Meet the Writers

Here is a bit about the writers who contributed their stories and poems to the Wisdom of Our Mothers anthology. (The names of their stories are in parentheses.)

Aderemi Adegbite (“Be Proud, My Child”), a Nigerian based in Lagos, has engraved his name in the literary environs with his poetry that is purely African. His works always have an undertone of African consciousness and some dwell on the values, arts and culture of the entire Black race. Most of his works have been published abroad in different anthologies alongside works of literary giants (renowned poets) in the United Kingdom, USA and Journals in Nigeria. Recently, his works appear on Poeticdiversity, Blottamagazine and Blackbiro.

He is a member of Creative Family International and Pen-circle of the University of Lagos, both are literary organizations, and the immediate past Publicity Secretary of the Association of Nigeria Authors, Lagos Chapter (ANA Lagos).

Lily Alex (“Cattails”) is the author of two published novels: “Lost on Earth: Fateful Love” and “The Russians Are Coming!” She was born in 1969, Moscow, Russia. She started to read when she was four. Reading is still her passion. She prefers classical romantic literature, modern fantasy tales, and stories about animals. She’s married and has a daughter.

Liz Allen (“Radiance”) writes: I grew up in Tampa, Florida where I attended the University of South Florida. I moved out to California in 1990 where I met my future husband whom I married in 1992. In 1995 I had a child and in 1999 post-traumatic syndrome brought on by three earthquakes forced me back to Florida. My first book “Who Got Liz Gardner” is available on www.elizabeth-allen.com. My second book “Discovering Arugula” which is a sequel to “Who Got Liz Gardner” will be available in summer 2010.

Sally Bellerose (“Bikini”) writes: The themes of my work often involve sexuality, illness, and class. I’ve been writing about family lately and find the themes haven’t changed much. The older I get the more interested I become in using humor and absurdity in my art. I have received various grants and fellowships including an NEA, the Barbara Deming Fiction Prize, and the Rick DeMartinis Award. My recently published work can be read in Rock and Sling, The Binnacle, The Journal of Humanistic Anthropology, Boston Literary Magazine, Passager, Cutthroat, Saint Ann’s Review, Per Contra, and Memoir (and). Please email me at sbellerose(at)comcast.net.

B. Lynch Black (“Mincey Stew”) has written and published numerous short stories, essays and reviews. Most recently: novella “The Gantlet” in Circlet Press Anthology January 2008; “The Meaning of (Coffee),” Third Place, Portia Steele Poetry Contest 2007; short story “All of Me,” Forbidden Publications, September 2006; short story “Sitting at the Gate of the Temple,” in Watching Time anthology, October 2006; “A Silver Hair First” in Category, Green Rivers Poetry 2005; “Indicia” in Binnacle Ultra-Short Poetry Anthology 2005; short story “In the House of Mourning,” WriteLink.com UK 2003. She currently is working on a historical fantasy novel for which she received a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation.

L. Michael Black (“Samurai Mother”) attended Central High School Philadelphia, PA - received an A.A. degree; served in the 82nd Airborne, Korean War; undergraduate studies - B.A. in English at Cheyney State University. His passions are public speaking, writing and photography. He enjoyed a successful career in government and private industry; is a 27 year follower of the Nichiren Daishonin Buddhist Sect (SGI-USA); a committed advocate for World Peace; in 1968 awarded a Congressional Fellowship. He is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the American Legion Department of California, and Kiwanis International.

Sylvia Bright-Green (“Bread Making: A Rite of Passage”) has been writing since 1977 and has been published over 1600 articles, columns, photo-features, and short stories in local and national publications. She has also been published in nine anthologies, a “Famous Wisconsin Mystics” book by Badger Books, co-authored the “Sheboygan County: One Hundred Years of Progress” state historical book, hosted a cable talk show, and taught writing and parapsychology at conferences and colleges in her home state of Wisconsin. Websites: www.sylviabright-green.com and www.theuncannygranny.com.

Dalia van den Boogaard (“Always, Mama”) is very much her mother’s daughter. Her family comes first and spending time with them is what she enjoys most. When she’s not watching a good film with her husband, chatting with her son about college life, watching her younger son play baseball, going to the beach with her daughter, or wrestling a tennis ball away from her dog, she might be fiddling around in the garden or at the computer, or sharing a bottle of wine with friends. A resident of Southern California (but a Chicagoan at heart), Dalia writes regularly for Live OC magazine.

Iona Carroll (“An Ordinary / Extraordinary Day”) has published features and short stories in literary magazines in Australia and the UK. At present, she is working on a family saga contained in three novels, “The Story of Fr Vic,” which span over fifty years and set in three countries. The first book, “Choices and Changes,” begins the story in the 1950s/60s in a fictional town in the West of Ireland. The other two novels, “Familiar Yet Far” and “Homecoming,” conclude the trilogy.
Iona is currently the Secretary of the Borders Writers’ Forum www.borderswriterforum.com and is a member of the society of Authors www.societyofauthors.org.

