California Writers Club, Mt Diablo Branch

Welcome to CWC Mt. Diablo Branch!

 

This page lists our members who have published material. Authors are listed in alphabetical order by surname.  Viewers will find links to members’ websites/blogs and latest publications.

*NOTICE* Profiles can now include an author bio, author photo, and more book covers. If you are a current member and want to update your profile, or if you are a new member (Active status) or newly published author, click below to submit your information. We’ll add you to the list!

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OUR AUTHORS

Ellen Aubry

Ellen Aubry is the author of “A Suitable Place” and “Hardship Duty” in the anthology Beyond the Window (2017), and “My Soul’s Gone Away”, RumbleFishPress.com’s story of the day on November 18, 2017. She has a story “Loud and Clear” in the anthology, Voices of the Valley: Journeys (2018), a story “The Building: 1901 Providence Avenue” to be published May 2020 in Stonecrop Magazine, and an essay “Moving On” to be published in 2020 in a new anthology from Ageless Authors.

She is a graduate (March 2020) of the University of Denver’s Professional Creative Writing Masters’ Program with an emphasis in fiction.

Anindita Basu

Anindita Basu, originally from India now lives in a small town, Walnut Creek, near San Francisco. She writes in English as well as in her mother tongue, Bengali.
Retired from her teaching career Anindita now focuses more on the craft of
writing and is an active member of the California Writers Club.

A collection of short stories in Bengali was also published in Calcutta, India 2003.

Barbara Bentley

Susan Berman

Richard Black

Richard Black wrote “The Burning Barn” to explore the life and times of his great-grandparents in Civil War Missouri. His second novel, also historical fiction, presents America on the precipice of WW II as MIT’s Rad Lab develops microwave RADAR. He worked with the Datura Writer’s group of Oakland, California and lives in Lafayette. California with his wife, Donna, a potter.

 

JDBlair authorJ. D. (Jerry) Blair

Jerry “J.D.” Blair was born and raised in Taft, California in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. He graduated from Taft Junior College and attended San Jose State with majors in drama and communications.
His earliest writing efforts were focused on commercial and news copy for his first job as a radio disk jockey. After a stint in the service he began a 30 year career in journalism and television production as a Writer/Producer for NBC in San Francisco and later with the PBS outlet in Sacramento. He was nominated twice for Emmy Awards in writing and producing documentaries and in 1998 was a awarded a Chris Award at the Columbus Film and Video Festival and was recipient of a Telly Award in 1999 for writing and producing the statewide program “California Heartland”. He was granted a Knight Journalism Fellowship at UC Berkeley for media coverage of urban development.
Since leaving television his focus has been on writing one-act plays, short fiction, essays and poetry. His stories and poetry are targeted at literary magazines and competitions. His work has appeared in Writers’ Journal, Third Wednesday, Carve Magazine, Pearl, California Quarterly, Conium Review and Commonline Journal. His prose and poetry won or placed in competitions with Writer Advice, Orchid Literary Review, Fog City Review and Writers’ Journal. His one-act play “Vincent” was produced as a staged reading with the Ross Valley Players of Marin County California in May 2009. He has published three eBooks and was presented with awards for excellence in writing at the 2008 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Blair says his goal is to shoot for the moon and place a story or poem in The New Yorker.
Jerry names Raymond Carver, Ethan Canin and Woody Allen as three writers who have inspired him in navigating the tricky waters of short fiction.

cover

 

  • Janus: Private Eyes, BookBaby, 2016
  • Latest Award (2010): Be My Carlotta, Honorable Mention, Short Story Contest, Carpe Articulum Literary Review

 

 

  Jane Blomstrand                      

Jane Blomstrand has over 30 years of experience in education as a teacher of the year, literacy specialist, school principal, and director of a teacher-credentialing program.

Her book “Meet the Principal: My Journey Beyond the Curriculum,” started out as a response to her grandkids question “What DOES a Principal Do All Day?” It quickly developed into a book of stories about the intriguing challenges a school leader faces and the many relationships a principal forms with students, staff and parents on the way to achieving a winning team and student success.

Principals, teachers and parents would enjoy and relate to the variety of stories included about what goes on inside the walls of a school.

