Category: Author’s Answer

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.

Emma Barry is a teacher, novelist, recovering academic, and former political staffer. She lives with her high school sweetheart and a menagerie of pets and children in Virginia, and she occasionally finds time to read and write.

Stephen Harrison is an accomplished writer and tech lawyer. His fiction and nonfiction pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, and Slate magazine. For the past five years, he has penned the column “Source Notes” about Wikipedia and the world of facts on the internet. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

Born in Washington, D.C., Joy Jordan Lake grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee outside Chattanooga. Much to her sweet mother’s bafflement, Joy always preferred dogs, horses and the woods to dolls and playhouses. A shy kid who was sick a lot, she learned to love reading and creating her own stories–and avoiding wearing shoes at all costs. Living all over the country as an adult, including in New England for years, she still avoids footwear whenever possible.​

Cindy Eastman is an award-winning author whose work is informed by her ability to be an observer as well as a participant in her life. Cindy’s first book, Flip-Flops After 50: And Other Thoughts On Aging I Remembered To Write Down, was published in 2014. She has essays in several other anthologies and in online magazines and writes a weekly essay called Silver Linings. She is the creator of the “Writual” writing program, has presented nationally at the Story Circle Network Women’s Writing Conference, and has been a featured speaker on a number of panels and programs. An educator for over twenty-five years, she has a master’s degree in education and is an adjunct at Naugatuck Valley Community College teaching English. Cindy lives with her husband, Angelo, in Watertown, Connecticut.

Susan R. Greenway is a former elementary school teacher and reading specialist. She is a longtime member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators) and a graduate of the University of Washington Writing for Children Program. Elephant Touch is her debut novel, inspired by an extraordinary experience she had with an elephant in Thailand. 

Terena Elizabeth Bell is a fiction writer. Her debut short story collection, Tell Me What You See (Whiskey Tit), was a Ms Magazine pick of the month. Other writing has published in more than 100 places including The Atlantic, Playboy, MysteryTribune, Santa Monica Review, and Saturday Evening Post. Short fiction has won grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

For years, LLH Harms has written books, stories, and poems and simply placed them on a shelf. With encouragement from one of her children, she has finally decided to share her writing with all of us. The Aftertime is her debut novel. A second project, a picture book, is forthcoming. She lives in Virginia with her family.

Hailing from Bradenton, Florida, Dr. James R. Gregory is an expert in corporate branding and its effect on Wall Street. The author of six influential business books, Zephyr’s War (Morgan James Publishing, August 13, 2024) marks his debut novel.  Melding his real-life business background as the leader of an unconventional consultancy with the freedom the fiction genre affords, James is thrilled to present this fast-paced thriller which contains all the elements of business realism along with plenty of thrills to captivate and entertain. 

Del Blackwater is a novelist and travel writer based in Wisconsin. Her life vacillates wildly between a quiet existence in the country and a feverish, risk-centric existence when on the road. Her travels have taken her to four continents, and she makes questionable decisions in all of them. While Egypt is inevitably the high-water mark of both her travels and her writing, she tries to spend time in other places as well. Del is published many times over as a board game and tarot deck designer, notably as the creator of Playlist Wars, a music game. When not keeping busy, she unwinds by taking care of a menagerie of critters and enjoying something she calls porch time.