Selene Castrovilla (“Feed Your Soul”) is an award-winning teen and children’s author. Her teen novels are Saved By the Music and The Girl Next Door. Her children’s books – both about little known events in the American Revolution – are By The Sword and Upon Secrecy. Selene holds an MFA in creative writing from New School University and a BA in English from New York University. She lives on Long Island with her two sons. Visit her website www.SeleneCastrovilla.com.
Vijayalakshmi Chary’s (“Laying a Foundation”) passion for writing children’s stories developed when she was in middle school. Since then, her stories have been published in Highlights for Children, Ladybug Magazine, Boys’ Life and many other magazines. She is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. More information on her work can be found at her upcoming website www.vijikchary.com

Evelyn (Eve) Cogdell (“Mama Said”) writes: I am a Chicago author/writer/poet, with a few published books and several published articles and poems to my credit. My writings cover a variety of topics such as romance, religion, nature, characterizations, and adventure, as well as other issues of life. Two of my books include “Cashmere & Silk,” a novel, and “Matters of the Heart,” a short story collection. Both books are available from me at Green Apple Publications; please contact me at evecogdell(at)sbcglobal.net for more information.

JaeLynn Conrad (“A Brand New Woman”) is a freelance writer from Saskatchewan, Canada.

Flavia Cosma (“My Mother”) is an award-winning Romanian-born Canadian poet, author and translator. She took her Master in electrical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest. After that she studied drama for two years. She has authored twenty books, of which fourteen are poetry collections. Her poetry book 47 POEMS (Texas Tech University Press, 1992), won the prestigious ALTA Richard Wilbur Poetry in Translation Prize. Her documentary Romania, A Country at the Crossroads won the Canadian Scene National Award. She was awarded Third Prize in the John Dryden Translation Competition-2007, for co-translating In The Arms of The Father, poems by Flavia Cosma.

Althea Gael Coupé (“Why Forgive”) (née Everton) is 55 and lives in Grahamstown, South Africa. She is a Secretary in the Physics and Electronics Department, Rhodes University. She is mother to three children and their spouses, Jeanette and Gert; Grant and Sheree; Michelle and Greg; and became proud grandmother to Ruby in 2007. She has one elder brother. Her devoted parents are recently both deceased. Her Christian walk is grounded in God’s provision of so loving the world that He gave his only Son that we might find His forgiveness.

Julie Curwin (“Never Too Late”) writes: I am a psychiatrist and part-time writer in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. My fiction and creative non-fiction has appeared in various publications, including the Canadian Medical Association Journal, The Medical Post, The Undercurrents Anthology, and on the web at www.coffeehousefiction.com. In November of 2008, my short story “World Backwards” was selected as the overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition (www.cba.org.uk).

Lynne Daroff (“The Motherhood Myth”) is a political activist, freelance writer and grandmother…not necessarily in that order.

Carole Davis’s (“All You Didn’t Do”) publishing credits include writings in The Whimsic Alley Book of Spells, the Language of Leadership, Pawsitively Awesome Pet Poems, The innocence of Children, Best Modern Voices, Volume 1: A Poetry Anthology, in greeting cards from www.boomerwomenspeak.com.

Laura A. Davis (“Moment for Truth”) lives in Albany, NY with her loving husband, Steve, of over 20 years, with their two sons. She is writing a book about recognizing your own resiliency. Her career has been dedicated to human services. Laura believes everyone should volunteer in their community in some way; she currently volunteers for the local chapter of American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. Volunteering is a good way to stretch outside your comfort zone and learn to open your heart and mind while growing and gaining more than you imagined.

Mary Dempsey (“Tale of Tails”) is a former New Jersey early childhood teacher. Following her teaching career, she was co-owner of an independent bookshop in Clinton, New Jersey. She has had short stories published in several magazines and local newspapers. Mary is now retired and resides with her husband in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Liz Dolan’s (“An Irish Trilogy”) first poetry manuscript, “A Secret of Long Life,” which is seeking a publisher, was nominated for the Robert McGrath Prize. She has been published in On the Mason Dixon Line: An Anthology of Contemporary Delaware Writers. A five-time Pushcart nominee, she won an established artist fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts, 2009. Her first poetry collection, “They Abide,” was recently published by March Street Press. She is most proud of the offsite school she ran in The Bronx and her nine grand children.

Melissa England (“A Motherless Daughter”) has developed and taught high school classes on domestic violence, and has taught at the Center for Attitudinal Healing. Her website, www.melissasdiary.com, tells how her experience as a victim of abuse became the basis for her life work.

