SIMON
During the Depression, my father reported for The Press, the morning paper for Christchurch,
New Zealand. Wartime Italy is where he saw action as a gunner beginning at Monte Cassino
and ending in Trieste. He also he kept a diary and learned Italian. His diary came the fodder for
my first book, Embracing Italy. Other family members have also raised their hands. My late
maternal grandmother wrote two biographies, my elder brother and two cousins still write poetry
regularly. I suppose then the writing bug has been there all along, just hidden until now. In
addition to Embracing Italy, I have three books of short stories, one still to be released. The first,
Carrot Boy, covers my New Zealand stories; the second, The Dravidian Circle, is set abroad.
The one to come out is Blues for Serge. I am now in the middle of my first novel, tentatively
titled The Meating of Minds.
JEFF
Yeah. Born in San Francisco , Poet, Playwright, Children’s Books author. I relish good dialogue,
I lived overseas for 17 years (the middle
bit) and I think about evolution and neurology a lot. I keep coming
back to how similar the brain is to evolution itself.
Can’t see to let it go.
I really like writing flash fiction but I’m not crazy about reading it. Go figure.
AMANDA
I am a native New York Jew who then spent nineteen years within walking distance of Harvard Square, before moving to Sonoma County in 1994. In a lifetime of making a living, raising a child, and fighting off crippling perfectionism, I have nonetheless squeezed out short stories, poetry, several plays for children and adults, and a very bad NANOWRIMO novel. Thank God for tight deadlines!
ADAM
Hi, I'm Adam. I'm from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. My primary exposure to fiction these days is through my Youtube channel, where I narrate audiobooks and essays. Some of my favourite authors are David Foster Wallace, Camus, and Kafka. I have tried writing short stories at times, but of course find it difficult to remain consistent, so I am looking forward to this project to help me improve and stay motivated.
MADELEINE
I emigrated to the U.S with my family as a four-year old and grew up in Marin County,
California. I returned to Sweden as an adult, after having lived in Paris for a year, many
years ago. I’ve written a few academic papers and some poetry and have had illusions of
grandeur about writing a screenplay, but am hopeless at writing dialogue. I enjoy reading
short stories and trying to write a few now seems a good way to get back into writing, after
a lull of many years.
JOAN
I was born and raised in San Francisco but spent every day of
every summer in Guerneville, CA, a resort town on the Russian
River, where I currently live. This is my second short story project
with Ted. I now declare before whatever community this is, that
my longest lasting committed relationship is to, Rodale Press
Synonym Finder.
Smorgasbord of art involvement over the years: painting, drawing,
card making, radio drama player, readers’ theatre reader.
RACHEL
I’ve
been a documentary producer for ten years. I took a few playwriting
classes recently and loved the whole process. I’d like to work on some
writing based on real events and am looking forward to having weekly
writing assignments.
TED
I'm a native San Franciscan now living in Sebastopol, California. I wasted several decades not writing, so now I'm trying to make up for it. I have enjoyed organizing various writing projects, including a couple of group collaborative serial novels -- which maybe we can undertake if anyone can still face the keyboard when this project wraps up!
NANSI
I
was a textile designer and product developer for the garment and home
furnishings industries for 1000 years. I had a ball. Now I'm the bum
one evidently prepares to be in the course of working. I have a wrinkly
muzzle, a mouth like a reticule; I gangle like Ichabod Crane. (Gangle
likes serving as a verb; if something as awful as "gifting" can morph
out of gift, why not reverse the sorry trend?) Given the amalgam of
talents and deficits one gets, the lessons learned almost too late and
the precocious, unearned faculties, the assessment hereabouts is that
there has been more good luck than bad: a secular blessing. There have
been such good people in my life; they are my anchors, my teachers, my
heart. I have loved and been loved. I hope I have been useful. In
short, my name is something or other and I did something or other . . .
ANNIE