Twilight Times Books

Christine Amsden

Christine Amsden was born and raised in the St. Louis area, which inspired the setting for her first novel, Touch of Fate. She started writing shortly after learning to pick up a pencil, and though she majored in Computer Science and Psychology in college, she never lost her love of the written word. She writes more fantasy and science fiction than anything else, but hopes to make these genres accessible to everyone by portraying characters anyone can relate to.

Christine now lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and biggest supporter, Austin. In November of 2005, she had her first child, a son named Drake. She is a member of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), stays home with her son, and still finds time to write every day.

Darrell Bain

Darrell is the author of about two dozen books, in many genres, running the gamut from humor to mystery and science fiction to non-fiction and a few humorous works which are sort of fictional non-fiction, if that makes any sense. He has even written for children. For the last several years he has concentrated on humor and science fiction, both short fiction, non-fiction (sort of) and novels. He is currently writing the fourth novel in the series begun with Medics Wild.

Darrell served thirteen years in the military and his two stints in Vietnam formed the basis for his first published novel, Medics Wild. Darrell has been writing off and on all his life but really got serious about it only after the advent of computers. He purchased his first one in 1989 and has been writing furiously ever since.

While Darrell was working as a lab manager at a hospital in Texas, he met his wife Betty. He trapped her under a mistletoe sprig and they were married a year later. Darrell and Betty own and operate a Christmas tree farm in East Texas which has become the subject and backdrop for many of his humorous stories and books.

Dr. Bob Boan

Bob Boan has been an active member of the space community for over a quarter of a century. He has worked on a variety of manned and unmanned space programs at different levels of responsibility over that time. Prior to his space experience he was a member of academia. He taught courses from the high school level through graduate school, primarily chemistry.

Dr. Boan is recognized as a community expert on Communications, SIGINT and IMINT systems and concepts. He also has significant MASINT experience.  He has multiple relevant patents and technical publications in his field. He earned his doctorate at the Florida Institute of Technology.

Dr. Boan has authored a number of technical publications including peer reviewed articles. He coauthored An Introduction to Planetary Defense: A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion, BrownWalker Press, 2006. He has written three novels, Bobby Becomes Bob, Williams Lake Was Once the Center of the Universe and Don't Tell Brenda. 

TTB title: Bobby Becomes Bob

Rick Buda

The year 2000 was big in Rick's life -- he turned Fifty on August 3rd. Seventeen years ago he had made a vow to be published before he was fifty. Well he missed it by only a few days.

He has traveled the world over and still calls the Chicago area home -- although a confirmed suburbanite now. Married, with three kids, and his only daughter's wedding looms ahead in 2001.

He has always been the one who wrote for all the business news letters at work and actually published a fanzine for Play-by-mail Gaming (PBM), the precursur to PC gaming on the internet. The reviews and commentary he wrote were published and read world-wide. At one time more than two thousand people were paid subscribers.

He has been a fan of thrillers and stories that make the reader feel "This could happen." He has more, if you want to read them! Beyond WolfPointe, he has one more novel finished, and he is working on his next.

Mayra Calvani

Mayra Calvani is the author of two books. Her stories, articles and reviews have appeared in many online and print publications in the States, England and Puerto Rico. In addition, she is assistant editor of Voice in the Dark newsletter, where she writes a monthly column. She has lived in America, Asia, the Middle East, and is now settled in Brussels, Belgium, where she lives with her husband, two children and a variety of pets. Her hobbies include playing the violin and astronomy/sky observing.

D Jason Cooper

D Jason Cooper was born south of Toronto, Canada, grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in Perth, Australia. He has a wife and two children, a girl, Shadra (aged twelve) a boy, Darius (aged eight), and two cats.

He holds a BA from the University of Western Australia and is the author of six other books, including Understanding Numerology, Using the Runes, Esoteric Rune Magic, The Power of Dreaming, Mithras: Mysteries and Initiation Rediscovered and The Astral Grail. He is a regular on Perth radio and has occasionally appeared on TV.

Jason Cordova

Jason Cordova was born in California in 1978, thus beginning his tumultuous path towards world domination. As with every megalomaniac dictator, he had no love for books at an early age. Indeed, baseball and corruptive power were his two biggest loves in life. He did not discover a love of reading, therefore, until his English teacher in high school introduced him to alternate history. It was then that he realized that the classic blunder for every world dictator was a lack of literary prowess. As Vizzini was apt to say, "Inconceivable!"

However, after service in the United States Navy and a degree in History, he discovered that there was no possible way for him to dominate the world.