Fred Evans (“Portrait of the Artist’s Mother”) is a middle-aged accountant and occasional freelance writer living in Bellingham, Washington.

Deepanjolie Sonya Figg (“The Ignoble Insult”) is a young mother (“though the brat is fast-aging me”) and is also a full-time freelance writer who works from a home-office in the foothills of the Himalayas or back in the city-lights of Pune, near Mumbai, India. Her recent articles have been featured in Marwar (Jan 08 issue - Spirituality), InsideTrack (March 08 issue- Pritzker Prize winner feature), Home Review (April 08 issue - feature on The Straf hotel, Milan.)

Sandra Fischer (“Things Mother Taught Me”) taught high school English in Indiana and owned a Christian bookstore for several years. Most of her writing is devoted to stories from her experiences growing up in the Midwest. She has been published in Guideposts, trade journals and more recently in Faithwriters Magazine and Faithwriters.com online. Sandra is retired and lives in South Carolina with her husband, Craig, where she continues to write.

Virginia Fortner (“Quilting Remembrance”), following an urge to express herself since she began to print, has published essays, poetry, fiction, and children’s stories. Now, mostly retired from a lifetime of teaching, she meets with Plains/Paradise, Montana Writers after being part of Kansas City Writers Group for many years. Back home in Clark Fork Valley, Montana, from four years' teaching English in Chinese provinces, she plans to guide a travel group to China in the future. She is also learning to use a weed-eater, and watching wildlife on her mountain. Link to www.vfortner.wordpress.com for China and Montana stories.

Michele Graves (“The Lesson I Refuse to Learn”) writes from her home in Everett, Washington. She is a communications specialist for Edmonds Community College and has published articles in daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers. She considers her greatest writing accomplishment to be the daily letters she sent to Sam Graves from 1995 to 1997 during her service in the Peace Corps in Lesotho, Africa. He married her shortly after her return to the United States. Write Ms. Graves at mgraves(at)edcc.edu.

Gwen Russell Green (“Mama Matters”) is a Media Specialist at Stephenson Middle School in DeKalb County, Georgia. She also earned several grant awards to create literary events throughout DeKalb County, GA and the City of Atlanta. Ms. Green is also a freelance writer who has self-published two volumes of poetry, “From the Edges,” and “Another Beside Adam.” She has published in the Atlanta-Journal and Constitution, The Catalyst Magazine, The New South Review, On Common Ground newspaper, Good News Magazine, The Atlanta Track Club Magazine and in the “Reach of Song” poetry anthology published by the Georgia Poetry Society. She wrote a weekly fitness column for The Champion Newspaper for many years. She has taught creative writing for Georgia State University in the Continuing Education Program.http://www.gwenrussellgreen.com.

Like many daughters, when Jean Hendrickson (“At My Mother’s Knee”) was in her late teens, she and her mother clashed over rules and ideals. Fortunately, she learned to respect their differences and to love her mother for the wonderful woman she was.
A year to the day after her death in 1989, Addie McLeod visited her daughter and left her with the last in a series of “mother poems.”

Jean Hendrickson’s book, Tiny Poems for Women Who Think They Hate Poetry, can be found at http://www.hamptonroadswriters.org/jeanhendrickson.php. Additionally, she has had thirty-two short stories and poems published in literary journals since 1993.

Andrea Hernandez Holm (“Prayers and Other Ofrendas”) is a long-time resident of central and southern Arizona. She was born and raised in the Casa Grande area. Her family arrived in the region in the 1940s, on a journey that began in their homelands of Chihuahua, Mexico. Her heritage is mestizo of Tarahumara, Nahuatl, and Spanish ancestry. Website: http://andreahernandezholm.webs.com/

Roxanne Hoffman (“Yom Kippur circa 1962”) worked on Wall Street, now answers a patient hotline for a New York home healthcare provider. Her words can be found on and off the net in literary journals including AMAZE: THE CINQUAIN JOURNAL, BEST POEM, CLOCKWISE CAT, DANSE MACABRE, THE FIB REVIEW, HOSPITAL DRIVE, LUCID RHYTHMS, MOBIUS: THE POETRY MAGAZINE, THE PEDESTAL MAGAZINE, and SHAKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN; the indie flick LOVE AND THE VAMPIRE; and in multiple anthologies including THE BANDANA REPUBLIC: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates (Soft Skull Press), LOVE AFTER 70 (Wising Up Press), and most recently IT ALL CHANGED IN AN INSTANT: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure (Harper Perennial), CHOPIN WITH CHERRIES: A Tribute in Verse (Moonrise Press ) and FROM THE PORCH SWING - Memories of Our Grandparents (Silver Boomer Books). She and her husband own the small press, Poets Wear Prada. For more about their press, visit http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com.

