Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.
Between the years of 1999 and 2007 Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection, "Pray the Rain Never Ends".
Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue in cheek, "A Death at the North Pole", created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.
October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, "Kill 4 Me." A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.
Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, "The Pentacle of Light". The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.
Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book "The Return" in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.
Currently, he resides in Sedona, AZ.
Author, Educator, Photographer, & International Development Activist
D. A. Blankinship's stories immerse you in timeless places where you meet people who are familiar, yet, mysterious. His stories take place in the hopes and fears of a couple with a new baby, in the courage and determination of a young girl growing up in a remote cabin, or in a post-apocalyptic future ruled by a tyrannical government.
Blankinship's characters have serious problems and he takes you into the thoughts and lives of these people as they confront their life-changing crises. Their decisions and the results of their decisions, will surprise you.
In his stories, Blankinship draws on his extensive professional experiences in a variety of settings and places. He has worked as a clinical psychologist at a state school and hospital in Nevada, MO; as a senior research psychologist at a military prison in Fort Riley, KS; as a senior associate with a consulting firm in Fairfax, VA; and as director of research development at a university-affiliated research corporation in Greeley, CO. In higher education, Blankinship has held appointments teaching for the University of Southern California and Pittsburg State University; as associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; and as director of research & sponsored programs and as dean of university extended education at California State University-Stanislaus.
Blankinship is committed to ending the deadly impacts of extreme poverty. While in Ethiopia as a guest of the Prime Minister in 2002, he co-founded Praxis Ethiopia to serve as an international alliance of professionals working to help Ethiopia and sub-Sahara Africa. Returning in 2004, he helped to develop a model for using the prickly pear cactus as a food to help bridge droughts and famines in northeastern Ethiopia. In 2005, he started The Praxis Ethiopia Foundation (www.PraxisEthiopia.org). Since that time, the Foundation has raised funds to help train farmers, healthcare workers, and educators in Ethiopia. Blankinship speaks to civic groups and places of worship on the realities of extreme poverty and the importance of practical solutions for meeting community needs.
Blankinship is a past president of the UW-Whitewater/ Community Optimist's Club and a past president of the Rotary Club of Oswego. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International Foundation. He is also a member of the Oswego City Council, serving on the rural water development committee and the mayor's healthcare advisory taskforce.
Blankinship likes cars. He has driven a formula race car at the Laguna Seca International Speedway in Monterey, California and he spends his leisure time tuning and maintaining his vintage 1973 Porsche 914 Sport.
His other leisure pursuits include photography, his continuing quest for the perfect homemade pizza, the maximum hopped homebrewed India Pale Ale, and the ideal cup of home roasted coffee (Ethiopian, of course).
Blankinship and his family live in Oswego, Kansas. Their home is situated on seven acres of densely wooded land on a bluff one hundred feet above the Neosho River Valley; it is an excellent setting for writing and for raising the family's rambunctious German Shepherd Dogs.
I was born in New York State, but due to my father’s job on the railroad, we moved around a lot. I went to three different high schools in three years. I graduated from the State University of New York College of Ceramics at Alfred (Go Saxon Warriors!). I still can’t sing the line in the school song, “Alfred, the other of men” without giggling at the several, warped levels of meaning. Following graduation I got married as that was the current thing to do. The best results of that doomed partnership are my three sons. I have been happily married to my second husband for over 30 years.
As for work, I was an art teacher, a bank teller, a newspaper reporter and editor, and administrative assistant for the local chamber of commerce. Each job lasted about 10 years, after which I would get either fed up with the politics, bored, or attracted by something that sounded more interesting. I didn’t realize it at the time, but trying on these different hats gave me a wider background for my stories than I might have had if I had stayed in one job until retirement. The down side is, I have no retirement. And the up side of that is that I create Web sites for local businesses and organizations. I do charge, but I’d do it for free if I didn’t need the money. If I had a complaint about the cards life has dealt me, it would be that computers should have been invented when I was younger.
