Author Interviews

Thomas D. Kersting travels often with his wife to her native Ireland, where he has published articles on local history and culture over the years. These include several pieces in the Leitrim Guardian annual and a feature in CARA, the former in-flight magazine of Aer Lingus, on the history of his wife’s village. This article was the inspiration for the setting in TOBAR IN THE GLOAMING, his historical novel of the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s. Tom has also written some human interest pieces for local publications in NY. He is working on a memoir about growing up in The Bronx in the 1950s and ’60s, as well as some short fiction. A complete list of publications is on his blog, thomasdkersting.com, along with some blog posts he recorded as a commentator on Pawling Public Radio, formerly WPWLFM, in Pawling, NY.

I grew up in Pakistan. My time at Mount Holyoke College, USA, sparked a passion for development and I chose to return to Pakistan to work. I quickly learnt that girls and women in villages needed access to economic resources before they could voice their demands for social justice. I founded the Kaarvan Foundation (www.kaarvan.com), a pioneering economic development not-for-profit organization. During the time I spent in rural villages, my life interfaced closely with girls and women and my admiration and respect for their determination, strength, and humor in times of despair grew immensely—with so little they managed to achieve so much.

Kit Falbo is obsessed with storytelling. It’s one of their neurodiverse special interests. Folding in their non-binary, nerdy, life experiences with their degree in psychology to create compelling quirky stories. Best known for their book The Crafting of Chess, they continue to explore technology, pop-culture, magic systems, and family in their writing. Books on Amazon, on Facebook, Tiktok, and Twitter(not calling it x).

David E. Frost is an NFPT-certified Master Fitness Trainer, a rowing coach, a champion competitor, and an award-winning adjunct professor. After decorated careers in the US Navy and business world, he founded Well Past Forty LLC to promote wellness and longevity for folks in their “middle ages.”

Jet graduated from the University of Texas, Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree. She started her first company as a very young entrepreneur in 1986. Each venture became more successful and demanding. Jet celebrated some exciting achievements throughout her corporate career: she edited and published the first full-color (print) newspaper for CEOs written by CEOs, became a national speaker, published her first book, ABCs for CEOs and closed her first multi-million-dollar deal. She currently operates two small companies while completing her first three novels.

I knew I wanted to write historical fiction and I knew it would follow a heroine in indentured servitude 17th or 18th century rural colony in Maryland. I began reading, researching, and speaking with local historians, one of whom told me a story about women in England’s overcrowded debtors’ prisons . As the story goes, These ladies were shipped across the Atlantic to become indentured servants in the New World. Once I heard that story, combining it with my original notion became much easier.

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.