Landscape, Cover Art, Issue 45, December 15, 2018

Maria Khrebtova (Yamarimaru) was born in 1994 at small Siberian city. For a long time, her main interest was only reading fantasy and sci-fi. She didn’t think about art at all until high school, where Maria had to create pictures for her school magazine. Soon communication with other experienced artists showed her the need for improvement, so she started to study different art styles by books and tutorials. Over time, drawing became her favorite subject, as well as physics. It determined the choice of profession – engineer. Maria uploaded her best artwork at international social media only after graduating from university. Maria still has a long way to the top of her art skill, but she sincerely hopes people will like the world made by her pen.

Get to know Yamarimaru...

Birthdate? September 24, 1994  

When did you start doing artwork? 2009

When and what and where did you first get your artwork published? NewMyths online magazine is first

Why do you do artwork? I like the process of creation artwork. Giving form to ideas and seeing the progress makes me feel inspired and motivates to improve skills even more. 

Who is your favorite artist? Your favorite story? I have a lot of favorite artists, such as WLOP, Danica Sills, Iyokani, Apterus, Semcool, MOHTZ, and so on. My favorite stories are made by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Ring) and T.D.J. Pratchett (Discworld series).

What are you trying to say with your art? I guess, I just try to show my own image of world, full of miracles and interesting creatures. Hope one day I will be able to create my own fictional story.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? She always did her best.  

Where can fans see your artwork? https://www.deviantart.com/yamarimaru

The First Edge Sings, Fiction, Issue 62, spring 2023

LM Zaerr is a writer and medievalist. As a professor, she wrote a book on medieval

storytelling, sang forgotten tales, and lured students into medieval legends and

abandoned them there to challenge dragons, rescue Lancelot, and figure out how to

play gwyddbwyll. Now she finds new stories and transforms old ones. Her work has

appeared in Wyngraf and The Overcast among other venues.

Get to know LM...

Birthdate?

September 27

When did you start writing?

In kindergarten, I walked along our street and knelt on the sidewalk at every house to scrawl the house number on a pad of paper. It was my first attempt at travel writing, and I was proud of the grit marks on my knees.

When and what and where did you first get published?

I gnawed my name onto the headboard of my bed, and it was published there for all time.

Why do you write?

I write because it's impossible not to.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

I love the wonder I feel exploring unknown, unimagined places.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

I love Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

Sometimes we find unexpected joy in things we fear.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

She was a hinge-maker. She made tape hinges for sheet music, and word hinges for reality.

White Petaled Wings, Fiction, Issue 34, March 1, 2016

Anna Yeatts is a dark fantasy and horror writer living in North Carolina. Her short fiction has appeared in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction, and Penumbra eMagazine among other venues. She publishes Flash Fiction Online (www.flashfictiononline.com) and lives beneath a small mountain of slush. Follow her at annayeatts.com or on Twitter @AnnaYeatts.

Get to know Anna:

Birthday? August 31

When did you start writing? Officially I started writing in 2011. I was accepted into Uncle Orson's 2011 Literary Boot Camp with the first page I ever really tried writing. I'm still not sure how that happened, but he let me in, and I survived. It was like jumping into the deep end of the pool but I definitely learned how to swim. 

When and what and where did you first get published? My first professional publication was "Second Chances" published in the YA anthology Suddenly Lost in Words in 2014. 

What themes do you like to write about? I find myself writing about relationships and the ways they go wrong. I'm fascinated by what we do to the people closest to us, be it family or friends or lovers, and the struggles we put each other through. Love, in any form, is always messy. And I believer those make the best stories.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? My favorite book is Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. There's something about Merricat, the story's main character, as a delicious yet fascinating narrator who is completely unreliable. I'm also a big fan of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "The Yellow Wallpaper", another narrator who can't be trusted. I'd like to think that my characters are developed enough that their own needs and struggles sometimes eclipse the actual truth of the situation. I think it's the narrative that lies in this gray area, between fact and interpretation, that makes the most powerful stories.