Stephanie Holbrook (“One Man's Trash is My Mother's Treasure”) is a freelance copywriter with experience in broadcast, print and web advertising. Originally from Atlanta, GA she now resides in Concord, NC where she attempts to get enough writing gigs to pay the bills while simultaneously wrangling a small herd of rescued animals.

Anne-Marie Hood (“Take It or Leave It”) is a member of the Professional Writers’ Association of Canada. She does book reviews for Brunswick News with over thirty published to date. Her writing credits also include: Pets Quarterly, Faith and Friends and Nimbus Publishing’s Christmas in the Maritimes (2006) and A Maritime Christmas (2008) anthologies. She writes a column, A Slice of Life for the River Region Reporter newspaper.
Website: Anne-MarieHood.ca.

Dee Ann E. L. Horvath (“Water’s Edge,” “Mother in Despair”) writes: I was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1955. Married to my high school sweet heart for over 33 years and we have three wonderful daughters together. To me every person is a novel waiting to be read. Some are better reading than others are but there is always something to be learned. Recently I have found writing poetry and short stories to be my passion. You can reach me at Ambereye3(at)aol.com or http://hometown.aol.com/ambereye3 to find out where to read more of my writings.

By day Patrick Hurley (“A Mother’s Love”) is Production Manager for the Great Book Foundation in Chicago and by night (and sometimes by morning) he writes fiction. Patrick's work has featured e-zines Allegory and Niteblade, the podcasts Well Told Tales and The Drabblecast, Ghostlight magazine, and the science fiction humor anthology “Strange Worlds of Lunacy” by CyberWizards Press.

Amanda Hyslop (“Moon for Momma”) is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the Chicago area. She has worked as an advocacy based counselor at Womencare Shelter and Domestic Violence Services. She has also participated in V-Day, a global non-profit that has raised over $50 million for women's anti-violence groups through benefits of The Vagina Monologues. Amanda has written several articles for Advance for Nurses.

Beverly A. Jackson (“Photo Synthesis”) is a poet, artist, and writer living in the mountains of North Carolina. She has been published in over 70 venues, in both print and online literary journals. Her work was nominated for a BASS award, and appeared in the Best American Flash Fiction in the 21st Century – Anthology 2006. She was a finalist in the 2008 Per Contra Short Story Contest. Her book of poetry “Every Burning Thing” was published by Pudding Press in 2008. Her art work appears at www.artshackstudio.com.

Sally Jadlow (“The What-if’s”) is author of “The Late Sooner,” available at http://AWOCbooks.com or www.SallyJadlow.com. Her blog is at http://thelatesooner.blogspot.com. See the review at The Daily Oklahoman http://www.newsok.com/article/2989064/

Diane Kolb (“A Shepherd Hears the Angels’ Song”) is a Philadelphia native who began her writing career as a children’s librarian and storyteller. She received her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Drexel University and served as a children’s librarian in both the public and elementary school libraries. Her middle grade novel, “My Father is a Clown” (Publish America), was nominated for the 2003 Christopher Award. Her short stories have been included in Haunted Experiences (Atriad Press), and “Whose Panties are These? More Misadventures from Funny Women on the Road” as well as Reminisce Magazine and Cat Fancy Magazine.

Kathy Krisko (“Mother Bear”) lives in rural northern Colorado with her two dogs. She was born in Kentucky and raised in the Mojave Desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the story “Mother Bear” occurred. She received a BS degree in Park Administration and an MS in Forestry. She has been employed as a park ranger for 19 years and has lived in locations from the Canada border in Montana to southeast Texas. She has previously published two short stories about rescued dogs in the anthologies “Happy Endings” and “Happy Endings II”. Website: www.muirmaid.net. Contact email: muirmaid(at)basicisp.net.

Erin Lawlor (“Wigilia”) graduated from Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver, NJ in 2008. It is here where her passion for writing grew. Under the instruction of Dr. Gretna Wilkinson, Erin’s creativity and imagination were able to flourish. Erin was a winner of the 2008 NJ High School Poetry Contest, funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. After high school, Erin attended Georgian Court University in Lakewood, NJ. Erin credits her family and friends for their support and Dr. Wilkinson and her Creative Writing Family for their inspiration which allowed Erin to develop into the writer she is today.

Loraine Lawson (“My Momma Told Me”) is an award-winning journalist. She has worked as the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's Webmaster and as a writer and editor at TechRepublic, developing content for CIOs and high-level IT managers. While living in Oklahoma, she worked with the Associated Press, covering the Oklahoma City bombing before becoming a reporter with a daily paper covering education, politics, and crime. There she produced an award-winning series on property tax reform and took first place in feature writing. She has since returned to Kentucky with her husband. Website: http://loraine-lawson.blogspot.com

James W. Lewis (“Cerebral Chaos”) is a novelist and freelance writer published in several books. After spending twenty years in the Navy, James retired from active duty and now moonlights as an assistant personal trainer while completing his studies in Kinesiology. Here's a link to his book, Sellout, about interracial relationships: http://www.pantheoncollective.com/coming-soon/sellout

Christy Lowman (“Always Prepared”) is a freelance writer from the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Her work has been published in several anthology books. She is married to her high school sweetheart, with whom she has two wonderful sons.