In his spare time, Jason continues to read all sorts of literature, especially science fiction and alternate history. He also paints toy soldiers and plays war games with them quite regularly. Many weekends one can find him at the local gaming store, destroying his opposition in a way that only world dictators can truly appreciate.

He now resides in Hampton, Virginia with the Four Kittens of the Apocalypse.

TTB title: Corruptor
 

Lee Denning

Lee Denning is the pen name of a father-daughter writing team. Denning Powell has been a soldier, scientist, engineer and entrepreneur.

Leanne Powell Myasnik is a psychologist, poet and mystic.

He lives on the East Coast, she on the West. They correspond. With love. And hilarity.

Ray Dreyfack

Ray Dreyfack's business writing career features an untold number of books, articles, speeches, newsletters, and ghostwriting. Credentials include big-selling books for Prentice-Hall, Dartnell, and others.

But his longtime true love is fiction--short stories and novels. One novel, The Image Makers, was published years ago in paperback, along with short stories to magazines, most of which no longer exist. But alas! With a family to support--and cowardly by nature--Dreyfack has long focused on output that yields respectable financial return.

However, dreams of published fiction though fading, are not totally dimmed. At the moment Ray has a great medical suspense novel (he says) penned in collaboration with his family doctor and close friend, plus a collection of short stories.

Regarding reincarnation as revealed in One More Time? Dreyfack doesn't exactly believe in it; but he doesn't disbelieve either. As he himself does, he urges all within listening distance to keep the door open.

Anne K. Edwards

Anne K. Edwards writes what she reads--mysteries. Death on Delivery is her second book, the first in the Hannah Clare series. Anne lives on a small farm in southern Pennsylvania with several cats and horses. Her interests other than reading and writing are meeting new people, traveling and talking to other authors.

Anne is a member of Pennwriters.org and reviews books for Ebooksnbytes.com and Reader to Reader.

Karina L. Fabian

A cradle Catholic and SF geek, she's had a great time thinking about the future of the Catholic Church for Infinite Space, Infinite God, which she edited with her husband, Rob. She finds collaborating with her husband, whether about children, stories, or anthologies, extremely romantic.

Robert A. Fabian

R. Barri Flowers

R. Barri Flowers is an award winning, best-selling literary criminologist with more than forty published books and dozens of short stories to his credit. His published mystery novels include the legal thrillers, State's Evidence (Dorchester, 2006), Justice Served (Dorchester, 2005), and Persuasive Evidence (Dorchester, 2004). Justice Served was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award.

Flower's best-selling true crime book, The Sex Slave Murders (St. Martin's Press, 1996) was excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and was the basis for crime documentaries on the Biography Channel's Crime Stories and Investigation Discovery's Wicked Attraction series.

The author's noir tale, "The Wrong End of a Gun," appears in Seattle Noir (Akashic Books, 2009), as part of an award winning noir anthology series. A number of Flowers mystery short stories are part of the Amazon Shorts program, including "Ripper-Part 1," "Deception-Part-1," "Gone But Not Forgotten," "No Going Back," and "The Jury Has Spoken."

Apart from writing fiction and true crime, R. Barri Flowers is a distinguished criminologist and has written such criminology titles as College Crime (McFarland, 2009), Female Crime, Criminals and Cellmates (McFarland, 2009), The Adolescent Criminal (McFarland, 2009), Sex Crimes: Predators, Perpetrators, Prostitutes, and Victims (Charles C Thomas, 2006), and Murders in the United States (McFarland, 2004).

The author is a recipient of the Wall of Fame Award from Michigan State University's renowned School of Criminal Justice. He has been interviewed on the Biography Channel, Investigation Discovery, and by ABC News as well as many popular online sites.

Dr. Ralph Freedman

At the age of 28, Ralph published his first novel, Divided, which won a significant award, after which he turned to scholarly publications. His Lyrical Novel won considerable acclaim, especially in Korea and Japan; his two major biographies on Hermann Hesse and Rainer Maria Rilke have been translated into several languages, including German, Italian and Japanese (Hesse) and German and French (Rilke).

Finally, however, after many years of teaching and writing, Ralph Freedman made good on his promise to himself as a young writer and returned to prose fiction late in life with Rue the Day, based on his experience as a soldier in Italy and as a returning student at the University of Washington. He is also at work on his memoir.

Geoff Geauterre

Geoff Geauterre is a retired civil servant with a degree in History and special interests in Journalism and Research. He has lived in Florida, New York, Chicago, Boston, Maine, Montreal, Northern Quebec, Calgary, Northwest Territories, and parts of Alaska. He's said he gained his sense of humor from the back of a mule.

