Author Biographies

MEET THE WRITERS

Alexandra Ellen Appel’s work appears in numerous literary journals. Current work will be featured in the Light of Peace (Fall 2020) and Cirque: Literary Journal of the Pacific Northeast (Fall 2020). In 2015 two poems were included in the WITA Anthology, Animal. Dr. Appel is pleased to be included in this year’s WITA Anthology.

John Barrie is a writer from Boise, Idaho, whose micro-fiction has appeared in CWI’s Stonecrop Literary Magazine and Boise Weekly’s annual Fiction 101 contest. When not writing or working, John spends his time as a husband, father, Boise State student, Dungeon Master, and fierce advocate of spicy food–his Carolina Reaper chili is his proudest non-writing accomplishment. A wise woman once told him, “If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to go out to eat,” and he hopes that now more than ever people will live by that message.

Kyle Boggs is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Boise State University. He is a former (and still sometimes) environmental journalist turned academic who believes in the power of community writing, a strong cup of coffee, and a long run in the foothills. He can be seen on adventures big and small with his partner, a messy-haired toddler, and two wild dogs.

Dené Breakfield grew up in West Virginia. In 1985 she moved to Boise, where she earned a BA and MA in English from Boise State University. Her work has appeared in cold-drill, Nebo, Writers in the Attic (Fuel), Boise Weekly’s Fiction 101, Plays magazine, BSU’s Women Making History project, and elsewhere.

christy claymore has published three poems within the past year, and is pleased to have the third included in this fine publication. Formerly an adjunct professor, she is now working 125

on two novels (one in collaboration with a friend), a documentary (again, in collaboration with friends), her poetry, and also freelances as an editor and researcher. She loves running the beautiful trails that surround Boise, and her two wild boys are the very fiber of her heart. Amber Daley is a Boise-based professional writer fueled by slow food and slow travel—both themes that influence her (mostly private) practice composing poetry and prose. Despite being a fifth-generation Idahoan, Amber is an incurable wanderlust and enjoys spontaneous road trips, outdoor markets, and long walks down the cheese aisle.

Neal F. Dougherty applies his passion for writing to his work as an attorney defending members of our Treasure Valley Community from deportation and separation from their families. He is currently using his B.A. in Creative Writing, from the University of California at Riverside, to make trolls uncomfortable on social media. He volunteers his time with the Idaho Harm Reduction Project, and, he is a member of the board of Allies Linked for the Prevention of H.I.V. and AIDS – Idaho, a nonprofit which provides STD testing and treatment, harm reduction services, and which operates a food bank in downtown Boise.

Rebecca Evans’ poems and essays have appeared in The Rumpus, Entropy Literary Magazine, War, Literature & the Arts, 34th Parallel, and Collateral Journal, among others. With an MFA in creative nonfiction, Evans is now working on an MFA in poetry at Sierra Nevada University. She is currently editing a collection of essays titled Body Language, and just completed her memoir, Navigation. She has served on the editorial staff of the Sierra Nevada Review and lives in Idaho with her three sons.

Alex Fascilla spent 12 years in corporate America before quitting to create art. He’s a writer, photographer, and refinishes and reimagines discarded furniture. His time away from the daily grind has reawakened his passion for writing and–after stumbling on an old copy of The Artist’s Way–he stokes that passion by writing daily. He was born and lives in Boise.

Sandy Friedly has a BA in English with an emphasis in writing and an MFA in creative writing, both from Boise State University. After freelancing for many years, she worked as editor for 126

Student Affairs Marketing at Boise State, writing everything from radio spots to taglines to feature articles. Her work has appeared in the Boise Weekly, Boise Journal, Sail, Northwest Travel, Northwest Parks & Wildlife, and elsewhere. Covid binge watching includes Breaking Bad, The Handmaid’s Tale, Schitt’s Creek, Mad Men, and others.