For Kathryn's bio please click here

Entering the Enchanted Forest, Nonfiction, Issue 25, December 1, 2013

Biography

Tannara Young is the fantasy fiction pen name of Laura Wilson. Her tales are set in the enchanted world of Idhua and her current project is to write fourteen short stories, one for each country in Idhua. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, and when she is not writing she works as a baker, tends her garden and invents new recipes.

Get to know Tamara...

Birthdate? Valentine’s Day, 1978

When did you start writing? Around eight or there about, but more prolifically around fifteen.

When and what and where did you first get published? My master’s thesis, an annotated edition of the play The Immortal Hour, was published by R. J. Stewert Books in 2009. In fantasy fiction I have a short story titled “The Summer Valley” appearing in The Mythic Circle July 2013.

What themes do you like to write about? I like to celebrate the nobility of the human spirit. I am drawn to moments when people rise above themselves, find strength to stand against adversity and discover compassion and wisdom. I explore themes such as spiritual journeys; initiations; heroism; re-enchantment and feminine perspectives. 

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? I am particularly drawn to mythic, heroic fantasy – beginning with The Lord of the Rings and including many others such as The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Mystic and Rider, Taash and the Jesters and The Isle of Glass. I also enjoy the mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers and Laurie R. King. I am particularly attracted to beautiful language, epic tales of romance and adventure ,and intricately drawn worlds. My own writing follows these themes and it is my hope to develop my own fantasy world with depth and vitality.

Biography

Tannara Young is the fantasy fiction pen name of Laura Wilson. Her tales are set in the enchanted world of Idhua and her current project is to write fourteen short stories, one for each country in Idhua. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, and when she is not writing she works as a baker, tends her garden and invents new recipes.

Into the Light, Fiction, Issue #64, Fall 2023

Lucy Zhang writes, codes, and watches anime. Her work has appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Fireside Magazine, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbooks HOLLOWED (Thirty West Publishing, 2022) and ABSORPTION (Harbor Review, 2022). Find her at https://kowaretasekai.wordpress.com/ or on Twitter @Dango_Ramen. 

Get to know Lucy...

Birthdate?

July 15, 1997

When did you start writing?

Since around middle school

Why do you write?

I need a creative outlet to keep me sane.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

I started out writing fiction based in our real world, but honestly, that got boring. I know there are plenty of things exciting about our own world, but I've always been a bit of an escapist and dreamer.  

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

I'm not usually trying to say anything. Or at least, that's not my purpose. I'm really just creating a world for my characters to shine.  

Oubliette, Poem, Issue 48, September 2019

Hal Y. Zhang is a former physicist who splits her time between the east coast and the Internet. She writes at halyzhang.com, and her science fiction chapbook Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother was published by Radix Media.

Get to know Hal Y. Zhang...

When did you start writing?

Before I can remember concrete ages, around six. I started a story on the adventures of a cat and a dog, but didn't make it past page one. I've only been slightly better about finishing stories since then.

When and what and where did you first get published?

Jurassic Jaws Jones, a mostly lighthearted flash story about artificial intelligence generating art in Nature Futures, in 2017. It was the third story I ever finished, I believe, written in one hour and fueled by a blaze of inspiration. I wish all my writing could be like that, in one continuous stroke, which is why I enjoy writing poetry and flash so much.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

It's a natural outgrowth of my imagination, I think. And studying physics put a lot of neat ideas in my head that I'm still working on crafting narratives out of. But really, there's something speculative about every story. The act of conjuring people and scenarios, making metaphors linking disparate things that nevertheless make sense—there's a lot of magic in that.

What are you trying to say with your poetry?

I think of my poems as simulacra of my mind at the moment they're written, since I generally finish each one in one sitting. I'm not necessarily trying to say any particular thing but just letting my fingers autocomplete the words, the keyboard an ouija board communing with myself, if you will. With "oubliette", I saw in my mind a metallic gray egg calmly lowering itself onto a swing set and set out to describe how the world would react to that.

