Author Interviews

Former film studio copywriter Nancy Van Iderstine wrote Twentieth Century Fox: The First 75 Years as part of a film anthology. She’s a contributor to No Kidding: Women Writers On Bypassing Parenthood (Seal Press) and The Total Cat Manual: Meet, Love & Care For Your New Best Friend (Weldon-Owen). She self-published the cookbook Vegan and Gluten-free Recipes to Live For. (A second edition has just been completed.) Nancy has also penned a number of short stage plays that have been produced in Los Angeles. A selection of those will be available in a compendium sometime in 2024. Her solo piece 7 Years I Could Have Spent in Vermont was produced for the stage at the former HBO Workspace by the studio (now MAX), and more staged readings and fully produced works are to come.

Eman Rimawi-Doster is a Black and Palestinian woman, born and raised in NYC. For 26 years, she’s been organizing around diversity, equity, and inclusion in disenfranchised communities, while using art, writing, fashion, creativity, and organizing. She learned the ins and outs of taking action and having integrity from her parents. She has made it her life’s mission to change the things that need a push in a more inclusive direction. Her father wanted her to change the things she saw wrong and she does with everything she touches.

Melanie Chartoff’s been seen on and off Broadway, on series like Seinfeld, Newhart, Ally McBeal, Parker Lewis, Wise Guy, Weird Science, Wonder Woman, and heard as the animated mommy Didi on Rugrats, and the animated Aunt Nora on Jumanji. She’s been read in McSweeney’s, the NY Times, The Jewish Journal, Wry Times, Avalon Literary Review, Evening Street Press, and five editions of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her first book, Odd Woman Out, is rated 5 stars on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple Books.

Prior to earning her MFA from Northwestern University, Joyce Becker Lee worked as a newspaper reporter, editor, theater columnist, textbook developer, and high school and college instructor of English, Writing and Theater. Her stories, features, and poetry have been published extensively in print and online, and she also writes novels, plays and screenplays, and has developed a television series based on the characters in a small-town community theater. A dedicated theater lover, she has spent a lifetime in educational, community and professional theater as a director and performer, and is the writer/composer of seven children’s musicals. She enjoys volunteer work for civic and animal-related causes and is a busy hands-on grandmother. Her collection of short stories, Casualties, is published by Tortoise Books.

Writer. Qualified Speech, Drama & Dance Teacher. Active member of West Coast Writers’ Circle, Cape Town.

From the moment I wrote my first story in my high school journalism class, I have dreamed of becoming a writer. Life required me to work and my dreams were put on hold, but now that I’m retired, I find myself drifting towards creative writing again. My wish is that I write something worthy for publication before I die! I have two living sisters who are both extremely talented artists, but my talent is in writing. I don’t have an established “style”, I just write from the heart.

My name is Saul Stone. I am a 21-year-old writer and student, based in Chester, UK. I am studying my MA in Creative Writing at the University of Chester. I am also the editor for Tin Can Poetry, an online poetry magazine looking for poems with LGBT+ topics, dark themes, swearing, weird ideas, and strong, compelling writing. For almost two years now, I have been working on a passion project novel called Atop Burning Fields, and have assembled a project book to contain every bit of information concerning the story, characters, ideas, and world.

Lashaun K Green is a wife, stay-at-home mom of three, whimsical bibliophile, and aspiring librarian. In Lashaun’s humble opinion, books are better than food, and people make the world go somewhat in a circle. Storytelling and story reading are some of Lashaun’s greatest passions in life. She is also known to crochet until her wrists are stiff, and star in full-blown concerts from the front seat of her car, singing both lead and back up somehow at the same time. Lashaun’s goal as a writer is to share stories that make people smile.

Miriam Ilgenfritz is the mother of sixteen children. She has written several books: The Ties that Bind, a humorous look at life in a large family, and Letters to Emily, an unconventional historical romance, both of which have won awards, and now Emily’s Story, the sequel to Letters to Emily, and has run one half marathon.