Rose Marks (“Love Overpowers All”) is a recent graduate of Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver, NJ. If anyone knows of her whereabouts, please ask her to contact Familia Books.

Tara L. Masih (“In Training”) is editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction (a ForeWord Book of the Year) and author of Where the Dog Star Never Glows: Stories. She has published fiction, poetry, and essays in numerous anthologies and literary magazines (including Confrontation, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Natural Bridge, Red River Review, Night Train, and The Caribbean Writer), and several limited edition illustrated chapbooks featuring her flash fiction have been published by The Feral Press. Awards for her work include first place in The Ledge Magazine’s fiction contest and Pushcart Prize, Best New American Voices, and Best of the Web nominations. Website: www.taramasih.com

With her husband Ron, Caryl McAdoo (“So You Want to Hear God”) runs River Bottom Ranch and Longhorn Creek Press in Texas. They have co-authored and published ten titles: “Great Firehouse Cooks of Texas,” “Antiquing in North Texas,” and four novels: “The Thief of Dreams” (a thriller), “The Apple Orchard Bed and Breakfast” (a mature inspirational romance), “Absolute Pi” (a mystery), and “The Price Paid” (a WWII story based on true experiences of Ron's father). Four titles are for children: “The Adventures of Sergeant Socks,” “The Journey Home,” “The Bravest Heart,” and “Amazing Graci, Guardian of the River Bottom Ranch.” Websites: www.longhorncreekpress.com, www.riverbottomranch.com

Lyn McConchie (“Mum’s Legacy: A True Tale”) started writing professionally twenty years ago. Since then she has seen some 250 of her short stories appear and sold twenty-four books in several genres – two of the latest appearing this year from Cyberwizard Productions (“South of Rio Chama” and “Summer of Dreaming”), one from Daverana Enterprises (“Vestiges of Flames”), and another from TOR (“The Questing Road”) in 2010. She owns and runs a small farm breeding black and coloured sheep, and sharing the 19th century farmhouse with Thunder, her Ocicat, and 7,000 books.

Myrna McKee (“FDR (Winter of 1937),” “The Blue Danube”) is a transplanted Yankee who has lived in the south for 30 years. She is a nationally published journalist, syndicated columnist, and comedic storyteller; member and co-founder of new guild, Upstate Story Tellers 2009; co-founder of new guild Clemson Area Story Tellers (CAST) 2009; National Organization of Woman Writers; “Prime Time” Senior Advocate; Inspirational Speaker. Her columns include “A Slice of Life” and “How to Live life Lower on the Hog” in the Seneca Journal, Clemson Messenger, and www.UpstateToday.com. National Blog: PainlessPennyPinching.com. E-mail mmyrnamckee(at)bellsouth.net.

Rajendar Menen (“Sexworking and Motherhood”) is an award winning journalist who has been published in several countries. He has launched and edited journals and authored books on healing, and on HIV/AIDS and prostitution in South-Asia. His latest book is titled “Karma Sutra: Essays from the Margin.” He lives in Mumbai, India.

As a teenager, Susan Méra (“A Mother’s Voice Crosses the Miles”) followed her childhood dream of becoming a journalist when she joined her first newspaper. Over the years she worked for media outlets in the UK and Australia and more recently in the public sector specializing in social justice issues. Now focusing on personal writing, the ‘Wisdom of Our Mothers’ contest is her first successful foray into the world of book publishing.
Susan and her French husband Henry plan to move to France where she hopes to fulfill her latest dream – writing for a Gallic readership in a language she has yet to conquer.

Jayne Moraski (“By a Star”) lives in North Florida, and works as the director of homeless services for the local government for her day job. She writes children’s picture books and does landscape acrylic art for her hopefully-someday-job. Her mother believed introducing girls to horses was the best way to keep them from boys. So she knew exactly what she was doing when Mom bought her 10-year-old a beautiful speckled pony.
“By A Star” is the true story of one night when Jayne was a 10-year-old at a new Air Force base. Jayne can be reached at j_moraski(at)hotmail.com.

Brooke Mullins (“Mom’s “Flat as Walls” Advice”) lives in Cobourg, Ontario Canada, with her partner and their two little girls. Her background is in film, having graduated with honours from Concordia University, with a Specialization in Film Studies degree. Brooke has always enjoyed writing and currently keeps a creative blog. Her blog, “Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner” can be visited at: cherubsn.blogspot.com and shares her creative pursuits and endeavors, such as her handmade children’s clothing line CHERUBSN. Brooke has written this story in honor of her beautiful mother, Dale Mullins, who passed away in 2008 and is a mother deeply missed.

