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Writing is all about creating, communicating, and sharing. As a paid EPIC member, we invite you to share your website and writing credits with the writing community.
EPIC members below have given permission to be listed, along with some of their credits. We will be updating frequently. If you are an EPIC member and would like your name, website, and writing credits added to this list, please contact us.
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2021-2022 EPIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Laura Moe, Board President
Biography: Author, radio host, and writing teacher Laura Moe spent most of her working life as a librarian and English teacher in central and Southeastern Ohio, but moved to Seattle where she writes full-time and is an active member of SCBWI.
Published work: Parallel Lines (Fat Cats, 2015); Breakfast with Neruda (Simon & Schuster/Merit Press, 2016) - named by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Books for Teens in 2016. She is owned by a spoiled white cat and is working on a sequel to Breakfast With Neruda.
Social Media: https://bookclubbabble.com/interviews/interview-with-ya-author-laura-moe-on-breakfast-with-neruda/;
http://laura-moe.blogspot.com/; http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair/2016/08/03/jacquelyn-mitchards-summer-scribes-presents-author-laura-moe
Alison (Ali) Eden Ersfeld, VP Development
Biography: Ali is obsessed with Meade notebooks; they are her dearest friends. She has been traveling with them, filling them, and excavating her wounds in them since the 80's. When she's not writing, she's teaching creative writing, mythology, and English at Meadowdale High school, or she's instructing a yoga class at Bindi Yoga in Lynnwood. Ali also facilitates yoga and writing workshops, combining these two deeply reflective practices.
Published work: Unmasked Magazine; EPIC Group Writers 2018 Contest Winner - 2nd Place Poetry.
Susan Frederick, VP Membership
Biography: Susan Frederick is an award winning writer who has published poems, short stories and essays, and is currently working on a memoir about the Vietnam war. She is a native of Washington state and grew up in small logging towns in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. She lives in Kirkland, Washington and is on the Board of EPIC Group Writers and is a member of Hugo House.
Awards: First Place Poetry at Write on the Sound Writers Conference 2019; Honorable Mention Short Story at Write on the Sound Writers Conference 2019; First Place Poetry, EPIC Writing Contest 2018;
Published work: Rise & Shine, (publisher: Gather Here, an imprint of Homeostasis Press); Timber Town (publisher: Gather Here); Ghosted, published in Northwest Prime Time magazine. Several of Susan's poems have appeared in My Edmonds News.
Diane Naab, EPIC Board Secretary & Monday Morning Pages leader
Biography: Diane Naab is an artist, former art gallery owner, world traveler, and published author, now living in the Seattle area.
Published work: Poetry and short stories published in four consecutive issues of the annual literary review, Inside Passages, in southeast Alaska.
Valerie Spasojevic, EPIC Board Treasurer
Biography: Valerie Spasojevic is a former professional jewelry photographer. Through photography, she developed a keen eye for detail and now puts her observations in writing. She has traveled widely and lived in both NYC and an extremely remote village of Alaska, though not at the same time. Currently, she is pursuing her certification as an IRS Enrolled Agent.
Gerald Bigelow, EPIC Board Member at Large & Poetry Group leader
Published work: Poetry, poems published in Arizona 100 Years, Between the Lines, Memories Looking Through a Screen Door, Soundings from the Salish Sea: A Pacific Northwest Poetry Anthology.
Sarah Cannon, EPIC Board Member at Large
Biography: Sarah earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College, where she helped launch the inaugural Lighthouse Writers’ Conference and Retreat for MFA alumni in Port Townsend, WA. She lives in Edmonds, WA. She teaches at Hugo House in Seattle, and lives in Edmonds, WA. She is the author of The Shame of Losing (Red Hen Press), which was a Finalist for the Washington State Book Awards in 2019. Published work: Her essays have been featured in The New York Times (Modern Love column), Salon, Bitch magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and elsewhere.
Christine Dubois, Board Member at Large
Biography: Christine Dubois is a widely published writer and editor who has successfully tackled articles, newsletters, resumes, advertising copy, book editing, and more for a variety of grateful clients. She teaches writing workshops at North Seattle College, as well as for local businesses and writer's conferences. Her warmth, knowledge, and enthusiasm make her a popular instructor.
Published work: "Waiting In Hope: Meditations for Expectant Parents" with my husband Steven E. Bourne; More than 500 articles in 45 publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul, Birdwatching, Byline, Mothering, The Seattle Times, and more.
Website: www.christinedubois.com.
Mindy Halleck, EPIC Board Member at Large & The Writer's Craft leader
Biography: Mindy Halleck is a writer, an award-winning author, and writing instructor. Her debut novel Return To Sender was voted in the top twenty Indie books of the year by Kirkus Review, it also received the ‘Readers’ Choice’ award - she has won writing contests including a Writer’s Digest fiction contest. Halleck is an active member of the Pacific Northwest writing community, and in addition to being a writer, she is a happily married, globe-trotting beachcomber, gardener, proud grandma, and three-time cancer survivor.
Published work: Return To Sender. Publisher, Better Life Press, available on Amazon
Social Media: www.MindyHalleck.com; Twitter: @MindyHalleck
Laura Kemp, Board Member at Large and EPIC Newsletter Editor
Biography: After retiring from a career in public safety in 2013 (where my writing was limited to producing rather uninspired training manuals) I finally have the time to pursue writing fiction. I am a member of PNWA, SCBWI, and EPIC Group Writers, as well as a founding member my Kitsap-based critique group, Sound Writers.
Social media: Gamblecreekstudio.com
Joe Rice, Board Member at Large and Tuesday Evening Writing Group leader
Biography: I am a retired educator now working to complete a memoir and another nonfiction book on Multiage Education. I also write poetry, short stories and educational articles. I'm also an avid of many genre and love to participate in writing groups. Never too old to learn.
Published work: Nongraded Multiage Education - A Resource Book, Edmonds School District Press 1990, 1992; Short stories published in others' collections:- Joseph Rice: Generations, edited by Darryl Teruya 2003; "One Way Out," The Greater Good,: Life Lessons from Hawai'i's Leaders, by Evan and Kari Leong 2008; "Untitled," Do It Anyway by Kent M. Keith 2003; "A survey and Analysis of Oral Reading Miscues Made By Mexican and Mexican American Migrants 1979; "Kupu Hou: To Sprout and Grow Anew," A white paper on the future of education presented to the Directors of Mid-Pacific Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii 2012.
Amber Vitti Hill, EPIC Board Member at Large and Social Media
Biography: Amber received her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in English Education from the Teacher’s College of Columbia University. After teaching for over fifteen years in a variety of schools, she currently resides in Woodinville, Washington with her husband and two sons. She serves on the board of the EPIC Group Writers.
Published work: Her short story “Wolves” appeared in 34th Parallel literary magazine.
Judith Works, EPIC Board Member at Large
Biography: Judith, a founding member of EPIC Group Writers, is the author of a memoir about living in Rome and working for the United Nations titled Coins in the Fountain. She enjoys writing travel stories, and is working on a novel set in Rome and Vashon Island, and another set in the Cascade Mountain foothills.
Published work: Coins in the Fountain as well as articles in My Edmonds News, Wanted in Rome, Alaska Airlines inflight magazine and several pieces of flash fiction in literary journals.
Social Media: FB Author's page: judithworks author; Instagram: worksjudith; website: judithworks.net.
# # #
2021-22 EPIC MEMBERS (in alphabetical order)
(EPIC Membership Year is September 1 through August 31)
Vanessa Arpin
Biography: Vanessa Arpin has won several awards for her writing. In 2017, she won a scholarship to the Mendocino Writer’s Conference for her Young Adult submission, and her book was a top finalist in the Young Adult genre. In 2014, she was recognized by the Seattle Public Library for her poetry.
Social Media: Vanessaarpin.com
Matthew Austin
Biography
Published Work:
Petra Bosse
[awaiting Petra's Biography)
Published work: Worlds of Deception
Nicole 'Nicki' Chen
Biography: I'm a writer and blogger living in Edmonds. My first novel, Tiger Tail Soup, a Novel of China at War, was published in 2013. I'm working on a second novel. It's the story of an expat who lives in the Philippines and then in Vanuatu, a woman who has her heart set on having a baby. I'm a graduate of Seattle University, and I have an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Published work: Tiger Tail Soup, a novel of China at war.
Social Media: Website/Blog: www.nickichenwrites.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NickiChenAuthor/; Twitter: @NickiChenAuthor; Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8261760.
Curtis Colbert
Biography: Curt Colbert is the author of the Jake Rossiter & Miss Jenkins mystery series, set in Seattle in the 1940's. He also edited Seattle Noir for Akashic Books. In addition, along with Waverly Fitzgerald, he co-wrote The Barking Detective series under the pen name Waverly Curtis. Curt is a member of Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.
Published work: Rat City; Sayonaraville; Queer Street; Seattle Noir; Dial C for Chihuahua; Chihuahua Confidential; The Big Chihuahua; The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice; The Silence of the Chihuahuas.
Roxanne Dunn
Biography: I am a retired physical therapist, a foodie, a fanatic about good chocolate, and a private pilot. I lived aboard an old wood motor yacht for seventeen years, and in my dreams, I’m a pianist of renown, an acceptable water color artist, and a globe-trotting yogini.
Published work: I write the galley column for Pacific Yachting magazine. Murder Unrehearsed is my debut novel.
Paddy Eger
Biography: Paddy is the published author of both non fiction and fiction books and materials, a presenter, a speaker, a blogger and a traveler. Currently her interests include writing YA, early chapter books and memoir.
Published work: Award-winning books including a YA trilogy: 84 Ribbons, When the Music Stops-Dance On, Letters to Follow-A Dancer's Adventure; and Tasman-An Innocent Convict's Struggle for Freedom
Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paddyegerfictionauthor; Twitter: @paddyegerwriter; Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/paddyeger; Website: www.paddyeger.com; Blogs: www.paddyeger.com/blog/author
Ann Erickson
[awaiting biography]
Thomas Frank
[awaiting biography]
Ramona Gault
[awaiting biography]
Lisa Greene
Biography: I am a published author of 3 books about parenting and one children’s book. They are of a more non-fiction genre. I’d like to start writing again in other genres and would like ideas and support as well as to share what I already know about book writing. I am also a public speaker, college professor and mom. I live in downtown Edmonds.
Publications: Parenting Children with Health Issues: Tools, Tips and Tactics for Raising Children with Special Medical Needs; Parenting Children with Health Issues condensed version booklet; No Mo No; Healthy Choices, Happy Kids
Lora Hein
Biography: Lora is returning to writing in retirement. Her first focus is a memoir based on her two month journey to the Galápagos Islands in 1973 and the life lessons she learned there. Lora lives in Edmonds where she enjoys gardening and creative cooking as well as dancing and reading. She makes every effort to retain her connection to nature.