Experienced in Medicine, Administration, Security, Publications and News Services as a reporter and commentator, with over four years in the U.S. Navy, he later applied that background when attending the University.

Geoff has traveled to England, France, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and the Mediterranean Islands. He likes studying Philosophy, Comparative Myths, Legends and Religions. He is also reasonably certain of having gained prior experience in writing in another life. He only hoped it wasn't one that led him to the guillotine!

Jan Grape

Jan Grape is an award winning writer with a mystery series and more than two dozen short stories to her credit. Her novels include Dark Blue Death (Five Star, 2005) and the Anthony nominated Austin City Blue (Worldwide Library, 2003). Both feature Austin police detective Zoe Barrow.

The author is a double award winner with an Anthony for Best Short Story, "A Front Row Seat," and Macavity for a co-authored nonfiction book, Deadly Women (Carroll & Graf, 1997). She has also been nominated for an Edgar, Shamus, and Agatha.

Grape's mystery stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including "Cat O'Nine Lives," in Cat Crimes through Time (Book Sales, 2001) and "A Front Row Seat," in Vengeance is Hers (Signet, 1997).

Ginger Hanson

Ginger Hanson is a former college history teacher who found writing historical romance a natural outlet for her love of history. While Lady Runaway is her first foray into the Regency period, her two award-winning Civil War era historical romantic adventures were published in 2004. 

In addition to writing fiction, her feature articles have appeared in magazines, newspapers and ezines. She currently writes, revises, and copyedits federal government handbooks. An experienced presenter, she has taught workshops at local and regional writers' conferences as well as Romance Writers of America's national conference. She also teaches online writing classes.

After a vagabond life as an Navy brat and Army wife, Ginger convinced her husband to retire in southeast Alabama where they now live with a rescued Great Dane named Sir Sterling Silver and Scooter the and cat. Her daughter is an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Toby Fesler Heathcotte

At the age of seven, Toby lost her best friend, Marcia, in a car accident. Three months later, Marcia peeked over a cloud and said she liked her new world. Toby's family dismissed the episode as mere imagination, and she grew up distrusting her own perceptions.

Unable to reconcile this and other psychic experiences, such as precognitive dreams and seeing astral forms of people, she became a lifelong student of the paranormal. Her personal library contains over four decades of volumes from Bridey Murphy and J. B. Rhine in the Sixties to current studies by the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the American Society for Psychical Research. Her dream journals span the same time period and serve as resources for her life and work.

Repeated psychic experiences forced Toby to learn some coping strategies. She sat in development groups and experimented with techniques like psychometry, automatic writing, and dream analysis. As she came to terms with her nature, she wanted to share what she'd learned to help others with any self-doubt or concerns about their sanity.

Toby taught high school speech and drama and college English. Now her primary interests rest in understanding her psychic abilities and writing projects that incorporate that learning. A mother of two and grandmother of three, Toby lives in Arizona where she serves as president of Arizona Authors Association.

She is the author of non-fiction works such as "Program Building: A Practical Guide for High School Speech and Drama Teachers," "Seeds for Fertile Minds: Eight Curriculum Integration Tools with Betty Joy" and a novel, "Alison's Legacy, and Operation: Pleiades: Full Contact."

Annette Marie Hyder

Annette Marie Hyder is a freelance journalist/editor, artist and author. She selfishly--yes, selfishly--involves herself in issues and causes that she feels will impact the life of her daughter, issues such as: feminism, global conservation/ecology, human rights, literacy and education, empowerment and identity and just plain fun (she admits to being interested in these things on their own merit too.)

She is the founder and curator of the international feminist project Facing Feminism: Feminists I Know. She is Contributing Editor for Poems Niederngasse and Editor for PNG's Pancultural Exploration of Love. Her poetry has been translated into German, Italian and Spanish, included in numerous anthologies and published in book form. Her articles appear in print throughout the United States and internationally while her publishing credits encompass both print and electronic World Wide Web publication. She is on the editorial board of INTHEFRAY Magazine and is the Respect Editor for Empowerment4women.org

Annette sees life as a poem that is constantly altering its form to accommodate one's world view/experiences: sometimes a sonnet, sometimes haiku, sometimes graffiti on a wall. She believes that in love you should not say it with flowers, you should say it with words. Diamonds, however, are always acceptable.

A blog, Ad Libitum, is coming soon and promises to cunningly explore the purview of her cognizance. For more information, visit her web site.

