Victress Authors
Duarte-Hazan
Adriana Allegri
Adriana was born with a powerful love for books, thanks to a mother who read to her while still in the womb. She believes in the healing power of words and the long-lasting impact of a great read. As a first-generation American with parents who lived in Europe during World War II, Adriana grew up on stories about how small acts of compassion and kindness saved lives. That theme shows up in everything she writes, regardless of genre.
She spent fifteen years as an educator and more than a decade in the New York metro area in marketing communications management. Today, she’s happily relocated in Arizona and loves the desert sun. When not tapping away at the keyboard, you’ll find her cooking, painting, gardening, day-tripping, or cozying up with a favorite read. She’s also the proud mom to two ornery rescue cats, whose hooligan antics sometimes find their way into her writing.
River Ari
Born in a green-lightning thunderstorm outside of Chicago, River Ari, queer neurospicy editor, channels chaos into ink around six kids and a growing number of dead succulents (oops). They’re typically found dying their hair another shade of blue, roaming the forest, or unsettling the neighbors with crystals and music beneath the full moon.
Despite the witchy vibes, River’s books lean towards the dark, twisty, and queernormative. Their current project, Flies in the Honey, set in the underbelly of modern-day Chicago, reveals how far one brilliant honeypot will go to protect the daughter she can never see again. Featuring a con woman MC, Nietzsche pick-up lines, and lies all the way down, Flies in the Honey grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go until “The End.” Check out the Flies in the Honey playlist on Spotify.
When not cackling over their mug of readers’ tears or bemoaning the early end of Firefly, River puts their BS in Creative Writing to use editing for a growing list of talented indie authors.
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Chandonae Baskin
With a relentless attitude, dedicated to avoiding bland, boiled chicken stories at all costs, Chan tells compelling stories about human connection and people that go unnoticed in her vibrant gritty voice. She specializes in character-driven dramedies with memorable dialogue in multifaceted worlds. Chan has proven her skills with her first short film “All of the Lights”, which was well received and opened paths to new opportunities. After receiving her M.F.A in film in 2021, she is focused on building a pristine portfolio.
Chan’s sweet spot is dramedy, crime drama, and dark comedy. She likes all of the guts and gore along with touching on serious topics with comedic undertones.
Harper Blair
Harper Blair (she/her) is a queer Southern Gothic suspense writer based in Florida. Her work is deeply influenced by growing up in a religious environment and uses this experience to explore the darker aspects of Southern life and culture. When she’s not writing, Harper can be found reading, painting, or enjoying time at the beach with her beloved cat, Pepper, who is like her child.
Her current project, The Year of Our Sins, a suspense novel, follows journalist Peyton Reed who, after his fiancée’s death, travels to her decaying southern hometown, where he learns of an 18 year old murder in which his fiancée’s was involved. His investigation into her past reveals a disturbing web of lies and buried secrets.
Michael Brumage, MD, MPH, FACP, FACPM
Mike is a physician, public health specialist, combat veteran, mindfulness instructor, avid traveler, and writer. He is board-certified in both internal medicine and preventive medicine and retired as a colonel from the United States Army after 25 years of service.
He’s recognized as a “go-to” expert on the drug crisis in the United States for national, international, and local media outlets, after years of working as a public health physician during the opioid epidemic in his home state, West Virginia. He has also been interviewed by national and international outlets about rural health issues and for the COVID-19 pandemic response. His work has been published in The Atlantic and The Hill.
Mike considers himself the Forrest Gump of public health physicians. He’s been a part of history-making events in the Balkans, Iraq, the magnitude 9.0 Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown in Japan, the opioid epidemic, and other public health crises.
C. Cimmone
C. Cimmone is a journalist, editor, and comic from Texas. She spends her time writing dark, free-verse poetry and prose, which can be found in her collections, ‘Torn Up’ (Femme Salve Books) and ‘Third Generation Hysteria’ (Alien Buddha Press). Her blog, GYM ANXIETY, explores her journey with mental and physical health. Her debut novel, What Meth Did, is currently in production.
Cimmone is known for her brutally-honest writing about mental health, addiction, love, and loss. She’s allergic to cats, hates flying, and once unknowingly passed Sandra Bullock in an Austin PetSmart. If you’re looking for her, she’s probably watching a stand-up comedy special on Netflix with her Standard Poodle, Hammy.