Rita Ireland
Biography: Former Edmonds teacher, librarian, travel and grant writer who happens to love meeting with my fellow writers at Savvy Travel once a month. We are an honest and friendly group who loves to play with words.
Lis Johnson
Biography: Former print journalist covering everything from cops to courts, politics to business and the occasional county fair.
Published work: The Lebanon Democrat; The Gallatin News-Examiner; The Kingsport Times News; The Johnson City Press.
Kizzie Jones
Biography: Children’s author Kizzie Jones blends her love of dachshunds and her love of the ocean to create whimsical tall tales to delight readers of all ages. Kizzie makes her home in Edmonds with her beloved Thom and three dachshunds!
Published work: "How Dachshunds Came to Be" (2012); "A Tall Tale About a Dachshund & a Pelican" (2016); "A Tall Tale About Dachshunds in Costumes"(2019); "Writing in Place: Prose & Poetry from the Pacific Northwest" Anthology (2019); Northwest Prime Time, Chaplaincy Today, Military.com, and CHSSM Diakonie, and has been a first-place non-fiction winner for Write on the Sound with her piece titled, "The Waters of Compassion."
Social media: Website: https://www.kizziejones.com/; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kizziejonesauthor; Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kizeliz; Goodreads: https://www.go:odreads.com/author/show/6615823.Kizzie_Jones
Elizabeth Keating
[awaiting biography]
Wendy Kendall
Biography: Wendy Kendall has a passion for purses and stories of women through history who carried them. Author of the In Purse-Suit Cozy Mystery Series. My YouTube podcasts feature author interviews on A Novel Talk as well as Kendall and Cooper Talk Mysteries. Website is wendywrites.org
Published work: Kat Out of the Bag; Purse-Stachio Makes A Splash; A Taste of Danger Anthology; Column -- Recommended Reads;
Column - Kids Are Bookin' It.
Kitti Lile
[awaiting biography]
Janet Margot
Biography: I teach new and experienced authors looking to build an ads strategy, avoid costly mistakes and scale their visibility on Amazon.
Published work: Author, Amazon Ads for Indie Authors: A How-to Guide from an Industry Expert
Bill Mayer
[awaiting biography]
Marcia McLaughlin
Biography: Marcia has lived in the Seattle area since she was in her twenties. Presently she lives in Lake Forest Park with her partner, Beth. She has written both prose and poetry for many years now. At first, it was part of her healing and now is something that can be more public. She is retiring this summer from being a spiritual director and look forward to having more time to write. She has a a blog – and has good intentions of actually putting more on it! https://marciamclaughlin.blogspot.com/ She is a photographer and enjoys writing poems to go with the photographs – ekphrastic poetry.
Publications: I have had a couple of poems published in the online Shoreline Area News.
Rebecca Meredith
Biography: I’m both a prose writer and a poet. My poetry has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, and from 2011-2013 I was Redmond’s first poet laureate. My novel, The Last of the Pascagoula, was published in 2011 and its sequel, Look Up From the Water is upcoming. I was a founder of RASP, Redmond Association of Spokenword.
Publications: Novels: The Last of the Pascagoula; Look Up From the Water; Chapbook: Intergenerational Delta Blues. Poetry Publications: Calyx; Pontoon; Between Hours; Here, There and Everywhere; Limbs of the Pine, Peaks of the Range; Chrysanthemum
Erica Miner
Biography: Former Metropolitan Opera violinist ERICA MINER is now an award-winning author, screenwriter, arts writer and lecturer. Erica won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards for her debut novel, Travels With My Lovers. She recently released Death by Opera, the second in her “Operatic Mystery” series.
Published work: Travels With My Lovers; FourEver Friends; Murder in the Pit; Death by Opera; Staged for Murder.
Gretchen Murphy
Biography: Gretchen is a native of Seattle and has lived with her family in Bothell since 1976. She worked in healthcare and education. She retired in 2017 as Director of the Master’s program in Health Informatics and Health Information Management at the University of Washington. Gretchen has enjoyed writing and contributing to textbooks over many years and is now interested in exploring new writing experiences.
Published work: Poetry: In the Blink of an Eye, Northwest Prime Time, April 2019. Textbooks: Electronic Health Records - Changing the Vision, 1999; Systems Analysis and Computer Applications in Health Information Management, 1983; Medical Records in Health.
Information, 1979.
Vivian Murray
[awaiting biography]
Wendy Ogden
[awaiting biography]
Victoria (Tori) Peters
[awaiting biography]
Patricia Power
Biography: I am a semi-retired adjunct professor of religious studies for Arizona State University and the Maricopa Community College District. This means I teach online courses for these institutions from the comfort of my home, or better yet, the open patio in front of Starbucks in Mill Creek Town Center! I’ve been writing one thing or another for as long as I can remember. A few pieces have even been published. While I enjoy writing non-fiction, I am trying my hand at fiction these days. On the agenda: a murder mystery set in the fictitious community of Cedar Creek.
Published work: A first-person feature article on working with the homeless in Charisma magazine; “Seppuku,” in Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present; “Dar al-Islam community (New Mexico) in Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History; “Blurring the Boundaries: American Messianic Jews and Gentiles,” in Nova Religio.
Donna Rudiger
Biography: Donna M. Rudiger began writing as an adolescent and has lived in the PNW since 1974. She is an award-winning essayist and poet and an active member of several writing groups in the Seattle area. She is a retired technical writer and lives in Arlington.