Hugh Neeld (“A Mom is a Mom”) is a native Texan, born in Fort Worth in 1929. Educated in public school and Texas Christian University, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1948 and retired from a forty-five year career in radio and TV in 1994.
Today, he and his wife, Cris, live on a golf course in Jacksonville. He is the author of The Curmudgeon Report, a collection of newspaper columns he wrote for East Texas papers starting in 2000, and dozens of articles and short stories for various publications.

Jean Noble (“A Mother’s Love”) writes: I am a grandmother of four, living in Camarillo, CA, working as a part time crossing guard. I am sure there are many that can identify with me and I hope that my story will touch another’s heart.

After retirement from years of teaching high school, Lucy Painter (“The Gift”) began to put on paper the stories her parents and grandparents told, stories of immigration to the United States from Scotland and about the personal lives of her ancestors. She intends to collect these stories for her daughter Emily in hopes she will continue them. Lucy lives with her husband Charlie and their two cats and two dogs in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and in Sarasota, Florida.

Sister Josephine Palmeri, MPF, (“Don’t Dance til the Music Starts”) has been teaching Spanish and Speech to teenagers for 47 years and still has a “purple passion” for school. Her first book about her Dad, TALES from the BARBER SHOP, 100 Jokes of Tony Palmeri, Barber and Joygiver, and its sequel, MORE TALES from the BARBER SHOP and PITTSTON, can be had for $16.95 each from Sister Josephine Palmeri, 455 Western Avenue, Morristown, New Jersey, 07960. Proceeds go to the nuns’ Third World mission countries and their infirmary for the elderly. Both books are refreshing, especially if you’re from a small town where everybody knows your name.

Bobby (Roberta Filzer) Pearl (“Grandmother”) has four grown children, and five grandchildren. She has three occupations which she has been working on all her adult life. Bobby went to College and to Law School while raising her four children. She has been practicing Arbitration/Mediation for over thirty years. She has been sculpting for over sixty years, she has been writing since she was twelve.

Bobby has been published in Iusticia Magazine, Indiana Univ. Law School; Ceramic Monthly; Ceramic Arts Handbook Series; The National Jewish Post and Opinion. A documentary video details her Grandmother's stories and the sculptures they inspired.
Find Bobby at: www.BobbyLouPearl.com

Christian novelist Perry P. Perkins (“A Second Hand Christmas”) was born and raised in Oregon. His writing includes “Just Past Oysterville” and “Shoalwater Voices,” as well as dozens of articles in national magazines. Perry is a student of Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer’s Guild and a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies. Examples of his published work can be found online at www.perryperkinsbooks.com.

A retired Occupational Therapist, wife and mother, Carolyn Piper (“Parting Gifts”) lives in rural Vermont. Deaf for over three decades, she is active in several deaf support groups and is a contributing editor for “The ALDA NEWS” a magazine for late deafened adults. She may be contacted at wicwas@wcvt.com.

Gayle Portnow (“come home”) was born in Brooklyn, New York, and now lives in Camden, Maine, where she is often rapt in fog, a favorite subject of her poetry. She still returns to her apartment in Manhattan, but spends more time writing and enjoying life near the harbor in Maine. She makes poems and photographs of atmospheric conditions, and writes stories about random curiosities, including growing up in Brooklyn.

She’s been published in the anthologies “Secrets,” “The Other Side of Sorrow,” and “Friends.” Her work has appeared in Puckerbrush Review, Off the Coast, The Free Press, The Easthampton Star, Wind Magazine, and Wolf Moon Press Journal.

Oluwafemi Reis (“Tales beside the Grinding Stone”) writes:

Me

Once I was lost in a world unknown,
In darkness, fear and strife.
I groped between the walls of death,
In an endless search for life.

I tried to see but my sight was gone,
I tried to hold but nothing stuck
Hope was a wish I made in vain;
And freedom, a dream I never knew.

But I’m grateful to Jesus Who has set me free,
For now my life is new.
And whatever it is He has done for me,
He sure can do for you…

reisident2004(at)yahoo.com

A fiber artist, author, veteran blogger, and genealogist, Patricia Richards (“Mother Knit Wisdom”) lives with her husband in Kingston, New York and Sarasota, Florida. Her nonfiction book, “sassy pat knitting: a memoir,” debuted at the Chronicle Book Fair 2008. Pat will be teaching a workshop titled “Blog to Book” in the coming year. With a young adult novel, “White Plague,” in the works and a collection of monologues, “Irish Muses,” in the hopper, the coming year should prove to be a busy one.
Visit her at sassypatknitting.blogspot.com.

