The Man Who Wrote War and Peace, Fiction, Issue 2, March 1, 2008

Get to know Dan...

Birthdate? April 3, 1968

When did you start writing? I've been writing ever since I could pick up a pen.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first "professional" work were short bar reviews in a weekly newspaper in Chicago called Barfly. You can bet I felt like a pro when I told people I was calling from Barfly.

Why do you write? That's a good question. I've always viewed writing as a particularly enjoyable puzzle. You keep rearranging words until they fit. I've always enjoyed working on the writing puzzle.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I've always been a fan of the genre. I like the fact that science fiction doesn't have to mean only robots and laser beams.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? My favorite author is Flannery O'Connor. I'm a big fan of her story A Good Man is Hard to Find.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I'd love to say, "Pay me lots and lots of money!" But what I'm really saying is, "I hope you like this enough to read it. I hope it makes you smile, at least a bit."

Do you blog? Where? I do have a blog at www.propertycrossroads.com. It focuses on residential real estate. That's my day job: Covering real estate, business and environmental news for a host of trade magazines, newspapers and consumer magazines. I consider writing fiction and comic books my "fun" job.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? "We made sure he was really dead before we closed the coffin."

The Sleepless One, Fiction, Issue 49, December 15, 2019

Mary Ann Ramey lives in Erie, Pennsylvania. After a career that included periods as a reference librarian and a labor lawyer, in 1996, she joined L’Arche, an international federation of intentional communities where people with intellectual disabilities live in mutual friendship and respect with others who help them create homes. She retired from an active role in L’Arche in 2017 after living in the L’Arche communities in Mobile, Alabama, Portland, Oregon, and Erie.

She has been writing poetry and stories, intermittently, for years and is delighted to be able now to concentrate on writing.

Get to know Mary Ann...

Birthdate? June 7, 1947

When did you start writing?

In childhood—I remember impressing my cousins with a story written in a spiral-bound steno notebook when I was nine. (I don’t remember what it was about, but I remember they were mostly impressed that it was twelve pages long.)

When and what and where did you first get published?

A poem entitled “The Artifact” in the October 1974 issue of Cimarron Review. (My first publication of a fantasy story is “The Sleepless One” in New Myths.)

Why do you write?

Writing is my way of making art, and I believe that making art is a basic and important human impulse, whether it’s writing, drawing or painting, working with stone or clay, making music, dancing, acting, making films, or one of the often unrecognized art forms like cooking, creating a healthy lovely home, or helping create good and beautiful friendships and communities. Our culture tells us that creating art is for specialists, but I think that takes us down an unfortunate path.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

There’s so much more that needs to be said than the conventions of realism allow.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

How can anyone have just one, or, for that matter, just a dozen?

Tropes of the Western Fairy Tale, Non-Fiction, Issue 47, June 15, 2019

Emily Randall is a software developer who specializes in user-centered design and accessibility. They currently work for Google on one of the many Search teams, which is both exciting and rather nervewracking, but they can’t imagine doing anything else. In their free time, they enjoy reading, running, hiking, and generally exploring the outdoors. Their stories have been accepted for publication by Zombies Need Brains, Future SF, and the Society of Misfit Stories. They can be found at www.emily-randall.com.

Get to know Emily...

Why I write:

I write to tell the stories that I want to read, the stories that I don’t see around me. Although stories should reflect the real world, scifi and fantasy often have a dearth of queer characters, trans characters, or characters with mental health struggles, among others. I want to see worlds where polyamory is normal, or where the gender binary has been shattered, or where the cast has more than one token female character. But those tales are few and far between. So, if I can’t read them, I want to write them.

When I started writing:

Like most authors, I’ve been writing since I was quite young, but I didn’t start seriously concentrating on it until partway through college. I wasn’t an English major or a creative writing major – I studied computer science and engineering physics. But I started working on a couple different novels during an early internship, and that led to me joining a senior creative writing class when the professor kindly allowed me to skip all the prerequisites. And that was where I decided that writing could be more than a side hobby.

Favorite author and story:

I’ve never been good at picking a single favorite of anything, so picking just one favorite author is hard. How do you compare Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Carey, Seanan McGuire and Patrick Rothfuss? All are amazing, but in such different ways. And the same problem multiplies a thousandfold for books, especially when you add nonfiction to the mix. If I absolutely had to pick, I might go with something like Nonviolent Communication, by Marshall Rosenberg, simply because it’s given me some incredibly valuable skills, but there are far too many amazing books out there to say that one is my definite favorite.

Reason to Believe, Flash Fiction, Issue 16, Summer 2022

Bio

Jenny Rae Rappaport has been published in Lightspeed Magazine, Escape Pod, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among other magazines. She is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing workshop, and holds a BA in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University. She lives in New Jersey with her family, where she divides her time between writing and herding small children. She can be found online at www.jennyrae.com and on Twitter at @jennyrae.

When did you start writing?

I've been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was little, my mom used to take dictation and write down my stories for me; I started doing it on my own by the time I was in elementary school. I still have old notebooks filled with stories and poems from that era. I've been writing seriously--as in writing for eventual publication--since I was fifteen years old, with gaps in there for life events.

When and what and where did you first get published?

I sold my first short story to Knitty Magazine in 2009. It's a flash piece called "The Sock Thief", which is especially fitting for a knitting magazine.

Why do you write?

If I don't write, my head will eventually explode with the stories that I want to tell. It sounds facetious, but I think, like many writers, that I process bits and pieces of my life through my stories.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

I'm not sure I have just one favorite author. I love Neil Gaiman, Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, and Louise Lawrence, among many others. India Holton's madcap gaslit fantasy novels have been delightful to read the past few years; likewise, Alix E. Harrow is writing books and stories that rip my heart out each time in the most compelling manner possible. And there's so many more authors that I could mention whose work I really enjoy.

Do you blog?

I don't blog, although I do have a website that gets updated periodically with news (http://www.jennyrae.com). You can find me chatting on Twitter (@jennyrae) or making videos for Tiktok and Instagram (@jennyraera for both platforms).

Anomaly's Maiden, Fiction, Issue 5, September 1, 2008

Get to know Michelle...