Crumbling Butterflies, Flash Fiction, Issue 16, September 1, 2011

Biography

Joseph Zieja is the author of several speculative fiction short stories and novels, many of which have appeared in magazines and print. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with an undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern Studies and a Master of the Arts in Intelligence Analysis. He currently lives and works as a member of the United States Air Force in Germany with his wife and cat, both of which are a constant source of inspiration--or at least entertainment. 

Author's Website:  https://joezieja.com/home/

Get to know Joseph...

Birthday? 16 January, 1985

When did you start writing? When I was 10 years old, I began writing stories about me and my friends going on adventures, the magic system of which was largely ripped off my favorite video game series at the time called "Quest for Glory".  I only started writing "seriously" in October of 2010.  

When and what and where did you first get published? My first story, "The Treasure Fish" was published by Moon Drenched Fables at the same time my flash fiction "The Day of No Wind" was published by New Flesh magazine.  

What themes do you like to write about? I like writing about the inner journey of my characters--whoever they are--as well as the subjectivity of truth. While I enjoy the absolute dichotomy of good versus evil, I also like playing around in moral gray areas.  

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? It's tough to pick favorites. I am a huge fan of the Wheel of Time and Ender's Game series for many reasons, but primarily because their characters are so rich, diverse, and very human. I'm also attempting to decode the works and studies of Joseph Campbell, who, although he didn't necessarily write fiction, I believe has tapped into a deeper level of storytelling as a root of life that I strive to have as the undercurrent for my stories.

Healer, Fiction, Issue 43, June 2018

Aaron is a software engineer living in the western suburbs of Chicago. In his free time, he likes to daydream about stories and words and magic.

He blogs at aarontellsstories.com.

A Beauty Strange, Poetry, Issue 2, March 1, 2008

Thomas Zimmerman works as a community-college English instructor and writes poems as often as he can.

Get to Know Thomas...

Birthdate? 1960

When did you start writing? Junior-high school.

When and what and where did you first get published? 1987, poems, Opossum Holler Tarot.

Why do you write? Creating things makes me feel more alive.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?  Opportunity for surreal imagery.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?  William Shakespeare, King Lear.

Conversational Snow, Flash Fiction, Issue 29, December 1, 2014

Biography

Anna Zumbro lives in Washington, DC, and writes short speculative and literary fiction. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Plasma Frequency, Fantasy Scroll, Kazka Press, and other publications.

Get to know Anna...

When did you start writing? I wrote picture books when I was nine, monologues and short plays when I was a teen, and occasional early chapters of novels for a long time after that. I began taking writing more seriously in early 2013, focusing mostly on short stories.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first fiction publication was a microflash, "Pinata," at Fifty Word Stories.

What themes do you like to write about? A lot of my story ideas begin with wondering "what if?" and I let the theme flow from there. I like to explore the influence of the past and the shady side of potential futures.

That Was So Funny I Forgot To Laugh, Fiction, Issue 6, March 1, 2009

Walden Planet, Fiction, Issue 9, December 1, 2009

Biography

Richard Zwicker is a high school English teacher living in New England with his wife and beagle. His short stories have appeared in Ray Gun Revival, Speculative Mystery Iconoclast, and Golden Visions. Though he lived in Brazil for eight years, he is still a lousy soccer player.

Get to know Richard...

Birthdate?  5/19/56

When did you start writing? The moment I could.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first paid short story sale was in October 2008 when Ray Gun Revival published "The White Knight Is Talking Backwards."

Why do you write? Discovery and clarification. 

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? One of the reasons I write science fiction is because it seems to be easier for me to come up with ideas and plots.  Futuristic settings help me liberate my writing from simply tracing my own life. 

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? I usually say Herman Melville and "Bartleby." One of my favorite SF stories is "Night" by John W. Campbell.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Read me. 

Do you blog? Where? No.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? What? I have to write this too? OK.