Dmae Roberts (“Tiger-Eyes”) is a two-time Peabody award-winning radio artist/writer whose work often airs on NPR. Her work is often autobiographical and cross-cultural and informed by her biracial identity. Her Peabody award-winning documentary “Mei Mei, a Daughter’s Song” is a harrowing account of her mother’s childhood in Taiwan during WWII. She won a second Peabody-award for her eight-hour Crossing East documentary, the first Asian American history series on public radio. She received the Civil Rights and Social Justice award from the Asian American Journalists Association and was selected as a United States Artists (USA) Fellow. Roberts is a regular columnist for the Asian Reporter and hosts a weekly arts show called “Stage & Studio” on KBOO FM. She is currently working on her memoir, “Lady Buddha and the Temple of Ma.” For more info go to dmaeroberts.com, mediarites.org or crossingeast.org.

Sheri Ryan (“Through the Stomach”) is married and the mother of three daughters. She is employed as an administrative assistant and also does freelance copywriting and editing. Her first short story, “The Greeting” was published in 2008 in “The Ultimate Dog Lover” (HCI Books).

Wanda Ryder (“My Mother, the New Age Pioneer”), who lives with her husband in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, is the author of several books. A social history, “Ghost Towns of Manitoba,” which was coauthored with Helen Mulligan, may be purchased from Great Plains Publications of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Wanda’s other books – a short story collection, “From a Distance,” an adventure tale, “Prairie Sailor,” and a novel, “Free to Go” – may be obtained by contacting her at: gnwryder(at)mts.net.
She has also written articles as well as plays for stage, radio, and television.
Website: www.squidoo.com/wanda_ryder

A former college president, Dr. Lynn Veach Sadler (“Menus for a Real Field Day”) has published widely in academics and creative writing. Editor, poet, fiction/creative nonfiction writer, and playwright, she has poetry and short-story collections and a novel forthcoming. One story appears in Del Sol’s “Best of 2004 Butler Prize Anthology;” another won the 2006 Abroad Writers Contest/Fellowship (France). She recently published a novella, was named 2007 Writer of the Year by California’s elizaPress, and won the 2008 Pearson Award at Wayne State for a play on the Iraq wars. “Not Your Average Poet” (on Frost) was a Pinter Review Prize for Drama Silver Medalist (2005).

Mark Scheel (“Bibliomaniac,” “Creek Crossing”) was born and raised on a farm in rural, east-central Kansas. After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1967, he served overseas with the American National Red Cross in Vietnam, Thailand, Germany and England. He later took graduate studies and taught at Emporia State University. Thereafter he was an information specialist with the Johnson County Library in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. His stories, articles and poems have appeared in numerous magazines, and his most recent book, A Backward View: Stories & Poems, won the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award from the Kansas Authors Club.

Jacqueline Seewald (“Mother’s Day”) has taught university level creative, expository and technical writing. Nine of her books of fiction have been published. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in many hundreds of diverse publications such as: The Writer, Sasee, Tea, Affaire de Coeur, Lost Treasure, The Christian Science Monitor, Pedestal, Surreal, After Dark, The Dana Literary Society Journal, Library Journal, The Erickson Tribune and Publishers Weekly plus numerous anthologies. In addition, she is a playwright and landscape artist. Her newest novel, “Tea Leaves and Tarot Cards,” is now available from Five Star/Gale and popular online booksellers.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1940, Virginia Watson (“Christmas on Fifty Bucks”), née V L Settle, returned to that city in 1962. In 1995, she began studies at Springfield Technical Community College, was enrolled in the Honors Program, named to the Dean’s List, and inducted into Phi Theta Kappa. In 1998, V L was awarded a summer C.C.C. residence at Smith College in Northampton, where she began her first book of poetry, TWILIGHT, publishing that same year using the $1000 First Place Winner’s check for “Five Mile Pond.” In 2002, she began a second book of poetry, GREEN MORNING REFLECTIONS.

Ryma Shohami (“Make It Beautiful”) is a Canadian freelance technical writer/editor and, recently, a newbie creative writer. She lives in Israel with her husband, two beautiful daughters, two dogs and a neurotic cat. Many years ago she freelanced as a book reviewer for The Montreal Gazette and for the Canadian Library Association. Her new blog site Write It Down! will soon feature links to her published stories. Visit at http://rymashohami.wordpress.com for her musings on life. She has two web sites under construction, one devoted to technical writing and editing, and the other to muffins. She dreams of visiting Hawaii and swimming with dolphins.