Birthdate? June 29th

When did you start writing? At ten, I choreographed and 'wrote' a ballet that no one ever saw (which is a good thing as land bound hippos dance better than I do).

When and what and where did you first get published? Greenpeace published one of my poems in their newsletter when I was eleven.

Why do you write? To tell the stories no one else is telling.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I write fantasy because deep down, I'm a superstitious peasant. Every bump in the night, every blip on the radar is a ghost/witch/demon. It's just how I'm wired.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Shakespeare and Moliere and every author I've ever read. My favorite story changes by the day. Right now I'm really into Karen Chance's work.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I often think of my stories as twisted fantasies. I always try to do something different or explore a dynamic that other writers have neglected.

Do you blog? Where? I blog at: http://twistedfantasy.typepad.com/

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? Watch your step. I can still hear you and if you pee on my gravestone, I'm coming to get you.

For John's bio please click here

Please Hold, Poetry, Issue 58, Spring 2022

Bio

Anna is a chemical engineer working in Silicon Valley, and enjoys writing poems about automatic titrators, technical supply chain processes, and occasionally even more fantastical things.

Birthdate?

July 28

When did you start writing?

In English, when I was 13 and read Lord of the Rings for the first time, but I was writing in Russian for as long as I've known how to write, and making up stories for as long as I can remember before that. One of the family anecdotes that gets trotted out a lot is that when I was three or four, I had an epic fantasy trilogy planned out and would explain the plot of it to any family friend who would stand still long enough.

When and what and where did you first get published?

If that counts, my high school literary magazine and school newspaper. Now that I think about it, it was for the most part speculative poetry even then -- dragons and robot war apocalypse and time travel...

Why do you write?

Specifically poetry I write as a way of distilling and preserving experiences and thoughts.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

Because SF&F can tell any genre of story that non-speculative fiction can, but with a greater available breadth of setting and characters -- and it's fun to have the broadest possible playing field to romp across. But also -- and this is especially true for SF&F poetry -- because the flashes of imagery I find most arresting and most interesting to explore are often fantastic ones, and writing is the best way I know of holding on to them as well as sharing them with others.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

My favorite author is J.R.R. Tolkien (not very original for a SF&F fan, but that's been the case for over three decades and is unlikely to change any time soon). My favorite story, for shorter fiction, is Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life". A favorite poet would be harder to name, but probably W.B.Yeats, with Philip Larkin, G.M.Hopkins, and William Blake as other favorites.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

When it comes to poetry, I find that it's less about trying to say something and more about trying to capture (bottle up and preserve) a particular moment, experience, or emotion -- like a snapshot, but engaging all the senses, and feelings, and thoughts. To quote my favorite poem about writing poetry, "For all the history of grief/An empty doorway and a maple leaf."

Do you blog?

I do, but only under a secret identity. I do have a very bare-bones but non-secret website here: https://annaremennik.wordpress.com/

Review: The Bone Mother Written by David Demchuk

Rising Phoenix: An Interview with R. F. Kuang, Non-Fiction, Issue 48, September 2019

The Goddess in Him, Fiction, Issue 52, September 2020

Beneath the Prairie Sea: An Interview with Joshua Philip Johnson, Non-Fiction, Issue 61, Winter 2022

Matthew Rettino teaches at the Thomas More Institute, a continuing education Liberal Arts College in Montreal, Quebec. His first publication, "The Pilgrim's Yoke," appeared in Bards and Sages Quarterly's October 2018 issue, and he was featured as a Summer 2019 creative-to-watch by Graphite Publications. His story about a Scythian time refugee living in Montreal's trendy Plateau neighbourhood is coming out on NewMyths.com in 2020. A graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop (2016), he works as a freelance editor. His MA thesis on the relationship between fantasy, modernism, and magic realism, written at McGill University, won a Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master's award. You can follow him on Twitter (@matthewrettino).

Get to know Matthew Rettino

Birthdate?

July 31st, 1991

When and what and where did you first get published?

My first semipro story publication was an expanded flash fiction story I wrote for Odyssey called "The Pilgrim's Yoke." It's the story of a pilgrim who seeks the waters of life, but is refused when he reaches the mountaintop. The story consists of his disappointed return home. I wanted to subvert the idea of the hero's journey by focusing just on the last quarter of the traditional quest story.

My first ever paid publication was a restaurant review for a local tabloid newspaper, The Senior Times, in 2009. I was hired for a couple months afterwards, writing articles and interviews with distinguished seniors aged 50 and over in the community.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

I've always been a major fan of Guy Gavriel Kay--I've read all his historical fantasy books, including his poetry collection Through this Dark House. I even wrote my BA honours thesis on his work. More recently, I have taken a liking to Jeff VanderMeer, Helen Marshall, Claude Lalumère, and Usman Malik, whose novella "The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" I cannot recommend enough. Outside of fantasy and science fiction, I've taken a liking to Andy McDermott's Wilde and Chase adventure thrillers as well as the idealist riddles of Jorge Luis Borges.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

A story's meaning is never reducible to the author's intent. However, with "The Pilgrim's Yoke," I was trying to show how our journeys in life usually don't go the way we want them go. As a matter of fact, part of our quest is encountering exactly that fact--that there isn't always something you can concretely point to and say, "That was my reward for undergoing a road of trials." What's more, even if you feel changed as a result of undergoing a pilgrimage, it's hard to explain how you've changed to others--and then maybe doubt starts to set in that you achieved any boon at all. In the end, you can either despair and flail at the universe for not giving you something it didn't really owe you, or you can create your own meaning. If God does have a gift for you, it's in making you notice the things you had all along.

With "The Goddess in Him," my forthcoming story with NewMyths.com, I want to explore the idea that ancient people (from the B.C. and early A.D. eras) were probably not so different from us. If a couple were to immigrate from then to today, their child would be exposed to twenty-first century culture. Would the parents support their child's adaptation to the current culture, or try to isolate them, raising them according to traditional mores--much as ordinary immigrant parents do? I first came up with this idea while teaching English as a second language to recent immigrants and refugees.

Do you blog?