Kimberly Cooper
Kimberly Rashelle Cooper is a YA novelist who is fond of Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, and Sci-Fi fiction genres. She has lived in Northwest Arkansas all of her life where she discovered her love for books in junior high when a friend introduced teen novels by L.J. Smith. Those creative tales cultivated her interest to pursuing studies in creative writing, finally getting her degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment from Full Sail University.
When she is not reading or writing, Kimberly spends her time watching movies, playing videogames, and entertaining her son with Comicon conventions once a year. But let’s face it…she loves to dress up for the events, feeding into her own anime nerdy side.
Being represented as well as getting a chance to share her stories is a dream goal of hers, and she is honored to have the opportunity to do so.
Joshua Corneil
Joshua has always been surrounded by stories. Raised in a Navy family, he loved sitting at the table and listening to the adults tell stories of past lives, desperate to make a connection with strangers in a strange land. He eagerly listened to the stories of any saint or martyr he could find, no matter how grim or brutal. Many nights would find him hiding under his sheets with a flashlight, reading of great adventures or mysteries well past his bedtime.
But life is not always kind. At a young age he began to experience frequent anxiety attacks that would leave him bedridden or sick. As a teenager he sank into a severe depressive episode. Life lost its color. It lost its joy.
Yet he persisted. After a lot of therapy and soul searching, he began to heal. As he reflected on his experiences, he decided to begin writing. His darkly colored stories, wrapped in fantasy and spirituality, are an honest look at mental illness. His tales are not for the faint hearted, but a necessary exploration into an all too common human condition.
Robyn Dabney
Robyn Dabney is a fiction writer and freelance copyeditor with a copyediting certification from the University of California San Diego. Robyn’s passion for reading, writing, and exploring thrilling stories about unlikely heroes conquering evil started at a young age. Her favorite books span every genre and she likes to describe her own work as having something for everyone—a sprinkle of suspense, a dash of adventure, and a whole lot of good versus evil.
Robyn grew up running around the red rocks and ravines in the deserts of southern Utah—building forts, fighting battles, and living out the lives of all the characters she and her friends created. An avid lover of all things nature and the outdoors, Robyn attended Texas A&M University where she majored in wildlife biology and natural resource management.
She currently lives in Munich, Germany, and maintains a home base in Moab, Utah. When she isn’t lost in another dimension creating havoc for her characters and stories, Robyn spends her time talking science-fiction and fantasy as a co-host of the Tipsy Nerds Book Club podcast and playing in the great outdoors (usually on the face of a rock).
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Jennifer Della’Zanna
Jennifer Della’Zanna loves to combine history, mythology, fantasy and romance in her fiction and in her life. Her undergraduate degree is in History, German and Ancient Greek and holds a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. She has published several short stories, more than fifty feature articles for magazines and websites on topics as diverse as firearms, movies, and healthcare, and has written and teaches several online courses.
Della’Zanna co-wrote Making it in Country Music: An Insider’s Look at the Industry with Rich Redmond (Jason Aldean’s drummer) based on his experiences and those of other major country music artists and experts. The book debuted on May 15, 2023.
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Laura Duarte-Hazan
Laura A. Duarte-Hazan is a librarian with the Enoch Pratt Free Library where she runs the weekly Light Street Writers Exchange. She is also the Baltimore chapter coordinator for Shut Up and Write and the Conference Chair for the Washington Writers Conference. She has a B.A. in Communications from American University, a M.L.S. in Library Science from the University of Maryland.
Laura completed her first novel, Little Boxes, at the “Your Novel Year” program at Arizona State University’s Piper Writing Center where she was instructed and mentored by best-selling novelists Michael Stackpole and Jean Rabe, among others. In addition, her work has been published in Natural Bridge, Kirkwood Patch, Sauce Magazine, Not A Pipe Publishing #yearofpublishingwomen anthology Strongly Worded Women, and Northern Virginia Magazine. Laura’s poem, “The Point,” received honorable mention at the Northville Art House annual Short on Words Poetry contest and she was a writer-in-residence for the Highlandtown Arts District in Baltimore, MD where she resides.
Serge Forest
After a fruitful career in software and achieving success as a high-tech entrepreneur, Serge is embarking on a new chapter in his professional life fueled by a deep passion for storytelling and history. He aims to offer readers gripping tales of ordinary people experiencing extraordinary circumstances in remarkable times.
Serge’s current project, After the Rising, follows the path of Liam Doyle who, in the aftermath of the Easter Rising, accidentally kills a British soldier and unwillingly becomes a figurehead for the ongoing rebel movement, forcing him to seek a way out of the country before a vengeful British officer closes in on him.