Jane lives with her husband in Northern California and currently coaches new school administrators.

Amazon Author Page

 

Maureen Boyd Biro

Maureen Boyd Biro writes memoir, non-fiction, fiction and children’s books. She’s been widely published in national and regional magazines, and has appeared in anthologies including: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around; Mary: A Journal of New Writing; and Voices of the Valley: First Press. Maureen’s picture books include Walking with Maga, and Blueberries Make Good Cannonballs (forthcoming).

Maureen is also a passionate dream teacher and consultant. She’s a frequent contributor to DreamTime Magazine and presents at international and regional dream conferences and events. She leads creative retreats and workshops for dreamers, writers and all seeking to live their boldest dreams.

Virginia Burns authorVirginia Burns

Virginia Burns has been a professional writer since 1970. She got her start writing articles for the monthly magazine, California’s Health, published by the California Department of Public Health in Berkeley. She was editor of the health department’s employee newsletter until 1974, when she went back to San Francisco State University to complete her bachelor’s degree in creative writing in 1976. Her poems have been published in numerous literary magazines. In 1982, she won first prize in the Hawaii International Film Festival script writing contest for a script entitled “The Last Voyage of Captain Cook.” She founded an organization called the Hawaii Scriptwriters’ Association, hosting monthly workshops and meetings with guest speakers from Hawaii, Asia, and the mainland U.S. From 1986 to 1993, she was writer/editor/photographer of a quarterly magazine and a monthly employee newsletter for Hawaiian Electric Industries, winning numerous awards from the Public Relations Society of America and the International Association of Business Communicators. In 1993, she joined the U.S. Foreign Service, working overseas in such far-flung places as Yemen, Burma, Jordan, Turkey, and Hong Kong. She retired in 2013 and began writing a romantic historical novel about her grandparents called Bessie Lane. 

Fran Cain

  • Founding member of Writers on the Journey critique group
  • What to Know Before You Store Patient Credit Card Numbers, Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News, Issue No. 1, 2013
  • WiFi: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly (Southern California Physician, January 2012)

Nannette Rundle Carroll

Nanette Cooper-McGuinness
Award-winning opera singer Nanette McGuinness is the prolific translator of over 50 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, and German into English, including the well-known Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels. Her translation of “Luisa: Now and Then” (Humanoids, 2018) was named an Honor Book for the 2020 Global Literature in Libraries Translated YA Book Prize as well as being chosen for YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens; her translation of “California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas” (First Second, 2017) was chosen for YALSA’s list the year before. Her most recent translations are “Little Josephine: Memory in Pieces” (Life Drawn, 2020), “Super Sisters” (Papercutz, 2020) and “Who Killed Kenny?” (NBM Publications, 2019).

     

George CramerGeorge Cramer

George Cramer began his investigative career in local law enforcement. He has over forty year’s investigative experience and is certified as Professional Certified Investigator (PCI), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Professional Investigator (CPI), and Certified Fraud Specialist (CFS). He is a licensed Private Investigator in California and Arizona.
He left the corporate environment as head of Global Investigations, Safety & Security for the Palm, Inc. Division of Hewlett-Packard. He has specialized in Standards of Business Conduct; undercover operations; insurance and corporate fraud; crimes against business; and the protection of intellectual property.
George has conducted thousands of successful investigations throughout the Americas and Asia. He is recognized as an expert in the area of Interviewing and Interrogation. He has presented numerous seminars on that subject including ASIS International and High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA) international conferences.
George has been published in numerous online and printed anthologies. He was the editor-in-chief for Impressions, the Las Positas College 2015 anthology. He is currently working on two writing projects: a mystery novel spanning four decades and a memoir.
George has lived in Dublin, California with his wife Cathy for thirty years. They have three adult children.

