Storied Crossings

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   Robert Paul Blumenstein resides in Richmond, Virginia, where he was awarded an MFA in playwriting from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a full-time writer having written not only for stage and film, but also has a published novel, Flirtin' with Jesus, the first book of The Ascension Trilogy. The second book of the trilogy will be released in 2002.

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  A Scotsman, Frank Reynolds taught English and Italian at colleges both here and in Europe. He writes a Scottish History column for a British magazine, and edits a college newspaper. He moved from the San Francisco area to a cabin in the Sierra foothills in 1995, where he tutors English and Italian professionally at the local college, and writes whenever he can.

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   Tessa Jones, originally from Miami, Florida, has been fascinated by the human psyche for as long as she can remember. Along with "Soldiers and Dandelions", Tessa has also completed a novel entitled "Fragments", a psychological thriller about a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder). She is hard at work on her second novel, "Redemption", about a female serial killer. Tessa has previously sold one short story, The Weaver to an online publication.

   Bettye is a native Kentuckian, is married, a mother of three, and a grandmother of seven. She and her husband, both recently retired, stay busy with gardening, church, community activities, and (most important to Bettye) she now has time to write! Bettye also belongs to state and local writing organizations. She wrote her first story at age eleven and has since written books for children, poetry, songs, and a short novel. Bettye thanks her Hoptown Writers colleagues for keeping her enthused and writing.

   Paul Perry has been writing short fiction for thirty years with more than 150 stories published, most of them in literary magazines. He had a collection of 24 short stories entitled Street People published in October, 2000, by Pocol Press of Cliftron, VA. Paul, in his late teens, spent most of two years living on the streets and he mostly writes about homeless people, hitchhikers, prostitutes, outsiders, people Paul refers to as "Dispossessed People."

   Married for over 30 years to her first love Richard, Elaine enjoys writing about a romantic innocence rarely found in today's fast-paced world. Her two grown sons and their wives have unknowingly been the source for many a short story while she is counting on the antics of Jonathan, her first grandchild, to inspire many more. Having lived for the past five years in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, Elaine and her husband enjoy bicycling at the Washington Crossing Historic Park and along the Delaware-Raritan Canal. "Celebration of Love" is her first publication.

   Jennifer is a 1999 graduate of Villanova University with a BA in Human Services and a double minor in Psychology and Sociology. She grew up in Wyckoff, NJ and now resides in Hoboken, where she commutes to her Human Resources position in New York City's World Financial Center. Jennifer discovered an interest in writing while in the third grade when she turned a simple writing task into something much more than was expected. She was warmly applauded for her efforts by the reading teacher, but still had to redo the assignment.

 Vincent Guiliano was born and raised in Fairview, NJ and attended Rutgers University where he graduated in 1975 with a BA in Psychology and a "minor" in creative writing. He now lives with his family in Southern California.

   Liz Morrison is a freelance writer living in San Diego. Her work has been published in Sinister Wisdom, From These Walls and on GenerationJ.com. Liz also writes feature stories and a monthly opinion column for San Diego's Update newspaper.

   Husein Taherbhai was born in Bahrain and lived his childhood years in India. He has traveled to many different parts of the world and is currently working as a Psychometrician with The Psychological Corporation: Harcourt Educational Measurement. Husein received his doctorate from the University of South Florida and has been published in various scientific journals. He has also presented several papers at the National Council of Measurement in Education. In his spare time, Husein relaxes by painting in mix-media, and writing short stories and poems. Currently, he is intermittently writing a screen play which he hopes to complete by the end of 2003.