Serge lives with his wife in the heart of Montreal, Canada. When he’s not seeking adventure and inspiration in one of his many travels, Serge likes to spend time with friends and family, which include his two adult kids.
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Ian Fortey
Ian Fortey started freelance writing in 2007and quickly became the most prolific writer on Cracked.com, the web-version of the classic comedy magazine. He’s had work featured on Syfy.com, CollegeHumor.com, Break.com, CBR.com, Grunge.com, FilmDaily.com and many others. He has had many short horror stories published in anthologies such as the “Terror in the Shadows” series as well as “Twisted Anatomy” and “Darkness Wakes.” He’s also featured in the New York Times bestselling book “You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News” and has written the Amazon best-selling series “Jigsaw of Souls.”
Over the course of 14 years, Ian published in the neighborhood of 3,000 articles, racking up over 150 million page views and representing 6 million published words. He’s worked in comedy punch up writing for animated scripts and his screenplay “Nic Cage vs Zombies” took 2nd place at the 2014 Zedfest film festival screenplay competition, 4th place at the 2015 Horror Hotel, and was an official selection at 2014 NOLA film festival.
H.M. Geiser
H.M. Geiser is a writer, marketer, and former burlesque dancer based in Dallas, TX. She aspires to write twisty feminist psychological thrillers that will linger with you long after you’ve finished reading them. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her on BookTok, traveling, or curled up with her three cats.
In her current project, The Burlesque Dancer, Henry Kessler’s decade-long affair with his pop star boss, Elise Darrow, is thrown into chaos when she becomes obsessed with a burlesque dancer named Avalon. Henry finds himself consumed with curiosity–and jealousy–about the secretive nature of their relationship, so he manipulates his way closer to the dancer in an attempt to gather information. In the process, he uncovers a dark secret connecting all three of them to a tragedy from the past, and the revelation has deadly consequences.
Corey Hill
Corey Hill is a human rights activist, journalist, poet, screenwriter, and occasional lizard chaser. He is the co-founder of Revelatur, an NGO dedicated to providing actionable analysis and intelligence to progressive individuals and organizations. Co-founder of the Protest Facebook Coalition, as well as 3 Lb. Magician Production Studio. His journalism has appeared in The Independent, Yes!, Alternet, and others. His fiction has appeared in Cordite Poetry Review, Antithesis, The Moth, Coe, and many more.
Mark Hill
Mark Hill is a career U.S. Intelligence Officer and former National Security Senior Executive whose intelligence production led to numerous mission successes and multiple awards including Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Office of the Year. He has also been a founder of four successful commercial sector start-ups.
Mark is a founder and Editor-in-Chief Innovation Officer of Revelatur, Inc., a progress accelerator whose mission is to measurably advance Democracy in the United States and globally through the provision of actionable information. Mark is a recognized thought leader in: organizational science, change and transformation; information technology; problem solving and solutions engineering; design and systems thinking; and modeling and forecasting.
He holds intellectual property rights to Rational Design Technology, a systems modeling platform generating forecasts with defined probabilities. Mark and his wife Paula live in Orlando, Florida where he is now writing thought provoking nonfiction.
Michael Hiller
Michael S. Hiller is a nationally-recognized cannabis lawyer and legalization advocate. His upcoming book, Yes We CAN-nabis: Washington v. Barr and the Fight to Legalize Marijuana, chronicles what one magazine denominated the “lawsuit of the century” – a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. His passion for legalization is largely rooted in a desire to provide patients with access to life-changing and, in many instances, life-saving, medication (medical marijuana), while also ensuring that persons of color who have been wrongfully convicted under the Controlled Substances Act are freed from prison and able to expunge their criminal records resulting from discriminatory enforcement of our nation’s drug laws. Michael, a former Professor of Constitutional Law, regularly lectures around the country, and has been widely recognized for his work, including having received the International Hope Award (Cannabis Business Association, 2018) and been named 420 Advocate of the Year (Canna-Gather, 2018). He has also been listed as one of the top cannabis litigators in America (Mg Magazine 2019); a Cannabis Trailblazer (National Law Journal, 2021); and a Cannabis SuperLawyer (SuperLawyer Magazine, 2009 to 2022).
A prolific writer, Michael’s works have been published by the New York Law Journal, New York Times, New York Post, and the New York Bar Association Journal, among others. He is also the author of two screenplays – The Key, which was a quarterfinalist for the Nicholl Fellowship (sponsored by the Academy Awards) and The Alphabet Protocol, which was a semi-finalist for the National Screenwriters Expo. When not writing and practicing law, Michael, a former professional musician, composes music for and performs with his band, Lunar Tourists. Michael is also a spirited advocate for preservation of our environment and national, state and city landmarks – work for which he received the Grassroots Preservation Award.
Stacy Johns
Stacy Johns writes fiction that delves into the shadows of lived experience and the delusions and illusions that twist our dreams, our memories, and our relationships. She grew up in small-town New England and transplanted to Oregon for a Sociology degree, later adding a Masters in Information Science. A long-time librarian and resident of the coast, she now resides and plots her mysteries in the Willamette Valley. Stacy is a graduate of the Kidd Creative Writing Workshops at University of Oregon and an award-winning writer in the 2020 PNWA mystery category. She enjoys running and knitting when she’s not compulsively reading or writing.
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Suki Jones
Suki Jones is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer, specializing in addiction and harm reduction. She raised two children as a single mother in Oakland and has been sober for 23 years. She has worked with the syringe access program at Glide Church SF and is a board member for the Harm Reduction Treatment Center SF. Her writing has appeared in Stereo Embers Magazine and Broke Ass Stuart. She enjoys long hikes on the beach, listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tower of Power, and everything in between. Her debut memoir, Sea, Swallow Me, was published with Embers Arts Press in February 2023.
Carol LaHines
Carol LaHines is the author of Someday Everything Will All Make Sense, a finalist for the Nilsen Prize for a First Novel and an American Fiction Award. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals including Fence, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Denver Quarterly, Cimarron Review, The Literary Review, The Laurel Review, North Dakota Quarterly, South Dakota Review, The South Carolina Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Sycamore Review, Permafrost, redivider, Literary Orphans, and Literal Latte. Her short story, Papijack, was selected by judge Patrick Ryan as the recipient of the Lamar York Prize for Fiction. Her short stories and novellas have also been finalists for the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction from Sarabande Books, the David Nathan Meyerson fiction prize, the New Letters short story award, and the Disquiet Literary Prize, among others. She is a graduate of New York University, Gallatin Division, and of St. John’s University School of Law.
Merlin B. Love
Merlin Beaumont Love (which he promises is his real name) is a novelist, a screenwriter, a poet, a coder/programmer, a photographer, a professional salesperson, a corporate overlord, an avid video game player, and the son of a guy who’s afro was so marvelous that Merlin’s own hair promptly fell out from the shame of being maternally acquired.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Merlin has lived a life of adventure, residing in numerous places, including Philadelphia, Canada, Arizona (where he earned a degree in English Literature from Arizona State University), and now resides in Sacramento, California with his partner and their cumulative six children.
K.T. Lyn
K. T. Lyn (they/she) thrives when surrounded by chaos, whether it’s working in public libraries, writing for a Muppet fan website (Toughpigs.com), or moderating a discord server. They write fantasy and science fiction to transmit to others a smidge of the wonder they feel every day just existing in our vast universe. A list of their works can be found at their website.
In their free time, K.T. communes with trees (usually called hiking), loops yarn into things that resemble clothes, and bakes delicious (but kind of ugly) confections. They live in Maryland with a family that is as weird as they wish they could be.
Leah McMichael
Leah McMichael has lived with at least one foot in the Roman world since Macrina the Younger captured her imagination seven years ago. Houseguests are likely to find fish sauce on their peaches or garlic in their cheese, because it’s not enough to only read ancient recipes. Leah describes the early Byzantine empire chiefly in the present tense.
With a B.A. in creative writing and a master’s in early church history, she considers herself lucky to find gainful employment editing. Her blogs have been published on the Tokens Show, the Rabbit Room, and the Harrison Center, and the first chapters of her novel, The Sun in Slender Glass, are forthcoming in Image literary journal.
Leah is drawn to historical fiction for its vivid evocations of place, a form of attention she honed while growing up between South Africa, Zambia, Illinois, France and Morocco. Leah lives with her best friend, Becca, and their burgeoning garden in Indianapolis, IN. They have four majestic chickens.
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Erin Newman
Erin Newman is a speaker, author, retreat facilitator, and coach for entrepreneurs. Erin speaks regularly to corporations and groups on empowerment, money mindset, and spirituality in business. She loves to help business owners to overcome their subconscious blocks to soul-fueled success.