Maya Mitra DasMaya Das

Maya Mitra Das is a physician, poet, and performer of the Indian classical dance Bharatnatyam. Her poetry has appeared in Tuesday’s Poetry, edited by Jerry Ball, two narrative poems have been anthologized in What’s in a Name, edited by Elaine Starkman, and she has also authored several scientific publications. Her fiction has appeared in Tremors: Short Fiction by California Writers and in her full-length collection of short stories, Silhouettes of Time.
Rhythms Primeval coverSilhouettes of Time

 

 

Melanie DenmanVisiting_the_Sins

 

Marlene Dotterer

Marlene Dotterer has an itchy soul. That sounds like a good character trait for a fantasy/adventure book, but in real life it just means she’s always starting a new project, usually before the previous project is finished.
This may be why her four books are written in three genres. Or why she earned a degree in geology, then worked in nuclear waste before starting a business as a personal chef, and then taught natural childbirth classes.
There’s just always something else to do. This may or may not be the reason Marlene volunteered to take over duties as Mt. Diablo Branch membership chair and eventually, president.
Marlene joined CWC in 2009, when she had just finished her first novel – a time travel/historical fiction account of Thomas Andrews, the builder of the Titanic. As of this week, Marlene writes science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal romance, with four books available online at all major retailers. She is still working on novels 5 – 8, but has no immediate plans to add a new genre to her repertoire. She keeps the option open though, just in case.
Marlene lives in Pleasant Hill with her husband, who has recently retired. This means they spend lots of time traveling up and down the west coast and points inland, to visit their six children, eleven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Her motto is, “If one door closes and another one doesn’t open, break a window.”

Contact info and Books

Website 
Worlds Apart, Time Travel Journals (2-part series), Moon Over Donamorgh

Latest Award (2014):  Big Al’s Books & Pals Reader’s Choice Nominee for The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder

      

Heidi Eliason

Heidi Eliason is a freelance writer and consultant. Her past work includes writing for an RV adventure company, producing more than fifty RV travel articles for an online news source, and developing training courses and manuals. Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway is her first book. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Patricia EvansPatricia Evans author

Internationally recognized, Interpersonal Communications Specialist, Patricia Evans, is the bestselling author of five books, including The Verbally Abusive Relationship, Verbal Abuse Survivors Speak Out, Controlling People, The Verbally Abusive Man: Can He Change? and Victory Over Verbal Abuse. She has single-handedly brought the subject of verbal abuse to the forefront of American consciousness. Newsweek commended her first powerful book on the subject as “A groundbreaking new book.” Evans has spoken on the devastating effect of this secret form of control on more than two hundred radio programs, and seventeen national television shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show. She has consulted to thousands of people and presented in talks and workshops throughout the US, Canada, Madrid and in five cities in Australia. Patricia lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and can be reached via her website at www.VerbalAbuse.com

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Linda Forcelinda-force

  • The Influence of Causal Attribution on Work Exhaustion and Turnover Intention of Traditional Discipline Engineers in the United States (2008)

 

 

 

Lynn FultonLynn Fulton author

Lynn Fulton is the author of She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein, illustrated by Felicita Sala. This children’s picture book, published by Alfred A. Knopf, is based on Mary Shelley’s own account of how the idea for Frankenstein came to her in a “waking dream” one stormy night in 1816.
Lynn is a California native who grew up loving books and wanting to write them, but never actually finished anything until she learned to type. Her keyboard skills led to one PhD dissertation and three novels for adults. She has worked as a college instructor, insurance investigator, seventh-grade English teacher, and writing tutor.
Lynn lives in Martinez with her husband and son, and enjoys painting and drawing as well as writing.She Made a Monster

 

Alla Gakuba

Alla P. Gakuba, BSCE, MAS, PhD, is a published author, engineer, and innovator.

 Alla was born in the former Soviet Union. Fate propelled her to work in 4 countries: the Soviet Union, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the United States; in 3 languages: Russian, French, and English; and under 2 radical systems: socialism and capitalism.
She received her BSCE from Odessa Civil Engineering University in the Soviet Union; she earned her master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; and she received her PhD from George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Some of Alla’s contributions to engineering, health care, and women:
* She designed alone, one person, a 10-span bridge with 4 ramps, I-95, in downtown Baltimore, over the Patapsco River.
* She found the solution, and then designed 3.5 miles of the Baltimore subway aerial structure which is considered to be the most challenging engineering design.
* She was the 1st woman to receive a PhD in the Management of Science, Technology, and Innovations field.
* Her dissertation is considered to be in the top 5% among 250-300 dissertations written in the last 15 years.
* In health care, Alla P. Gakuba created several innovations. One of her innovations sparked an entirely new industry. It created hundreds of thousands of new jobs. As it grew, it started bringing millions, and then $120-$140 billions, of dollars yearly in new revenue to many companies.