Published work: Contributing Poet to "Soundings of the Salish Sea", a poetry anthology, published by EPIC Writers Poetry Group, 2018.
Carol Sanford
Published work: Three award-winning non-fiction. The Responsible Business, The Responsible Entrepreneur with Wiley; The Regenerative Business, with Nicholas Brealey and soon to be released No More Feedback self-published. 3 Podcasts and Blogs. The Regenerative Business, The Responsible Capitalist, Business Second Opinion. Producer The Regenerative Summit. Faculty @ Universities in Europe and UW. Senior Fellow of Social Innovation at Babson College.
Social Media: Website: www.carolsanford.com; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carolsanford2; Twitter: carolsanford
Mary Ann Schradi
Biography: MaryAnn Schradi AKA Mimzi Schradi has written two books in a Romantic Thriller series and is finishing the third—Poisoned in Paris. She is one of the prime five authors of Detective Ink, for which she contributed a novella, The IT Girl. She loves to write poetry and music and sings in multiple choirs.
She has three poems in publication.
Publications: PsyChic in Seattle; Frantic In Fiji...and other ports of call, written under pen name, Mimzi Schradi; The IT Girl in the collection, Detective Ink; Three Poems I n the Anthology, Tales for a Lazy Afternoon.
Courtenay Schurman
Biography: Traditionally published in adult non-fiction, I'm currently working on MG novels featuring active girls who love the outdoors. I was chosen through SCBWI to participate in their 6-month Mentorship Program. When I'm not writing or training clients for their outdoor adventures, I serve on the WOTS Steering Committee, volunteer with the giraffes at Woodland Park Zoo, shelve books at the Olympic Hills Elementary School, and prepare for upcoming overseas adventures including trips to Ireland as a chaperone for my daughter's high school marching band, and New Zealand.
Published works: Train to Climb Mt. Rainier or Any High Peak DVD (Body Results 2002); Chapter 4 (Conditioning) Freedom of the Hills (Mountaineers books) editions 7, 8, 9; The Outdoor Athlete (2009; Human Kinetics); Quarterly columnist Mountaineers Magazine (Seattle Mountaineers) 2014-current.
Neal Silberberg
Biography: While I was fortunate to get a college degree, at 80 years old my real education came from many life experiences.
Cindy Speer
Biography: Cindy Lynn Speer has loved telling stories her whole life — stories make the world make sense. Some of her favorite authors are Neil Gaiman, Barbara Hambly, Terry Pritchett, Lee Child, Craig Johnson, Patricia Briggs. When she’s not writing or reading, she can be found practicing historical fencing (decently), sewing (impatiently), and gardening (horribly.). She also loves tea. Tea is a good bribe.
Published works: Blue Moon; Unbalanced; The Chocolatier’s Wife; The Chocolatier’s Ghost; Wishes and Sorrows.
Kristina Stapleton
[awaiting biography]
Elizabeth Stewart
Biography: I am a genetics/genomics scientist who loves sci-fi and fantasy. I left the lab quite a while ago and have been science writing since that, and am now writing a book about two women, a dog, and the Holocaust experiences as Deaf Jews that the family of one of the women went through.
Inez Taylor
[awaiting biography]
Nelson Taylor
Biography: I write because I like to create characters and make up stories. I like people with keen imagination and intellect, crazy ones who frighten and inspire us, gentle souls who want to save everything from peril, those who are called to write and have run out of excuses not to.
Published work: Hoosier Challenger, spring 1970; H.C. poetry award for submission of "The Quest"
Howard Tinsley
Biography: I am a retired university professor with extensive experience editing and publishing in psychological journals and books. I began to study creative writing in the early 1990 but until now have written only for personal pleasure. I am currently working on two fiction novels I hope to publish when completed.
Published work: Tinsley, H. E. A., Lease, S. H., & Wiersma, N. S. G. (Eds.). (2016). Contemporary theory and practice in counseling and psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Tinsley, H. E. A., & Lease, S. H. (Eds.). (2008). Encyclopedia of counseling, Volume 2: Personal counseling and mental health problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Tinsley, H. E. A., & Brown, S.D. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of applied multivariate statistics and mathematical modeling. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Carol Viens
(awaiting biography)
Kathryn Walsh-Clark (pen name Lylium Walsh)
Biography: Lylium Walsh is a queer, pagan writer based in Edmonds, WA. She currently leads Writing Rainbow, a twice monthly meet up for LGBTQIA+ writers. More about her can be found at lyliumwalsh.com
Published work: She has been published in My Edmonds News repeatedly, and placed second in poetry for EPIC Group Writers’ 2021 writing contest.
Naomi Wark
Biography: Naomi Wark lives with her husband on Camano Island. She loves the natural beauty of living near Puget Sound where she enjoys long strolls along the water and exploring the many beaches of the island. When not writing, she is active in several volunteer efforts including the Stanwood Camano Food Bank. She loves spending time with family, a theme in her novels. To quote Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” It is up to each of us how we choose to view the gift of family which we have been given."
Wildflowers in Winter is her first novel. A prequel to Wildflowers in Winter, Songs of Spring, takes place in the Seattle and Puget Sound area during the quick-changing period of 1902 thru 1925, and is planned for release in late 2020.
Ingrid Wolsk
Biography: I was born in New York City and from childhood on I wrote poems and illustrated them,along with writing very short stories. As an adult I lived abroad for ten years working both in and out of the arts and theater world. I feel so privileged now to have the time to write, which is my true passion, and now finally am published.
