Mind Trips Unlimited

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   Kimberly Gemme is an aspiring author and a sophomore undergraduate at Brown University, concentrating in Literary Arts. At Brown, she sings in a cappella and choral ensembles, and as a soloist in opera productions. She loves travel and learning languages; right now, she is focusing on German and Mandarin Chinese, and is always eager for more exposure to world cultures. Kimberly currently lives in Pinehurst, NC and spends her free time at home on the golf course.

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   "The Boy Who Walked on Water," which will appear in the 2006 Contest Scribes Valley Short Fiction Anthology, marks the third publication for Dan Sullivan. His story "Worthy of Wages" was his first story to be published, appearing as the third place winner in the World Wide Writers' July 2000 contest. (That British publication has since been subsumed under Writers' Forum.) His story "Free Money" appeared in the New Millennium Writings' July 2004 issue. Dan hopes to have one or two more stories published before he seeks an agent who would be willing to market a collection of stories he has been working on for the last eight years or so. Dan is the proud husband of Supawadee, the proud father of Laura and Mark, a pushover for his granddaughters--Kyleigh and Erica, and the fond stepfather of Ploy. He feels privileged to be teaching the terrific students in the Honors British Literature class and the Junior Nonfiction classes at St. Mary's Ryken High School in Leonardtown, Maryland.

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   Gillian Hamer wasn’t born in Australia, but got there as soon as she could, emigrating with her family at the tender age of two. She grew up in Brisbane, Queensland and moved recently to Sydney to work in the film industry. She is also about to commence a Master of Arts in Creative Writing.
   As a child Gillian wrote non-stop but this ceased while she was caught in the tangled academic web of high school and university. Gillian has been writing short stories for a year now and hopes to begin a novel in 2007. Her hobbies include reading incessantly, writing, cinema, festivals (film and music), pranks in the workplace, people watching and the beach.
   Gillian’s other short stories include Dodgy Kebab, Superheroes of Lunacy, Gecko, Stutter Bug, Brisbane Bogan, and Van Sadness. Her contact email is gill_22_1999@yahoo.co.uk. 

   Words run through my veins like paint onto an artist canvas. My mother is convinced I inherited the love for words from her first cousin Robert E. Lee the playwright. He was famous for such works as “Inherit the Wind,” “Auntie Mame” and many other screenplays that he had co-created with his partner Jerome Lawrence. I am a 43 year old “domestic engineer”--at least that title is allotted to me when we fill out our taxes each year. In retrospect, this means a wife and mother of two daughters and five cats. Our eldest daughter, Jessica, is a freshman in college and I homeschool our eight year old, Alixandra. I was born in Ohio, moved to Florida after college where I pursued my career in social work. After eight years in Florida, my husband was transferred to South Carolina where I had an opportunity of being a Social Service Director for a Rehabilitation Center. By my late thirties I felt something was missing, so I tried my hand at painting, using oils as my medium. Though painting was fun, it still didn’t quite hit the mark. When Alix was almost a year old, my husband was transferred to Pennsylvania, and by this time I had spent the majority of my life living in the South. People in Pennsylvania were different and didn’t appreciate my expansive personality. At this time, my husband, Richard, and I decided that I should stay home with the girls to help adjust to the move and such. After knitting about a thousand wash cloths, baking several dozen loafs of bread, trying my hand at the culinary arts, painting and reading books, I started writing. I had written an article about one of our cats and Cat Fancy published that work in 2005. I have even been published on About.com with a couple articles about the history of the area we live in. I began writing all of the time, creating characters that were alive and real to me. Scribes Valley Publishing was the first contest I have ever entered. Last year my stories didn’t make the cut; however, the constructive criticism that the Editor at Scribes Valley Publishing gave me was priceless. I value their U-Write It Challenge each week; this tool has helped me mature into a better writer. I have been seriously writing for seven years. This is my own philosophy: everyone has a thought, everyone has a feeling, everyone has a voice, everyone has something to say and to me writing is the gift.

   My name is Bobby Ozuna and I was born and raised in the North side of Ft. Worth, Texas. I am the fourth child in a family of five and I am the father of four beautiful children--Elizabeth, Lazaro, Dominic and Damian Ozuna. I am a former US Marine who was fortunate enough to spend some time abroad, meeting new people, experiencing different cultures and backgrounds, and it was during this time away from home I realized I had a sincere desire and inner passion for something greater than myself--writing. A few years after leaving the Marine Corps I decided to tap into this gift and I began working to study the craft, harnessing my own voice and style until I was bold enough to proclaim to the world, that I was indeed a writer!
   After several years and several short-stories, I received honors and recognition in various contests for my descriptive form and my committment and ability to capture true human form on paper. I am very excited and honored to share my first published work, "Corrido" as part of the Scribes Valley Publishing short-story anthology--Mind Trips Unlimited.
   In July 2007 I will release my first novel, Proud Souls. It has been a long and trying journey, taking the concept of an unfinished short-story I wrote in the Summer of 2003, to a partially completed novel in the Fall of 2005 and then to a finished, workable manuscript last year. I am in the re-write stages of my second novel, The Righteous and somehow I have managed to produce four new chapters to a story I will call, "The Other Side of Glory", my tribute to the men I served with in the US Marines.

