Category: Author’s Answer

Nicole Bokat’s first novel, Redeeming Eve, was published by The Permanent Press. It was nominated for both the Hemingway Foundation/PEN award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction. What Matters Most, her second novel, was published by The Penguin Group. Her third novel, The Happiness Thief, was published by She Writes Press. It was a 2021 Foreword Indie Awards Finalist.

Brandi Dredge is a mom, encourager, and author. She shares her story with the hopes that what she went through will bring encouragement to victims and/or individuals who could benefit from knowing about God’s favor and blessings in their lives. She enjoys swimming in the deep end of mystical thoughts, wading in emotions to pen poetry, and sipping a strong cup of coffee. She is a member of The National Association of Memoir Writers and resides in St. Joseph, Missouri.

A native of Los Angeles, Kes Trester is a veteran of the film and TV commercial industry. Her debut novel, A Dangerous Year, is currently being developed for film/television. The Nine, the first entry in a multibook, contemporary YA/NA romantasy series published by Owl Hollow Press, hit shelves October 2022, with the sequel, Alder House, released September 2023. The third book, To theNines, comes out October 22, 2024.

Stephanie Vasquez has recently published essays on Refinery29 and The Opal Club. She has also reported for the Tombstone Epitaph in Southern Arizona. As a bi-racial Mexican American who grew up sixty miles north of the US–Mexico border, she was inspired to major in journalism and minor in Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona. Stephanie currently lives in Goodyear, Arizona.

Robert E. Eliot is the author of Nolanverse: Exploring the Greatest Illusion in Movie History: An Unauthorized New Analysis of The Dark Knight Rises and Mi Negro Amigo: An Unauthorized New Analysis of Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. He lives and works in the state of Washington and looks forward to writing additional nonfiction books in the future.

Dr. Donna Marks is a best-selling, multiple award-winning author, educator, and licensed psychotherapist and addictions counselor in Palm Beach, Florida for more than thirty years.

Phillip W. Price began his law enforcement career with the City of Canton, Georgia, Police Department in late 1974 at the age of 19. On January 1, 1976 Price was hired as a Radio Operator for the Georgia State Patrol assigned to the Headquarters Communications Center. On January 8, 1978 Price transferred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) as a Special Agent. Price retired as a Special Agent in Charge (SAC) in 2006.

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of the literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes contemporary fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

In her first career, Zelly was a social worker in the adoption and foster care field. From there, she owned an online retail store specializing in hand-painted children’s gifts and party favors. Along the way, Zelly volunteered and raised funds for several non-profit organizations. In an alternate universe, she is probably an event planner. But once she moved to New York City, Zelly gave in to the compulsion to write women’s fiction spiced with suspense about motherhood, relationships, loss and love. Her debut novel, Not Yours to Keep, comes out October 2024 with She Writes Press.

Elom K. Akoto immigrated to the United States from Togo (West Africa). He earned a bachelor’s degree in Education and a master’s degree in TESOL (Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages). He is the founder of Learn and Care, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote Literacy and Adult Education, not only among immigrants but also among Native Americans who missed the opportunity to earn a high school diploma. The program offers ESL, literacy, GED preparation classes, and more. He self-published two ESL workbooks: Ideal Companion, ESL level 1 and Ideal Companion, ESL level 2. He teaches French in a high school and ESL at a community college in Omaha, Nebraska, where he lives with his family. Akoto’s debut novel, BLINDSPOT IN AMERICA, will be released by Red Hen Press on October 1, 2024.