You can follow my blog at http://matthewrettino.com, or subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

Anodos Amongst the Elves, Fiction, Issue 8, September 1, 2009

Salvation, Fiction, Issue 6, March 1, 2009

Last Ride of the Hell City Angels, 1959, Fiction, Issue 25, December 1, 2013

One Writer’s War with History, Fiction, Issue 25, December 1, 2013

Biography

Jason S. Ridler is a writer and historian. He is the author of Blood and Sawdust, the Spar Battersea thrillers (Death Match, Con Job, and Dice Roll), the short story collection Knockouts, and has published over sixty stories in such magazines and anthologies as The Big Click, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Out of the Gutter, and more. His popular non-fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Dark Scribe, and the Internet Review of Science Fiction. A former punk rock musician and cemetery groundskeeper, Mr. Ridler holds a Ph.D. in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. Visit him at twitter at http://twitter.com/JayRidler, Facebook , http://www.facebook.com/Ridlerville, or his writing blog, Ridlerville, at https://ridlerville.wordpress.co

Get to know Jason...

Birthdate? Let's just say I saw Star Wars Episode IV in the theater.

When did you start writing? October 1999, when I should have been

writing an essay on civil/military relations during the Franco/Prussian War of 1870-1871.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first published story, for which I only received contributor’s copies, was called “Treasure Chamber.” It was a horror/fantasy story about a child abandoned in a room full of toys while his parents enjoy a party. The kid has some adventures with the toys, but eventually the sun goes down, the parents leave, and the kid dies thinking he’s befriended by a white dragon on a puzzle box. It was published by a magazine called The Lamp Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society in 2001.

Why do you write? For better or worse, it’s my vocation. And I love it.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I like the freedom it provides, and the iconography.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Impossible to name just one. Biggest influences are likely Gary Braunbeck and Joe Lansdale. Check out Gary’s “Duty” and Lansdale’s “Bubba Ho-Tep.”

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Tough one. Current favorite: Gary Braunbeck. Favorite story of his? "Duty," Stoker award winner. Favorite novel, In Silent Graves. All time favorites, Harlan Ellison, Joe Lansdale and Ernest Hemingway. But this list is subject to change.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Not sure if I have a singular theme. Some common ones are how we recover from the death of dreams, the danger and appeal of rage, the value of kindness, the danger and value of family. Most are permutations on Faulkner’s point on “the human heart at war with itself.”

Do you blog? Where? I have a writing blog: http://jsridler.livejournal.com/ I’m also a member of the Homeless Moon writing group. Check out our chapbook and blog! http://homelessmoon.joskinandlob.com/

My story, “Cemetery Romance,’ is based on my experience as a cemetery groundskeeper.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? You Buried The Wrong Guy!

On the Ice Planet, Poetry, Issue 18, June 1, 2012

Julia Rios is a writer, podcaster, and audio narrator. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Fantastique Unfettered, Goblin Fruit, and Reflection's Edge, and her non-fiction work appears regularly in Stone Telling and on the Outer Alliance blog and podcast. She has blue hair and brown eyes, though these things are subject to change without notice. To see more of her work, visit her website at http://www.juliarios.com.

Get to know Julia...

Birthdate? The 28th of May.

When did you start writing? As early as I knew how to form the letters with my pencil. I still have a book of stories I wrote when I was nine. Sometimes I force house guests to listen to them.

When and what and where did you first get published? In my middle school newspaper in 1990. The first time I made a sale for any kind of payment wasn't until 2005, though.

What themes do you like to write about? I have always loved to write speculative fiction, it seems. Even when I was nine, all my stories were full of magic and ghosts and shapeshifters and things.

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 read all over the place. I love classics like Austen and Dickens, and modern works of all genres. As a kid I would read anything in front of me, from cereal boxes to phone books, and everything in between. I can't say there are any specific authors who influence me across the board, but I read a bunch of mid-late twentieth century science fiction as an early adolescent, and I think that's a lot of where the Ice Planet comes from. All the themes presented by authors like Heinlein and Vonnegut and McCaffrey mixed together in my head and turned into something different.

For Andrew's bio please click here

Taking Shelter, Poetry, Issue 28, September 1, 2014

Directed Panspermia, Poetry, Issue 29, December 1, 2014

Peter Roberts grew up near Pittsburgh, and earned a BS in mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh. He currently lives in central Ohio. Over the past thirty years or so, he has had poems and stories published in various magazines & online journals, including Asimov's, Daily Science Fiction, Star*Line, Nature, Astropoetica, Ars Medica, Redstone Science Fiction, Abyss & Apex, Bitter Oleander, Illumen, Poetry Salzburg Review, The South Carolina Review, Lilliput Review, Café Irreal, Poem, Lullaby Hearse, The Wisconsin Review, The William and Mary Review, Small Pond, New York Quarterly, Confrontation, and in the anthologies Poetic Voices Without Borders and Futures from Nature.

Get to know Peter...

Birthdate? 1952

When did you start writing? My sophomore year of high school. I was strongly influenced by an English teacher who encouraged me to explore outside the usual high school fare. Shortly thereafter I met a couple of like-minded fellow students, and we encouraged and critiqued each other's writing for a couple of years.

When and what and where did you first get published? My very first publication was a poem in my high school literary magazine, during my junior year, but I consider that to be part of my juvenilia. My first mature publication was a haiku in a little magazine called Hyacinths & Biscuits, in 1974.

What themes do you like to write about? Much of my writing seems to be about death, abstract ideas (especially mathematical ones), and the future, but I certainly don't limit myself to those 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? I've always been a voracious reader, and much of what I've read has influenced my writing, so I don't think I can give an adequate answer in just a few words. I will say that some of my earliest influences were e.e. cummings, Theodore Sturgeon, Lyn Lifshin, H.P. Lovecraft, Gary Snyder, & Ray Bradbury.

Outside the Body, Fiction, Issue 23, June 1, 2013

Philip lives in Nashua, New Hampshire and holds a Masters in Education and a Bachelors degree in Creative Writing. As a beginner in the publishing world, he’s a member of both the Horror Writer’s Association and the New England Horror Writer’s Association, and has had numerous short stories published in a variety of publications, such as the Beneath the Surface anthology, Midnight Echo, and The Horrorzine. A full anthology of Philip’s short stories entitled Passing Through can be found on the Amazon kindle store. More information on his works can be found at www.philipmroberts.com.