CMarie Fuhrman is the author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems (Floodgate 2020) and co-editor of Native Voices (Tupelo 2019). She has published poetry and nonfiction in multiple journals including Emergence Magazine, Yellow Medicine Review, Cutthroat a Journal of the Arts, Whitefish Review, Broadsided Press, Taos International Journal of Poetry and Art, as well as several anthologies. CMarie is a graduate of the University of Idaho’s MFA program, a regular columnist for the Inlander, and an editorial team member for Broadsided Press and non-fiction editor for High Desert Journal. CMarie resides in the mountains of West Central Idaho.

Cheryl Hindrichs is an associate professor of literature at Boise State University where her teaching and scholarship has focused on modernism, World War One, illness, and landscape. Reading, alone and with others, is her greatest pleasure. Learning to see, being a dedicated reader of Woolf, into the life of the mind and body, and into the world when we are not there is her life’s work.

Francis Judilla is a poet, writer, musician, and composer. He holds an Interdisciplinary Studies degree with a triple emphasis in music, creative writing, and philosophy from Boise State University. He is currently working on his first novel. JoAnn Koozer: Writing has always been a natural way to express and record my life and surroundings. Poetry offers me fantastic forms and techniques for doing so. To find ones unique writing voice has been a journey and a joy.

Grove Koger is the author of When the Going Was Good: A Guide to the 99 Best Narratives of Travel, Exploration, and Adventure and Assistant Editor of Deus Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Journal. He made his first sale—to The Idaho Observer—in 1965, and since then he’s published nonfiction in a wide range of periodicals, including Boise Magazine, Boise Journal, Idaho Magazine and The Limberlost

Review. His fiction has appeared in Cirque, Danse Macabre, Prometheus Dreaming and Punt Volat, and he blogs at worldenoughblog.wordpress.com.

Maggie Koger lives near the river in Boise where children swing in the park as grown-ups unwind. Trees shelter squirrels and the muse lurks along the greenbelt urging her to stay focused. Here today, yesterday or tomorrow—the bunny, mink, heron, and others—all waiting to be featured in a next poem. And how wonderful it is to have the Cabin to shepherd our efforts. Playwright, writer and theater maker Heidi Kraay examines the connection between brain and body, seeking empathy with fractured characters. Her work has been presented in Boise, regionally, in NYC and internationally, most recently through Playwrights’ Round Table, Trinity Street Players and Georgia’s One Minute Play Festival. Recent poetry publications include Z Publishing, Timshel Magazine and Willow Creek Journal. Heidi holds an MFA from California Institute of Integral Studies and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. heidikraay.com

Marguerite Lawrence Some stories, I find, are conjured from dreams, conversations (heard and overheard), places I visit, and current events. Last Chapter is none of those things. It is a story of friendship – 53 years of knowing a person. Craig was always there for me, showed up at my door when I needed him most. He died last year, and I wrote this memoir to help me cope with the pain of losing him to cancer. I want to believe he’d appreciate the effort.

Carol Lindsay is a retired educator from Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. She balances writing with skiing, hiking, biking, and time in the water. Her happy place is spending time with her two grown daughters and wandering the west with her husband in their camper van.

Liza Long is an Assistant Professor of English at the College of Western Idaho. She is the author of The Price of Silence: A Mom’s Perspective on Mental Illness (Plume), a 2014 Books for a Better Life award winner. She blogs (occasionally and erratically) on topics that interest her at The Anarchist Soccer Mom.

Susan McMillan has lived in Boise since 1994 and enjoys exploring the West with her husband and dog. By profession, Sue 128

is an attorney, which for many years was all consuming, allowing little time for writing other than occasional scribbling. Recently retired, she’s enjoying the freedom of more time to write and read and the challenge of fewer excuses for procrastination.

Julia McCoy is a middle school English teacher in Meridian. Julia is a long-time member of the Writer’s Write group in Boise. She recently completed a chapter on a 17th century monk for a book on Spanish Benedictines, to be published next year. She was published in the Writers in the Attic once previously, and occasionally wins flash horror competitions for movie tickets and hotel stays.

Kim Monnier finds creativity and energy in the transformations in the world. He is on the editorial staff of The Whistle Pig, a literary publication of the Mountain Home Arts Council.

