Chansky, Robert

Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Email (Public)
Occupation(s)
Software engineer - Navy modeling and simulation
Biography

Robert has lived in Colorado Springs for ten years.

Local Authors Genres
Published Works
Hundred Ghost Soup (vol.1, Bureau for Eternal Affairs Trilogy)(Curiosity Quills…
Published Works Book Jackets
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Organizations
Cervantes Society
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Chinese culture - Cervantes & Don Quixote - Computer Simulation

Mathis, Susan G.

Mathis, Susan G.
Author's Website
Biography

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than twenty-five times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has nine in her fiction line including, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, Christmas Charity, Katelyn’s Choice, Devyn’s Dilemma, Sara’s Surprise, Reagan’s Reward, Colleen’s Confession, Peyton’s Promise, and Rachel’s Reunion. Mary’s Moment comes out May 12, 2023, and book eleven, A Summer at Thousand Island House, comes out in July. She is also a published author of two premarital books, two children's picture books, seven stories in compilation books, and hundreds of published articles. Her book awards include two Illumination Book Awards, three American Fiction Awards, two Indie Excellence Book Awards, and two Literary Titan Book Awards. Reagan’s Reward is a Selah Awards finalist.

Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, two children’s picture books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan makes her home in Colorado Springs and enjoys traveling around the world but returns each summer to enjoy the Thousand Islands.

Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction for more.

Awards/Honors
Finalist in the Indie Excellence Award
Published Works
Katelyn's Choice (book one of the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series)(Heritage …
Christmas Charity (novella)(2018)
The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy (CreateSpace, 2017)
Princess Madison's Rainbow Adventure (CreateSpace, 2016)
Lexie's Adventure in Kenya: Love is Patient (2016)
Organizations
Vice-president, Christian Authors Network (CAN) - Member, American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) - Member, Association of Women Speakers & Authors (AWSA) - Member, Evangelical Press Association (EPA)
Speaker Availability
Yes

DeHerrera, Holly

DeHerrera, Holly
Birth City
Mountainhome
Birth State
ID
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Writer - Author - Teacher
Biography

Holly is a military-brat-who-never-lived-anyplace-for-very-long turned local after marrying her born-and-raised-in-Colorado-Springs husband. Together they are raising, home schooling and trying to keep alive five kids. Culture shock was Holly’s childhood, moving from Taiwan to Norway to England to Turkey to Germany and back to Turkey again, establishing in her a love for travel and for different people and for outdoor cafes and castles sitting in the middle of the sea. Holly is a writer, her stories sprouting directly out of her life experiences, giving voice to a young Old Order Mennonite girl solving mysteries in the middle of Indiana farmland and a young woman returning to Turkey to find closure from her past. Holly currently writes life stories for Good Catch Publishing and has one novel out, The Orphan Maker's Sin, with several books coming out this year through Blackside Publishing.

Awards/Honors
2018 - Author of the Year, Good Catch Publishing
Education/Training
Bachelor of Arts degree, English Education
Local Authors Genres
Published Works
Various articles appearing in "Havoc Journal"
The Miracle of the Breaking (ghost writer)
Organizations
Pikes Peak Writers
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Creative writing topics (description, setting, turning points, characterization, voice), multi-genre, especially for tweens/teens - Creating stories from real life, drawing inspiration from your ordinary

Hickey, Barry James

Birth City
Chicago
Birth State
IL
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Novelist
Biography

My family moved here from Chicago in 1976. I write novels about ordinary people experiencing life-changing events. I write in all genres of fiction, often influenced by my own extraordinary adventures and infinite imagination. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago in a large, struggling family, working full-time while attending four colleges. I studied Cultural Anthropology, English, Journalism and Theater, eventually earning a B.A. degree in Diversified Studies from the University of Colorado - UCCS in 1982. I later enjoyed a modestly successful career in Hollywood as an actor, writer, and producer in independent films interspersed with stints working for motion picture studio executives. My close friends call me "Hollywood." A cancer survivor, I also write screenplays and original music.

Education/Training
Bachelor of Arts, English, Communications, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Published Works Book Jackets
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Book cover for Chasing God's River by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for Finding Paul Bunyan by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for The Five Pearls by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for The Glass Fence by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for The Mermaid Latitudes by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for The Pendragon Prophecy by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for Waking Purgatory by Barry James Hickey
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Book cover for The Water Lawyer by Barry James Hickey
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
How to develop a story, write it, and publish it.