Get to know Philip...

Birthdate? July 19th 1983

When did you start writing?

I first started writing around 2002, attempting to jump right into writing novels. I wouldn't say I seriously started writing until I jumped into short fiction around 2005.

When and what and where did you first get published?

My first published work was a short story entitled "Noise Complaint". It was published in a UK magazine called Dark of Night in the fall of 2005.

What themes do you like to write about?

I like mixing with the mundane aspects of life with the supernatural, something horror lends itself very nicely to. Beyond that, I write about isolation and the inability for characters to come to terms with the things they've done.

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?

Due to the fact that he was the first horror writer I read, Stephen King had a big impact on my early writing. I went through many of his novels during my first years writing. After that, however, I can't think of a single influence to put my finger on. I've tried to read a variety of authors.

Proof of God at the Bedford Christian Academy for Girls, Fiction, Issue 37, December 2016

Parables for Children After Domefall, Fiction, Issue 53, December 2020

Stay Ugly, Grow Old, Fiction, Issue 56, September 2021

K. A. Rochnik is a speculative fiction writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is most interested in how technology illuminates human relationships, needs, and passions. She writes science fiction novels and a wide range of short stories. Her stories have been published in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Strange California, NewMyths.com, Zooscape and others. She is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop

Get to know K.A...

Birthday? July 25.

When did you start writing? I planned this enormous dystopian trilogy and started writing it in the fall of 2012. I wrote two books rather quickly, but they were, well, rather terrible. Somehow recognizing that I needed help, I found a critique group and switched gears to short stories in 2013.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first publication was a flash piece for Evil Girlfriend Media in Feb 2015.

What themes do you like to write about? My favorite theme is how technology affects human relationships--with each other, with ourselves. There's this awesome (maybe good, maybe bad) potential for technology to change us in ways we can't even imagine. So I'm trying!

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 try to write characters like those in The Most Dangerous Game and The Cold Equations--characters who think they're in control until they find out they're most certainly not. The emotion just kicks you in the gut.

Not Your Fairy Tale, Poetry, Issue 44, September 2018

Multiple Scribe and Rhysling Award nominee Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell is the author of twelve books to date. Her work includes Mafia III: Plain of Jars, co-written with writing partner/husband Jeff Mariotte and based on the hit video game; 7 SYKOS, a near future SF/H thriller (also with Mariotte); The Shard Axe series, the only official novels that tie into the popular fantasy MMORPG, Dungeons & Dragons Online; an urban fantasy trilogy based on Neil Gaiman's Lady Justice comic books; a trilogy based on the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess (co-written with Mariotte); dozens of short stories and poems; multiple articles on writing and the writing process; and a handful of comic book scripts. In addition, she was an editor for an online speculative magazine for several years, regularly participates in writing panels and workshops at local conventions and conferences, and serves as a Writing Mentor for Arizona State University’s Your Novel Year program. She resides in the Valley of the Sun, where she writes dark fiction and poetry in the shadow of an improbably green mountain in a home she and her family have dubbed ‘Redwall.’ Find out more here:http://www.marsheilarockwell.com/.

Get to Know Marsheila Rockwell

Birthdate? Spring Equinox

When and what and where did you first get published? A twisted Greek myth published in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine in 1994.

Why do you write? Because I have to get the stories out of my head.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Because stories aren't as much fun without some element of the fantastic in them.

Who is your favorite author? Guy Gavriel Kay

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Depends on the story/poem. Mostly I hope I move people and make them think.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? She left her words as gifts and traps. Open with caution.

Also, she was loved.

Marsheila Blogs at https://mrockwell.dreamwidth.org/

Hoppers, Fiction, Issue 26, March 1, 2014

Birthdate? November 23, 1965

When did you start writing? I started my first novel when I was seventeen.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first published story was “Freaks” in Deepwood Publishing’s Ruined Cities anthology.

What themes do you like to write about? I’m drawn to the mysterious, and there is plenty of opportunity for that in speculative fiction. I tend to shy away from aliens who talk and sound like humans. When I describe extra-terrestrials, I prefer them to be bizarre and barely comprehensible. After all, if we can’t even communicate with the other sentient species on this planet (dolphins) why would we share any common ground with aliens based on a different biology?

I’m also drawn to historical speculative fiction, and have written stories set in the Aztec empire, the American civil war, Eighth century Europe, early century Africa, and others.

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? One of my favorite authors is Orson Scott Card, because of his ability to evoke strong emotion in the reader. I think evoking emotion is the essence of good writing, speculative or not. I also like Stephen Lawhead for his historical fiction, Harry Turtledove for the same reason, and many others.

While it is great to admire a given author, certain stories will not lend themselves to emulating any given style. In a story meant to be funny, evoking strong emotions may not be appropriate, and so on. So while I’d love to emulate Orson Scott Card’s emotional train-ride in general, I will only try it on some stories. Every tale has to be unique, and true to itself.

Biography

I started my first novel when I was seventeen, lightly inspired by a D&D campaign. I stopped writing when life got in the way, and then picked up speculative fiction writing again four years ago. My first dip back into the waters was a fantasy novel based on the original concepts from my teenage years but with none of the original text--tempered by real life, every single word has been replaced. I spent a couple years writing and re-writing the novel until it became something I’m mostly proud of. It’s been read by a handful of people (including two professional editors) and has gotten high marks from everyone whose seen it (see this link for some nice words on my novel from a professional editor: http://heidibellediting.squarespace.com/blog/) However, it’s still on a shelf, waiting for one more revision on the first few chapters before I let it see the light of day.

In mid-2012 I began writing short speculative fiction, and in early 2013 I began submitting my stories to various venues. In that time I’ve received four publications (including this one).

I live in San Diego, California with my wife and furry kid.

The Time-Traveling Healer, Flash Fiction, Issue 60, Fall 2022

Rachel Rodman’s work has appeared in Analog, Fireside, and many other publications.

Her latest collection, Art is Fleeting, was published by Shanti Arts Press.

More at www.rachelrodman.com.

Get to know Rachel

Why do you write?

I love writing the challenge of writing, on every level.

On every blank page, the goal is the same: To say things that no one has ever

said, in a way that no one else has ever said them.

I love struggling to do that, over and over, from as many angles as I can; I even

love how much it hurts when I fail.

Why do you write Science Fiction?

I love ideas, perhaps even more than I love writing. One of my favorite things to

do is to take interesting concepts from the real world and use fiction to re-frame

them in a way that is still more interesting.

I also love science. But even here I am less concerned with what is real than with

what is possible. The greatest value of knowledge is, I think, not that it allows

us to know—or even to understand—but that it enables us to apply new material

to unsolved problems, and to frame new hypotheses. Or just to speculate.

When I write, I don’t think much about genre labels. But I do think that some of

the best idea-driven stories can be classified as “science fiction,” and I am happy

to contribute to the genre when I can.

To the Altar of Adonis, poetry, Issue 16, 2011

Gina I. Rodriguez is a proud Jersey native and recent college grad who adores writing and can't live without her music. She grew up listening to everything from Bruce Springsteen to Inti-Illimani, and her home is never quiet. She is a jack-of-all-trades thanks to the many internships she held while in college, and she now works part-time at a New York publisher. In the fall of 2011, she will begin an MFA program in fiction writing, also in Manhattan. After work, you can usually find her practicing at a nearby dojo.

Get to know Gina...

When did you start writing? Writing has been my hobby since I was a kid, but I didn't have the opportunity to be serious about it and workshop stories until I was in college.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first published work was an article about a local high school student who had been nominated for a state-sponsored acting award. This was my first assignment as a summer intern at a local newspaper, and I had a blast interviewing this girl and the director of the play she had appeared in. I was even more excited when the paper published the sun-drenched photo I snapped of her at the end of the interview. I take pride in my photography skills, so this was the icing on the cake.

What themes do you like to write about? Themes of loyalty and family move me the most.

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 grew up reading King Arthur stories, and so romanticized concepts of love and loyalty still wriggle their way into my writing. Lately I've become very interested in poking holes in these ideas without being cynical. It's a fun challenge to embrace in fantasy writing.

Atsuuikakura, Illustration, Issue 31, June 1, 2015

Get to know Anna...

When did you start doing artwork? From what I've been told, I've been drawing ever since I learned crayons had a lousy taste and weren't for actually eating. I just remember drawing as something I've done since I was little.

When and what and where did you first get published? Earlier this year I landed my first company illustration gig and did a few drawings for Pelgrane Press Ltd. The experience really helped give me an idea where I want/need to shift gears with illustration as a career. All in all, an incredibly constructive and rewarding way to start 2015.

Do you use reoccurring themes or images in your illustrations? I'm extremely fond of monsters in general. I love to research folklore and analyze whatever metaphors, social/cultural commentary, or insight into the human psyche (and the whimsy therein) they might offer. Or create new monsters just for the sake of playing with ideas.

What media do you like to work in? Why? I tend to default to mechanical pencil and/or ink pens (especially if I'm sketching somewhere in public). For color, I'll often cycle between using markers, colored pencils or going digital.

What artist's work do you most admire? How has this artist's work influenced you? To me, that question seems akin to asking a parent who their favorite child is. I think the oldest artist heartthrob for me has to be Edward Gorey. I haven't seen or read anything by him that wasn't a complete delight. I've also been a huge fan of Stephen Gammell's illustrations for the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series I devoured as a child.

Visit Anna at http://ironhag.blogspot.com

For Arielle's Bio please click here

In Silence She Says Much, Fiction, Issue 36, September 1, 2016

Rebecca Roland is the author of the Shards of History series, The Necromancer's Inheritance series, and The King of Ash and Bones, and Other Stories. Her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in publications such as Nature, Fantasy Scroll Magazine, Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, New Myths, and Every Day Fiction, and she is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. You can find out more about her and her work at rebeccaroland.net or follow her on Twitter at @rebecca_roland.

Get to know Rebecca...

When did you start writing? I began writing seriously in 2006, but I had written fan fiction in junior high and high school, as well as a murder mystery in high school. The murder mystery was a strange choice as most of my reading material at the time involved science fiction, fantasy, and romance.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first publication was a flash fiction story titled "The Secret Ingredient" in the anthology Shelter of Daylight in 2009. That story later appeared as a reprint in Flush Fiction, which is an Uncle John Bathroom Reader book. I loved that series when I was younger, and I was both amused and pleased to have a story appear in one of their books.

What themes do you like to write about? I find myself writing most often about the bond between identity and memory, women's rights, and personal sacrifice for the greater good.

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 author is Lois McMaster Bujold, and her Vorkosigan series in particular resonates with me. She actually addresses the themes I just mentioned, as well as how medical advances affect one's rights, aging gracefully, and many other issues. My hope is that one day I write characters as vivid and memorable as hers. She breathes such life into them.

Album, Flash Fiction, Issue 24, September 1, 2013

There Once was a Lady, Fiction, Issue 30, March 1, 2015

Ian Rose was born outside of Philadelphia, but after trying out each of America's coasts at least once, has settled more or less permanently in Oregon. He lives there with his wife-to-be, a wonderfully creative and curious step-daughter, and the world's best and worst cat. When Ian isn't writing, he tends to be either gardening or writing code for websites. His own site is ianwrites.com, and he can be found on Twitter at @ianrosewrites.

Get to know Ian...

Birthdate? July 23, 1978

When did you start writing? As far back as I can remember, I was writing stories, but I didn't get serious about my writing really until 2007. That's when I made my first short story submission, got my first rejection, and subsequently published my first poem. Since then, I've definitely had breaks in productivity, both on the writing and publishing side, but writing has been a part of my day to day life.

When and what and where did you first get published? That's a tricky question these days. The first time someone else accepted one of my pieces and published it online was a poem called "You Are", published in Chantarelle's Notebook. The first time I sold a short story for actual money was "Further Study" to a now-defunct site called Coyote Wild (which incidentally folded before they could publish it, but were good enough to still send me a check.) My first professional short story sale, paying what is considered the pro rate per-word, was "Trial of the God Star" to Daily Science Fiction.

What themes do you like to write about? I try my best to avoid actively thinking about theme, preferring to tell stories and let themes emerge from them at their own convenience. But I definitely return to a few things over and over: what it means to be human, especially in a future where machines and man are more integrated; the role of religion and law in alien and future societies; and understanding the truly alien, the things that we might actually meet out there, which will look nothing like people with big ears or horns on their heads.