Linda Langwith

Linda Langwith was born on an island in the Pacific Ocean. The sea is in her blood, in her dreams and in the stories she writes. Her love of literature inspired her to complete a B.A. Honours and an M.A in English, while her passion for history has drawn her to Europe, England, Scotland and Ireland, to the places which nurtured her ancestors and in turn, nourish her imagination. It was in an old stone cottage in the wilds of Yorkshire that The Golden Crusader was first conceived and it was in Fountains Abbey that she found her crusader's effigy, quite forgotten in a corner of the ruins.

Blessed by three children and William, her husband, Linda values family life above all else. Her love of landscape gardening finds scope in their acre property where she has developed an organic market garden. She has been variously a research grants officer for a national arts foundation, a university-level academic advisor, coordinator of a community-based resource centre and currently, a freelance writer of poetry, short stories, articles, scholarly works and novels as well as a contributor to three American cookbooks.

Dr. Margot Lasher

Margot Lasher is a writer and a licensed psychologist who specializes in the human-dog relationship. She has been involved in experimental theater as a writer and actor, and her play, Other Minds, was part of the local playwright's series at the Waterfront Playhouse in Key West. She is the author of "And the Animals Will Teach You," and "The Art and Practice of Compassion and Empathy." She lives with her dog, Shiro, in Vermont and Key West.

Aaron Lazar

After writing in the early morning hours, Aaron Lazar works as an electrophotographic engineer in Rochester, New York. Additional passions include vegetable, fruit, and flower gardening; preparing large family feasts; photographing his family, gardens, and the breathtakingly beautiful Genesee Valley; cross-country skiing across the rolling hills; playing a distinctly amateur level of piano, and spending "time" with the French Impressionists whenever possible.

Mr. Lazar resides in Upstate New York with his wife, three daughters, two grandsons, mother-in-law, dog, and four cats. Although he adored raising his three delightful daughters, Aaron finds grandfathering his "two little buddies" to be one of the finest experiences of his life.

Celia Leaman

Celia Leaman was raised in Devon, England. After moving to Canada in 1980, she had short stories published in magazines in the UK, Canada, the United States and South Africa. One of these was translated into Braille. She also wrote and co-directed a play, performed on Galiano Island, BC.

Celia writes in several genres. Her more serious novels, her first being Mary's Child, reflect her love of the South Devon moors in England. When Mary's Child was first released, it was a Frankfurt eBook Award and a Reviewers Choice Award nominee. There are two sequels to Mary's Child; PastPresent I: Awareness and PastPresent II: Resolution.

Unraveled is a lighthearted mainstream novel with a touch of fantasy and humor, as is her short story ebook, "Island Stories." Celia has created a whole new island community on Gale Island, a fictional Gulf Island situated between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

"Who is Margaret? What is She?" is a book of quirky/alien/fantasy short stories.

Bent Lorentzen

Bent Lorentzen was born in Roskilde, Denmark, ancient seat of the Danish Kingdom. He lived in Montreal for seven years, BS in biology, four years graduate education in cultural anthropology and neurobiology. He taught science at River School in Florida, was associate editor to North County News and book reviewer and photojournalist in both Denmark and USA. Bent is currently writing a syndicated column and three books.

Having written for several governments, including Denmark, Israel and the USA, Mr. Lorentzen has had his works translated into over thirteen languages. He has also studied journalism (Goddard College), photography (beginning in 1976 as an undergraduate with the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium and completing in 1998, photography certification in Copenhagen with Skolefoto Asb), and editing (Associate Editor for a newspaper syndicate and founder of the magazine, Many Leaves One Tree).

Additionally, much of Mr. Lorentzen's cultural journalism takes place through his unique ability to view and report elements of society from atop a bicycle. He has raced in Denmark and in America as a captain of a USCF cycling team, and has authored a three-year syndicated column on bicycling culture. He recently completed a 2500 kilometer bicycle ride along the mountains of eastern USA, in the dead of winter, for a book on American culture and on behalf of the mental health advocacy group, M-POWER.

Bent is available for speaking and promotional engagements worldwide.

Robert Marcom

Beverly Stowe McClure

Beverly Stowe McClure is a native Texan. She lives in the country, outside of Iowa Park, with her husband, Jack, and a cat named Sugar, who isn't really sweet. She has three sons, four granddaughters and two grandsons. She also has a great-grandson. (She married very young.)

She earned a BSEd from Midwestern State University. Her first book, Secrets I Have Kept, was published as an ebook in 2000 by Bookmice. Her stories and articles have appeared in leading children's magazines.

Beverly is a member of both the North Texas and the national Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She is currently working on two historical novels for children, as well as a couple of picture books.

