Category: Author’s Answer

Kelley McNeil is the author of A Day Like This and Mayluna. Prior to writing fiction, she worked for over a decade in the entertainment industry. A native of Pittsburgh, she lives in South Florida most of the time but can often be found in London with a good pen, good music, and her two daughters nearby.

William J Bruce III is a Canadian author, actor and celebrity publicist.  As a publicist he has worked with Shawn Harper of the NFL and the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase of the WWE during his peak in Google Trends.

A native Houstonian and a graduate of Texas Tech University, Amy W. Daughters has been a freelance writer for more than a decade — mostly covering college football and sometimes talking about her feelings. Her debut novel, You Cannot Mess This Up: A True Story That Never Happened (She Writes Press), was selected as the Silver Winner for Humor in the 2019 Foreword INDIES and the Overall Winner for Humor/Comedy in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Awards. Her second book, Dear Dana: That time I went crazy and wrote all 580 of my Facebook friends a handwritten letter (She Writes Press, 2022), has won several awards, including the 2023 Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal for NonFiction Relationships, and caught the attention of Kelly Clarkson! She lives in Tomball, Texas, a suburb of Houston. She is married to a foxy computer person, Willie, and is the lucky mother of two amazing sons, Will and Matthew.

TOM JULIAN works days at a pharmaceutical company, helping to support research into new cancer drugs, and nights and weekends as an author. He enjoys traveling, long-distance cycling, and waking up early to brew the perfect cup of coffee. He’s an unabashed beer snob and native of Trenton, New Jersey.

Tom’s first novel, TIMBERWOLF, is a military science fiction story (with strong espionage elements) originally envisioned as a film. The author worked hard to transfer its cinematic qualities to the page and hopes that Twolf is the best science-fiction movie you’ll ever read! Tom is the father of Astur and Liam (two STEM all-stars!) and husband to the lovely Brenda-Lea. He writes while warming his feet under a Cavadoodle named Vancouver.

Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jennifer Lang lives in Tel Aviv, where she runs IsraelWriterStudio. Her prize-winning essays appear in Baltimore Review, Under the Sun, Midway Journal, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is an Assistant Editor at Brevity. She runs Israel Writers Studio and practices/teaches yoga. Her award-winning Places We Left Behind: a memoir-in-miniature will be followed by Landed: A yogi’s memoir in pieces & poses (10/15/2024) both with Vine Leaves Press.  

Katherine Cobb writes books exploring love, relationships and our shared, often messy, humanity. She believes dreams come true, love conquers all, and reading and chocolate are the perfect pairing. She writes fiction, nonfiction and picture books because…why choose?

Beth Romero was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. After a thirty-year sojourn on the West Coast, she recently moved back to Philadelphia. In addition to having made her a pizza aficionado, her Italian American, East Coast background inspires the straightforward, humorous, and self-deprecating narrative style that characterizes her writing. (As every good cook knows, the secret is the salt.)

With a background and degree in psychology, Beth channeled her creativity into a successful sales and branding career. From Veep to Boss to Happiness Junkie, persuasive storytelling is her superpower. She showcases those skills to their fullest in this practical and entertaining how-to guide for happiness.

Jody Gelb has a forty-year career acting on stage and screen. She has portrayed roles in the Tony Award-winning Broadway plays The Who’s Tommy, Titanic, Big River, and Wicked, among others. Gelb also played Joan of Arc’s mother in the David Byrne rock opera Joan of Arc: Into the Fire at The Public Theater in New York and was a featured player in the world premiere of Shel Silverstein’s Wild Life with Julie Hagerty, Henderson Forsythe, William H. Macy, and Raynor Scheine. On television, she has appeared in guest roles in Gunplay, Law & Order, and Dr. Death. Gelb is now following the career of her daughter, Dora Jar, as she tours the USA and the world as a singer-songwriter.

CJ Cook is an author, historian, and biographer of artists working in Polynesia, primarily Hawaii and Tahiti. His first biography about Ralph Burke Tyree, Tyree: Artist of the South Pacific (2017), won two Gold Awards for Best Cover and Best Biography from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). His second book about Edgar Leeteg, Leeteg: Babes, Bars, Beaches, and Black Velvet Art, was awarded a Gold Medal for Best Biography from the IBPA. Cook is a lifelong manuscript collector who has a particular interest in art and the South Pacific. He is a Manuscript Society board member dedicated to preserving historical documents. 

Teresa H. Janssen’s essays and short fiction have appeared in Zyzzyva, Catamaran, Parabola, Chautauqua, Eastern Iowa Review, Los Angeles Review and elsewhere; and in the anthology, Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis. Her writing has twice been designated notable in Best American Essays. Her debut novel, The Ways of Water, inspired by her grandmother’s early life, is forthcoming November 2023 from She Writes Press. She lives with her husband in Port Townsend, WA.