Christina Monson (pen name Christina Stark) enjoys writing horror and sci-fi with a female twist. When she’s not writing or buried in a book, you can find her having fun with her husband and son, watching a superhero movie, or longing for a spooky autumn day. Connect with her on Instagram @ChristinaStarkAuthor.

Hi, I’m Eileen Oldag, and I began writing on the Texas Gulf Coast. In Shreveport, LA, I was a founding member of Upper Gladstone Writers’ Workspace, and here in Boise writing circles continue to be important to me. These days, it’s the preciseness and malleability of memory that infuses much of the poetry I write.

In the barren landscapes that define southwestern Idaho, Sheila Robertson seeks beauty and stories off the beaten path. With pen and camera she is happiest in the deep winding canyons of the Owyhee or camped out under the stars in its remotest weathered desert. Sheila came to Boise nearly forty years ago, where her husband’s rich family history goes back to before the turn of the last century. Fragments of their stories engender her own. With the inspiration of her husband and two children, she has published articles, stories and poetry that reflect Idaho’s landscape for 35 years.

Ruth Saxey-Reese (Ruth Salter) earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine and teaches writing 129

at Boise State University, Northwest Nazarene University, and The Cabin. Her award-winning poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in Chiron Review, Calyx, Nerve Cowboy, Rattle, The Desert Chronicle, Hawaii Pacific Review, and America Magazine. Before she could write words, she made patterns of wavy lines and called them letters to God. Writing is how she comprehends the visible world as well as the unseen within and around her.

Laureen Leiko Scheid is thankful to raise her two precious daughters with her handsome husband in beautiful Boise. She was born and raised in Honolulu with her seven siblings. Laureen enjoys exploring Idaho, skiing at Bogus, and dancing with Owhyee Hula ‘Ohana. Laureen is honored to be a part of this year’s anthology. Janet Schlicht is a Boise grandma who enjoys seeing the world through the eyes of the young. She likes playing with words, digging in dirt, listening to leaves rustle, fiddling with fabrics and being with friends. She is grateful for the help and support she has received from friends and teachers as she has tried to work out how best to put words on a page.

Celia Scully is a poet and writer who moved from Reno, Nevada, to Boise, Idaho, in 2017. Her articles have appeared in newspapers, travel, women’s and specialty publications. She has co-authored two books and taught community college adult education classes in non-fiction writing for publication. She holds a BA in English literature from Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C.) and a MA in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Debra Southworth wrote her first poem at age 13, well past bedtime, hunkered under the covers with a flashlight. Now a grandma, she has committed to a more intentional sharing of her work in 2020.

Marsha Spiers: I have written since I could put pen to paper. It’s how I clear my mind of clutter. At 72, there are a lot of stories. This one’s dedicated to my grandchildren and how life used to be.

Judith McConnell Steele and her husband, Richard, moved to Boise in 1978. He was an Idaho native. She wasn’t, but soon found the environment nurturing for a budding writer. Judith is 130

a published poet, writer, and writing teacher, the author of two books of newspaper columns and a novel, The Angel of Esperanca. She is naturally attracted to fire, but is not an arsonist. For Anita Tanner reading and writing is akin to breathing. Raised on a small dairy farm in Wyoming she learned a love of animals, the land and nature. She’s the mother of six and grandmother of seventeen and numerous grand-dogs and great grand-dogs. A few cats. Eric E. Wallace has published three short story collections (Undertow, Hoar Frost and Stonerise) and two literary novels (Emperor’s Reach and The Improviser). This the seventh Writers in the Attic anthology to include one or more of Eric’s stories. His website is ericewallace.wordpress.com.

Rebecca Louise Weeks was born in Boise, Idaho. She has lived in Oregon, Maine, and the San Juan Islands. Her writing is deeply informed by her experiences as a mother, caretaker, and from a changing sense of “place.” She mostly writes poetry, autobiographical fiction, and memoir. She is also an arts educator and yoga teacher. She has taken several classes at The Cabin and was published in WITA’s Song.