She co-teaches a women's Sunday School class. To relax she plays the piano and tries to make flowers grow under the hot Texas sun and with little water. And she's discovered many interesting ancestors in her genealogy research.

Jeff McCord

In his seven years as a newspaper columnist, Jeff McCord has published somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred columns. He started out writing for "The Rogersville Review"--Tennessee's oldest active newspaper and along with his wife currently writes a column for the "Kingsport Times-News." McCord published his first essay, "Manhood and Kaptain Kangaroo" in 1994 and has been publishing essays and short stories ever since. A native of Sandy Springs, Georgia, Jeff McCord now resides in Kingsport, Tennessee with his wife and three children. Awkward Grace is Jeff McCord's debut novel.

Gerald W. Mills

Gerry spent most of his first sixteen years studying the piano, reading everything in print and ruining as many staged events as possible just by appearing in them. His promising career as a concert pianist came to an end when he found it involved hard work. Instead he entered Northeastern University. In return for his promise never to return there, he was handed a degree in electrical engineering. Misreading that as encouragement, he began a career in avionics engineering. When the engineering industry learned his true value, he wisely switched to sales, but divorce unhappily followed. He later met and married Lori, continued in sales, then launched his own business, selling it ten years later.

The high-speed automation and robotics industry kept him occupied until 1990, when he took a brief sabbatical with Lori, his bride of twenty-eight years by then. They set out on a 45 foot ocean-sailing yacht, managing to terrorize most of the Canadian Maritimes and eastern seaboard for over a year before ending up in the Bahamas, where fortunes ran out. Not one to fret, he immediately wrote his first novel, Then Is The Power, typing furiously to see how the story ended, while Lori plotted a course for Florida.

While in Florida, he worked in automation and learned to herd nine cats.

Shying away from the purely technical, he enjoys writing character-driven stories dealing with human shortcomings, a topic in which he has a great degree of personal expertise. His latest hobbies are gardening and remembering the cats' names. He no longer sails, and the world is a safer place for it.

There are those who believe he should give up writing for the same reason, but so far no one has come forward with an acceptable bribe.

Erica Miner

Violinist turned author Erica Miner has had a multi-faceted career as an award-winning screenwriter, author, lecturer and poet. A native of Detroit, she studied music at Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center. After experiencing a variety of highs and lows in her quest to forge a career in New York City, Erica won the coveted position of violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Company, a high-pressured milieu but the pinnacle of her field.

Her life became even more challenging, however, when injuries from a car accident spelled the end of her musical career. Searching for a new creative outlet, she drew upon her lifelong love of writing for inspiration and studied poetry and screenwriting, winning a number of awards in both categories. After moving to the west coast, Erica honed her screenwriting skills with author and script guru Linda Seger of Making a Good Script Great fame and with Ken Rotcop, the author of Perfect Pitch. Erica's ten screenplays, one of which is based on her award-winning debut novel, Travels with My Lovers, have won awards and/or placed in such competitions as WinFemme, Santa Fe and the Writer's Digest. Her essays and articles have appeared in Vision Magazine, WORD San Diego and numerous newsletters and E-zines.

Erica has completed both the novel and screenplay of her suspense thriller, Murder In The Pit, which takes place at the Met, and currently is at work on the second novel in her "FourEver Friends" series chronicling four young girls' coming of age in the volatile 60s and 70s.

Mark Misercola

During his career, Mr. Misercola has written speeches for senior executives at some of the world's largest companies, including IBM, PepsiCo, Avon Products, NYNEX, Union Carbide, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche. He began his career as a business reporter with the former Buffalo (N.Y.) Courier-Express.

Mr. Misercola serves as an adjunct professor teaching advertising copywriting at Western Connecticut State University College in Danbury, CT., and marketing communications at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y.

He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo, and currently resides with his wife, Nancy, and two children – James and Regina -- in Norwalk, CT.

D. M. Nigro

Her work has appeared nationally in First for Women, Highlights for Children, the American Media and Macfadden publications, plus many other outlets. "John F. Kennedy: The Promise of Camelot," a condensed biography for family reading, was approved for sale by the National Park Service. Deborah's stories appear in several anthologies, including "Mistletoe Madness" (available from bloomingtreepress.com), a zany holiday collection for children.

Stephanie Osborn

Stephanie Osborn is a former payload flight controller, a veteran of over twenty years of working in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs. She has worked on numerous Space Shuttle flights and the International Space Station, and counts the training of astronauts on her resumé. Of those astronauts she trained, one was Kalpana Chawla, a member of the crew lost in the Columbia disaster.