Sheila Sievewright (“My Mother”) is 72 years of age and has just started her writing career. This is the first writing she has submitted for publication and she is very excited. She left school when she was 15 years of age and went into secretarial employment, where she remained until she married at age 26 years. Twelve years and three children later, she resumed full-time study at university, worked as a social worker, qualified as a psychotherapist, studied art and is now a fairly good djembe player. She still has three children, six grandchildren, and lives with her husband Declan in West Cork, Ireland.

Sharon Skinner (“My Mother Cyber-Dates”) is an award-winning poet who received her B.A. in English from Ottawa University and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Prescott College. She is currently a board member for Anthology, Inc. and the AAGP (American Association of Grant Professionals). From 1996 to 2004 she served as the Executive Editor of Anthology magazine, a small press literary magazine published in Mesa, Arizona. Her work has appeared in a number of periodicals including Green’s Magazine, New Moon Rising, Sage Woman, El Sol, The Mesa Legend, Mosaic Minds and The Barnes and Noble Metaverse Poetry Anthology.

Serena Spinello (“A Contribution of Confidence”) is 27 years old and lives in New York. Her recent poems have been published in the Literary House Review 2008, Rogue Poetry Review, The Houston Literary Review, Conceit Magazine, 63 Channels, Sien en Werden, The Centrifugal Eye, Clockwise Cat, Mississippi Crow, Perspectives Magazine, The Flask Review, Contemporary Rhyme, and The Verse Marauder. Her first chapbook, “Arousing Argot,” is available from Scars Publications. She dedicates much of her work to her mother Theresa, who continues to be both her inspiration and her muse.

Madeline Steeg (“Messages from Mother”) grew up in rural Pennsylvania. She spent her teenage years in a convent and became a nun at age 18. The following decades of her life were spent in marriage, motherhood and a constant search for mental health. She lives in southern California and is writing a memoir.

Deborah Straw (“A Love of Annuals”) is a writer and college educator who lives in northern Vermont with her husband, a mixed-breed dog and two Maine coon cats. Her first book, “Natural Wonders of the Florida Keys,” was published in August 1999 by Country Roads Press/NTC Contemporary Publishing. Her second is “The Healthy Pet Manual, A Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer” (2005, second edition). Widely published as a journalist, book reviewer and essayist, she has written for many magazines, and her work has been included in several anthologies. Besides inheriting the love of annuals from her mom, Phyllis Straw, she also acquired a fine appreciation for food of all kinds.

Annmarie B. Tait (“Bunk Bed Blunder”) resides in Conshohocken, PA with her husband Joe and Sammy the "Wonder Yorkie.” In addition to writing stories about her large Irish Catholic family and the memories they made, Annmarie also enjoys singing and recording Irish and American Folk Songs. Annmarie has stories published in several Chicken Soup for the Soul volumes including: Bride’s Soul, Mother and Daughter’s Soul, Father and Daughter’s Soul, Celebrating Moms, Living the Catholic Faith, and Teens Talk Middle School You may contact Annmarie at: irishbloom(at)aol.com.

Laura Tamayo (“An Education”) writes: I’m a beach-loving, bohemian bookworm, writer, linguist, and translator. A logophile to the core. Since the age of five I've gone back and forth between Mexico and the United States. I have happily lived, studied, worked, and played in both countries.

I freely move about with my insanely fun husband, my MacBook Pro, and over 500 books.
My circle of friends looks like a UN convention (as does my family, actually), yoga is what keeps me sane, and blogging is my form of work-play. Website: http://delightedscribbler.com/

Nicole A. Tatum (“Linda Jean Says. . .”), a New York native from the Bronx and Harlem, currently resides in Yonkers with her son. Some of her works are featured in Titillating Souls (2005), an anthology of poems, and The Ladies of Fruition (2006), an anthology of erotic stories and poems, under the alias CocoBomb. Both can be purchased at lulu.com. She is also a contributing writer for an upcoming online magazine, Poetry & Prose.

A 2006 graduate of The College of Westchester, Summa Cum Laude, earning her AOS degree in Computer Applications Management, Nicole stays busy working on her three books. Her interests include cooking, computers, writing, Scrabble, crocheting, photography, shopping, and music.

Sarah Wagner (“My Mom’s Playbook”) lives in West Virginia with her husband and two young sons. Her work has appeared in The Front Porch, Celebrations: Love Notes to Mothers, and Cup of Comfort for Cat Lovers. You can find her online at www.sarahwagner.domynoes.net.

K. K. Wilder (“So What? Staying Valid”) lives in Burlington, Vermont. She is a retired college writing and English instructor. A long-time award-winning columnist, K.K. has published hundreds of fiction and non-fiction pieces.

Lisa K. Winkler (“Knit One, Purl Two”), lives and writes from New Jersey. She knits for herself, her husband, three children, two daughters-in-law, and grandson. lisakwinkler(at)gmail.com

copyright 2007

Last updated Sunday, December 5, 2010