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MARK SCHEEL is a free-lance writer based in Kansas City and a prose editor for Kansas City Voices magazine. His award-winning writing -- essays, articles, stories and poems -- has appeared in numerous periodicals and on several Web sites, most recently The Kansas City Star, Kansas Quarterly, Kansas City Voices, the I-70 Review, The Midwest Quarterly, the New Poets Series from Quill Books, Swill magazine, TheTycoonReport.com and the Roguescholars.com. He has published three books, the latest of which -- A Backward View: Stories and Poems -- received the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award from the Kansas Authors Club. A detailed biography can be found in the current edition of Who's Who in America. Samples of his work can be viewed at: http://markscheel.gather.com/

ROBYN DAVIS SEKULA is an award-winning freelance writer who lives in New Albany, Indiana. Sekula’s work is regularly published in Louisville Magazine, Business First, Victorian Homes, Kentucky Homes & Gardens, The Lane Report and Smart Business magazine. Sekula also writes advertising, brochure and web site copy, and press releases. She represents the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana and One Southern Indiana as a media consultant. She is also the author of St. Joseph, A Postcard History and New Albany in Vintage Postcards, both produced by Arcadia Publishing. Sekula is the mother of three girls and a native of Lynchburg, Va.

LOUIS SETTE has built a career as a communicator---as a criminal trial lawyer, newspaper reporter, radio announcer and television news "personality.” As a prosecutor and defense attorney, he told juries why they should convict or acquit (and often they believed him).  He wrote general assignment stories for the Newark Star-Ledger, a major daily in New Jersey. He read radio scripts in Greenville, S.C. Later, he spoke to viewers nightly as a featured reporter for NBC-TV at its owned and operated station in Cleveland, Ohio. Now retired, Lou shall continue to communicate as an adjunct professor of law related courses at a small private college in Lynchburg, Va. He is also developing a specialty which he calls "constitutional journalism". He writes popular articles about the constitution and keys court cases for two specialty magazines. He hopes to publish someday "Ten Myths About The Constitution" as a series of articles or book.

TRACY MILLION SIMMONS writes about people, places, and family life in her home state of Kansas. A 1992 graduate of the University of Kansas (B.A. Psychology), Tracy began her professional career by putting her writing skills to work for an international non-profit organization where she helped to procure millions of dollars worth of donations and maintained a donor newsletter. She turned to freelancing upon starting a family and prefers the diversity in opportunity that comes to her. She currently enjoys working with local entrepreneurs on newsletters, marketing materials, and websites promoting their businesses. Tracy has published articles and essays in The Legend of Southwest Kansas, “Dance Teacher,” “Live Free Learn Free,” “County Families,” and in a variety of online and small press publications. She is the editor and publisher of www.KSHomeschool.net, a social network supporting eclectic homeschoolers and unschoolers in Kansas. Tracy is the 2003 recipient of a mini-fellowship in fiction writing from the Kansas Arts Commission. In 2006, she received an honorable mention in the Kansas Voices Contest (in its 17th year).  You can find Tracy online at www.trmscreativeservices.com/tracy/.

DARIEN SIMON has written newsletter articles, keyword-rich website postings, research reports, and scholarly articles published in academic journals.  Her writing draws on her diverse educational background in biology (B.S.), geology, psychology/counseling (M.S.) and conflict resolution, and urban planning (Ph.D.), and includes topics such as consequences of over-fishing; risk; reuse and remediation of contaminated lands; stewardship and sustainability; and sleep, dreaming, and sleep disorders.  She is currently spending some of her spare time on two nonfiction books, one on green design and building, the other on psychosocial issues of child abuse survival.  In addition to writing, Darien is a photographer, researcher, and consultant working under her business name, Polyvalentia.  She currently serves on her local planning board, is a founding member of the Ithaca Ecocities Working Group, and has just been elected to the Board of Directors of the Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes.  In the past, she has worked for several nonprofit organizations, academic research groups, and run her own wholesale bakery.  When not pursuing her latest curiosity, she manages the household belonging to her 15 pound Maine Coon tom cat, Munchkin, devotes as much time as possible to nature photography, and enjoys cooking, reading mysteries and science fiction, movies, music, and growing whatever the local wildlife eschews.  Warning: she is occasionally afflicted with a mild to moderate bout of paronomasia.