She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in four sciences: Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, and she is "fluent" in several more, including Geology and Anatomy. She obtained her various degrees from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

Stephanie is currently retired from space work. She now happily "passes it forward," tutoring math and science to students in the Huntsville area, elementary through college, while writing science fiction mysteries based on her knowledge, experience, and travels.

Wendy Peterson

Like the sea witch in Wendy's story, The Tail of the Sea Witch, she lives near a beautiful, deserted beach. Also, like the sea witch, when Wendy first moved to the small seaside resort, her neighbours speculated on whether she could be a witch. Not that she wore a black pointy hat or performed laps around the property on a broomstick; but she did live a reclusive life with just her menagerie of animals - including a charismatic goat called Jack - and she often wore an exotic array of clothing.

Is art imitating life? Again, just like the sea witch, Wendy isn't telling.

Wendy has been writing children's stories and musical plays for nearly twenty years. Her aim is to create stories and music that uplift the spirit, enchant the senses and inspire the mind by taking the reader beyond the limitations of mundane thinking into a more brilliant and exciting reality.

Lida Quillen

Ken Ramirez

Ken Ramirez is a twenty-three-year resident of Nevada City, California, a Victorian mining community nestled in the majestic Sierra foothills. Ken is a high school science teacher and Alpine ski coach. He is also the author of the popular YA fantasy series, The Naida's Quest Trilogy.

Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti

Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti is a Scottish poet and author living in the United States who has published widely in the United States and in Europe. She writes for many print and online publications, and is widely known for her prolific output. Ranson-Polizzotti is the Founder and Editorial director of The Tant Mieux Project and Bob Dylan on Tant Mieux She has written widely about Bob Dylan and is a frequent speaker at The New School, the 92nd Street Y and other venues. Ranson-Polizzotti is also well known as a Lewis Carroll scholar and is a member of the New School for Carroll Studies – Contrariwise. She is Senior Cultural & Political Editor of Cyrano's Journal, with editors Gore Vidal, Noam Chomsky, Patrice Greanville, among others. Her writings have been compared to Elizabeth Smart's classic, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, among others.

She has several forthcoming titles, her latest is entitled For Goodness' Sake, which is being published in a worldwide co-edition by Twilight Times Books (U.S.) and Alyscamps (Paris).

Ranson has worked in publishing for her entire career, first at Condé-Nast Publications (the same program that employed Sylvia Plath and which served as the backdrop for The Bell Jar where Ranson worked at a number of magazines, including Vogue. Following this, Ranson worked at The Atlantic Monthly, Partisan Review, David R. Godine, Publisher before founding her own imprint, Lumen Editions which met with considerable success and whose mission was to publish literary works in translation as well as first-time authors. As Founder and Editorial Director, Ranson published, among many other writers and artists; Hans Koning, Marguerite Duras, Max Blagg and Ralph Gibson, and Jean Echenoz. On her board were such notables as Nobel Prize Winner Saul Bellow.

TTB title: (for goodness' sakes)

Dr. Bob Rich

Jamie Richards

Jamie Richards is a retired professor from a moderately sized university who spent thirty-four years teaching about communism and other forms of political philosophy. He wrote six books on these serious topics and when he retired he decided to write fiction.

What kind? He began as a boyhood fan of westerns, then science fiction, and then mysteries. Gradually he grew tired of bodies and detectives and leaned toward stories that had a little romance in them. It was not far to historical romance and just before he retired he became enamored of the Regency period in English history, roughly 1800 to 1825.

Jamie began collecting novels he enjoyed and then after retirement gave him the time, he began to write. He now has 3400 regency novels on his study shelves, and the two novels for Twilight books are his first step in romance publishing. He especially enjoys the extensive research and the travel necessary for historical novels.

He met his wife at an Arthur Murray Dance Studio back in the 1950s and has three children and four grandchildren, all of whom are very special. He enjoys family, traveling, reading, and writing.

Alex Roces

The Moon Child is Alex's first novel. Like the Egyptians, he believes writing is a Sacred Art. Through years of writing and researching, he has been seeking to know the mysteries of the Universe and the human soul. Alex is an explorer of the inner realms of spirit and a seeker of Truth. All that he learns and experiences Alex transforms into metaphysical and mythic stories.

Aside from writing, and reading voraciously, his other interests include bodybuilding, mountain climbing, art, music and traveling. Alex is also deeply involved in the study and practice of prosperity techniques for good fortune, wealth and success. Presently he is working on several new novels.