Publications: 'A Screech of Warning' a flash fiction piece on Amazon Kindle. 'The Secret of Anja' a novel, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For the moment it appears only as an eBook since it takes 2-3 weeks to get it to appear as a print version.
Laura Moe, Board President
Biography: Author, radio host, and writing teacher Laura Moe spent most of her working life as a librarian and English teacher in central and Southeastern Ohio, but moved to Seattle where she writes full-time and is an active member of SCBWI.
Published work: Parallel Lines (Fat Cats, 2015); Breakfast with Neruda (Simon & Schuster/Merit Press, 2016) - named by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Books for Teens in 2016. She is owned by a spoiled white cat and is working on a sequel to Breakfast With Neruda.
Social Media: https://bookclubbabble.com/interviews/interview-with-ya-author-laura-moe-on-breakfast-with-neruda/;
http://laura-moe.blogspot.com/; http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair/2016/08/03/jacquelyn-mitchards-summer-scribes-presents-author-laura-moe
Alison (Ali) Eden Ersfeld, VP Development
Biography: Ali is obsessed with Meade notebooks; they are her dearest friends. She has been traveling with them, filling them, and excavating her wounds in them since the 80's. When she's not writing, she's teaching creative writing, mythology, and English at Meadowdale High school, or she's instructing a yoga class at Bindi Yoga in Lynnwood. Ali also facilitates yoga and writing workshops, combining these two deeply reflective practices.
Published work: Unmasked Magazine; EPIC Group Writers 2018 Contest Winner - 2nd Place Poetry.
Susan Frederick, VP Membership
Biography: Susan Frederick is an award winning writer who has published poems, short stories and essays, and is currently working on a memoir about the Vietnam war. She is a native of Washington state and grew up in small logging towns in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. She lives in Kirkland, Washington and is on the Board of EPIC Group Writers and is a member of Hugo House.
Awards: First Place Poetry at Write on the Sound Writers Conference 2019; Honorable Mention Short Story at Write on the Sound Writers Conference 2019; First Place Poetry, EPIC Writing Contest 2018;
Published work: Rise & Shine, (publisher: Gather Here, an imprint of Homeostasis Press); Timber Town (publisher: Gather Here); Ghosted, published in Northwest Prime Time magazine. Several of Susan's poems have appeared in My Edmonds News.
Diane Naab, EPIC Board Secretary & Monday Morning Pages leader
Biography: Diane Naab is an artist, former art gallery owner, world traveler, and published author, now living in the Seattle area.
Published work: Poetry and short stories published in four consecutive issues of the annual literary review, Inside Passages, in southeast Alaska.
Valerie Spasojevic, EPIC Board Treasurer
Biography: Valerie Spasojevic is a former professional jewelry photographer. Through photography, she developed a keen eye for detail and now puts her observations in writing. She has traveled widely and lived in both NYC and an extremely remote village of Alaska, though not at the same time. Currently, she is pursuing her certification as an IRS Enrolled Agent.
Gerald Bigelow, EPIC Board Member at Large & Poetry Group leader
Published work: Poetry, poems published in Arizona 100 Years, Between the Lines, Memories Looking Through a Screen Door, Soundings from the Salish Sea: A Pacific Northwest Poetry Anthology.
Sarah Cannon, EPIC Board Member at Large
Biography: Sarah earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College, where she helped launch the inaugural Lighthouse Writers’ Conference and Retreat for MFA alumni in Port Townsend, WA. She lives in Edmonds, WA. She teaches at Hugo House in Seattle, and lives in Edmonds, WA. She is the author of The Shame of Losing (Red Hen Press), which was a Finalist for the Washington State Book Awards in 2019. Published work: Her essays have been featured in The New York Times (Modern Love column), Salon, Bitch magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and elsewhere.
Christine Dubois, Board Member at Large
Biography: Christine Dubois is a widely published writer and editor who has successfully tackled articles, newsletters, resumes, advertising copy, book editing, and more for a variety of grateful clients. She teaches writing workshops at North Seattle College, as well as for local businesses and writer's conferences. Her warmth, knowledge, and enthusiasm make her a popular instructor.
Published work: "Waiting In Hope: Meditations for Expectant Parents" with my husband Steven E. Bourne; More than 500 articles in 45 publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul, Birdwatching, Byline, Mothering, The Seattle Times, and more.
Website: www.christinedubois.com.
Mindy Halleck, EPIC Board Member at Large & The Writer's Craft leader
Biography: Mindy Halleck is a writer, an award-winning author, and writing instructor. Her debut novel Return To Sender was voted in the top twenty Indie books of the year by Kirkus Review, it also received the ‘Readers’ Choice’ award - she has won writing contests including a Writer’s Digest fiction contest. Halleck is an active member of the Pacific Northwest writing community, and in addition to being a writer, she is a happily married, globe-trotting beachcomber, gardener, proud grandma, and three-time cancer survivor.
Published work: Return To Sender. Publisher, Better Life Press, available on Amazon
Social Media: www.MindyHalleck.com; Twitter: @MindyHalleck
Laura Kemp, Board Member at Large and EPIC Newsletter Editor
Biography: After retiring from a career in public safety in 2013 (where my writing was limited to producing rather uninspired training manuals) I finally have the time to pursue writing fiction. I am a member of PNWA, SCBWI, and EPIC Group Writers, as well as a founding member my Kitsap-based critique group, Sound Writers.
