And then there were two: WINTER WRITES - Poems, Stories & Sagas, is now live and available on Amazon as of January 16, 2016.
It is reasonably priced at $4.99 and may be downloaded on various devices.
Amazon provides free e-reader software for those who don’t have a Kindle.
For the past two and a half months, editor CJ Alexander received and vetted submissions
on the winter theme from England, Ireland, Poland and India, as well as from the Mohawk Valley and several US
states.
We were fortunate to find a talented artist who agreed to design this unique cover for us. Daniel Fuller also made his writing debut in our book.
The original poems and stories of twenty five authors, many
of whom are local residents, made it into this anthology. We’re very proud of
everyone’s creative efforts and we sincerely hope that you will show your
support for their hard work – yes, writing is work – by purchasing a copy.
There is something for everyone in this anthology:
humor, satire, romance, drama, nature, fantasy and even some science fiction.
The story or poem length ranges from 50 to 500 words per piece. We also
featured several “sagas” of up to 2,500 words, a respectable short story length
for those writers who had a longer winter yarn to spin. A list of the book’s
authors and their bios can be found at the end of this post.
AUTHOR BIOS
(Names with a * are current or former local writing group members)
* CJ Alexander’s writing career began the day she first laid crayon to paper. She is the blog designer, virtual host and editor of the Whitesboro Writers Group, which recently published its first e-book anthology, Halloween Musings & Amusings. Several of her short stories have appeared in Anthologies published by Horrified Press and others have appeared on Flash Fiction Press. An avid reader, she resides in Whitesboro, New York.
Dr. Sue Babcock spent years and years as an engineer, living like a troll in a dark hole under a rock in the broad expanse of the Rio Grande valley. For decades she'd peer out at the gaudy, dazzling world around her, then scurry back into her comfortable darkness where she researched, constructed, supervised and wrote (dry, technical) reports. One day a dragon visited her valley, and its fiery breath and incendiary heat shattered Sue's protective rock. She closed her eyes for a heartbeat before trying to climb on that dragon's back. Someday she will succeed. She's the publisher for Liquid Imagination and Youth Imagination, and is on the Board of Directors of the Silver Pen Writers Association. Mostly retired, she delights in writing short stories, especially stories of human failings, and when she remembers to submit, she even occasionally gets published.
Liz Brigham was born and raised in Whitesboro. From a young age she began writing to escape from any unfavored events in her life. Her writing soon grew from a simple get-away to a passion. She is now 20 years old with an Associates in Graphic Communications from MVCC and working on her Bachelor's in Media Communications at University of Albany. She still reads and writes in her spare time. You can find more of her work at http://lizrbrigham.wix.com/coffeechat.
Dorothy Davies is a writer, editor and medium from the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. There she writes her strange stories and books and edits even stranger anthologies of dark tales by talented authors. She runs The Old Curiosity Shop, a store crammed with curios and items, some of which are almost as strange as she is. She is a member of the HWA. Her book The Skullface Chronicles is set on the island – no one has yet noticed the zombie stomping around and killing people. Perhaps they think that it’s normal behaviour for an islander…
* P. T. DeBlois is a frequent contributor to and member of the Whitesboro Writers Group. He enjoys history, writing, and spending time with friends and family. He is also an avid reader and collects books. He resides in New Hartford, New York.
Brianne DiPrima - Born and raised in Central New York I have always had an interest in writing. I currently live in Houston where I moved with my husband to earn my Veterinarian Technician license and for my husband to finish his residency. We hope to move back to Central New York mid 2016.
* Ginny Enea - A life-long love of books gave me the inspiration to write.
Jules Enea is a writer in the genres of Horror and Fantasy. Some of his stories appear in a Halloween Anthology on Amazon, and on Flash Fiction Press.
Daniel Fuller is a lifelong resident of Canton Illinois where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has been a jeweler for thirty years and is the owner of Fuller's Jewelry, a Victorian jewelry store that has operated since 1892. Besides being a full time dad and goldsmith, his interests include infrared and regular photography, manga and anime based graphics and artwork, online video gaming, mountain biking, woodworking, and gardening. He often uses the name Hari Seldan for his artwork, and is known as "Honey Badger" among his friends. He operates the art website Obsidianrainbow.com.
Jessi Gael is an unabashed geek girl who can often be found immersed in imaginary worlds. She lives with her family in Central New York and thinks that while the snow is pretty it’s just too darn cold. When not busy with real life, reading, or writing she has can most likely be found in a classroom learning, because apparently she likes to punish herself learn all there is to know.
Norbert Gora - 25-year-old poet and writer from Poland. Many of his horror, SF and romance short stories have been published in his home country. He is also author of many poems in English-language poetry anthologies around the world.
Tialila Kikon – I am from a beautiful hill state in North East India, Nagaland. I'm happy to mention that Nagaland is blessed bountifully by nature. I teach literature in a college. Life, Love and Nature inspire me. I have written around 130 tankas so far and awaiting publication. I have a collection of around 100 free verse poems scribbled over the years. I believe anything that touches the soul is beautiful. In this world torn apart by hatred and greed, the Arts in all its different forms can definitely built rainbow bridges, touch lives and give hope to humanity.
* Brian Klocek – Mohawk Valley native son now on assignment in El Paso, Texas. Known for his social commentary (self-published on Soundcloud and Amazon), he is one of the partners in a fan-fiction blog Partners in Jest and a frequent contributor to the Whitesboro Writers Group.