BRENDA SISTROM is a multi-tasking part-time medical research assistant, writer and editor, piano-player, and orchid-grower. She lives in Gainesville, FL with the requisite cat and a husband who alternately decries and indulges her eclectic interests. Her writing also ranges broadly -- from web content for medical sites to essays, opinion pieces, and poetry. After earning a BA in English from William & Mary, she found herself unable to escape the very real role that writing plays in her life and decided that, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em…

DAN SMITH has been a journalist since 1964, about 12 years before he was born, working for daily newspapers in Asheville, N.C. (his hometown) and Roanoke, VA. He has also edited weekly newspapers and freelanced for a number of magazines and other publications. He has been editor of the Blue Ridge Business Journal for 13 years and helped found its sister publication, the Roanoke Valley Sports Journal, to which he frequently contributed. He has won a number of awards for sports, feature, news and editorial writing, photography and design. His public radio essays have won significant awards from the Associated Press and the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. He has edited two books: From Here to There: Stories From a Mobile Virginia and Roanoke County and The Roanoke Valley: Turning the Century. He has served on a number of community boards, including a movement to save Roanoke's historic Grandin Theater. Dan attended the University of North Carolina Asheville for about an hour, is married, and has two children, both older than he.

SIDDARTH SRIVASTAVA is a journalist based in Delhi, India with over 10 years in the industry, during which he has covered Indian politics and government (including the foreign ministry) as well as written several lifestyle and feature articles. As a full-time journalist with The Times of India, the largest selling English newspaper in the world, for over seven years, he has produced more than 1,500 exclusive articles. Siddarth is well-connected with the Indian political and government establishment here as well as the celebrity circuit, and his interests range from Bollywood to cricket to the Internet. Currently, he is an independent writer contributing to several national and international publications and producing two regular columns -- "Letter from India,'' and "Eye on India'' that target the Indian American community. You can find his work at www.timesofindia.com or http://byline.rediffblogs.com.

JIM STEINMILLER has spent the past 20 years as a sportswriter and editor for newspapers in South Carolina and Virginia. When his dreams of playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates faded in high school ("I not only couldn't hit a curveball,; I couldn't hit a fastball"), Jim became a student and chronicler of both professional and college sports. He has won a number of awards in writing, editing and page design from the Virginia Press Association and currently lives in Lynchburg, VA.

DEVORAH STONE, a resident of British Columbia, has published articles on bread baking, donuts, buffalo meat, online confession booths, dancing hamsters, penguins, snow flakes, women Rabbis, weight lifting, high school graduation, Pokemons and life on other planets. She is, however, primarily interested in food writing. A former web reviewer for the Encyclopedia Britannica online guide, her articles, fiction and reviews have been widely published in Inscriptions Magazine, Verbatimag, Folksonline, Highlights for Children, Chatelaine, Papyrus magazine, Amateur Chef, Straight Goods and New Canadian, among others. She is the Administrator of the Writers BBS online hosted forums and the host of Seasonal Cooking http://seasonalcooking.suite101.com/.

LINDA VOZAR SWEET has recently co-authored a mystery novel with her husband, Roger Sweet.  Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and she's written for New Mexico Magazine, The Sun, Ceramics Monthly, Fiberarts, and other publications.  Linda is also a potter/sculptor and runs Jemez Mountain Pottery, a studio/gallery in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. "I love the duality
of my work," she says. For several years, she taught Creative Writing at Univ. of New Mexico-Los Alamos.

