Author Biographies

Bob Ave’s short story “Sprinkler” was published in The Hurricane Review in 2013. He was born in Miami in 1969. Currently, he is a nursing home social worker. He has his own private investigations firm. Previously, he spent nearly 20 years as a protective investigator for Department of Children and Family Services. Before that he was a social studies teacher at Pine Forest High School.

Katherine Nelson-Born, writer and editor, grew up in New Orleans, the setting for her soon-to-be-published debut YA novel, Before the Thunder. Read her novel’s award-winning introductory chapter excerpt in the 2020 Seven Hills Review on Amazon.com or find more poems in her 2016 Finishing Line Press chapbook, When Mockingbirds Sing.

Beale Carter is a thirty-seven-year-old father of three beautiful kids, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and an aspiring entrepreneur. He loves exploring nature, cooking, all kinds of music and, of course, writing.

Patrick Cochran received his Ph.D. in Organizational Systems from Saybrook Graduate School. Dr. Cochran’s poetic efforts began in the 1960’s. Three of his poems were published in the 1985 Loma Linda University literary journal Discourse. He has published four books of poetry, since retiring in 2015.

Charlotte Crane is a former business editor and columnist for Pensacola News Journal and a former Northwest Florida correspondent for Florida Trend magazine.  She has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in journalism from University of Wisconsin. Published works include poetry and short stories, a family memoir, a history of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity and a book of short fiction entitled The Tales of Aunt Maddy.

Patricia Edmisten is retired from the University of West Florida where she directed the office of International Education and Programs. Her two years in Peru as a Peace Corps volunteer influenced the direction of her life. She is a social justice activist and the author of eight books. www.patriciaedmistenbooks.com

Mandy Fernandez is a writer, editor and author in Pensacola. She writes creatively and professionally on topics of business, education, arts, health, family life, parenting and natural foods. Her first children’s book, Kazoo Makes The Team, was released in 2016. Learn more at www.writtenbymandy.com

John Gibson is the author of three novels: Patriot Victory, Painkiller, and Soul Sprints – the latter of which won the Grand Prize in the 2018 Words Matter Publishing Holiday Book Contest; and one work of poetry, titled Arduous Vales. You can learn more about him and his work at https://johnwgibsonauthor.com; and find him on Facebook (“John W. Gibson, Author”).

Lauren Gregory is a high school English teacher who lives in Navarre, FL, with her husband and two daughters. She received her BA and MA in English from Central Michigan University and has previously worked in university writing centers and taught first-year composition before transitioning to the K-12 world.

Mary Gutierrez is an Environmental Scientist and Founder and Director of Earth Ethics and Earth Action. A poet, her first book Naked in the Rain was published in 2012. Several individual pieces have appeared in numerous zines and magazines over the years. Check out www.marytheauthor.com to learn more.

In her eighth decade, award-winning poet and mixed-media photographer Ryn Holmes originated from the bottom and top of California before finding her way to the Florida Gulf Coast. She is a partner in K & K Writing Services, co-editor of Panoply ezine; her written work and visual art have appeared in galleries as well as print and online journals.

Joe Howard, a physician for 60 years, is a wanna be poet.

Marilyn Howard's love for literature started with life on the farm. A relative gave her a large volume of Shakespeare with his plays and sonnets, which she could not put down and read avidly. Her first sonnet, "Diana, Goddess of the Moon" was written at age 13. She enjoys writing poems and some prose and loves WFLF.

Christina Larson taught psychology for UWF, was a first female paramedic, FPA president, peace summit delegate in Vienna, Censored Stories award recipient, speaker for APA 1997, keynote in Nürnberg 2000, and Chautauqua 2006. Writings include Sculpting A Vision in Metal, Stone, and Words and Marty is Dead.
   
Raised in Mobile, Jane Lies is a member of National League of American Pen Women and is published in Nobis and Poems of the Super Moon. Jane Lives in Pensacola with her husband, Bill, and her English Springer Spaniel, Dickens.

Marc Livanos is retired and lives in Milton, FL. His poetry appears in Sheepshead Review, Straylight Magazine, The Merrimack Review, Glass Mountain – Shards, POEM, Floyd County Moonshine, Old Red Kimono, Ship of Fools, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, The Penmen Review, Wordeater, Artifact Noveau, KCCC E-Journal and Blackwater Literary Journal.

Claire Massey is Poet Laureate for Pensacola Pen Women. She served on the editorial board of the Emerald Coast Review in 2019. In 2020, she has work appearing or forthcoming in Persimmon Tree, The Avalon Literary Review, The Dead Mule, and Panoply.