 

 

 

Al Garrotto

Alfred J. Garrotto is a native Californian now living in the San Francisco East Bay Area. He was born into a theatrical family and began his career in the arts at the age of seven, along with Natalie, his older sister, doing bit parts that required Italian-looking kids. She used her magnificent coloratura voice to pursue a career in grand opera. By his teens, Al had taken a different road into academics and spirituality. Although he did a lot of writing (mostly on Christian themes), he did not get the book-bug until his forties. Once the muse bit, he couldn’t stop and has written, to date, 13 books through both commercial and independent publishing. These include both fiction and non-fiction.
His most recent fiction works are the Caribbean Tremors Trilogy: A Love Forbidden, Finding Isabella, I’ll Paint a Sun.

The Soul of Art (nonfiction) explores the underlying spirituality that gives birth to all creative endeavors. He uses the book as a source for “Spirituality of the Arts” workshops designed for creative people of all genres. You can contact him for details and possible bookings at algarrotto@comcast.net,

His novella, There’s More, explores the greatest mystery of all: what happens at the instant of death? In it, a major league ballplayer–a former Catholic priest is simultaneously murdered and killed by accident and by two different people during a game! The plot explores questions about death and afterlife, as the ballplayer-priest reviews major moments and deci

 

David George

 

 

 

David’s debut book, Granddad’s Garden: Stories of the Natural World is available now at Amazon.com. He is writing two more books, a novel based on his Irish ancestral roots, and Book 2 of Granddad’s Garden, which explores growing up in today’s world, and how the natural world can impart great wisdom.

  • Blog: Writers on the Journey (Cheryl Spanos, David George, Jack Russ, Jill Hedgecock, Susan Berman), Musings on Creative Writing and the Path to Publication
  • Website:
  • Author Facebook Page: davegeorge7
  • Author Twitter Account: DaveGeorgeCWC
  • Latest award (2009): Frog Song, Short Story, First Place, San Francisco & Peninsula Branch, California Writers Club contest

Aurelia GincauskasAurelia Author

Aurelia Gincauskas was born in Kempten, a war torn German town. She emigrated, as a child with her Lithuanian parents, to East Chicago, Indiana. There she was raised between two cultures–American and Lithuanian.
She received her bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois where she met her future husband. Four years later she earned a medical doctor’s degree from Indiana School of Medicine, Indianapolis. Later she became board certified in Family Medicine. After living for many years in Urbana, Illinois and Orange County, California, she and her husband eventually settled in Walnut Creek for the past 25 years where she continued her medical profession. 
She has been an active competitor in tennis and an avid mountain hiker not only in California but also in mountainous places in Europe.
After her retirement three years ago, she has turned her attention to writing. Since many images of her childhood in Germany and memories of stories narrated by her mother about the WWII tragic experiences kept surfacing, she decided to place all those fragments of memories together like a puzzle, before they faded away. From those fragments a picture emerged and a memoir was written.
“The Scattered Autumn Leaves” was published last year (2017). She is now writing a fiction romance book. The story will touch important issues that face our veterans today as they continue to suffer consequences of war and PTSD.The Scattered Autumn Leaves

 

 

 

 

you_want_me_to_do_whatB. Lynn GoodwinScreen Shot 2016-02-22 at February 22,2016 04.08.18 PMNever Too Late

B. Lynn Goodwin owns Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. Her memoir, Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62 won a National Indie Excellence Award a Human Relations Indie Book Award, and a Pinnacle Book Award as well as being an Honorable Mention in other contests.Her YA, Talent, won a bronze medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, was short listed for the Literary Lightbox Award and was a finalist for a Sarton Women’s Book Award. Her first book, You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers is still used by caregiving groups.