Social media: Gamblecreekstudio.com
Joe Rice, Board Member at Large and Tuesday Evening Writing Group leader
Biography: I am a retired educator now working to complete a memoir and another nonfiction book on Multiage Education. I also write poetry, short stories and educational articles. I'm also an avid of many genre and love to participate in writing groups. Never too old to learn.
Published work: Nongraded Multiage Education - A Resource Book, Edmonds School District Press 1990, 1992; Short stories published in others' collections:- Joseph Rice: Generations, edited by Darryl Teruya 2003; "One Way Out," The Greater Good,: Life Lessons from Hawai'i's Leaders, by Evan and Kari Leong 2008; "Untitled," Do It Anyway by Kent M. Keith 2003; "A survey and Analysis of Oral Reading Miscues Made By Mexican and Mexican American Migrants 1979; "Kupu Hou: To Sprout and Grow Anew," A white paper on the future of education presented to the Directors of Mid-Pacific Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii 2012.
Amber Vitti Hill, EPIC Board Member at Large and Social Media
Biography: Amber received her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in English Education from the Teacher’s College of Columbia University. After teaching for over fifteen years in a variety of schools, she currently resides in Woodinville, Washington with her husband and two sons. She serves on the board of the EPIC Group Writers.
Published work: Her short story “Wolves” appeared in 34th Parallel literary magazine.
Judith Works, EPIC Board Member at Large
Biography: Judith, a founding member of EPIC Group Writers, is the author of a memoir about living in Rome and working for the United Nations titled Coins in the Fountain. She enjoys writing travel stories, and is working on a novel set in Rome and Vashon Island, and another set in the Cascade Mountain foothills.
Published work: Coins in the Fountain as well as articles in My Edmonds News, Wanted in Rome, Alaska Airlines inflight magazine and several pieces of flash fiction in literary journals.
Social Media: FB Author's page: judithworks author; Instagram: worksjudith; website: judithworks.net.
# # #
2021-22 EPIC MEMBERS (in alphabetical order)
(EPIC Membership Year is September 1 through August 31)
Vanessa Arpin
Biography: Vanessa Arpin has won several awards for her writing. In 2017, she won a scholarship to the Mendocino Writer’s Conference for her Young Adult submission, and her book was a top finalist in the Young Adult genre. In 2014, she was recognized by the Seattle Public Library for her poetry.
Social Media: Vanessaarpin.com
Matthew Austin
Biography
Published Work:
Petra Bosse
[awaiting Petra's Biography)
Published work: Worlds of Deception
Nicole 'Nicki' Chen
Biography: I'm a writer and blogger living in Edmonds. My first novel, Tiger Tail Soup, a Novel of China at War, was published in 2013. I'm working on a second novel. It's the story of an expat who lives in the Philippines and then in Vanuatu, a woman who has her heart set on having a baby. I'm a graduate of Seattle University, and I have an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Published work: Tiger Tail Soup, a novel of China at war.
Social Media: Website/Blog: www.nickichenwrites.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NickiChenAuthor/; Twitter: @NickiChenAuthor; Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8261760.
Curtis Colbert
Biography: Curt Colbert is the author of the Jake Rossiter & Miss Jenkins mystery series, set in Seattle in the 1940's. He also edited Seattle Noir for Akashic Books. In addition, along with Waverly Fitzgerald, he co-wrote The Barking Detective series under the pen name Waverly Curtis. Curt is a member of Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.
Published work: Rat City; Sayonaraville; Queer Street; Seattle Noir; Dial C for Chihuahua; Chihuahua Confidential; The Big Chihuahua; The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice; The Silence of the Chihuahuas.
Roxanne Dunn
Biography: I am a retired physical therapist, a foodie, a fanatic about good chocolate, and a private pilot. I lived aboard an old wood motor yacht for seventeen years, and in my dreams, I’m a pianist of renown, an acceptable water color artist, and a globe-trotting yogini.
Published work: I write the galley column for Pacific Yachting magazine. Murder Unrehearsed is my debut novel.
Paddy Eger
Biography: Paddy is the published author of both non fiction and fiction books and materials, a presenter, a speaker, a blogger and a traveler. Currently her interests include writing YA, early chapter books and memoir.
Published work: Award-winning books including a YA trilogy: 84 Ribbons, When the Music Stops-Dance On, Letters to Follow-A Dancer's Adventure; and Tasman-An Innocent Convict's Struggle for Freedom
Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paddyegerfictionauthor; Twitter: @paddyegerwriter; Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/paddyeger; Website: www.paddyeger.com; Blogs: www.paddyeger.com/blog/author
Ann Erickson
[awaiting biography]
Thomas Frank
[awaiting biography]
Ramona Gault
[awaiting biography]
Lisa Greene
Biography: I am a published author of 3 books about parenting and one children’s book. They are of a more non-fiction genre. I’d like to start writing again in other genres and would like ideas and support as well as to share what I already know about book writing. I am also a public speaker, college professor and mom. I live in downtown Edmonds.
Publications: Parenting Children with Health Issues: Tools, Tips and Tactics for Raising Children with Special Medical Needs; Parenting Children with Health Issues condensed version booklet; No Mo No; Healthy Choices, Happy Kids
Lora Hein
Biography: Lora is returning to writing in retirement. Her first focus is a memoir based on her two month journey to the Galápagos Islands in 1973 and the life lessons she learned there. Lora lives in Edmonds where she enjoys gardening and creative cooking as well as dancing and reading. She makes every effort to retain her connection to nature.
Rita Ireland
Biography: Former Edmonds teacher, librarian, travel and grant writer who happens to love meeting with my fellow writers at Savvy Travel once a month. We are an honest and friendly group who loves to play with words.