Walton, Vikki

Birth City
Colorado Springs
Birth State
CO
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Author's Website
Occupation(s)
Author - Designer - Nonprofit Consultant - Speaker/Trainer - #workquilter
Biography

I have lived in Colorado Springs for the last seventeen years. I was born in Chicago, later moved to France (father in the military), returned and moved to Kansas before spending most of my time in Texas (San Antonio area). I have held myriad positions in my life. I like to undertake more than one thing at a time, thus I refer to myself as a #workquilter combining various avenues of income. These include: -Author of nonfiction and fiction. -Certified permaculture designer and previously worked as a registered interior designer. -Suburban Homesteader (have gardens, chickens, bees). -Speaker/trainer on myriad topics. -Global house- and pet-sitter. -Nonprofit consultant, certified grants specialist (proposal writer, donor communications, fundraising strategy)

Awards/Honors
Honor of Community Trustee (Leadership Pikes Peak)
Education/Training
Bachelor of Science, Organizational Management in Christian Leadership, GCU (magna cum laude) - Associate's degree, Registered Interior Designer, St. Philips College in San Antonio, TX - Certified Grants Specialist - Certified Grants Reviewer
Organizations
Colorado Springs CDBG Board Member
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Writing - Creative writing - Self-publishing - Backyard farming (permaculture principles, food forest, perennial gardening, lasagna gardening) - Travel - House/pet sitting - Getting what you really want in life - Work quilting - Nonprofit topics (e.g. Fundraising 101) - Entrepreneurship - Design (Interior Design, Landscape design using permaculture zones)

Richberger, Amber

Richberger, Amber
Birth City
Glendora
Birth State
CA
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Author's Website
Occupation(s)
Writer - Editor - Student
Biography

I am a poet, novelist, and editor living in Colorado Springs. I will graduate from UCCS with my Bachelor's in English in December 2018. In my free time, I enjoy writing, reading, critiquing films and television shows, and going to the occasional concert. I live with my husband and two sons.

Education/Training
I am currently attending UCCS to fulfill a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature.
Local Authors Genres
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
I am willing to read/speak about my own writing, as well as discuss literature and the craft of writing.

Clark, Becky

Clark, Becky
Birth City
Colorado Springs
Birth State
CO
Current Location
Parker, CO
Email (Public)
Author's Website
Occupation(s)
Author
Biography

Becky Clark is the seventh of eight kids, all born and raised in Colorado Springs, which explains both her insatiable need for attention and her atrocious table manners. She likes to read funny books so it felt natural to write them too. She surrounds herself with quirky people and pets who end up as characters in her books. Readers say her books are “fast and thoroughly entertaining” with “witty humor and tight writing” and “humor laced with engaging characters” so you should “grab a cocktail and enjoy the ride.” They also say “Warning: You will laugh out loud. I’m not kidding,” and “If you like Janet Evanovich, you will like Becky Clark.”

Local Authors Genres
Organizations
Member of Colorado Authors League - Sisters in Crime - Mystery Writers of America
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
General writing and publishing - Mysteries - Cozy mysteries - How to write humor - "30 Minute Mystery" - "Eight Weeks to a Complete Novel"

Orton, D.L.

Orton, D.L.
Current Location
Front Range of the Rockies
Author's Website
Occupation(s)
Time Machine Mechanic
Biography

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR D. L. ORTON lives in the Rocky Mountains where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops. In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.

Awards/Honors
Publishers Weekly "Booklife Prize in Fiction" Quarter-Finalist (CIT 2016 and DT 2017)
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, E-book Fiction Finalist (CIT 2017)
Colorado Book Award Finalist, Science Fiction (2017)
Book Excellence Awards Winner, Science Fiction (2016)
Readers' Favorite Book Award Winner, Audiobook (2016)
SWIRL Awards Finalist, Science Fiction (2016)
Indie Excellence Book Award Winner, Cross-Genre Fiction (2016)
USA Best Book Award Finalist, Cross-Genre Fiction (2016)
International Book Award Finalist, Cross-Genre Fiction (2016)
Colorado Gold Finalist, Science Fiction (2015)
Novel Beginnings Award Winner, Science Fiction (2015)
Education/Training
Ms. Orton is a graduate of Stanford University's Writers Workshop and a past editor of <em>Top of the Western Staircase</em>, a literary publication of CU, Boulder. The author has a number of short stories published in online literary magazines, including Literotica, Melusine, Cosmoetica, The Ranfurly Review, and Catalyst Press.
Organizations
Independent Book Publishers Association
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Writing a book series - Indie publishing - How to find an editor, publisher, and audience

Cook, Doug

Cook, Doug
Birth City
Dayton
Birth State
OH
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Email (Public)
Author's Website
Occupation(s)
Author - Chair AAPG Astrogeology Committee - Sr. Geophysical Consultant (ret.)
Biography

Doug Cook has spent over two thousand hours underwater exploring and photographing life in the oceans. He is retired from a thirty-four year career as a petroleum geophysicist. This career allowed him to explore five of the world’s continents and live in Saudi Arabia for eighteen years. A career highlight in petroleum exploration was participating in ten years of deep-water submersible oil seep studies in the Gulf of Mexico. These seeps have associated chemosynthetic communities of life. As extremophiles, these organisms relate to Doug’s interest in astrogeology and exobiology. Doug has always had a passion for astronomy and space exploration. He now pursues this passion as an author. The beauty of the mountains and geology lured Doug to retire in Colorado. He has two daughters and lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Elizabeth.

Education/Training
BS Oceanography, University of Michigan, 1976 - MS in Carbonate Sedimentology, University of Florida, 1984 - Exploration Geophysics (Conoco, BHP Americas, Saudi Aramco)
Published Works
D. Cook et al., 2018, "The Douglas Crater Field, Wyoming, USA: Discovery of an …
D. Cook et al., 2018, "Exhumed Paleozoic Impact Crater Strewn Field near Dougla…
D. Cook, 2018, "Near Earth Objects (NEOs): Population Distributions, Origins, a…
D. Cook et al., 2017, "AAPG Total Solar Eclipse Field Guide."
D. Cook, 2017, "Asteroid Mining: The State of the Industry and our Future in Sp…
D. Cook, 2016, "A Bold Proposal for a Crewed Deep Space Mission to Rendezvous w…
D. Cook et al., 2016, "Chronostratigraphic Framework and Gross Depositional Env…
D. Cook et al., 2016, "Exploration and Commercialization of Tight Gas Reservoir…
Published Works Book Jackets
Organizations
Member, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) - Chair AAPG Astrogeology Committee, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) - Member-at-Large Colorado Springs Astronomical Society - Member of the Planetary Society, National Space Society, and Adjunct Astronomy Professor PPCC.
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
1) The Aquila Mission- It’s 2023. Our crew enters deep space to study asteroid Bennu and comet 125P- a step to mankind’s first voyage to Mars. A rigorously scientific yet thrilling story of man’s first journey beyond the Moon. (2018 print and eBook) - 2) Earth Impacts and the Threat from Near Earth Asteroids - 3) Research Submersible Exploration on Chemosynthetic Communities that Eat Oil and Gas, 2600 feet Down in the Gulf of Mexico - 4) Discovering Ancient Ship Wrecks in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

Bissett, Carina

Author Carina Bissett
Birth City
Lincoln
Birth State
NE
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Author's Website
Occupation(s)
Educator and author
Biography

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous TalesArterial BloomGorgon: Stories of EmergenceWeird Dream SocietyHath No Fury, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, VI, and VIII. She has also written stories set in shared worlds for RPGs at Green Ronin Publishing and Onyx Path Publishing. In addition to writing, she has edited several projects; the most recent is in the role as co-editor for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas.

As an educator, Carina has taught at Pikes Peak Community College, Glendale Community College, and Arizona State University. She also participated in the Colorado Writing Project and works with educators to develop writing instruction in college and secondary school classrooms. She currently offers workshops focused on story generation at The Storied Imaginarium. Her fiction has been nominated for the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and was a finalist for the Ron L. Hubbard Writers of the Future Awards. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award. In her editorial capacity, she’s received recognition as the Winner at the Colorado Book Awards 2022 (Anthology) and as a Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2022 International Book Award.

Awards/Honors
Finalist, 2019 Writers of the Future (1st quarter)
For “An Authentic Experience”: Finalist, ANTHOLOGY, 2020 Colorado Book Awards
For “C8 : A Tessellation of Faces, Wings, and other Obscure Things ”: Nominated for 2018 Best of the Net Award
For “Fairy Tale Prohibition”: Nominated for 2021 Best of the Net Award
For “Gaze with Undimmed Eyes and the World Drops Dead”: Winner, Fiction: ANTHOLOGY, The 2020 Best Book Awards
For “Radiant”: Nominated for 2021 Best of the Net Award
For “Rotten”: Finalist, Superior Achievement in an Anthology, 2020 Stoker Awards
For Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas: Winner, ANTHOLOGY, 2021 Colorado Book Awards
For Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas: Finalist, ANTHOLOGY, 2021 International Book Awards
Honorable Mention, 2017 Writers of the Future (2nd quarter)
Honorable Mention, 2017 Writers of the Future (4th quarter)
Honorable Mention, 2020 NESFA Short Story Contest
Horror Writers Association, 2016 HWA Scholarship
2021 Silver Hammer Award
Silver Honorable Mention, 2018 Writers of the Future (4th quarter)
“The Sweet Sleep of Roses or, After the Fall”: Nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize
For “Swimming with the Shark Boys”: Honorable mention in 2016 Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 9
For “Wild Girl”: Nominated for 2014 Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and the Pushcart Prize
For “The Yellow Press of an Ancient Power”: Nominated for 2015 Sundress Best of the Net
Education/Training
MFA in Creative Writing (University of Maine, 2018) - M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, 2011) - B.A. in Integrative Studies (Arizona State University, 1999) - A.A. in Humanities (Glendale Community College, 1998) - A.G.S. in General Studies (Glendale Community College, 1997)
Published Works
Organizations
Horror Writers Association - Science Fiction Poetry Association - Colorado Poets Center - Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
* Speculative fiction
* Creative non-fiction
* Speculative poetry
* Memoir
* Other creative pursuits
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