After storing it in a closet for forty years, the author of Riding With Forrest, L. E. Denton, decided it was time to share her obsession with military history and unconventional military leaders. A lifelong history buff with a degree from the University of Tennessee, researching historical topics and putting that research on paper is great fun! Her other interests include genealogy, education, and being a wife, mother, and grandmother.

Jerry Bader is an author, screenwriter, and Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia.com. Mr. Bader specializes in noir detective, spy, and crime novels and screenplays, but he has also written biographies and children’s books.

After decades of bouncing around the U.S., I’ve settled down at last on the beautiful North Shore of Nova Scotia, where I find I’m more prolific than ever—which is saying something. I’ve published over 30 (it’s hard to keep track) novels and nonfiction books for young readers and adults. I’m also a widely produced playwright, and am beginning to make some headway in screenplay territory. Don’t want to get stuck in a rut.

Katherine Blakeman is the England-based author of The Silent Chapter (a sweeping straight historical fiction novel set in twentieth-century Bedfordshire) and The Summer We’ve Had (a sunny lesbian romance set in modern-day Cornwall). She loves to tackle difficult topics, from child loss and shellshock in The Silent Chapter to depression and Dissociative Identity Disorder in The Summer We’ve Had. Her books are full of emotions, twists and love—always, always love.

Whitney Ward is a public speaker and writer who seeks to encourage her audiences to overcome their circumstances. As someone who has a disability, it is her wish to give hope to others with illnesses so they will persevere and scale the mountains they face.

Hi, my name is Julie and I’ve been writing for the whole of my life. I didn’t publish until my mum passed as I’d always been too afraid but then I wrote this book to help me through such a hard time and I decided it was time to finally publish. So here we are! I love writing and knowing that maybe, I’m giving someone a book worth reading to enjoy and remember how precious life can be.

Carolyn Greeley is the award-winning author of Emerald Obsession and Treasure Bound (the first two books of The Treasure Quest Series). Equal parts city slicker and beach bum, she concocts adventure-mysteries, combining contemporary action and historic exploits in an engaging escape. A former Manhattanite, she now lives in St. Augustine, Florida, where she’s at work on Book 3. For more writing, join her newsletter at carolyngreeley.com and follow her on IG and FB.

Steve Burford lives close to Worcester but rarely risks walking its streets. He has loaded conveyor belts in a factory, disassembled aeroplane seats, picked fruit on farms and taught drama to teenagers but now spend his time writing in a variety of genres that is far too wide to ensure international success. He has written four police procedural novels in the Summerskill and Lyon series, and a steampunk, YA novel, Moon King, under the name of Steve J Burford just to confuse the readership. He finds poverty an effective muse and, since his last book, he has once again been in trouble with the police. (He would like to thank the inventor of the speed camera.)

Timothy O. Davis has a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from Boise State University. Although born in Alabama, he grew up in North Carolina. In 2001, after serving honorably in the Army, he moved to Idaho with his family. His writing has appeared in Shotgun Honey, Flash: The International Short-Story Magazine, Flash Frontier, The Slag Review, Juste Milieu, and The Del Sol SFF Review. Timothy currently is a Clinical Instructor with the College of Technology at Idaho State University; he lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Michelle Diaz lives in the Pacific Northwest and has been writing stories since she first picked up a pencil to try her hand at it. Thankfully, that particular manuscript will not be manifesting anytime in the near future. Her stories have grown since, covering a wide scope from sci-fi to fantasy and occasionally historical fiction. To advance her skills, she has taken courses from David Farland and Wulf Moon. She is a proud member of the Wulf Pack Writers and the Writers of the Future Forum. To see more of her work, visit: authormjdiaz.wixsite.com/author-michelle-diaz.

Mark Reps has been a writer and storyteller his whole life. Born in rural Minnesota, he trained as a mathematician, acupuncturist and chiropractor but never lost his love of telling or writing a good story. As an avid desert wilderness hiker Mark spends a great deal of time roaming the desert and other terrains of southeastern Arizona from December to May. A chance meeting with an old time colorful sheriff led him to develop the Zeb Hanks character and the world that surrounds him. Mark returns often to SE Arizona for inspiration, information and to maintain the general feel of the area, learn its history and understand the local residents.