CONTRIBUTORS


Richard Dinges, Jr. works on his homestead beside a drying pond, surrounded by dying trees and grassland, with his wife, two dogs, two cats, and fifteen chickens. Nine Mile Magazine, Courtship of Winds, The Orchards, Tipton Poetry Journal, and Blue Lake Review most recently accepted his words for their publications.

Deborah Gaines is a travel writer who recently returned to poetry, her first love. She currently writes for Tripadvisor and AARP. Instagram: @deborahgaineswriter, Threads: @debgaines, Website: deborahgaines.net.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Shift, River And South and Flights. Latest books--Bittersweet, Subject Matters and Between Two Fires--are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Rush, Spotlong Review and Trampoline.

Mark Jacobs has published more than 200 stories in magazines including The Hudson Review, The Atlantic, Playboy, and Evergreen Review. His seventh book, a novel called Memory Falls, is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing. A full list of my publications can be found at markjacobsauthor.com

Arnold Johnston’s poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translations have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. Arnie’s recent books of poetry are In and Out: Love Poems (Kelsay Books, 2025), The Infernal Now (2022), and Where We’re Going, Where We’ve Been (2020). His two novels are Swept Away (2021) and The Witching Voice, A Novel from the Life of Robert Burns (2009). His plays, and others written in collaboration with his wife Deborah Ann Percy, have won over 300 productions, readings, awards, and publications across the country and internationally. Arnie taught for many years at Western Michigan University, where he co-founded the creative writing program and founded the playwriting program.

Joshua James Jordan writes literary and speculative fiction that ranges from the comical to the terrifying. When he’s not dreaming narratives, Joshua rolls dice on the Tales of Bob podcast or plots his next story at JoshuaJamesJordan.com.

Craig Kirchner is retired and living in Jacksonville. He loves the aesthetics of writing, has a book of poetry, Roomful of Navels, and has been nominated three times for a Pushcart. Craig's writing has been published in Chiron Review, Main Street Rag and dozens of others. He houses 500 books in his office and about 400 poems on a laptop; these words help keep him straight. Craig can be found on Bluesky.

Dave Mainelli published his short story collection, “How to Be Lonely: Stories,” with WSC Press in 2021. His work has also been published in Emerging Nebraska Fiction Writers, Curbside Splendor, Fine Lines Literary Journal, and Flash Fiction Magazine. He currently teaches creative writing at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wayne State College and is a fiction editor for The Good Life Review.

JJ Norris is a writer who splits her time between New York City and Charleston, SC. Her short stories have appeared in 34 Orchard and The Saturday Evening Post. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, running, or pursuing her latest business venture. 

 Shoshauna Shy's flash fiction, short stories and micro-memoir have recently appeared in the public arena courtesy of Every Day Fiction, The Thieving Magpie, Literary Hatchet and New World Writing Quarterly. An editor for 101Words, she earned a Notable Story distinction in Brilliant Flash Fiction’s 2022 contest, was included in their 10th Anniversary contest anthology in 2024, and long and shortlisted in the Bath Flash Fiction Award anthologies in 2022 and 2023. In 2025, she was a finalist for the Wild Atlantic Writing Award out of Donegal, Ireland.

Ephraim Scott Sommers -- A singer-songwriter, poet, and essayist, Ephraim Scott Sommers is the author of two books: Someone You Love Is Still Alive (2019) and The Night We Set the Dead Kid on Fire (2017). His third book, Diabetic Gumdrops, is forthcoming from Main Street Rag in 2026. Currently, he lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina and is an Associate Professor of English at Winthrop University. For more words and music, please visit: www.ephraimscottsommers.com.