My background is in marine biology, specifically the diet and breeding ecology of seabirds, and a lot of my fiction deals with the sea. I'm also fascinated by economics, particularly with the scarcity of water and arable land, and how seldom these are considered in a science fictional or fantasy world. The transition of humanity out of our evolved bodies and into other future forms, whether biological or digital, is also very interesting to me.

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 grew up obsessively reading Tolkien and Stephen King, and both of their work has certainly influenced mine, but more recently, I've found myself really attracted to writers and books that build on existing folklore and build a world that seems to exist parallel or maybe even overlapping with ours. Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood are the reigning monarchs of this in my mind.

On the Tracks of Liberty, Fiction, Issue #52, September 2020

Daniel Patrick Rosen writes speculative fiction and swing music. He grew up on a tiny farm in northern Minnesota, where he learned the value of hard work and the relative softness of kittens. His work has appeared in publications like Apex, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and The Saturday Evening Post. You can find him online at https://rosen659.wixsite.com/danielpatrickrosen and @animalfur on Twitter.

Get to know Daniel...

Birthdate?

10.23.1989

When did you start writing?

When I was a kid, I suppose. Although I hope all those files and pages are irretrievable!

When and what and where did you first get published?

My first published story was "The Secret of Bruscar Skerry" in the Saturday Evening Post

Why do you write?

I think abstracting the real-world into fiction makes it easier to communicate difficult and complex ideas.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

All fiction is imaginary. Why set limits on your imagination?

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

I don't think I could choose a favorite author. My favorite story is Marc Stiegler's "The Gentle Seduction".

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

That depends entirely on the story. In general, I have too much to say.

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

Buried with all his riches.

Do you Blog?

https://rosen659.wixsite.com/danielpatrickrosen/blog

The Gift, Fiction, Issue 8, September 1, 2009

There's No Place Like Home: Exile in The Wizard of Oz, Nonfiction, Issue 11, June 1, 2010

John B. Rosenman is an English professor at Norfolk State University where he designed and teaches a course in how to write Science Fiction and Fantasy. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Horror Writers Association and has published over 300 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber's Aliens, Fangoria, The Age of Wonders, and Hot Blood. John has published ten books, including SF action-adventure novels such as Beyond Those Distant Stars and Speaker of the Shakk (Mundania Press), A Senseless Act of Beauty (Blade Publishing), Alien Dreams (Drollerie Press), Dax Rigby, War Correspondent (Lyrical Press), and Here Be Dragons (Eternal Press). Visit him on the web at his website, www.johnrosenman.com, at http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user, https://twitter.com/Writerman1, http://www.facebook.com/home.php, and http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu31/jrosenman/. One of his interviews can be found at http://www.milscifi.com/files/inter-JBR-BS.htm.

Get to know John...

Birthdate? April 16, 1941

When did you start writing? As a little kid I would make up stories and write them down, sometimes as cartoon strips. I used to lie in the dark and listen to radio programs. The Shadow. Lights Out. They sparked my imagination. My father would also tell me bedtime stories.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first published short story was “The Patriot.” It was published in Patterns, Hiram College’s literary magazine, in Fall 1961.

Why do you write? I can’t help it. It’s what I do. I have ideas, sometimes exciting ones, and I must write them down. If I’m not writing something, I tend to be unhappy. I like to see how fully I can capture my visions, whether I can explore them further and find something I did not know or suspect when they first came to me.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Similar to my previous answer, I can’t help it. It’s what I do. Most of my science-fiction/science-fantasy novels involve the same basic plot: A person travels to a distant world and amazing things happen to him. I grew up during the Golden Age of Science Fiction that focused on the awesome, mind-stretching wonders of the universe. The books and stories I read, the movies I saw, obviously left a lasting impact on me. Of course, they could only have done so if my mind contained fertile soil for such an influence. I love ideas and concepts, sometimes the stranger the better. It’s an addiction without a cure.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? There are so many; it’s hard to pin it down to one. One of my favorites is “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler. I read it when it came out and thought, “Wow, this should win the Hugo Award.” I was prophetic and it did. Later, I invited Octavia Butler to come to Norfolk State University where I’m an English professor, and she did. I drove Octavia Butler around and asked her questions about that story. What a thrill and what an honor. Another story I love is The Wizard of Oz, especially the movie. Some of my stories and poems owe a direct debt to Baum’s story. One of my novels was titled DOWN FROM OZ. It was published – and will be republished – by McPherson & Co. under a different title: THE BEST LAUGH LAST. One of the novels I’m completing now is called DARK WIZARD and is inspired in many ways by the story.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? That I have a fertile, sometimes outlandish and inexhaustible imagination. I think the ImagiNATION is the greatest country or realm there is. I also like to speculate about the fascinating characters, both human and alien, that exist in my mind or in the universe, and their rich and endless complexities. My fiction also reflects some of my recurring themes and obsessions: TRANSFORMATION, for example, is something that fascinates me. Sometimes it’s physical; sometimes it’s psychological. Sometimes it’s both and more. A character grows a chrysalis and disappears inside it. What transcendent transformation will she undergo, what cosmic sea change? In recent years, I’ve written about cosmic Christs and Redeemers, Messiahs who even reject such a role and resist their destiny.

Another thing I try to say or do in my fiction involves style. I love to experiment with phrasing and language, and with the WAY in which I present a story. I’m convinced that there are nine trillion ways to tell a story or novel, but only one of those ways is the absolute best. I try to find it.

Do you blog? Where? Yes, on my website, at www.johnrosenman.com. I also write a monthly blog on writing (late on the thirteenth of every month) at www.storytellersunplugged.com/

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? Here lies John B. Rosenman. He was a good but flawed person who loved his wife and children and loved to teach. He tried to do the right thing but sometimes failed. He also wrote some damned good stories, and hopes he lives in them whenever you, dear reader, turns their pages.