DEBORAH TELLER, a self-described "stickler for detail," is a freelance editor and writer who lives with her animal menagerie in southern Oregon. A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, she enjoys drawing as well as writing. Since her mystery novel Deathbed Of Roses was published, she has continued to refine several novel manuscripts and to write short stories. Thanks to a tip from TWB, she recently had a short story accepted for an anthology titled Gratitude With Attitude. Her day job as project coordinator for an Oregon company permits her to support herself as well as her private humane society. Please visit her website at www.freewebs.com/oldhatfiction/ and feel free to contact her at debbyfayes@iwon.com.

APRYL CHAPMAN THOMAS is a freelance writer who lives in Watkinsville, Georgia. With over seven years of experience, she specializes in travel, lifestyle, parenting, profiles, and general interest articles. Her articles have appeared in such publication as AAA Going Places, American Profile, Better Nutrition, USA Weekend, Country Discoveries, Packaged Traveler Insider, and others. She pens a bi-weekly travel column, "Have Children, Will Travel" at Mommasaid.net . She also has a travel blog, “Travelin' Diva” at http://travelindiva.blogspot.com. Her clips are available to view at www.actwriter.com.

JESSIE MARTIN THOMPSON recently left journalism after more than 10 years to become an elementary school teacher. Prior to that, she was the editorial page editor for the News & Advance in Lynchburg, VA, and before that the paper's lifestyle editor. A graduate of Hollins College in Roanoke, VA, Jessie is married to Mark Thompson (a freeelance photographer who formerly worked for the News & Advance) and they are the parents of two daughters, Landis and Turner.

STEVEN TICE of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, has been writing and publishing material related to the comics and gaming industries for almost a decade. His work has appeared in the self-published Musings magazine, as well as such publications as Comic Book Profiles and Carpe Noctem. He continues to operate Calliope Comics and to publish new material virtually at Musings Online (http://javapadawan.com/calliope/) He also enjoys creating and writing about music.

Louisiana native JOSEPH TRUSSELL is a husband, father of two girls, financial services professional, Volkswagen mechanic, musician, cook, LSU fanatic, and freelance writer living in Denver, Colorado.  His short stories, poetry, and columns have appeared both online and in print.  Currently he's restoring a 1992 VW GTI, proofreading native Spanish speakers' business plans, and writing a novel about Natchitoches, Lousiana.

NANCYE TUTTLE has worked as a features/arts writer and theater critic at the Lowell Sun, Lowell, Mass., since 1983. Before that, she worked as a writer and editor with Beacon Communications in Acton, Mass. She has freelanced for several publications, including New England Travel, Rowan magazine and The Acton Digest. She is also an adjunct professor in the communications department at Middlesex Community College. Her most recent magazine credit was an article for American City & County Magazine on Lowell's hosting of the world curling championships.

DANNY TYREE is the warehouse manager and newsletter editor for Marshall Farmers Co-op/ACE Hardware in Lewisburg, Tennessee.  In 1982 Danny received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  From 1983-2000 (a period which almost exactly matched his employment by Sanford, maker of Sharpie Markers) he wrote the “Dan T’s Inferno” column for Krause Publications’ Comics Buyer’s Guide magazine.  Since 1998 he has self-syndicated the far-ranging weekly humor column “Tyrades!”  He also began contributing to the “MegaBucks Marketing” newsletter in 2006.   Danny and wife Melissa (a college biology teacher) live in Belfast, Tennessee, and have been married since 1991.  Their son Gideon (born March 6, 2004) often pops up in the column, although he has to compete for space with politics, religion (Danny has been a Sunday school teacher for 25 years), and popular culture.  Many of Danny’s 430-plus “Tyrades!” columns have been archived at http://dannytyree.blogspot.com.

As Accent Editor for the Alliance Review in Alliance, OH, TAMMY WALDEN fills a page each day with feature stories and community and social news. Her responsibilities include scheduling interviews, writing articles, photography, editing submitted materials, page design, and maintaining a positive and high-profile relationship with the readership through attending and reporting on local events and functions.