Shorter works have appeared in Hip Mama, The Sun, GoodHousekeeping.com, PurpleClover.com, and Flashquake among other places. She is a reviewer and teacher at Story Circle Network as well as Writer Advice and is available to write guest blogs for your web site. She lives east of Berkeley and west of the San Joaquin Valley with her energizer-bunny husband and their exceptional terrier.

J. Gary Gwilliamgetting_a_winning_verdict

 

 

Jill Hedgecock

 

Jill Hedgecock is an award-winning and internationally-published author. She writes book review columns and freelance articles for both Books ‘N Pieces Magazine and The Diablo Gazette. She has been in a book club for approximately 20 years where she has gained valuable knowledge on what readers consider good literature. Her short stories, personal essays and nonfiction pieces have appeared in multiple anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Rhino in the Room is her debut novel.

  • Website
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     Between Shadows Eyes cover
  • Between Shadow’s Eyes: A Suspense Novel, Goshawk Press, 2019
  • Rhino in the Room, Goshawk Press, 2018
  • YA Short Story: One Year and a Day, appeared in the anthology What Doesn’t Kill You, 2018
  • Essay: Rhino-cide, appeared in the anthology Africa vs. Asia, 2018
  • Short Story, The Plot in Question, CWC Literary Review, 2017 
  • Personal Essay, Round, CWC Literary Review, 2016
  • Short Story Broken, appeared in the anthology: West Winds Centennial, California Writers Club, 2010
  • Bookends monthly book review (Diablo Gazette): 2016-present
  • Book review columnist for Books ‘N Pieces Magazine, 2018 – present
  • Latest award: 2019 Medalist Winner for Travel/Adventures Abroad – New Apple Literary Indie Book Award for Rhino in the Room
  • Lost Cause, Second Place, Short Story Contest, CWC Inland Empire Branch, 2010
  • Story Pitches Award: Rhino in the Room—logline selected out of 200 submissions to be promoted as BEST NOVEL for August 2019
  • CWC Distinguished Service Award, 2018
  • CWC Distinguished Service Award, 2014

Phyllis HousemanPhyllis Houseman author

Curiosity and an admiration of Renaissance goals has helped guide Phyllis Houseman through life.
It may explain why she has been a student of the sciences, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, a High School teacher, a team manager of a software security firm, and a writer who has published award-winning romance books.
Phyllis was born in Detroit, MI. She earned a B.S. in Biology and Physical Sciences at the University of Michigan, and following two years in Ecuador, completed a Master’s in Science Education at Wayne State University.
She then married Jack (whom she met when they were both eight), had a daughter and son, and taught for many years in Detroit and California schools. After adding a concentration in Computer Science to her resume, Phyllis went to work in the computer industry.
Rounding out her desire to live up to Renaissance ideals, she has also written several contemporary novels.

  • The Verdict is Love
  • Call Back Our Yesterdays
  • To Catch a Lorelei
  • There Is a Season-Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award Finalist
  • Another New Year’s Eve
  • Insight, Hindsight & Flights of Fancy-Anthology Contributor–Tuffy, Don Juan and the Runaway Knight
  • Curious Things: A Compilation of Curiously Disturbing & Sometimes Horrifying Stories–Anthology Contributor–Tuffy
  • Coming Soon: Somewhere in the Silence-Honorable Mention in the 2018 National League of American Pen Women–Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition: Novel Excerpt category
  • Wayne State University 2020 Literary Review-Anthology Contributor —Hipster 
  • Callback to our YesterdayThe Verdict is LoveThese is a SeasonWebsite
  • Amazon Page

 

 

 

Kymberlie Ingalls

Kymberlie Ingalls is native to the California Bay Area. She is a pioneer in blogging and social media marketing, getting her start in the late 90s. Her style is loose, experimental and a journey in stream of consciousness. Hobbies include a fascination with humanity and questioning *every*thing. Works include personal essay, memoir and fiction. Beware of the occasional falling opinion.