Thomas Root

David Rothman

David Rothman lives in Northern Virginia, with his wife Carly and some feisty stuffed animals who always take her side when the two disagree. He is author of six nonfiction books, including The Silicon Jungle (Ballantine) and The Complete Laptop Computer Guide (St. Martin's).

John Russo

Leanna Sain

Ardy M. Scott

Ardy always considered herself a jack-of-all-trades and master of a few. To date she is an accomplished writer of new age fantasy with two books published and two more in the works. She currently runs two businesses from her home: FantaSeeWorks Graphics & Designs with her partners Michael in Canada and her husband Ken, and Fantasy In Wood (wood sculpting). More, she is also a freelance artist, doing original art, unique cards and cover art for herself and other authors.

Although born a Canadian, Ardy currently resides in North Queensland, Australia with her Aussie husband Ken, Sherlock Hound (three year old Dalmatian) and Dogger Watson (two year old Great Dane/Bull Mastiff/Rottie).

Formerly of Vancouver, British Columbia, she acquired degrees in Criminology, Psychology and Sociology. She is a qualified Emergency Medical Technician (ambulance attendant), worked part-time as a Private Investigator, and ran a Parent Counselor home for The Ministry For Children and Families. Despite this hectic life, she still made time to nurture the creative talent that is so evident in her works.

Dorothy A. Skarles

Dorothy Ann Skarles who writes under daSkarles has appeared in a variety of publications. She has published more than two hundred articles in trade journals, magazines and newspapers. She earned her first byline as a cooking columnist for a local family owned newspaper in California.

Along with her love for writing daSkarles also loves animals. She once owned a 99 percent wolf from Alaska who lived to be thirteen years old. She hopes one day to write a book about her experiences with this wonderful wild animal.

Jennifer St. Clair

Jennifer St.Clair grew up in Southern Ohio and spent most of her childhood in the woods around her home. She lives in an old house filled with antiques, cats and sisters, not necessarily in that order. She wrote her first novel when she was thirteen, and hasn't stopped since.

Daniel C. Starr

Daniel C. Starr began writing his first novel in 1975, but stopped when he graduated college and and got a "real job" in the telecom industry. There he played a small but not totally insignificant role in bringing to market an exotic new technology called "wireless cellular" (you may have heard of it). He also learned much about how people and technology get along--and much more about what happens when they don't. He wrote a lot during this period, but nearly all of it was stamped "COMPANY PROPRIETARY."

In November of 1999, at about four in the morning, he wrote down a short scene so that he could stop running it through his head and get some sleep. His second novel, "The Last Protector," crystallized around that scene (the scene itself, having served its purpose, did not make it into the book). His first novel remains unfinished, but from time to time it jumps out of the computer, grabs him by the throat and demands that he write a little more.

Daniel retired from the telecom industry in 2001 and now lives on the banks of the Fox River outside St. Charles, IL. In addition to writing he spends his time paddling his kayak, touring the country by motorcycle, practicing the bagpipes, and substitute-teaching at his local high schools, where he is viewed as the "coolest sub ever."

Dr. Travis S. Taylor

Travis S. Taylor -- "Doc" Taylor to his friends -- has earned his soubriquet the hard way: he has a Doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering, a Master's degree in Physics, a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He also has a Master's degree in Astronomy from the University of Western Sydney, and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University.

Dr. Taylor has worked on various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for the past sixteen years. He's currently working on several advanced propulsion concepts, very large space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, and next generation space launch concepts.

In his copious spare time, Doc Travis is also a black belt martial artist, a private pilot, a SCUBA diver, races mountain bikes, competed in triathlons, and has been the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of several hard rock bands. He currently lives with his wife Karen, daughter Kalista Jade, two dogs Stevie and Wesker, and his cat Kuro, in north Alabama.

Laura Toops

Laura Mazzuca Toops is a Chicago-area writer and teacher with three books in print: A Native's Guide to Chicago's Western Suburbs (Lake Claremont Press), The Latham Loop, and Slapstick (Amber Quill Press). She is a 21st century anachronism who doesn't belong in this time or place. A collector of vintage clothing, 78 rpm records and memories, she teeters on the edge of sanity by balancing her mundane present-day life against the vague memories of the fun times she had back in 1927 in New York, Chicago and another body.

Dr. Anca Vlasopolos

Anca Vlasopolos was born in 1948 in Bucharest, Rumania. Her father, a political prisoner of the Communist regime in Rumania, died when Anca was eight. After a sojourn in Paris and Brussels, at fourteen she immigrated to the United States with her mother. Anca is a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She is married to Anthony Ambrogio, a writer and editor. They have a daughter, Olivia, who is a graduate of Oberlin College and a PhD candidate at Tufts University. They adopted another daughter from Guatemala, Beatriz, who is now 16.

