B O O K S BY T H E B E A C H S U P P O R T I N G O C E A N S I D E’S L O C A L A U T H O R S MIKE CASPER Life as a storyteller began with Mike Casper’s children. They loved their bedtime stories so much that they encouraged him to write them down. Those words found a page—and the stories flowed. Mike has been married thirtytwo years, and those aforementioned children are all grown up. He is a first-time grandpa and will soon tell stories to his first grandchild, a beautiful little girl. Mike grew up in Upstate New York. As a youngster, while his brothers were outside playing, he lost himself in the world of books. Free time was for reading. His mind was filled with rocket ships, airplanes, history, and sports heroes. He devoured every Hardy Boys and Danny Dunn book. As a teenager and into adulthood, he was captivated by authors like James Michener, Robert Heinlein, John Steinbeck, Diana Gabaldon, and Ken Follett. When Mike came to faith in Jesus, he found a desire to share the Gospel. Like Frank Peretti, author of the excellent This Present Darkness, writing would be his means of introducing Jesus to others. Mike flew thirty-eight years as a flight attendant. As he was traversing the Las Vegas airport on duty one day, he saw a boy with autism walking behind his mother through the terminal. Watching him inspired his first Christian novel, The Sing Song Child, a tale of weakness, love, and redemption. Stone Thrower was born in 2019 out of his desire to know more about God’s stories and the briefly mentioned biblical characters. This journey drew him even deeper into his faith. Mike’s books can be found on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, or on his website at mcasper.com.
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LESLIE CLARK Leslie Clark is a writers’ writer, who enjoys encouraging other writers as well as concentrating on her own writing. While teaching in Virginia, she started programs for student writers. After moving to Arizona, she taught creative writing and other writing courses at Cochise College. She also co-founded the Cochise Community Creative Writing Celebration and chaired its organizing committee for fifteen years. Leslie’s short stories, poetry, and essays have been published in many print and online literary journals and anthologies for more than thirty years. Her most recent publications are in the San Diego Decameron Project, Poetry Quarterly, and Persimmon Tree. Leslie is the author of two poetry collections, Cardiac Alert, and Ward Off the Night, both published by Finishing Line Press. In three different states, Leslie started writers’ groups, and organized open mic readings. From 2005 to 2021, she published and edited online poetry journal, Voices on the Wind, which featured work by poets from all over this country. After visiting San Diego County as often as possible, when she and her husband both retired from their jobs in Arizona five years ago, they happily moved to Oceanside. Leslie currently is moderator for a writers’ group, which meets the second Sunday of every month at 2:00, at the Mission Branch of the Oceanside Library. She also is a member of the committee which organizes Write On, Oceanside! Her books of poetry are available on the shelves at the Oceanside Public Library and from the publisher, Finishing Line Press.
DAVID V. DAUBENSPECK David V. Daubenspeck grew up in a small city in western lower Michigan. At age 16 he was blessed with an opportunity to serve as a part-time radio news reporter and announcer, where he continued working on through his college years while majoring Spring 2022 | www.oceansidechamber.com