Lis Johnson
Biography: Former print journalist covering everything from cops to courts, politics to business and the occasional county fair.
Published work: The Lebanon Democrat; The Gallatin News-Examiner; The Kingsport Times News; The Johnson City Press.
Kizzie Jones
Biography: Children’s author Kizzie Jones blends her love of dachshunds and her love of the ocean to create whimsical tall tales to delight readers of all ages. Kizzie makes her home in Edmonds with her beloved Thom and three dachshunds!
Published work: "How Dachshunds Came to Be" (2012); "A Tall Tale About a Dachshund & a Pelican" (2016); "A Tall Tale About Dachshunds in Costumes"(2019); "Writing in Place: Prose & Poetry from the Pacific Northwest" Anthology (2019); Northwest Prime Time, Chaplaincy Today, Military.com, and CHSSM Diakonie, and has been a first-place non-fiction winner for Write on the Sound with her piece titled, "The Waters of Compassion."
Social media: Website: https://www.kizziejones.com/; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kizziejonesauthor; Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kizeliz; Goodreads: https://www.go:odreads.com/author/show/6615823.Kizzie_Jones
Elizabeth Keating
[awaiting biography]
Wendy Kendall
Biography: Wendy Kendall has a passion for purses and stories of women through history who carried them. Author of the In Purse-Suit Cozy Mystery Series. My YouTube podcasts feature author interviews on A Novel Talk as well as Kendall and Cooper Talk Mysteries. Website is wendywrites.org
Published work: Kat Out of the Bag; Purse-Stachio Makes A Splash; A Taste of Danger Anthology; Column -- Recommended Reads;
Column - Kids Are Bookin' It.
Kitti Lile
[awaiting biography]
Janet Margot
Biography: I teach new and experienced authors looking to build an ads strategy, avoid costly mistakes and scale their visibility on Amazon.
Published work: Author, Amazon Ads for Indie Authors: A How-to Guide from an Industry Expert
Bill Mayer
[awaiting biography]
Marcia McLaughlin
Biography: Marcia has lived in the Seattle area since she was in her twenties. Presently she lives in Lake Forest Park with her partner, Beth. She has written both prose and poetry for many years now. At first, it was part of her healing and now is something that can be more public. She is retiring this summer from being a spiritual director and look forward to having more time to write. She has a a blog – and has good intentions of actually putting more on it! https://marciamclaughlin.blogspot.com/ She is a photographer and enjoys writing poems to go with the photographs – ekphrastic poetry.
Publications: I have had a couple of poems published in the online Shoreline Area News.
Rebecca Meredith
Biography: I’m both a prose writer and a poet. My poetry has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, and from 2011-2013 I was Redmond’s first poet laureate. My novel, The Last of the Pascagoula, was published in 2011 and its sequel, Look Up From the Water is upcoming. I was a founder of RASP, Redmond Association of Spokenword.
Publications: Novels: The Last of the Pascagoula; Look Up From the Water; Chapbook: Intergenerational Delta Blues. Poetry Publications: Calyx; Pontoon; Between Hours; Here, There and Everywhere; Limbs of the Pine, Peaks of the Range; Chrysanthemum
Erica Miner
Biography: Former Metropolitan Opera violinist ERICA MINER is now an award-winning author, screenwriter, arts writer and lecturer. Erica won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards for her debut novel, Travels With My Lovers. She recently released Death by Opera, the second in her “Operatic Mystery” series.
Published work: Travels With My Lovers; FourEver Friends; Murder in the Pit; Death by Opera; Staged for Murder.
Gretchen Murphy
Biography: Gretchen is a native of Seattle and has lived with her family in Bothell since 1976. She worked in healthcare and education. She retired in 2017 as Director of the Master’s program in Health Informatics and Health Information Management at the University of Washington. Gretchen has enjoyed writing and contributing to textbooks over many years and is now interested in exploring new writing experiences.
Published work: Poetry: In the Blink of an Eye, Northwest Prime Time, April 2019. Textbooks: Electronic Health Records - Changing the Vision, 1999; Systems Analysis and Computer Applications in Health Information Management, 1983; Medical Records in Health.
Information, 1979.
Vivian Murray
[awaiting biography]
Wendy Ogden
[awaiting biography]
Victoria (Tori) Peters
[awaiting biography]
Patricia Power
Biography: I am a semi-retired adjunct professor of religious studies for Arizona State University and the Maricopa Community College District. This means I teach online courses for these institutions from the comfort of my home, or better yet, the open patio in front of Starbucks in Mill Creek Town Center! I’ve been writing one thing or another for as long as I can remember. A few pieces have even been published. While I enjoy writing non-fiction, I am trying my hand at fiction these days. On the agenda: a murder mystery set in the fictitious community of Cedar Creek.
Published work: A first-person feature article on working with the homeless in Charisma magazine; “Seppuku,” in Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present; “Dar al-Islam community (New Mexico) in Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History; “Blurring the Boundaries: American Messianic Jews and Gentiles,” in Nova Religio.
Donna Rudiger
Biography: Donna M. Rudiger began writing as an adolescent and has lived in the PNW since 1974. She is an award-winning essayist and poet and an active member of several writing groups in the Seattle area. She is a retired technical writer and lives in Arlington.
Published work: Contributing Poet to "Soundings of the Salish Sea", a poetry anthology, published by EPIC Writers Poetry Group, 2018.
