JW Boswell has been writing steadily for the past five years. His non-fiction has been published in the Stranger Alternative Weekly. This is his first published piece of fiction. When not working on his urban fantasy novel “The Jujuman” he is busy working as a sommelier, working out, performing Zen meditation or being a connoisseur of absurd Youtube videos. He lives in Seattle with his faithful cat, Merlot.

Email: Firstsomm@yahoo.com

JP Briggs’s publications include Cream City Review; Northwest Review, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner; Parting Gifts; New Novel Review; Manifold; Ibis Review; Paragraph; Art Times; Drunken Boat; and Café Irreal. Briggs authored and co-authored several books on chaos, fractals and creativity, including Fire in the Crucible (St. Martin’s), Fractals: The Patterns of Chaos (Simon & Schuster) and Turbulent Mirror (HarperCollins). Briggs was the editor of a 2012 collection of essays, Creativity & Compassion, How They Come Together. Former senior editor of Connecticut Review is the guest editor of the spring 2015 issue of About Place, the Black Earth Institute literary journal. “Cloud Cure” is from an assembly of poems describing the wanderings through the world outside the rain forest of an imaginary, androgynous shaman-trickster.

Email: profbriggs@comcast.net

Todd Bryan was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He attended Penn State University and earned a B.A. in English. As the son of a farming family, he feels a close connection with nature. And working in healthcare he often distresses by going for lengthy walks outdoors. A nearby community college hosts a creative writing workshop in which Todd actively participates. He lives with two cats and heats his home with wood. Currently, his favorite write is Denis Johnson. What Todd enjoys most is having long conversations in cafes with his son.

Maura Gage Cavell is Professor of English and Director of the Honors Program at Louisiana State University Eunice. She resides in Crowley with her family. She has recently published poetry in California Quarterly, Poem, Louisiana Literature, Boulevard, and The Louisiana Review. Maura loves and appreciates the beauty she finds in nature, people, animals, and the world. Her friends tell her she is a "positive person," one who slants all experiences to find for the best qualities in most moments and in people, staying upbeat and always smiling, riding out what's painful as best she can.

Amy Reynolds Comtois’ poetry has been previously published in Sphere, Screed, The Write Brain, Shemom, and The Metroland – The Capital Region’s Alternative Newsweekly. Her poem “No Admission” was the winner of the 2014 Take Back the Night poetry contest sponsored by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and Albany Law School. Amy has also been a participant in “The Vagina Monologues.” For Amy, writing poetry serves as an outlet for figuring out her life experiences and she considers her poems open wounds waiting to scar over. As a volunteer at her local library, Amy has enjoyed working with teens and is constantly amazed by their unique talents and honesty.

Email: eatsleepread23@yahoo.com

Holly Day was born in Hereford, Texas, “The Town Without a Toothache.” She and her family currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she teaches writing classes at the Loft Literary Center. Her published books include the nonfiction books Music Theory for Dummies, Music Composition for Dummies, Guitar All-in-One for Dummies, and Piano All-in-One for Dummies, and the poetry books “Late-Night Reading for Hardworking Construction Men” (The Moon Publishing) and “The Smell of Snow” (ELJ Publications). Her needlepoints and beadwork have recently appeared on the covers of The Grey Sparrow Journal, QWERTY Magazine, and Kiki Magazine.

Email: lalena@bitstream.net

Born & bred in New Jersey, Frank works in New York. He loves music from Bach to Dory Previn, Amy Beach to Amy Winehouse, World Music, Latin, opera. He attends a philosophy workshop in New York City and like foreign films and psychoanalysis. Shakespeare is his consolation, writing his hobby. He likes Dylan Thomas, Keats, Alan Ginsburg, and Sylvia Plath as poets. He presently holds an Associate’s degree in liberal arts and has been published in diverse magazines in print and on line. He has written more than 2000 poems, mostly sonnets.

Jim Glaser is a retired high school science teacher who has been writing poetry for most of his life. His poetry has appeared in Christian Century, Christian Science Monitor, Pudding House Magazine, Hummingbird, Samsara, and Spring. This is his first piece of published fiction. He lives in Nyack, New York with a wonderful view of the Hudson River.

Cristine A. Gruber, a Southern California native, is a registered caregiver as well as a widely-published poet. Her writing reflects her view of the human condition in all its complexity and beauty. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines, including: North American Review, Writer’s Digest, California Quarterly, Dead Snakes, The Endicott Review, The Homestead Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, The Penwood Review, The Poet’s Haven, Pound of Flash, Pyrokinection, Red River Review, The Tule Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, and The Write Place at the Write Time. In 2014, two of her short stories, "Imprisoned," and "Stash," both received Honorable Mentions in the quarterly Writers Weekly Short Story Competitions. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Lifeline, is available from Amazon.com. More of Cristine's work can be found and enjoyed at http://sierraviewjournal.blogspot.com/.