Cynthia Ward

Cynthia Ward is a self-taught Mississippi artist and writer who overcame the stigma of a learning challenge called dyslexia. She went into the field of writing and challenged all the doubts, thus making a statement of the undaunting spirit and never ceasing ability to be successful by holding fast to one's dreams.

Keeping in mind the motto of her Mother, "How can you fail if you never quit?" Cynthia faithfully stayed in the race and now has had her first novel, Sometimes There's a Dove, published by Twilight Times Books. She has since become a proud member of EPIC, a reviewer for KnowBetter.com and is working on her second novel; an historical romance.

Dr. Florence Weinberg

Born in the high desert country of New Mexico, Florence loved exploring the wilderness on foot and horseback. Those grandiose landscapes formed her sensibility. Hidden pockets of unexpected greenery tucked away near springs in folds of barren mountainsides spoke to her of gentleness and beauty in an otherwise harsh world.  She published her first poem in a children's magazine shortly after she learned to read at age four; wrote her first 'novel' at age six, entitled Ywain, King of All Cats. She illustrated the 'book' herself.

Before settling in San Antonio, Texas, she traveled extensively as an army brat during World War II. With her husband the brilliant scholar and teacher, Kurt Weinberg, she worked and traveled in Canada, Germany, France, and Spain. After earning her PhD, she taught for twenty-two years at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, and for ten at Trinity University in San Antonio. She published four scholarly books, many articles and book reviews, doing research in the U.S. and abroad.

When, after retiring in 1999, she was freed from academe to devote herself to writing fiction, she produced eight novels, ranging from fantasy to historical romance and mystery. Three are in print as well as one in press: a historical romance about the French Renaissance, published in France in French translation, and two historical mysteries, starring the eighteenth-century Jesuit missionary Fr. Ignaz (Ygnacio) Pfefferkorn, two set in the Sonora Desert and one in an ancient monastery in Spain.

Her favorite animals are horses—an intense love affair over many years—and cats, her constant companions. She enjoys music, traveling, hiking, biking, gardening, and swimming.

Patrick Welch

He has published more than forty stories in e-zines and the small press. Currently, he also has two books available from Twilight Times Books, The Casebook of Doakes and Haig and The Thirteenth Magician.

Westchester Station (a fantasy novel) is available from Double Dragon Ebook. Other completed books include The Body Shop, Before/Beyond (an anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories) and Brendell; Apprentice Thief.

Cecilia Wennerström

Cecilia Wennerström is a jazz musician, saxophone player, composer and arranger, educated at the music academies in Malmoe and Gothenburg. She was born in 1947 and lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Since 1994 she has played baritone saxophone with the internationally known Swedish tenor saxophone player Nisse Sandströms 10-piece band which plays transcriptions of Miles Davis/Gil Evans tuba band music. Among many memorable concerts is one with Rolf Eriksson on trumpet at the festival Jazz at Nyköpingshus 1995.

One of Swedens best jazz singers, Peo Jönis, is the leader of a ladies big band, Satin Dolls, where Wennerström has played the baritone sax for several years and also does some arranging for the band. Satin Dolls is an entertainment band and has been quite involved with Swedish television.

Wennerström also leads a Marty Paich-style 12-piece orchestra of her own which plays her arrangements, for instance at the jazz festival Sandviken Big Band Bang in 1996.

Karen S. Wiesner

Karen Wiesner is an accomplished author with forty titles published in the past nine years, which have been nominated/won fifty-four awards, and twenty-one more under contract spanning many genres. Her fiction releases have won or been nominated for Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award, FTHRW's The Lories Award, the Frankfurt Award, as well as multiple EPPIEs and she was named a "leading romance writer" in The Writer Magazine. Currently, Karen is working on an award-winning, action-adventure romantic suspense series called the Incognito Series.

Robina Williams

Robina lives in the U.K. She has an M.A. in Modern Languages from Oxford University, and an M.Phil. pure research degree in English Literature from Liverpool University. She has been a schoolteacher, a college lecturer, a secretary, and a features writer for magazines and newspapers.

She thought that Schrödinger's Cat--a cat that is both alive and dead at the same time--would be a useful character for fantasy novels. Jerome and the Seraph, the first book in her Quantum Cat series, was published in trade paperback by Twilight Times Books in 2004. Angelos was published in 2006, and Gaea will be out in print in 2008. Robina is currently writing the fourth book in the series.