Carol Sanford
Published work: Three award-winning non-fiction. The Responsible Business, The Responsible Entrepreneur with Wiley; The Regenerative Business, with Nicholas Brealey and soon to be released No More Feedback self-published. 3 Podcasts and Blogs. The Regenerative Business, The Responsible Capitalist, Business Second Opinion. Producer The Regenerative Summit. Faculty @ Universities in Europe and UW. Senior Fellow of Social Innovation at Babson College.
Social Media: Website: www.carolsanford.com; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carolsanford2; Twitter: carolsanford
Mary Ann Schradi
Biography: MaryAnn Schradi AKA Mimzi Schradi has written two books in a Romantic Thriller series and is finishing the third—Poisoned in Paris. She is one of the prime five authors of Detective Ink, for which she contributed a novella, The IT Girl. She loves to write poetry and music and sings in multiple choirs.
She has three poems in publication.
Publications: PsyChic in Seattle; Frantic In Fiji...and other ports of call, written under pen name, Mimzi Schradi; The IT Girl in the collection, Detective Ink; Three Poems I n the Anthology, Tales for a Lazy Afternoon.
Courtenay Schurman
Biography: Traditionally published in adult non-fiction, I'm currently working on MG novels featuring active girls who love the outdoors. I was chosen through SCBWI to participate in their 6-month Mentorship Program. When I'm not writing or training clients for their outdoor adventures, I serve on the WOTS Steering Committee, volunteer with the giraffes at Woodland Park Zoo, shelve books at the Olympic Hills Elementary School, and prepare for upcoming overseas adventures including trips to Ireland as a chaperone for my daughter's high school marching band, and New Zealand.
Published works: Train to Climb Mt. Rainier or Any High Peak DVD (Body Results 2002); Chapter 4 (Conditioning) Freedom of the Hills (Mountaineers books) editions 7, 8, 9; The Outdoor Athlete (2009; Human Kinetics); Quarterly columnist Mountaineers Magazine (Seattle Mountaineers) 2014-current.
Neal Silberberg
Biography: While I was fortunate to get a college degree, at 80 years old my real education came from many life experiences.
Cindy Speer
Biography: Cindy Lynn Speer has loved telling stories her whole life — stories make the world make sense. Some of her favorite authors are Neil Gaiman, Barbara Hambly, Terry Pritchett, Lee Child, Craig Johnson, Patricia Briggs. When she’s not writing or reading, she can be found practicing historical fencing (decently), sewing (impatiently), and gardening (horribly.). She also loves tea. Tea is a good bribe.
Published works: Blue Moon; Unbalanced; The Chocolatier’s Wife; The Chocolatier’s Ghost; Wishes and Sorrows.
Kristina Stapleton
[awaiting biography]
Elizabeth Stewart
Biography: I am a genetics/genomics scientist who loves sci-fi and fantasy. I left the lab quite a while ago and have been science writing since that, and am now writing a book about two women, a dog, and the Holocaust experiences as Deaf Jews that the family of one of the women went through.
Inez Taylor
[awaiting biography]
Nelson Taylor
Biography: I write because I like to create characters and make up stories. I like people with keen imagination and intellect, crazy ones who frighten and inspire us, gentle souls who want to save everything from peril, those who are called to write and have run out of excuses not to.
Published work: Hoosier Challenger, spring 1970; H.C. poetry award for submission of "The Quest"
Howard Tinsley
Biography: I am a retired university professor with extensive experience editing and publishing in psychological journals and books. I began to study creative writing in the early 1990 but until now have written only for personal pleasure. I am currently working on two fiction novels I hope to publish when completed.
Published work: Tinsley, H. E. A., Lease, S. H., & Wiersma, N. S. G. (Eds.). (2016). Contemporary theory and practice in counseling and psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Tinsley, H. E. A., & Lease, S. H. (Eds.). (2008). Encyclopedia of counseling, Volume 2: Personal counseling and mental health problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Tinsley, H. E. A., & Brown, S.D. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of applied multivariate statistics and mathematical modeling. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Carol Viens
(awaiting biography)
Kathryn Walsh-Clark (pen name Lylium Walsh)
Biography: Lylium Walsh is a queer, pagan writer based in Edmonds, WA. She currently leads Writing Rainbow, a twice monthly meet up for LGBTQIA+ writers. More about her can be found at lyliumwalsh.com
Published work: She has been published in My Edmonds News repeatedly, and placed second in poetry for EPIC Group Writers’ 2021 writing contest.
Naomi Wark
Biography: Naomi Wark lives with her husband on Camano Island. She loves the natural beauty of living near Puget Sound where she enjoys long strolls along the water and exploring the many beaches of the island. When not writing, she is active in several volunteer efforts including the Stanwood Camano Food Bank. She loves spending time with family, a theme in her novels. To quote Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” It is up to each of us how we choose to view the gift of family which we have been given."
Wildflowers in Winter is her first novel. A prequel to Wildflowers in Winter, Songs of Spring, takes place in the Seattle and Puget Sound area during the quick-changing period of 1902 thru 1925, and is planned for release in late 2020.
Ingrid Wolsk
Biography: I was born in New York City and from childhood on I wrote poems and illustrated them,along with writing very short stories. As an adult I lived abroad for ten years working both in and out of the arts and theater world. I feel so privileged now to have the time to write, which is my true passion, and now finally am published.
Publications: 'A Screech of Warning' a flash fiction piece on Amazon Kindle. 'The Secret of Anja' a novel, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For the moment it appears only as an eBook since it takes 2-3 weeks to get it to appear as a print version.