 Judith Ingram 

Judith Ingram earned her master’s degree in counseling from Saint Mary’s College, a certificate in biblical studies from Cornerstone Bible Academy, and studied two years at Fuller Theological Seminary. Nine years in therapy recovering from childhood abuse issues inspired her interest in speaking and writing about forgiveness. She is the author of Forgiving Day by Day (2019), A Devotional Walk with Forgiveness (2011), and a time-travel fiction trilogy Moonseed (2013, 2014, 2015). She has contributed stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Forgiveness Fix (2019), Inspire Grace (2019), Inspire Forgiveness (2015), Inspire Kindness (2018), and The Literary Review (2018). She posts weekly devotionals on her blog and lives with her husband in the San Francisco East Bay Area.

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Denise Kalm

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Ken Kerkhoff

A fictional story set in real Africa and based on historical facts, Four Degrees North rivets the reader to pages filled with danger, tension, and an exciting chase through Africa’s famous national parks. Kerkhoff’s personal knowledge of the setting adds flavor and color to the ever-changing African landscape and the wonderful people of Cameroon and Nigeria.

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Joanna Krausnight_tamales_roses

Joanna H. Kraus is an award-winning playwright of twenty Theatre for Young Audiences produced/published plays and author of five picture books and numerous media articles. Professor Emerita of College at Brockport State University of New York. Graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and holds an M.A. from UCLA and an Ed.D. from Columbia University.

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Marianne Lonsdale

Marianne Lonsdale writes personal essays, fiction, and literary interviews. She’s looking for an agent for her first novel, Finding Nora, a story set in Oakland in 1991 about love and friendship during the AIDs epidemic. Her work has been published in Literary Mama, Grown and Flown, Pulse and has aired on KQED. Marianne has read at various events including San Francisco’s Litquake festival, and is honored to be an alumna of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley.

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William Martin authorWilliam Martin

William Martin is currently enrolled at the Pacific School of Religion to obtain a double masters in divinity and social justice. He published his second book in May 2019, Dance of the Animal Spirit through History, a memoir about feeling alive. He has three other books in various stages of draft.Dance of the Animal Spirit book cover

 

 

 

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Camille Minichino

Camille Minichino is a retired physicist turned writer. She has published 25 mysteries in 4 different series: the Periodic Table Mysteries; the Miniature Mysteries (as Margaret Grace); the Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries (as Ada Madison); and the Postmistress Mysteries (as Jean Flowers). She’s now working on a 3-book deal for a fifth series, the Alaska Diner Mysteries (as Elizabeth Logan). She’s also written nonfiction, many short stories, and articles on the craft of writing. She teaches science at Golden Gate U. in San Francisco and writing workshops around the SF Bay Area. More information is at www.minichino.com.

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Suzy Orpin

Canadian-born author, Suzy Quenneville-Orpin, has always had a vivid imagination and keen desire to write. Suzy views the world through her own narrative, weaving in the fascinating challenges, triumphs, and lifestyles of the people she meets. As a professional culinary instructor in Berkeley, California, Suzy is intrigued by the diverse culture around her.

 

Susan Pace-KochSusan Pace-Koch author

Susan Pace-Koch was born in Alaska, raised in Washington and now resides in California. A trip to the Grand Canyon gave her an idea that she ‘couldn’t get out of her head’; creating marvelous, wonderful children’s books.
Get Out Books creates delightful books that take children outside of their normal realm, and into their imaginations. Books published by Get Out Books are enjoyed by the parents and grandparents as much as the kids, thanks to Susan’s careful selections of the just the right artist for each book.The Lamp ThievesThe Mermaid and the MoonThe Four Bears

 

 

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Sheryl Ruzek

Sheryl Burt Ruzek currently writes historical fiction in which the characters live out societal conflicts in public health. Her previous books and articles in academic journals and the popular press address a wide array of topics in women’s health, health communication, medical decision-making, the adoption of medical technologies and the role of health movements in social change. She is Professor of Public Health Emerita at Temple University where she also edited the Health, Society and Policy Series for Temple University Press for many years. She has served as consultant for numerous public health organizations in the US and abroad.

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 John Schembra

John Schembra spent a year with the 557th Military Police Company at Long Binh, South Vietnam in 1970. His time as a combat M.P. provided the basis of his first book, M.P., A Novel of Vietnam. Upon completing his military service, John joined the Pleasant Hill Police Department, where he retired in 2001 as a Sergeant. He then joined the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Dept as the Lead EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course) instructor.