STEPHEN WEISTLING was born in Los Angeles and has a Bachelor's Degree in Management and Master's Degree in Organization Development from Pepperdine University. He is a contributing editor for the on-line publishing website, Suite 101.com, and specializes in articles relating to self-improvement, health, and performance in shiftwork occupations. With twenty-five years experience in the electric utility industry, Stephen has also written technical articles and instruction manuals in the areas of safety and electric generation. Barnes and Noble published his introduction for Edison, His Life and Inventions, in 2002. His active outdoor life has led to golf stories and articles published in Golf Digest and his former local newspaper, The Inyo Register. Besides writing, he enjoys golf, fishing, hiking, and skiing, and lives with his wife of thirty-three years in Surprise, Arizona. His personal website can be accessed at www.steveweistling.com.

GINGER WHEELER started her writing career in second grade and still has the stories to prove it. But her career really took off at the age of 17 with an article published, appropriately enough, in Seventeen Magazine. In college her work appeared in The Daily Illini and the Illio, both publications of the University of Illinois where Wheeler (ne Hopkins) majored in advertising. She has worked as a journalist for local and nationally known newspapers and magazines, edited corporate and non-profit newsletters, ghostwritten for numerous corporate executives and politicians, and created nationally published advertisements and marketing pieces. She is also working on a children's picture book series with a professional illustrator. Those stories from second grade have not found their audience quite yet.

DAVID WILKENING is a full-time freelancer who writes mainly about travel, although he is also a contributing editor to Florida Real Estate Journal and comfortable with business topics. David has been published regularly in Travel Weekly and Travel Agent, as well as the Orlando Sentinel, the St. Petersburg Times and AAA magazines. A graduate of Western Illinois with a masters in English education from Nova Southeastern, he worked for the Orlando Sentinel and Detroit Free Press during his earlier career as a journalist. He also writes a regular wine column and owns one of the world's smallest dogs (five inches high, two pounds).

WALT WILEY grew up in Northern California and has been writing about its dynamic people and awe-inspiring scenery all his adult life. He was for decades a columnist for the Sacramento Bee. His freelance experience includes international travel, domestic travel, motorcycles, boatbuilding and extensive work in environmental subjects, particularly recycling and solid waste issues. Wiley is in the process establishing his own web site.

CHERYL WRIGHT is an award-winning Australian author, freelance journalist, and editor. In addition to an array of other projects, she is the owner of the www.Writer2Writer.com  and www.RomanceWriter2Writer.com websites, and the Writer to Writer monthly ezine for writers. She is also co-owner of www.AussieAuthors.com  - a website dedicated to the publicity of
Australian and New Zealand writers. She is widely published, including novels, short stories, non-fiction books, poetry, and features. Her work has been published in anthologies and other collections.  Cheryl presents workshops at schools, libraries, and writer's conferences, and also teaches writing online. Her forthcoming releases are Winter Sabbatical (2007) and Saving Emma (2007) from Black Velvet Seductions, and The Write Resources (2008) from Central Avenue Press.
Visit Cheryl's author website for more information. www.cheryl-wright.com or her 'business' website for information about her other services www.write-essentials.com. 

Massachusetts-based JEANNE YOCUM works as a ghostwriter for books, book proposals, articles, newsletters, and web sites. She has over 20 years' experience in planning and implementing public relations programs and has worked with clients in many fields, including commercial and residential real estate, dot-coms, retailing, health care, financial and legal services, manufacturing, IT analysis, management consulting, architecture, and banking. Jeanne co-authored Ban the Humorous Bazooka and Other Roadblocks and Speed Bumps Along the Innovation Highway with Mark Sebell, founder of Creative Realities, a Boston firm specializing in innovation consulting; the book was published in 2001. She also edited Leading at the Speed of Growth: From Entrepreneur to CEO, published in 2001, and ghostwrote Building the Awesome Organization, published in 2002. Jeanne is currently working on two more business books that will both be published in the fall of 2004 -- New Product Launch: 10 Proven Strategies for Success, which she is co-authoring with Joan Schneider, and Strategic Partnerships: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Joint Ventures and Alliances, which she is ghostwriting for Robert L. Wallace. Jeanne has a master’s in Journalism from Boston University and a bachelor’s in Journalism from Penn State.