Jerry Hauser is a Professor Emeritus of Special Education and Human Development at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. He has authored and published collections of poetry including: Swearing Out Loud, Somber and Estranged, Have To Need To Do Poems, Watch Out! Living in the Real, Stopping at Mother’s Restaurant, Jerry! Jerry! Narrative Force, Some Poems Need Therapy, Blessed Genders, Kidville, Making Heaven, Euphoria, Rats (Your Dream Sir), Recently, I Should Not Be Shot and A Stir of Seasons. jerrypoems@aol.com 920-393-4046 Jerry’s favorite (mentor) poets include Donald Justice, Carl Sandburg, T. S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Etheridge Knight, Jack Kerouac, William Stafford, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dorothy Parker, Ted Roethke, W. H. Auden, Randall Jarrell and a few more. His poems are a mix of lyric rhythms and narrative energies that explore human living challenges and the demeanors of nature. Jerry’s work has been published in journals including, BACKSTREET, The Moon Journal, Pearl, Tar Wolf Review, Free Verse, Thorny Locust, Heel Tap Pariah, Tapestries, Neo Victorian Cochlea, The Poet’s Pen, Sunstone, Freshwater (2008), Iconoclast, Backstreet Quarterly, Pegasus, The Harp Strings Poetry Journal, Clarion Review, Writer’s Journal, America, The Hidden Oak, Clark Street Review, Black Book Press, The Deronda Review, The Critic, Rockford Review and the Penwood Review. He often reads his published work directly from those literary journals. As a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets (WFOP), Jerry continues to present his work to citizen groups at coffee houses, libraries, bookstores; and to students and faculties at high schools and colleges within and beyond the great state of Wisconsin.

Karen Katz is a poet, writer and voiceover talent. Her work has been published in various trade publications and she’s voiced hundreds of commercials, narrations and industrials. And she is also the author of the graphic novel AttorneyMan.

Columbus native, Adam Kiger, comes from a long line of acrylic and oil artists. Adam began painting at the age of six years old under the instruction of his family. After attending The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in the early ‘90s, Adam moved to Atlanta, Georgia to begin setting the foundation for a career as an Internet architect. Over the next seventeen years, Adam’s graphic design and marketing background would play an essential part in producing award-winning projects and client solutions for over 80 Fortune 100/500 companies in the United States.

Once Adam’s career was solidified and his daughters were older, in early 2013, Adam became reacquainted with his natural artistic talents. Adam coupled his almost two decades of professional experience with his artistic passion and within six months, he reached his goal of having his work in New York City. Adam signed with Agora Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. in the fall of 2013 and his first exhibit was set for July 5-25, 2014. Shortly after, Adam was offered a sponsorship from Genie Canvas, also based in New York.

But Adam hasn’t stopped there! In the past few years, Adam’s work has shown in multiple locations in Columbus and he is dramatically increasing his efforts to establish and solidify long-term exposure of his work locally. Adam’s paintings were also shown in Los Angeles, California in June, 2014, the Hamptons, New York in August 2014, Palermo, Italy in 2015, and Tokyo, Japan in 2015. Adam has also set his sights on having some of his works displayed in London, Paris and Rome by 2018.

September of 2014 was an incredible month for Adam’s career. Adam was formally invited and expected to exhibit his work in the 2nd Biennale of Palermo in Florence, Italy in February, 2015 putting him closer to his goal of his works being in Rome. Adam also signed with Gray’s Art Gallery in London, England. With an immediate offering of his watercolor inventory to the gallery, Adam’s new line of works are set to exhibit in London’s famous art district beginning in February, 2015. And to sweeten the pot, Adam was offered an exclusive, one year, representation package with PVG Artisans in Chillicothe, Ohio. Park View Gallery enthusiastically acquired most of Adam’s acrylic and watercolor inventory to share with their extensive audience that spans throughout the State of Ohio as well as throughout most of the United States.

In 2015, Adam was immediately offered New York representation by several Chelsea and SOHO based galleries given his contract with Agora Gallery was set to expire the same year. Adam quickly jumped at the chance to become part of the RaiseART Gallery family beginning in May of 2015. Adam stated, “After dealing with the business aspects of the art world for so long, I’ve come to realize that what truly matters to me is not solely secured sales, even though that’s nice, but to remain in line with “Who I Am,” I must align myself with individuals who believe that family, integrity and altruism matters. Ultimately a gallery becomes part of my family and in that, I have to ensure their hearts are pure. This is why signing with RaiseART was ‘no brainer” for me.” RaiseART falls deeply in line with the values I strive to teach my children every day and all of what I put into my daily relationships.

