Jamie Beck: My childhood writing dreams featured a Hollywood career in the television or film industries. I’d finish watching a dramatic family saga or love story and think, “I want to write something like this!” But a creative writing career seemed like a pipedream, so I went to Tulane University assuming I’d figure out what to do with the rest of my life by graduation day. I fell in love with psychology coursework, but psychiatrists go to medical school, and subjects such as biology and chemistry weren’t my forte. Alas, another career eliminated.
Month: March 2021
Shelley Nolden
A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Shelley Nolden is an entrepreneur and writer, now residing in Wisconsin. Previously, she lived in the New York City area, where she first learned of North Brother Island. At the age of 31, Shelley was diagnosed with leukemia and completed treatment three years later. The sense of isolation and fear she experienced during her cancer ordeal influenced her debut novel, THE VINES.
Drēma Drudge
Drēma Drudge suffers from Stendhal’s Syndrome, the condition in which one becomes overwhelmed in the presence of great art. She attended Spalding University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program where she learned to transform that intensity into fiction. Her debut novel, Victorine, is now available.
Dr. Matt Luckett
Dr. Matt Luckett studies and writes about the American West, World War II, and American History in general. Originally from the Midwest, Luckett received his B.A. in history from Southeast Missouri State University in 2003 and an M.A. in history from Marquette University in 2005. After taking a few years off he relocated to California, where he completed his Ph.D. in American history at UCLA in 2014. His first book, Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing and Culture in Western Nebraska, 1850 – 1890, will be released by the University of Nebraska Press in fall 2020. He is also working on a documentary about earthquake prediction scares in the Mississippi Valley and a book about his grandfather’s experiences during World War II. In his spare time, Luckett enjoys woodworking, traveling, and spending time with his family.
Jim Reese
Jim Reese is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Great Plains Writers’ Tour at Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota. Reese’s poetry and prose have been widely published, and he has performed readings at venues throughout the country, including the Library of Congress and San Quentin Prison. Reese’s awards include a First Place Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, a Distinguished Achievement Award from Mount Marty University, and a Distinguished Public Service Award in recognition of his exemplary dedication and contributions to the Education Department at Federal Prison Camp Yankton. His books include These Trespasses (The Backwaters Press, 2005), ghost on 3rd (New York Quarterly Books, 2010), and Really Happy! (New York Quarterly Books, 2014). A fourth collection, Dancing Room Only, is forthcoming by New York Quarterly Books in 2021. His first book of nonfiction, Bone Chalk, was published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press in December of 2019.
Melissa Amateis
Nebraska native Melissa Amateis grew up on a farm near Bridgeport, Nebraska. She holds a BA in history from Chadron State College and an MA in history from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). She is the author of two history books, Nebraska POW Camps and WWII Nebraska. Her debut historical fiction novel, The Stranger from Berlin, is forthcoming in August 2021 from Simon and Schuster UK. An amateur photographer, voracious Snoopy lover, and avid book collector, Amateis lives with her daughter in eastern Nebraska along with a rambunctious lab/border collie mix appropriately named Blitz and two kitties.
Steven Wingate
Steven Wingate is the author of the novels The Leave-Takers (2021) and Of Fathers and Fire (2019), both part of the Flyover Fiction Series from the University of Nebraska Press, and the short story collection Wifeshopping (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008). He is associate editor at Fiction Writers Review and associate professor of creative writing at South Dakota State University.
Tammy Euliano, MD
Tammy Euliano, MD, is a practicing anesthesiologist and tenured professor of anesthesiology at the University of Florida. In addition to a prolific list of academic publications, YouTube teaching videos, and numerous teaching awards, she has also written award-winning short fiction. Fatal Intent is her debut novel. Tammy lives in Gainesville, FL, with her husband.