It was a surprise to me and everyone else when I wrote a book about my breast cancer in 2002, “I’d Rather Go to California.” I still have people coming up to me and saying how much the book helped them, which makes me feel that it was worthwhile. My second book – pure fiction this time – is due out this year from Draumr Publishing, is also about a woman facing b.c., but this time I made her husband a real jerk, sort of a “what if” story since my own husband was very supportive and I certainly never faced the challenges Kat faces. I have two more making the rounds, a light romance and a story about friendship; and my working partner and I have co-authored a dark comedy/suspense and are experimenting with the social network route of creating a fan base while we seek publication. (www.plotz-thenovel.com)
On a personal note, I belong to several clubs (I founded the Anson County Writer’s Club in 1989 and it is still going strong) and do volunteer work. My hobbies are reading, writing , taking day trips with our church No Boundaries friends and avoiding housework as much as possible. I admire our garden from the safety of the deck and generously allow my husband to do all the cooking. We have three grandchildren who are like their Lake Woebegon counterparts, above average in looks and intelligence.
Ellen M. George, a second generation Greek American, is a native of Atlanta Georgia. She has had magazine articles published in various publications. She debuted her short story ‘THIRST’ for the first Shameless Shorts Anthology. THIRST, taking a life of its own, is in process to becoming a full length novel.
Ellen is also writing a screenplay adaptation of a well known recent novel. She is also known for her oil paintings and abstract alabaster sculptures. She also has degrees in English, History, and Education.
But firstly, her love is the written word. An avid reader, she read Shakespeare when she was seven and wrote her first play at eight years of age.
She has literally read thousands of books, and has also in the last several years shared her book reviews with Amazon, being a top 1000 reviewer, as well as reviewing on other online sites, including AuthorsDen.com. Her favorite genres are paranormal, vampires, historical novels and thrillers.
She takes pride to support the independent authors of the Shameless Writing Forums created by Dennis Batchelder.
Favorite authors and influences are Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Kostova, John Connolly, Jeannie Kalogrides, as well as the many independent “Shameless Authors” featured in these anthologies.
A student of the metaphysical, Ellen studies Edgar Cayce, Kathleen Tucci among others. She has been blessed to have had many metaphysical experiences with Spirit and Angels and has written works influenced by the metaphysical, which literally means ‘what is beyond the physical.’
Donald Gorman was born on September 25, 1961 in Albany, NY. He grew up in the nearby town of East Greenbush and graduated from Columbia High School in 1979. He currently works in the Purchasing Dept. for the State of NY in Albany. His hobbies include scary movies, frightening strangers and friends alike, stamp-collecting and writing the occasional horror novel. He currently has 8 horror novels available in paperback on Amazon. Most of his work is also available on his website at www.wrongfulsecrets.com. His novels from most recent (and best) to oldest are: Paradox, Wrongful Secrets, The Red Veil, Deliciously Evil: A Cookbook for Killers, A Grave in Autumn, Macabre Astrology, The Waters of Satan's Creek and The Brick Mirror. By the way, I was only kidding before. He doesn't really collect stamps...but he DOES enjoy scaring people!
Fran Orenstein, Ed.D., published author and poet, is an experienced editor of poetry and prose for other authors. Born in Brooklyn, NY, she grew up in Brooklyn and the Bronx (go Yankees) where she received an outstanding education and was exposed to the limitless culture of New York City. Summers in the Catskill Mountains fostered a love of the lore of the area, especially the works of Washington Irving and the mountainous beauty has influenced her poetry. Fran wrote her first poem at age eight, got her first rejection slip at age 12, and has written and published academically and professionally since then. This included working as a magazine editor and writer, writing political speeches and material for state government and newsletters for various organizations, companies and agencies.
She has held many positions including early childhood teacher, writer/editor, rehabilitation counselor, developer and manager of social programs for women and children, particularly in the areas of gender equity, disabilities, prevention of violence, child care, and as Special Projects and Disability Officer for AmeriCorps in New Jersey.
The job she loved the most was raising three wonderful kids who are now bright, talented and fantastic adults. She is especially proud of her three grandchildren, Rachel, age 11, Aaron, age 8, and Zayden, age 2. Rachel is a voracious reader and has contributed incredible ideas and suggestions for many of the books and poems that her Granny writes.
