérard has a Ph.D. in Drama & Performance from the University of Exeter, England, a Diploma in Art Therapy from L’Atelier, Geneva, Switzerland, an MLitt in Art History from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico.

Marian Vallotton has been practicing yoga and mindfulness since 2004. She is a certified yoga teacher through the Yoga Alliance and a Y4C Yoga Certified Instructor specializing in supporting cancer patients. She has been a Corporate Coach and Leadership Speaker/Trainer/Facilitator for more than twenty years. Marian has combined her business background, yoga, and her spiritual training to de-mystify mindfulness, introducing it to the workplace and making it more accessible to employees in the corporate setting.

I live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN, with my husband, cat, and kids.

Siddiq started his legal career in 2000, qualifying as a solicitor in 2003 and eventually working as a partner in a leading law firm in London. He has acted for mostly vulnerable clients, motivated by his strong sense of justice. He started his self-development journey in 2008 when he realised that he wanted more from his life. He qualified as an accredited life coach in 2019, as an NLP Practitioner in 2020, and as a licensed trainer in DISC personality profiling in 2022. He is passionate about helping people understand themselves, achieving what they want from life, and enhancing their relationships with the people around them.

Scott Looney was born and raised in Caldwell, Idaho. As the second-born in a family of six kids, he learned to share, play fair, and mediate disagreements at a young age. When not working and traveling, Scott loves hiking, playing tennis, and golfing with friends and family. He has enjoyed many travel opportunities throughout his life—including some involving baseball—and is looking forward to returning to his favorite places. He attended Boise State University and lives in Boise. Finding the Elixir is his first published book.

Freeman Smith is an American artist and writer. His new book, Society, Suspicious, is available through Atmosphere Press everywhere books are sold and is getting some terrific reviews. Check out his website freemansmith.com for more details.

I was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. I had a very happy childhood with my brother, Ruben, and my mother, Andrea. I graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School, then served four years of active duty in the U.S. Army as a member of NATO. I attended college in Houston, Texas, and graduate school in Connecticut. My career began with a one-year commitment as a FEMA Disaster Assistance Loan Officer primarily assigned to the Northridge earthquake declared natural disaster. I went on to build a successful career as a business banker but found my calling in climate risk mitigation. I am happily married and live in a nature preserve community on the Oregon Pacific coast. I am a life learner who draws strength and inspiration from my connection with humanity and the natural environment that sustains us.

My name is Dianne Lindsay. I have an outreach ministry by the name of JC’s Outreached Ministry and International Network where we feed children, widows, and do medical missions for people in need. I also partner with different organizations to feed people. Godly Riddims is my first book and it was a blessing for me to write.

My name is Patrick Barry and I have been writing novels and short stories for the last several years. As of now I have two completed novels, both unpublished, and three other books I have been bouncing around on. I hope to finish all three in one fell swoop and then continue on with something new.

The secretary of White Rock and Surrey Writers’ Club, Ekaterina Lobanova (penname Kate Valery) is a professional musician, journalist, and writer. She was born in Moscow, Russia, and educated at Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music. In 1996, she immigrated to Canada, where she started to write in English—her second language—and authored seven books. Her latest novels are Midget or Symphony of the Ocean (2020), and Clay Mask (2022). They are both winners of the Gold Seal award for literary excellence from the US Review of Books and now both are accepted by British Columbia Libraries. Currently she is working on her eighth book, memoir/anthology Why I Like Being a Writer

Sarah Westbrook is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the founder of Westbrook Counseling Services and Daisy Girl Communications. As a trauma survivor, she shares her story of growing up with personality-disordered parents and working through c-PTSD with the hope of helping others develop the courage to speak their truth and have their voices heard. In her spare time, she loves creating content with her husband and co-host Mason, entertaining her children, and hiding in her closet so she doesn’t have to share her chocolate or caramel popcorn with anyone else.

Spent my childhood in Upstate New York. In school, I was very much a math and science nerd so, of course, when I enrolled at Harvard for college I took up History & Literature as my area of concentration. (This all makes sense later, I promise.) I graduated with honors having written my senior thesis on Edgar Allan Poe. I moved to NYC in the mid-nineties and started working in fashion public relations. In 2002, I left and headed to Los Angeles where I continued in PR while also picking up freelance work as a travel writer for OUT and The Advocate. That led to me becoming the editor of OUTTraveler and then at Logo News (part of the MTV networks.) Currently, I’m a features contributor to The Onion. It was from writing daily that I mustered up the wherewithal to attempt writing a book.

Sami McKay (she/her/they/them) is a Canadian illustrator and writer. Her work is deeply symbolic and leans on themes of curiosity and exploration, (dis)connection, and navigating the human experience. Fixated on the abstract and strangeness of our existence, Sami looks to share the paradoxical, existential, and confusing aspects of life, death and coping with the conditions of being. She aims to display through art and writing, the rawness, complexity and beauty of existence.

This is a collection of 50 + years of my photographs with text by my son, the poet and writer Sebastian Matthews.

Shobana Gomes is a poet and writer from Malaysia who has gained a prominent place in the literary world through her published works on Amazon. Her storytelling prowess can be read in stories like An Author of the Past, Where the Rain Falls, The Goddess of the Himavan, and other books published under the ancient and classical literature category. The Goddess of the Himavan and Where the Rain Falls have reached the No.1 best-seller list on Kindle’s new releases.

Fred Falcón believes that the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships is the greatest sporting event in the world. He still collects music CDs (1,255 at last count), is amazed that the same albums he bought as a kid for $5.99 at the Warehouse now sell for five times that much, and still brags about seeing Queen when he was a teenager. Still the best concert he has ever seen, and he’s seen plenty. He has run 28 marathons, is a terrible swimmer, has somehow morphed into a “cat-guy,” and enjoys debating top five lists with his brother. The Box: A Time Travel Sci-Fi Thriller is Fred’s first novel. He lives in Utah with his wife, kids, two cats, and his Great Dane, Dan.

I am a Romanian American award-winning novelist and playwright. I arrived in the United States in 1983 as a political refugee, having escaped the Communist Dictatorship of my native country. I obtained a PhD in French and Italian Literatures from the University of Chicago, in 1992. I am the author of three critically acclaimed novels: Train to Trieste (Knops 2009 & 2010), Black Sea Twilight (Transworld 2010 & 2011) and Country of Red Azaleas (Grand Central Hachette 2016). Train to Trieste was published in thirteen languages and is the 2009 winner of the Best Fiction Award from the Library of Virginia. Both Train to Trieste and Black Sea Twilight were best sellers in the UK, in 2009 and 2011, respectively. I have also authored three books of original plays and more than a dozen books and edited collections of literary criticism. I am twice a Fulbright scholar and a distinguished service professor of French and Comparative Literature at Washington and Lee University.

Bárbara Mujica is a novelist, essayist, short story writer and critic. Her latest novel, Miss del Río, is based on the life of Mexican movie star Dolores del Río, who was both a Hollywood sensation and a key figure in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Miss del Río was named one of the best books of 2022 by Library Journal and one of the five best recent historical novels by The Washington Post. It won second place in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Novel competition out of thousands of submissions. It was a Target Book Club Book of the Month, and the audio version was an Apple Audio “Must Listen.”

Rebecca Miller is a twenty-five-time award-winning author known for her sweeping debut novel Touch, a story about a fragile young relationship between two teens that boldly addresses a critical issue in society while also reminding us of the goodness that remains in the world.