   Tova graduated from San Francisco State with a degree in broadcasting but originally had aspirations of joining the circus as a lion tamer, a profession she would be perfectly suited for having worked at a law firm for the better part of five years. Sadly, though, she was afflicted with "freakyclownphobia" - the fear of freaky clowns and their phobias -and her dreams of circushood were permanently dashed. She settled for working at a visual effects studio in Los Angeles, spending her freetime reading, writing, looking through thrift stores for treasures and just general procrastination. She loves nature, despite being convinced that it is out to get her, and daydreams of opening up her own hotdog stand. Feel free to drop her a note at tovajarvis@prodigy.net.

   Kathryn Mattingly lives in El Dorado Hills, CA. She has a fine arts degree from the University of Oregon, and an MAT from Pacific U. Kathryn developed and teaches an after school art enrichment program called Angelo Art. She is also a private tutor for kindergarten through third grade students struggling with reading skills, and for fourth through eighth grade students gifted in creative writing. A six time Maui Writers attendee, she has worked under various accomplished authors including: Terry Brooks, Elizabeth George, Dorothy Allison, John Saul, and Gail Tsukiyama. Her goal is to be a published novelist, and therefore Kathryn is happy to have a NY agent at JCA Literary Agency representing her last manuscript, currently being considered for publication. To date, Kathryn has twelve anthology and magazine publications, and has won recognition for several of her short pieces of fiction. Two of her stories are in current anthologies which can be found at these sites: Womanscapes and Award Winning Stories

   Rebecca Barton is currently a freshman at Houston Baptist University pursuing a degree in Business. She was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school which gave her unique opportunities to explore her own personal talents and areas of interest. Rebecca's family spent part of her childhood living in Wales and England, and from there she had the chance to travel across much of Europe. She enjoys discovering interesting movies and rereading favorite books. She also appreciates music of many different genres, playing both the piano and the cello and participating in her college choir. Rebecca dabbles in creative photography, and she loves the rain.

   Born in Clitheroe, England and educated at Rossall School, the author graduated from Leeds University with an honors degree in Textile Engineering. He is the fourth generation of his family to work in the textile industry.
   After service in the British Army, he worked in the synthetic fiber industry in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. In 1973 he and his family emigrated to Waycross, Georgia where as Vice President/Company Director, he was primarily responsible for the design and development of heavy industrial fabrics for use in the manufacture of paper.
   A member of Southeastern Writers Association and Coastal Writers Group he has published four histroical novels, 'Once in Old Frederica Town' (1993), 'Clogs' (1999), Confederate Gold' (2002) and 'The Mill', a sequel to 'Clogs' (2005). All four novels continue to be available on Amazon.com. He is also the author of several short stories published in 'Cricket', 'Animal Tales' and 'Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul' as well as non-fiction articles in 'Crafts 'n Things' and a number of trade magazines.
   His short story 'Romeo and Sierra's Last Mission' was also a winner in the 2005 Scribes Valley contest and published in 'They Do Exist'.
   Currently he is working on his fifth novel while, at the same time, writing a monthly theater column 'Footlights' for the Waycross Journal Herald.
   When not writing, he divides his time between working on his Bonsai collection and the Waycross Area Community Theatre where, over a number of years, he has undertaken every aspect of local theater from acting and directing to sweeping out the house.  

   Vanessa Orlando is a two-time recipient of the Maryland Writers Association Short Fiction Prize and a Georgia Associated Press Feature writing award.
   Her short story - "When Sara Looks Up" - was made into a short film by Columbia College Chicago in 2004. Her latest piece, "Railroading the Devil," appears in "Enhanced Gravity: More Fiction by Washington Area Women," published in June 2006 by Paycock Press (and available through amazon.com and D.C. area bookstores). She was also one of five writers selected for the Manitoba Writer's Guild's Emerging Writers Program in 2000. Vanessa has two dogs and two cats -- all rescues -- and is an active volunteer with "Rescue Me," a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving Yorkshire Terriers and Yorkie mixes.