By day, Ethan McGuire is a healthcare information technology professional. By night, he is a writer, whose writing has been published by The Dark Sire Literary Magazine, Better Than Starbucks Poetry Magazine, Vita Brevis Press, and others. He currently lives in the Florida Panhandle with his wife, dog, and cat.

Susan Marie Molloy is a retired analyst and published author.  Growing up in a bilingual family helped foster her love of languages and nurture an interest in exploring other cultures.  In addition to writing poetry and short stories, she enjoys Pre-Code films, photography, music, travelling, and reading.

Karen McAferty Morris is Poetry Editor of the National League of American Pen Women’s magazine The Pen Woman. Her chapbook Elemental was published in April 2018, followed by Confluence in May 2020, both of which were awarded first place in the NLAPW's Vinnie Ream Competition in Poetry.

Alice Oberhausen has been a restaurant manager and caterer, a contracting officer at NAS Pensacola, retiring in 2011, and maintains a consulting business mentoring small businesses.  She is an artist whose work has been exhibited at Pensacola Museum of Art and Artel Gallery, and has begun to write poetry.

Lisa Rawson is a retired Navy Human Resource Officer. Community activist; served on the Veteran Memorial Park board and is the current President for the West Florida Literary Federation, swim instructor, after school teacher at Creative Learning Academy.  Received her Real Estate licence in Aug 2019 and is with Coldwell Banker helping families achieve their goals of home ownership.  Mother of four:children; Monica, a veterinarian, Michael, math PhD candidate; Mason, computer engineer with a start-up company and Marshall, senior at UF. Go Gators!

As a writer of Americana literature, Rachel Reeses’s stories are centered around characters with distinct voices, stories for which something or someone has something to say. When not taking dictation from her characters, you might find Rachel speaking in their voices at open mic venues, performing among companionable poets and other prose-ists in the Florida Panhandle and the South.  

Tom Roberts is the author of Lost Scrolls of Archimedes, a historical novel, and winner of a 2019 Royal Palm Literary Award for historical fiction from the Florida Writers Association. He has also published Moving Pieces, a collection of mystery/suspense short stories. A software engineer in a previous life, Mr. Roberts began writing in 2017. Learn more at https://tomrobertsauthor.com

Jeff Santosuosso is an award-winning poet living in Pensacola, FL.  His chap book, “Body of Water,” is available through Clare Songbirds Publishing House. He is Editor-in-Chief of panoplyzine.com, an online journal of poetry and short prose. Jeff’s work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has appeared in The Comstock Review, San Pedro River Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, The Lake (UK), and other publications.

Diane Skelton’s work has appeared in The English Journal, Mississippi Magazine, Mississippi Genealogy, Gulf Breeze News, Florida Hockey Life, The Legend, Emerald Coast Review and various professional publications. From her home in Gulf Breeze, she writes the blog, thegumbodiaries. She has published two books, The Gumbo Diaries: Mississippi and Beyond (2015) and Thank You for Asking (2020).

Carolyn Joyce Tokson is a retired learning facilitator who has had poems published in an anthology on the Holocaust, Rural Heritage magazine, The Hartford Courant, children’s reading texts, and various small publications. She is also an editor/writer for the Jazz Pensacola newsletter. She is a chef extraordinaire.

Native Pensacolian Lucie Watson Wade enjoyed a career in public relations and social services as Florida’s District One Foster Parent Recruiter and Outreach Coordinator for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Her articles were published in Pensacola News Journal, Gulf Coast Parent, and Gulf Coast Women’s News. She continues her dedication to child advocacy as a member of Children in Crisis, Inc. Board of Directors, and is currently working on a memoir and playing tennis.

Andrea Jones Walker lives in Pensacola and is a  longtime member of the West Florida Literary Federation and editor of The Legend. She is co-editor of Panoply, an online ezine at www.panoplyzine.com. Her books are available on Amazon. She loves the beach and spending time with her grandsons.

Dan Wallace was educated and worked in the sciences. He hates science fiction but loves to write. He moved to the Pensacola area last year and loves it. He is retired, father of two and grandfather of three.

Lori Zavada is a writer for a local behavioral health organization and a graduate of the University of West Florida. Her work has been featured in Pensacola News Journal and USA Today. Her stories are published in the Emerald Coast Review, Tallahassee Family and Bella magazines. Visit her at lorizavada.com.