Erin graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in German literature, and then spent the next ten years in the corporate world, desperate to escape and follow her dreams. She began to explore all things spirituality and spent three years in a Shamanic practitioner training, infusing her approach to business.
In addition to her non-fiction books for business owners, Erin also writes ancient historical fiction. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with one husband, two kiddos, and one very old doggie. When she’s not reading, writing, working, or trying to cook meals that don’t involve chicken nuggets, you can find her on a trail in the woods. Her remaining vices are really strong Earl Gray tea and European chocolate.
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David Michael Newstead
David Michael Newstead is a writer based in Washington, D.C. He runs the blog, The Philosophy of Shaving, in his free time. Its content ranges from short stories to in-depth features on social issues. Highlights include interviewing prominent Putin critic, Bill Browder, on Russian sanctions. He also interviewed the former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone famous for indicting Liberian President Charles Taylor and for investigating war crimes in Syria. David’s current project grew out of a series of blog interviews in 2016 with Robert Meeropol on the contemporary relevance of the song “Strange Fruit” in America. This led David to begin work on the first biography of the songwriter, Strange Fruit: The Life and Legacy of Abel Meeropol.
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J.A. Nielsen
J.A. Nielsen is the author of The Fractured Kingdoms series (The Claiming, 2023 and The Winter Heir, 2024). She is winner of the 2020 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest for Young Adult literature and won the 2024 Dante Rossetti award for best Young Adult book. She has spent most of her professional life in education—as a therapist, teacher, and librarian. She holds an M.A. in Counseling and an M.Ed. She now spends much of her time writing, but she can still be found teaching art, shelving library books, and occasionally, choreographing school musicals. In all of these endeavors, she is driven by stories.
Her own story has led her to live all over the world—on a tropical island and in the shadow of a crumbling Rhineland castle—but she has always considered the Pacific Northwest corner of the United States home. When not writing, she is most likely playing with her family in the forest, on the water, or in the mountains.
She is a member of SCBWI and PNWA.
D. Thourson Palmer
D. Thourson Palmer sheared sheep in rural Ohio, studied in the Appalachian foothills, taught in Japan wherever a train could take him, and got lost in the Central Valley of California. In his past he’s been a forensic chemist, blood research scientist, English teacher, and competitive judoka.
His forthcoming novel, Rust River Gothic, is emblematic of his work; a dreamlike, sometimes unsettling waterway leading from our world to another—more vibrant, more peculiar, and more dangerous. He also writes emotional and freaky epic fantasy that veers occasionally into horror.
He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
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D. Thourson Palmer
Shirley Perez West
Shirley Perez West grew up on the San Francisco Peninsula among the remnants of California ranchos, longing to learn the story of her forebears. After years as a reporter and public relations professional, she dove into the historical archives to find the voices of the Mexican Californios and write about this buried piece of the western saga. Shirley holds a BA and MS in Journalism and is still trying to figure out how not to let the facts get in the way of a good story. A long-time Oregon resident, she divides her time between Portland and the coastal village of Manzanita where she enjoys paddling for a women’s dragon boat team. Her novel, El Sueño (the Dream), takes place during the American takeover of California. In 1845 California, the willful daughter of a wealthy ranchero finds herself at the crossroads of destiny as she navigates a forbidden romance amid the relentless tide of change that threatens to erase the world she holds dear.
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Stephanie Prehoda
Stephanie Prehoda is a Seattle-based romance writer who adores creating stories with strong women, caring men, and fast-paced dialogue.
Originally from Texas, Stephanie received her degree in Vocal Performance at Texas Lutheran University and in her decades of experience as a storyteller, she has been recognized as an award-winning singer and actress.
When she’s not putting her characters in precarious situations, Stephanie likes to dance with her sassy toddler, travel with her husband, and infuse her positive energy into every endeavor she undertakes.
Her current novel, Breaching Her Contract, is a forbidden-love modern romance set in the glamorous world of billionaire playboys and the alpha women who love them; it was a finalist in the 2023 NYC Romance Writers of America Big Apple Contest and placed second in the PNWA 2023 Literary Contest.
She is a member of Quill and Cup, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and the Tipsy Typers: A Writing Club-In-A-Pub.
Laura Reeves
Laura Reeves has a passion for storytelling, literacy, and helping people navigate difficult times, which she expresses through her roles as a writer, reading mentor for kids with dyslexia, and certified coach. Laura’s vast creativity and steadfast belief that everyone can learn to read create a consistent force that keeps her writing books for middle grade and young adult readers. She has a M.Ed. and is a 2018 PNWA award winning writer in the young adult category.