Grief, Processed, Flash Fiction, Issue 36, September 1, 2016

Biography

J. J. Roth lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner and two school-aged sons. She’s a lawyer by trade and practices law at a software company. When she’s not parenting or lawyering, she squeezes writing into the interstices. Her fiction has appeared in Nature, Urban Fantasy Magazine, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and a number of small press publications. J. J. is an associate member of the SFWA and a member of the Codex Writers Group. For more information, visit her website at http://www.jjroth.net, find her on Facebook at JJ Roth, or follow her on Twitter where she is @wrothroth.

Get to know J.J...

Birthday? August 5

When did you start writing? I dabbled throughout my life but began writing seriously in the early 2000s. I published a few realistic literary stories under a different name. Then I had kid number one, followed 21 months later by kid number 2. Between the two babies and a full time day job I ended up on hiatus for about eight years. I started writing again in late 2012, this time focusing on speculative fiction.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first published story after the aforementioned hiatus was a flash piece called “The Nymph of Limantour,” published in Every Day Fiction on March 6, 2013.

What themes do you like to write about? That’s a tough one. I don’t consciously write to particular themes. Themes tend to arise organically from story; from whatever the characters are struggling with or against. I am quite interested in how intangible human qualities such as feelings, desires, and memories shape us and what happens when those qualities are blocked or threatened. I’m also interested in identity and how relationships among people (or aliens, or fairies, or what have you) help to form or to challenge individual identity. I think these themes thread through many, if not all, of my stories. Occasionally, I find feminist or Jewish themes arising within stories as feminism and Judaism each form part of my own personal identity.

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? This could become a dissertation, so I’ll try to keep it short and just mention one. During my child-rearing induced hiatus from writing, I felt the itch to write but I wasn’t sure I’d start writing seriously again. My writing teachers had always said to “write what you know,” and I felt as though I’d published all the stories about events from my own life that I found halfway interesting and at all compelling. Then someone in one of my writing classes recommended American Gods by Neil Gaiman. As I read, I saw my own writing through a different lens and realized that the last several stories I’d written before the hiatus had elements of the fantastic in them though they had realistic settings. Since then, although I have explored futuristic and secondary world settings as well, I’ve been conscious that speculative fiction can be a way to translate “what I know” -- that is, my experience and observations of what it means to be human -- into something I find more interesting than the suburban day to day.

Pan, Fiction, Issue 28, September 1, 2014

Biography

Moved to Australia in 2010. Used to live in Canada, used to change homes once a year. Maybe I'll stay here. I like here.

Get to know William...

Birthdate? 1994-03-30

When did you start writing? I've still got a thick crayon book from preschool, journaling the adventures of "Star War" and his battles with "alians." It ended with the heat-death of the universe.

When and what and where did you first get published? Eleven years old. 300-word story about Hurricane Katrina. Anthology collection for young writers. Everyone loved it. I didn't.

What themes do you like to write about? Connections, honestly. Two or more people connected by a shared experience or a traumatic event ... or simply by coming to an understanding about each other. Usually coupled with madness-inducing terror. I suppose it's a bit of wish fulfillment.

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'm interested in experimental storytelling and the possibilities of new formats. I loved House of Leaves (Mark Danielewski), as most people should, but things like Time (Randall Munroe), Homestuck (Andrew Hussie), Ruby Quest (Weaver), Marble Hornets (Troy Wagner), and most of Emily Carroll's works (particularly Margot's Room) have all been captivating in the way they tackle long-form storytelling using a unique perspective or format. The stories themselves may often lack a certain finesse, but the way they're told is what makes them interesting to me. The medium is the message, et cetera.

And you're looking at a massive Lovecraft fan. Just his themes and ideas. Can't stand his style of writing, and can't stand the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole. His themes alone resonate with me and show up in almost everything I write.

To Hollywood and Beyond, Nonfiction, Issue 9, December 1, 2009

Matthew S. Rotundo's work has appeared in ORSON SCOTT CARD'S INTERGALACTIC MEDICINE SHOW, JIM BAEN'S UNIVERSE, and WRITERS OF THE FUTURE VOLUME XXV. Matt also plays guitar and has been known to sing karaoke. He and his wife Tracy live in Omaha, Nebraska.

Get to know Matthew...

Birthdate? 6/2/67

When did you start writing? More years ago than I care to count.

When and what and where did you first get published? My very first publication was a short story called "The Haunted House" in a college literary magazine.

Why do you write? To get the stories out of my head.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? It's the way I'm wired, I guess.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? My favorite author is still Stephen King, without apologies. If I have to choose a favorite story, I would go with George R.R. Martin's excellent "The Way of Cross and Dragon."

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I can't say that a single theme informs all my work. I do find myself constantly drawn to stories about power and redemption, however.

Do you blog? Where? Yes, at http://matthewsrotundo.livejournal.com

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? "Here lies the greatest writer you've never read."

Dust Baby, Fiction, Issue 2, March 1, 2008

D.M.Rowland lives in the Lake District with an ageing siamese cat and a recalcitrant puppy. Her fee from Dust Baby is being donated to Poppy Z Brite's Cat Rescue.

Get to know D.M...

When did you start writing? I had written on and off for years, and then a while ago someone suggested the possibility of actually getting something published, so I thought I would have a go...

When and what and where did you first get published? A few years ago. I was lucky -- my first serious attempt at a short story was accepted by Virgin Books

Why do you write? To exercise my mind, and my imagination.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? My favourite story this year has been the Carhullan Army, by Sarah Hall.

Do you blog? No.

Proof of Concept, Fiction, Issue 49, December 15,2019

James Rowland is a New Zealand-based, British-born writer. His work has previously appeared at Aurealis, Compelling Science Fiction, and Prairie Fire. When he's not moonlighting as a writer of magical, strange or futuristic stories, he works as an intellectual property lawyer. Besides writing, he enjoys travel, photography, reading, and the most inexplicable and greatest of all the sports: cricket. You can find more of his work at his website https://www.jamesrowland.net/

Get to know James...

Birthdate?

March, 1992.

When did you start writing?

At the age of 9, I apparently rewrote a scene of King Solomon’s Mines so that all the main characters were my friends.

However, I suspect a more concrete start date was probably when I was 14. I haven’t really looked back since (which is probably for the best since 14-year-old me wasn’t very insightful).

When and what and where did you first get published?

