Author Interviews

Jaime Rodriguez is a blue-collar Latino NWU writer from the 253 who found his passion for storytelling after high school. Working in construction and sales by day, he spent his free time crafting stories that explore faith, resilience, and the power of unlikely heroes. Encouraged by a teacher who helped him refine his voice without stripping away his individuality, he embraced writing as both an outlet and a calling. When he’s not writing, he enjoys hiking the Pacific Northwest and spending time with his wife and kids. The Anvil’s Whisper is his debut epic fantasy, blending rich world-building with themes of destiny and defiance.

M.H. Rahman is an Indian author popularly known for his best-selling debut novel, Half Life. He is the creator/writer of the popular fan fiction of the US TV series The Vampire Diaries. And he owns an artist management agency called Bombay Dreams. He currently lives and works in England.

T.A. Riddle (he/him) is a Philadelphia-based author, candle maker, and breathwork facilitator whose work centers Black queer joy, chosen family, and transformation. With a background in law, business, and DEI, he blends literary storytelling with healing practices to create inclusive, evocative spaces. His debut novel, Dancing Like Nobody’s Watching: Contra Dance, celebrates resilience, love, and the power of community – on and off the dance floor.

Colleen Lutz Clemens writes in Pennsylvania, where she lives with her family and pups and teaches English at Kutztown University. She publishes widely in both academic and creative venues. Her creative work has appeared in collections such as Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists, Three Minus One: Stories of Parents’ Love and Loss, and Biting the Bullet: Essays on the Courage of Women. She is the co-editor of three anthologies of narrative nonfiction including Philadelphia Reflections: Stories from the Delaware to the Schuylkill. Readers can find her at colleenclemens.com and on Instagram at @colclemensauthor.

Chris May trained initially as an engineer before forging a career in healthcare. He founded health tech company Mayden in 2000, which today employs one hundred and fifty people and is based in Bath.

Tom Farley is a Salt Lake City, Utah-based author with a lifelong passion for storytelling. He studied film production in college with an emphasis on screenwriting and directing, though his creative journey began much earlier through writing lyrics and poetry for a local band.

Fish Nealman is an award-winning author of literary fiction, renowned for his evocative storytelling and meticulously crafted narratives. Living amidst the tranquil, low-lying mountains of rural New Jersey, he channels inspiration from his extensive global travels, seamlessly integrating diverse cultural elements into his work. His novels transport readers to vivid locales, both familiar and exotic, offering an authentic lens into the human experience. Celebrated for creating unforgettable characters and extraordinary plots, his stories resonate on a profound emotional level. Each book invites readers on a journey where richly detailed settings, heartfelt exploration, and timeless themes converge to create truly memorable literary adventures.

In the day, I am a data analyst, a mum, and love a cosy read and a cup of tea. In the night, I’m much the same, but I also write romance books.

I’m the author of two nonfiction books, What Really Happened to the Hat and the Gloves, and What Really Happened to Marion and Candace.

ML Bruin is an author from Southern Maine. Inspired by the birth of his grandson, he is currently writing the Noah children’s book series. There are three books published to date in the series. These heartwarming stores and written in fun rhyming pattern. The books are vibrantly illustrated and all contain positive messages.

Talya Love writes dark, character-driven fantasy for readers who crave depth without indulgence. She is currently working on The Veilborn Saga, a dark fantasy about unity, power, and what it costs to stand whole in a divided world.

Dylan is a paranormal and psychological fiction author whose work centers on grief, intimacy, and the lingering presence of the supernatural. They are the author of Most Lovely Words and the Possessed series, exploring the ways love and horror often speak the same language.

Nikki grew up in central London and studied English Language and Literature at the University of Liverpool. Her childhood dream of becoming a writer was put aside when she was recruited to work for Microsoft EMEA Corporate Investigations, doing ALL the undercover things.

I grew up in Switzerland, a beautiful country that has four official languages, none of them English. My first courses in Gymnasium focused on Latin and Greek, and I fell in love with both of them. My father grew up in Norway. Hence the Scandinavian spelling of my first name. I married a Frenchman and lived in France for years. His family were refugees from what today is the Ukraine but was then part of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. When I came to the US for college, I took my first course taught in English and received my PhD in comparative literature from UNC-Chapel Hill. I taught languages and courses on the ancient world at Centre College in Kentucky. While teaching, I enjoyed writing short stories and plays. After retiring from teaching, I turned to novels about the ancient world. I have won seventeen awards for my short stories, plays, and novels.

Alan Cohen retired after a rewarding career in medicine and turned his attention to writing and publication. His poetry has appeared in nearly one hundred venues; he has had letters to the editor in Poetry magazine and The New Yorker (a new one was just published December 8, 2025); and he has published medical articles and essays concerning current affairs. Easy in Harness: A Productive Approach to Hiring a Good Manager was published in 2023, Taxonomic Vignettes, a book of poetry, in 2024, and Inferno, a novel, in November of 2025. Each has had highly positive feedback from reviewers and readers. And he has now completed Hijacked, a new nonfiction work about how to revive equality, democracy, and freedom.

Jessica C. Wheeler is a Connecticut-based author and poet known for her lyrical prose, emotional precision, and a dry, understated perspective on contemporary life. Her writing spans across genres, including poetry, contemporary romance, upmarket fiction, and sharp-edged satire, as seen in her short story collection She’s Fine, which explores the polished absurdities of womanhood and the quiet catastrophes we disguise as composure. Her stories often circle grief, family, and the complicated performance of being ‘fine’ in a world that rarely is. As a lifelong New Englander, she draws constant inspiration from the shifting seasons, particularly autumn, which appears in her work almost as frequently as her characters do. Wheeler resides on the Connecticut coast with her husband and their two young daughters and is currently developing her forthcoming novel.

Award winning author, LPGA Class A Professional, TPI Certified Junior Golf Coach, and designer.

Maria Giakoumatos has been interested in all things spooky since she was too small to ride the fun roller coasters in amusement parks. She probably would have become a paranormal investigator if she wasn’t afraid of the dark, so she settled for just writing about spirits. Her family often took her to church as a child, so that may explain some things.

To consider who I am as a writer, there was a time in my life when writing became a way for me to escape to some other reality than my own. Now, I am the author of six self-published books and counting. Never thinking about my pain or struggles or just my existence as being something exciting or worthy to talk about, but God always gives us a testimony. The passion to write started in high school, and in her early twenties, experiencing vivid dreams, Amethyst in Love and Detective Brenda Sayers: Mercy Undercover 2024. I created Nita Nae’s Books—Truthful Imagination to feed the imagination of readers. There were many dreams that followed, which generated other books, such as Apocalyptic 7: Salvation’s Cry, birthed from a dream during my writing alluded to in Unconditional Counsel. Six novels have since followed – The Ghosts of Slavery’s Dance, Unconditional Counsel 2: Fate Unbroken, Apocalyptic 8: Angels of Heaven’s Army, The Container, Opposing Fruit, and co-authorship for Embrace the Dawn: To Live Again with Margo Leonard (my mom – 2024, Amazon.com).

I was a member of the Tafelmusik Orchestra, Toronto, for over thirty-five years. At first, I was the principle second violin, then a section player and occasionally a violist. Tafelmusik and the Lumieres Quartet were the core of my performance career in music.