Fran is a prize-winning author of poetry for adults, which have been published in anthologies, including The Love and Romance Poetry Anthology and Tales of the Supernatural. Her adult short stories have also won prizes and critical acclaim, including Destiny published in From The Shadows, an anthology of short stories.
Fran's juvenile credits include four previously published ‘tween novels (kids, ages 9-13) and a book of children’s poetry. The second edition of the first book in a fantasy series, The Wizard of Balalac from The Book of Mysteries is now available at www.sleepytownpress.com, www.amazon.com, all other on-line bookstores and can be ordered from bookstores everywhere [ISBN# 978-0-9826344-2-4]. Watch for the debut of book two in this series, The Gargoyles of Blackthorne coming at the end of April 2010, also from Sleepytown Press. [ISBN# 978-0-9826344-3-1] Currently, she is planning book three in The Book of Mysteries Series, The Griffons of Spyr.
A teen historical romance novel, The Spice Merchant's Daughter arrives in October 2010 from Whiskey Creek Press in Ebook format. And…there are more books as yet unpublished or waiting to be republished.
Fran just finished an adult anthology of mystery, ghost, and vampire short stories, Danse Macabre, which is currently awaiting a publishing home. In addition, she is writing an adult novel of human frailty and redemption, with bursts of poetic creativity in between. She is a member of several poetry and writing groups in the Tampa Bay are of Florida, where she lives with her warring cats, Salem and Lilibit.
Dr. Orenstein's academic credentials are: a BA in Early Childhood Education from Brooklyn College; an MEd in Counseling Psych from the College of NJ; and an EdD in Child & Youth Studies from Nova Southeastern University. Her practical dissertation, published on ERIC, speaks to biases and gender equity in the classroom that when recognized and reversed, will encourage young girls to enjoy and pursue higher mathematics.
Fran also co-hosts a blogtalkradio show with poet and author Deborah Simpson. Check it out on www.blogtalkradio/droundtable.com. If you have an interesting story to tell about yourself, your experiences or your writing, we welcome you to apply to be on the show.
Please visit Fran's website at www.franorenstein.weebly.com and www.myspace.com/franorenstein to learn more about her, check out other websites for writers' groups to which she belongs, or visit her on Facebook and become a friend.
On a personal note, Fran is a strong believer in volunteerism and has been volunteering for most of her adult life. Currently, she is a volunteer at the local elementary school helping fourth-grade students with writing skills and reading, and she is a proctor for American Mensa, administering tests to potential members.
Her philosphy is threefold:
There is a solution to every problem using creative and positive thinking; Help others, either by a simple act of kindness or a volunteer project. It will come back even though it might not be obvious or immediate; and, Life is an adventure, live it.
Lila L. Pinord was born and raised in a small Native American fishing village called Queets, a part of the greater Quinault Indian Nation along the coast of Washington State. Because of this, many of her own experiences and knowledge of reservation life- such as myths, legends and superstitions of her people- are included in her writings.
Salutatorian of her high school class in Quinault, she received a scholarship to Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, Washington, and attended for a year. She married, had one daughter, then later went on to Peninsula College in Port Angeles, majoring in secretarial. From there, Lila attended Western Washington University and gained a degree in accounting. However, writing has always been her first love, and she continues it in Port Angeles, where she lives now.
Her first book SKYE DANCER was published in 2003 and the second EVIL LIVES IN BLUE ROCK came out in 2005. MIN’S MONSTER, her latest, came out in 2007. Lila is a contributor to 200 AUTHORS AND HOW THEY WERE PUBLISHED and THE PUBLISHED AUTHORS’ GUIDE TO PROMOTION. Her story DAY OF THE CLOWNS can be seen in the anthology called SHAMELESS SHORTS.
SKYE DANCER was chosen to be featured on the State of Washington Library website in December 2006 under Mysteries of the Northwest. It is now on Amazon's Kindle. On June 19, 2008, Lila had the honor of being interviewed about her books on SedonaTalkRadio. Lila’s fourth book is forthcoming called IN TIME.
Copyright 2010 by each respective author, all rights reserved