Whether traveling to faraway places or bonding over an ambitious meal, Laura seizes every opportunity to enjoy adored family and friends—which include her husband and two young adult sons. She writes from her home in the Pacific Northwest alongside her boss cat who covets a writer’s lap, and if left unchecked, would take full credit for Laura’s words on the page.
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Deena Remiel
Deena is an award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling author. She spends her time playing in the Garden of Good and Evil as she writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy and suspense. While being known for having downed a few beers with her angels, she’s even put Satan in his place a time or two. The concept of immortality and all its implications fascinates her.
Deena has been an award-winning educator for over 30 years and considers herself a student for life. She enjoys open-world video gaming, photography, scrapbooking, gatherings with family and friends, and snuggles with her Siamese cat, Simon. Chandler, Arizona is where she calls home.
K’ai Roberts Fu
K’ai Roberts Fu is a keynote speaker and the author of 12 Mis-Steps: The Hidden Pitfalls for Trauma Survivors Inherent in Twelve Step Programs.
K’ai is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, with a BA in sociology. At WUSTL, she won a prestigious leadership award for her work on sexual abuse prevention and recovery. She is a member of American Mensa. She has trained with Heroic Public Speaking in New Jersey, and has a scalable keynote talk on the same topic as her book.
In her “day gig,” K’ai is a video editor and production manager. Her career path has included Administrative Director for a publishing company, customer service manager for an automotive chemical manufacturer, and 20 years as an Argentine Tango instructor.
K’ai currently lives in the Pacific Northwest. In her leisure time she can be found working out, writing, gardening, traveling with her spouse, and reading anything that might give her an advantage playing “Jeopardy!”
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Mark Silinsky
Mark Silinsky, Ph.D., is a four-decade veteran intelligence analyst of the Department of Defense and served as an adjunct professor at the United States Army War College and as an affiliated professor at the University of Haifa.
Graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Southern California, he received an M. Phil. in international relations from Oxford University and took a Ph.D. in international development from Tulane University. He is a graduate of the Naval War College, the National Defense University, and studied at the Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy. Mark served as an Army civilian Foreign Area Officer (FAO) for Eurasia, Russian language.
In the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Army Counterintelligence Command, Mark worked as a senior analyst for terrorism and counterintelligence, as well as a researcher at the National Intelligence University’s think tank as a participant in the prestigious Exceptional Analyst Program. Early in his career he served in defense attaché offices in Africa. He also had two assignments on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon.
He is the author of three books on international relations: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Empire of Terror, Potomac Books/University of Nebraska, 2021; Jihad and the West – Black Flag over Babylon, Indiana University Press, 2016; and The Taliban – Afghanistan’s Most Lethal Insurgent Group, Praeger/ABC Clio, 2014.
Mark is married to a psychiatrist, has three beautiful daughters, and two delightful grandchildren. When he is not with his family or writing his next book, Mark is often on a local river with a fly rod.
Norah Vawter
Norah Vawter is a novelist who primarily writes literary fiction, but also enjoys writing fantasy and young adult fiction. Whatever the genre, she’s obsessed with dysfunctional families, outsiders, the stars, the ocean, and coming of age narratives. Norah has an M.F.A. in creative writing from George Mason University. She’s a freelance writer, editor, and the local authors editor of online magazine DCTRENDING.com.
Norah has published fiction in Agave, The Nassau Review, and the anthology This is What America Looks Like, among others. She’s also published nonfiction about her experiences surviving gun violence in The Washington Post and Memoir Magazine. Her novel ANNA’S ENDLESSLY COLLAPSING STAR—inspired by her experiences as a gun violence survivor—was an Eludia Award finalist and longlisted for the Dzanc Prize for Fiction. Norah lives in the D.C. area with her husband and son, where she’s writing more novels.
Diana Waldhuber
Australian author, Diana, is a well-known saint (in certain circles) of dubious qualities.
Apart from dubious and self-appointed sainthood, she’s led a varied and rich life of many careers, including; actor, chef, bartender, wine-shop-patron-wrangler, and cleaner for Miss Universe, but writing is where it’s at for this particular gemini.
Diana loves books of all kinds, across all genres, and believes books are true nourishment for the soul. She also believes that romance novels are good quality chocolate for the soul and everyone should indulge in that particular vice.
“If there’s a book that you want to read,
but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
TONI MORRISON