Adam’s work has been classified as containing a mixture of neo-dada, pop art and surrealistic elements. He predominately works in black and white and his subject matter is purposely selected to invoke an emotional reaction in the viewer. Adam added, “My work tends to focus on the heart, the evolution of the soul and every facet of life’s abhorrent pains, but I always try to depict a positive message too - the persistence and the right of the individual in recapturing what once belonged to them. And in doing so, I’m uncovering a personal truth while shedding light on an individual’s distributed denial.”

About Adam Kiger
Adam Kiger is an acrylic and watercolor artist living in Columbus, Ohio. Adam is represented by RaiseART Gallery (www.raiseART.com) in Chelsea, New York, PVG Artisans (parkviewgallery.wordpress.com) in Chillicothe, Ohio and by Gray’s Art Gallery (www.graysartgallery.com) in London, England. From the summer of 2013 through the fall of 2014, Adam was sponsored by Genie Canvas (geniecanvas.com/) located in Red Hook, New York.

Having been a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, John MacLean volunteers at the food pantry of his local VA Hospital. He recently retired after 30 years as a high school English teacher, but has also worked as a merchant seaman, mill hand, church sacristan and assistant district attorney. His poetry has appeared in The Lyric, Avocet, Spitball, 14 x 14, The Road Not Taken, Kota Press, and Poetry Porch. His book, If You Teach It They Will Read: Life Lessons for Today's Students, is published by Rowman and Littlefield. His wife, Mary is a sign language interpreter, and they have four adult daughters.

Email: j.maclean3@verizon.net

Claudine Nash lives and writes in New York. She obtained a B.A. in English from Wesleyan University and later went on to obtain two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in the social sciences. In addition to winning competition prizes from the Avalon Literary Review and Eye on Life Magazine, some of her recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Star*Line, Foliate Oak, The Westchester Review and The MOON magazine amongst other publications. Her chapbook The Problem with Loving Ghosts was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014. She can be contacted through her website www.claudinenashpoetry.com.

MICHAEL EDWIN Q. - His new book (Romance – Drama/Fantasy) I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS is out on Kindle. Check out the free sample. Also on Kindle, TOUCH LIT IV (guest writer – short story). His first book MEN ARE STUPID, WOMEN ARE CRAZY (BRIDGING THE GAP) is a self-help book on love-relationships. Michael and his wife, Constance, have promoted the book through speaking engagements. ART AFFAIR ANNUAL LITERARY CONTEST – 2013, 1ST PLACE THE STORYTELLER’S PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD - 2009, 2nd PLACE Between 2005 and 2007, Michael wrote monthly articles for Disc Jockey News, a national magazine directed at Disc Jockeys and the entertainment industry. He has written websites for small companies, and edited local writers, including The Witness by Josh McDowell. Recent periodicals include: Clark Street Review (3x), Plainsongs, Lone Stars (2x), Evangel (2x), The Poetry Church (2x), Feelings of the Heart (2x), The First Line, Art Times Journal, Caveat Lector, The Poet’s Art (5x), The Storyteller Magazine (2x), Nuthouse Magazine, The New Laurel Review, Adventures for the Average Woman, Tough Lit IV, Mature Years Magazine, Nova Sci-Fi (6x), Atlantic/Pacific Press, Hearts with Soul, and Serving Him Monthly. A member of the Dallas Writers Guild, Michael’s happiest moments are when seated at his computer, typing out a new story with his left hand and holding a slice of pizza in his right.

Email: meqwriter@gmail.com

Claire Scott is an award winning poet who has published in numerous literary magazines. She was nominated for the 2014 Pushcart Prize and was a semi-finalist for the Pangaea Prize. Her work has appeared in Garbanzo, Epiphany, Trivia, Red Savina Review, Poetry Quarterly, First Day Press, OVS, Foliate Oak and China Grove among others. Claire is a winner of the Arizona State Poetry Society 2013 Annual Poetry Contest. Her forthcoming first collection of poems, Waiting to be Called, will be published by IF SF Publishing in March of 2015. A book of poetry and photography co-authored with her sister Joan Scott will be published in the fall of 2015.

Facebook: Claire Scott, Poet

Kal M. Telage, Ph.D. is a retired Professor of Neuroscience who completed a 38 year academic career of primarily Graduate level teaching and research. He enjoys living in Sarasota, Florida most of the year but spends each summer at his Lake home in the North Woods of upper Western Wisconsin. He is an avid fishing enthusiast enjoying offshore fishing in the Gulf and the many lakes of northern Wisconsin. He plays guitar and keyboard and loves to sing and to manage personal financial investments. His writings have taken many forms including the academic research style, financial articles for Seeking Alpha and lyrical poetry associated with Karmic suffering.

Email: kaltelage@gmail.com

Pediatrician Kelley White worked in inner city Philadelphia and now works in rural New Hampshire. Her poems have appeared in journals including Exquisite Corpse, Rattle and JAMA. Her most recent books are TOXIC ENVIRONMENT (Boston Poet Press) and TWO BIRDS IN FLAME (Beech River Books.) She received a 2008 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant.