Richard Weaver lives in Baltimore Maryland where he volunteers with the Maryland Book Bank. One day to hopes to make the last payment on his student loans. During the winter months he acts as an unofficial snowflake counter for the weather bureau. His book, The Stars Undone, was taken from a larger collection about the Mississippi artist, Walter Anderson. Four poems became the libretto for a symphony, Of Sea and Stars, composed by Eric Ewazen of Juilliard. The symphony has been performed four times to date. His interest in the art of Franz Marc dates back more than a decade. The poem in Twisted Vine is from a MS based in part on the art, writing, correspondence, and life of the German Expressionist painter Franz Marc (1880-1916). They focus on his life and art between the years 1912 and 1916. Marc and Kandinsky founded the Blue Rider movement. 2016 publications or acceptances include Aberration Labyrinth, Allegro, Clade Song, Conjunctions, Crack the spine, Dead Mule, Five 2 One, Gingerbread House, Gloom Cupboard, Gnarled Oak, Kestrel, Little Patuxent Review, Louisville Review, Magnolia Review, OffCourse, Quiddity, Red Eft Review, Southern Quarterly, Steel Toe Review, Stonecoast Review, The Literateur, & Triggerfish.
Fiction Paul Y.J Kim is a Korean American writer from New York. His writing concentrates on Fantasy and Science Fiction, but also Fiction that is whimsical and at times realistic enough. He hopes to continue to publish his work and help readers escape into his writing. Mary Carroll Leoson teaches English and psychology courses at numerous colleges in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds an M.A. in English and Writing from Western New Mexico University, an M.S. in Psychology from Walden University, and a B.S. in Criminology from Indiana State University. In her spare time, she weaves words and hopes to heal the world one story at a time. She lives with her husband, daughter, and three rescued dogs. Tim Haywood is a Seattle-area graphic designer and author of two middle grade novels. His recent work of crime noir fiction, 'Incident at Vinny's Cabin,' was featured in the July edition of 'Heater ' magazine. In addition, since 2009 Tim has written a blog entitled, 'Reflections of a Shallow Pond,' offering his musings on parenthood, middle-age and his perspective as a tail-end Baby Boomer. He has performed several commentaries as well, for Seattle public radio stations KNKX and KUOW, and written guest essays for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Jad Josey has been writing short fiction for over twenty years. His fiction has appeared in Crack the Spine and The Golden Triangle, and his non-fiction has appeared in Overland Journal, AllLife.com, Common Ground, and Whole Life Magazine. Jad resides on the beautiful central coast of California with his wife, three children, and their very large cat. He is the general manager of a robust VW camper business, which means most of his creative writing happens in the late hours of the night. Jad received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. 136