In addition to M.P., John has had several articles published in law enforcement periodicals, including, Law and Order, Police Officer’s Quarterly, and The Backup. He is also a contributing author in True Blue – Police Stories by Those Who Have Lived Them, a collection of short stories released by St. Martin’s Press. His second novel, Retribution, a fictional story of the hunt for a serial killer in San Francisco, published in the spring of 2007, was awarded the Silver Medal for writing excellence by the Military Writer’s Society of America. His third novel, Diplomatic Immunity, the story of a deadly sniper killing foreign consuls in San Francisco, was published in 2012. The three books are part of the Vince Torelli series. 

John’s fourth book, Sin Eater, a paranormal thriller, is now available in both electronic and print. His fifth book, Blood Debt, the fourth in the Vince Torelli should be released soon. John is currently writing his sixth book, Echoes of Lies and resides in Concord with his wife of 46 years, Charlene. 

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John G. (Jack) Sharp 

John G. (Jack) Sharp is a graduate of San Francisco State University, MA History. Jack writes frequently on military, labor, and racial history for a variety of different organizations and periodicals. His Diary of Michael Shiner 1813 -1869 is widely utilized and featured on the Library of Congress web page https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-war-in-america/biographies/michael-shiner.html. He has taught history, political science, and served as consultant to private and governmental organizations. His most recent article was written for Department of Navy to commemorate the 204th anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg fought 24 August 1814. The article highlights the largely unknown participation of young sailors 12-18 and enslaved and free African Americans in the battle. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html

 

 

 

Aline Soules

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Cheryl Spanos

  • Website: Writers on the Journey
  • “Counting,” short story, Beyond Centauri, October 2010
  • “Bones in the Cellar,” short story, Hunger Mountain, Spring 2010
  • Latest award (2008): Tougher than Dragon Hide, Children’s Fiction (Middle Grade Novel); Runner-Up, San Francisco Writers Conference Contest; Two Honorable Mentions, 77th Annual Writers Digest Writing Competition for Bones in the Cellar, and Pote Tha Fthasoume? (Are We There Yet?), both in the mainstream/literary short story category

Georgia Stathis

Georgia Stathis (www.starcycles.com) specializes in business and natal astrology since 1977 with a strong background in investment and real estate. She holds a B.S. degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. She is both an investor and a consulting astrologer and is author of Business Astrology 101 (http://starcycles.com/product/business-astrology-101-weaving-web-business-myth/) and her brand new book(release date April 2018) entitled Pushing through Time: Synodic Cycles and their Developing Phases (http://starcycles.com/product/pushing-through-time-synodic-cycles-and-their-developing-phases/). Georgia is a contributor to various journals like the Galactic Trader and the 2016 OPA book, The Professional Astrologer. She taught the undergraduate program at Kepler College for seven years and spoke most recently at UAC2018 and will be speaking again at 2019 NORWAC, 2019 NCGR in Baltimore and teaching at the Midwest School of Astrology and NCGR Miami in February 2019 and presenting a workshop to Friends of Astrology in Oak Lawn, Illinois on November 3, 2018. A regular online teacher for such schools as Mayo School of Astrology, Breaking down the Borders and Astro Summit, she spends a lot of time doing research and writes a FREE newsletter for those who sign up at her website www.starcycles.com. She is a board member of the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago, whose mission is to preserve Hellenistic Culture and is also the chairwoman and one of the founders (with Urania Trust and Kepler) of the newly formed Alexandria iBase Project, whose mission is to preserve astrological literature for our peers for the future, a 501 C3 non-profit foundation, more information can be found at www.alexibase.org 
Contact: stathis.georgia@gmail.com

 Christine Sunderland

CHRISTINE SUNDERLAND serves as managing editor for American Church Union Publishing and holds a BA in English Literature from San Francisco State University, Cum Laude. She is the author of six award-winning novels about faith and family, freedom of speech and religion, and the importance of history and human dignity. Her seventh novel, Angel Mountain, set on Mount Diablo, was released on April 24, 2020 by Wipf and Stock Publishers. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a tabby named Laddie who makes an appearance in Angel Mountain

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Jerry Vaught

 

 

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