Deborah LeFalle - is an active retiree hailing from San Jose, California. She enjoys writing, supporting the arts, and spending time outdoors communing with nature. Poetry is the genre of writing she is drawn to most, with ideas for her poems often stemming from personal experiences. Living a simple, gratitude-filled life sustains and inspires her daily.
* Sue Lemery – “Younger days I loved to walk and hike in the woods. The quiet of the forest, the evergreens, the effort of long hikes - always left me joyful. In recent years, have tried writing about those peak experiences. I still search for words to portray the amazing experiences of simple forest walks. Several recent poems, thematically, have concerned topics such as world peace and our refugee situation. Enjoy writing poems and with retirement getting closer, hope to have time to write even more.”
* H.T. Longale - After having been graduated from the Utica School of Commerce in 1997, H.T. Longale worked a wide variety of jobs. Her writing for leisure has been ongoing for years, and recently evolved into a determined passion. Currently she is finishing the first novel of a set entitled, The Foundlings' Eyre Series. She resides in Remsen, New York.
John C. Mannone has works in Windhover, Artemis, Southern Poetry Anthology (NC), Still: The Journal, Town Creek Poetry, Negative Capability, Tupelo Press, Baltimore Review, Pedestal and others. Author of two literary poetry collections—Apocalypse (Alban Lake Publishing) and Disabled Monsters (The Linnet’s Wings Press)—he’s the poetry editor for Silver Blade and for Abyss & Apex. He won the 2015 Joy Margrave award for creative nonfiction and has been nominated three times for the Pushcart. He is a professor of physics in east TN. Visit The Art of Poetry: http://jcmannone.wordpress.com
Derryman Perry McDaid is currently fiction editor with Liquid Imagination and on the board of silverpen.org. Widely published, besides his five individual poetry anthologies, his poems, stories, reviews and articles have appeared in diverse and international magazines, anthologies and websites. A prize-winner with short stories, poetry and articles, the Irishman’s work can be found both in hardcopy and online. He lives with his family beneath the mostly misty Donegal Hills, walking back roads where he can inhale the mystic inspiration of long dead bards and druids to concoct the weird, wonderful, and downright disturbing.
* Jeremy Mortis has been writing stories for over twenty years and has been lucky enough to be published in the last five. Blessed by the Fair Folk when he worked with Father Christmas for a year, he now sees all manner of strange and wondrous beings. Now he currently works for the state of New York as a job coach.
* Cheryl Palmer starting writing after she retired. She enjoys creating snapshots of life in words. Apart from the fun of choosing just the right words to tell the short tales, she hopes to lead the readers into a shared experience of the “human condition”. Cheryl harvests moments from her past, and also uses those surrounding her in the present. In “Colors of Honey”, she used a recent trip and hike in the Adirondacks for inspiration. In “Pottsville, Pennsylvania”, she combined true events from years ago, the trip through the Pennsylvania town, with fiction. (Both of these stories appeared in the Halloween Musings & Amusings Anthology.) Cheryl is an original member of the Whitesboro Monday Night Writer’s group.
* Monica Reid began writing early on. She earned her degree in Biology at Oneonta while participating in art, theater, and voice. She worked as a jeweler at a custom jewelry store while teaching private lessons and night classes at the Peoria Art Guild. While having and raising her three children, she worked as a jeweler for local stores from her private shop. In 2014, Monica completed her 420K-word science-fiction; first, of a projected six. Monica reads her poetry Thursday nights with the Utica Poetry Society, and enjoys hiking, photography, art, handcrafting furniture, Zumba, and gourmet cooking.
*Joan Scharf: Author of gritty short short stories. Two books in publication. Hanging on a Twisted Line; and Valentine Tails/Tales. One E-Book…Dark of the Island. Stories in a variety of magazines. Four Anthologies…Slices of Life, Mountain Mysts, Ghosts Cast no Shadows, Halloween Musings & Amusings. …and now keeping my fingers warm with a story for Winter Musings.
Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher was born and raised on Staten Island, New York. She realized her love of writing came from her love of reading. Several years back, she took on-line writing courses to hone her skill and is currently involved with an on-line writing critique group and a fiction book club. Her short flash “The Big Duke,” was published in September of 2015, and she had several micro flash shorts published the same year including “The Plunge.” Lisa currently resides on Long Island, New York, with her husband Rick and little dog Lucy Lu.
* Miriam E. Waters is a flash fiction author and poet. Her work can be found on the Whitesboro Writers Group’s blog found at http://whitesboronywriters.blogspot.com. Publications include technical reports and poetry. A solitary dreamer, she is an avowed bibliophile living amid a warren of books. You can view her work on her eclectic blog, http://gillowbugs.blogspot.com. She resides in central New York State, USA.
Lester L Weil is an ex-professional bassoonist, ex-professor, ex-custom furniture builder, ex-house builder. He is retired in Arizona near the Mexico border. Works have appeared in Saturday Night Reader, riverbabble, 365tomorrows, Flash Fiction Magazine, Black Heart Magazine, Doorknobs and Bodypaint among others. He is the fiction editor at the Silver Blade Magazine (www2.silverblade.net/), a Science Fiction Magazine and publishes The Flash Fiction Press (theflashfictionpress.org) which posts daily stories 100-1200 words.