The first story I ever had published, The Disappearance of Mr Christopher Asquith, was back in early 2013 by Mad Scientist Journal. It was a Lovecraftian pastiche that had been inspired by a throwaway line in a Sherlock Holmes story about a man who went back for his umbrella and was never seen again.

Why do you write?

I often ask myself the same question when I’m stuck writing some difficult scene. I’m not sure I’ve ever reached a real answer. I guess it’s mostly because deep down, even in the darkest pit of a half-finished novel draft, I enjoy telling stories, and I hope people will enjoy reading them.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

The easy answer is because that’s what most of my story ideas are. I sometimes write literary fiction because the ideas don’t have any speculative element to them and it doesn’t bug me when that happens.

I think the reason why my stories are mostly science fiction and fantasy, though, is because speculative fiction lets you look at ideas in a different way. You find that through magic or time travel or whatever genre element the story has, you can say something in a far more interesting and entertaining way than you ever could without that speculative fiction edge.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

I have a lot of favourite authors and I could cheat by listing out a dozen of them. However, while I would be utterly unable to rank #2-#10, I know precisely who number 1 is: Nick Harkaway. His combination of pulpy speculative fiction, literary themes, and dazzling humour is precisely what I’d most like to write myself.

My favourite novel, though, is not a Harkaway book at all. It’s probably Susanna Clark’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell. My favourite short story might be Jorge Luis Borges’s Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote, but I don’t know if that’s true.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

It depends on the story. But I’m definitely always trying to say something and to do so in an interesting and entertaining way.

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

“Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke.” It’s true.

Do you blog?

I do very, very occasionally. You can find my blog and where to find some other stories of mine at: https://jamesrowlandwriter.wordpress.com/

The Eternal Demons, Nonfiction, Issue 6, March 1, 2009

Biblical Mysteries, Nonfiction, Issue 19, June 1, 2012

The Arthurian Cycles, Nonfiction, Issue 21, December 1, 2012

Defining the Myths and Legends of the Holy Grail, Issue 21, December 1, 2012

Legends and Myths of El Dorado, Nonfiction, Issue 24, September 1, 2013

Defining the Symbolism of Clay Figurines of Fertility, Nonfiction, Issue 27, June 1, 2014

Biography:

The author is a former correspondent for the Continental News Service, (USA) now retired - busy writing short stories and articles for Net site and magazines worldwide.

Get to know Norman...

Birthdate? Nov 19, 1928

When did you start writing? Around twenty years ago when I was a correpondent for the Continental News Service (USA)

When and what and where did you first get published? 1988 (approx) -Outside of the news service I was published in asianart.com with an article on Japanese Ghosts--and then bibarch.com on the subject of musical instruments in the Bible.

Why do you write? For interest.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? To satisfy the need for knowledge about different worlds and spheres

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Sir Arthur Connan Doyle--The Decameron because of its fantasies.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? To give pleasure to the reader.

Do you blog? Where? My Space, Digg, yahoo, google.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? "Shalom and thanks for the blessings I have received."

Far Shores and Ancient Graves, Flash Fiction, Issue 46, March 15, 2019

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Seattle, Washington. His second novel, Aftershock, was recently published by Privateer Press, and his short fiction has appeared in The Arcanist, Havok, and Pseudopod, among others. He occasionally offers dubious advice on writing and rejection (mostly rejection) at www.rejectomancy.com or on Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

Aeryn Rudel blogs at www.rejectomancy.com.

Remains, Poetry, Issue 32, September 1, 2015

Janet Ruhe-Schoen was born Feb. 28, 1950 in Allentown, Pa. She has written poetry and other things since childhood and worked for many years as a journalist for magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and in Latin America, where she resided for 13 years. She's written four books of biography and has published poetry and stories in various places.

Facebook

Facebook.com/JanetRuheSchoen.author.artist

Get to know Janet...

Birthday? Feb. 28, 1950

When did you start writing? as a child

When and what and where did you first get published? An article of nine biographical sketches of great Baha'is called "A Love Which Does Not Wait" for the American Baha'i magazine in 1975.

What themes do you like to write about? I've written several biographical studies of great Baha'is focusing on those who met and were personally galvanized by the founders of the Faith, and who managed to transform (and are still transforming) their worlds by their deeds and spirits. My most recent publications are Rejoice in My Gladness: The Life of Tahirih, about the 19th Century Iranian feminist poet and martyr; and Champions of Oneness: Louis Gregory and His Shining Circle, featuring the African-American lawyer Louis George Gregory, son and grandson of slaves (and slave-owner!) who was a constant challenger of Jim Crow.

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? Some all-time favorite fiction includes Black Snow by Mikhail Bulgakov, a Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin, Jonathan Strange and Mister Norell by Susannah Clarke. Favorite poets include Pablo Neruda and Joy Harjo. There are lots more in many categories! It's a constantly shifting kaleidoscope but I'm most captivated by magic realism and language that sings and goes deep into color worlds.

Downstream, Fiction, Issue 37, December 1, 2016

Erica Ruppert writes speculative fiction and poetry from her home in northern New Jersey. Her work has appeared in Nonbinary Review, AnotherRealm, Weirdbook, and PodCastle, among others. She is, very slowly, working on her first novel. Visit her on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/eruppert.923.

Get to know Erica...

Birthday? April 22

When did you start writing? Around age six

When and what and where did you first get published? 2013, a poem titled "The Queen in Red" in Rose Red Review.

What themes do you like to write about? My main themes are loss and regret.

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? Many of Tanith Lee's and Angela Carter's short works have been influences, both for the beauty of the language and the strange, mythic undertones. Also, John Steinbeck for his deceptively simple voice that captures both the intimacy of a single life and the sweep of history in almost the same breath. I aspire to be even a shred as good as any of them, and keep their voices in mind when I write.

Vodka-Induced Fae, Fiction, Issue 10, March 1, 2010

Get to know Lynn...

Birthdate? January 4

When did you start writing? About ten years ago.

When and what and where did you first get published? My short story "Brother Zimmy Fly" was published in the July 2009 issue of Reflection's Edge.

Why do you write? Because I have to.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Speculative fiction is where I feel at home.

Who is your favorite author? It's a toss-up between Janny Wurts and Anne Bishop.