Martha Silano stepped slowly across the country, from New Jersey, to Grinnell College in Iowa, to Eugene, Oregon, and finally landing in Seattle to earn her Masters of Fine Arts, marry, raise her children and publish five books of poetry including her latest, including Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019). Her book, The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception, won the 2010 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize and was a Washington State Book Award finalist. She co-authored, with Kelli Russell Agodon, of The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice. Martha teaches at Bellevue College.

Excerpt: It is an interesting paradox that the more specific you are with a character’s dilemmas, the more universal that character is. A woman speaking about the difficulties of being a woman in a certain era only comes off as dogmatic, boring and unrelatable. A woman actually dealing in intimate detail with the difficulties of starting her own business in a certain era is something women of every time can relate to.

Published April, 2020 in writersconnection.org

Born in India and raised in North America, A.J. received degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Her first psychological suspense novel is The Good Neighbor: a #1 Kindle bestseller in the US, UK, and Australia; one of Harper’s Bazaar UK list of five “must read” books for autumn; and an Amazon “2015 Top Seller.” The Good Neighbor has over 4,100 Amazon reviews and sales topped 100,000 in the first month. A. J. Banner has lived in Kitsap County eighteen years with her husband and rescued cats. December, 2015

“I've been creating stories my whole life. But it wasn't until the ripe old
age of 40 dawned and I began to feel my mortality. That's when I said, Hey,
I'd better start that novel, or this is never going to happen.” July, 2015

David Guterson is best known for his smash hit, Snow Falling on Cedars, which won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, one of the highest honors in American letters, and was made into a successful Hollywood film. But this man has done so much more. He has written poetry, short stories, essays, and journalistic pieces, as well as several other well-received novels and a non-fiction book about homeschooling. He is active in the community and, in 2001, co-founded Field's End, a writing resource on Bainbridge Island. Welcome, David. March, 2015

When Marissa Meyer was interviewed at the Bologna Children's Book Fair (Bologna, Italy) in 2012, she called herself a "fairy tale geek.” Meyer’s own story is reminiscent of a fairy tale. Her debut novel, Cinder, garnered a five book deal with Macmillan Books and the sale of movie rights. Not bad for the thirty-year old, “Tacoma Author of the Year.” Sept. 2014

Nicole Hardy’s essay, "Single, Female, Mormon, Alone," was featured in the New York Times Modern Love column. It touched a nerve with thousands of people, was chosen as "notable" in 2012's Best American Essays, and earned her a book contract with a six-figure advance. When her book, Confessions of a Latter Day Virgin, came out last fall, I fell in love with her intimate yet wry voice which so adeptly conveyed her yearning to find her place in the world and reconcile her faith through a labyrinth of conflicting expectations. Her candid humor transcended the particulars of religion and sex into a story of identity and humanity. May, 2014.

Bob Welch is an American author of more than two dozen books, an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon, award winning journalist. He has been honored multiple times by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists,[1] and won The Seattle Times C.B. Blethen Award for Distinguished Feature Writing and was awarded the National Society of Newspaper Columnists “Best Writing” award two times. Track & Field Writers of America’ named his recent book, The Wizard of Foz: Dick Fosbury’s One-Man High-Jump Revolution, the 2019 “Book of the Year.
Bob's latest book is "Letters from Dachau: A Father's Witness of War, a Daughter's Dream of Peace", that he wrote along with Clarice Wilsey, whose father was a doctor with the US Army division that liberated Dachau. The story recounts her father's heroics in World War II and her family's struggle living with the changed man who returned home. http://bobwelch.net/ June, 2020.

Peter Mountford is the author of the novels A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (2012 Washington State Book Award in fiction), and The Dismal Science (a NYT editor's choice). His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Southern Review, The Atlantic, The Sun, Granta, and The Missouri Review. He is currently on faculty at Sierra Nevada College's MFA program, teaches at Seattle's Hugo House, and is a writing coach and developmental editor with clients around the world.

Sharyn Skeeter is a writer, poet, editor, and educator. She was an editorial assistant in Mademoiselle’s fiction and poetry department, then worked as fiction/poetry/book review editor at Essence, and as editor in chief at Black Elegance. As an assistant professor at Emerson College and the University of Bridgeport, she taught journalism, literature, Black American theater, and writing. She lives in Seattle where she's a member of the board of trustees of ACT Theatre. Her debut novel Dancing with Langston is described as “a powerful novel about the rewards and realities of following one’s dreams,” and is the gold winner in the 2019 Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Book of the Year Awards in Multicultural Fiction.

Born in New Jersey, the youngest of six, Ilene became something of a free spirit when her mother was seriously ill. In spite of this, an innate sense of optimism and determination fueled her life. During the sixties, she, along with an entire community of fellow LSD trippers, innocently thought they could change the world into one that valued love over materialism through psychedelics. Now, years later, Ilene is a licensed psychotherapist. Her life experience informs her work as a healer and a teacher. She shares her journey with us in this “can’t put it down” memoir. Ilene can be contacted at ilene@hippiechckmemoir.com (Oct. 2019)

Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of seven books. His first book, the Cyanide Canary, a non-fiction expose published in 2004 became a Washington Post Best Book of the year. His debut novel, The Jury Master, followed and became a New York Times bestseller. He's had impressive hits ever since. Hailed as the "king of the legal thriller," Dugoni's also an inspiring speaker and teacher, a community leader, an attorney, a caring father, and a genuinely nice human being. (March, 2013)

The graphic novelist Abrian Curington herself as “an illustrator specializing in light-hearted fantasy stories that champion fun, adventure, and conquering the obstacles of life.” She has published a short young adult, graphic novel, Bellmage, and as well as a longer one, Woolmancy, a tale to two best friends and the dynamics of trust in which she wanted “to show a capable main character, who chooses to rely on others. To show friendship, without turning to romance. To champion the weaving community and reference magic as part of the excitement of being alive…” What’s not to love?

Elizabeth George was born in Ohio, attended college in California, and earned her master's degree in Counseling/Psychology. She received an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Initially, Elizabeth taught high school in southern California. She left education after thirteen and a half years when she sold her first novel, A Great Deliverance. She has won the Anthony Award, the Agatha Award, and France's Le Grand Prix de Literature Policiere, and was nominated for the Edgar and the Macavity Awards. She has also been awarded Germany's MIMI for her novel Well-Schooled in Murder. Most of her novels have been filmed by for television by the BBC and have been broadcast in the US on PBS's. http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/biography.htm

On your Web site (http://eriklarsonbooks.com/) you tell your history (in more colorful language than I’m relating here): grew up on Long Island, graduated summa cum laude from University of Pennsylvania, received your masters from
Columbia School of Journalism, worked for small newspapers leading up to the Wall Street Journal. You turned down an opportunity to become bureau chief and: