Short Stories

William Edwin Baxter was born on October 11, 1954 in Fullerton, California. He was born with developmental disabilities, but has strive not to let his disabilities defeat him in life, but to go above and beyond them by accomplishing great things and inspiring others to do the same. This became his legacy. He lived most of his life in Orange County, California; but currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

On July 9, 2016, William suffered a massive pulmonary embolism which almost ended his life, but he survived. Had he died in the E.R. at Memorial Hospital, his legacy would have died with him. Realizing this, he began to write his first book, entitled W.E.B. Tales (W.E.B. is his initial name for William Edwin Baxter). The book was published as an e-book in May 2018, and as a paperback in July 2018.

Other books have been published since W.E.B. Tales which can be found on my author page on amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/William-Edwin-Baxter/e/B07GC44FVR

Brook Bhagat was born here in Colorado Springs. She went to high school in Woodland Park. After graduating from Vassar College in New York, she came back to work as a photojournalist for the Ute Pass Courier. She then went to India, where she met her husband, Gaurav. They began writing freelance articles together which were published in dozens of journals and magazines, including Ecoworld and Little India. Four years later, they returned to Colorado Springs, where they both currently work at Pikes Peak Community College--he teaches math and she teaches English, Poetry and Creative Writing. In 2013, they created Blue Planet Journal, which Brook edits and writes humor and nonfiction for. In 2016, Brook got her MFA from Lindenwood University in Creative Writing.

Her poetry and fiction have since appeared in Monkeybicycle, Empty Mirror Magazine, Harbinger Asylum, Lotus Eater Magazine, Rat's Ass Review, A Story in 100 Words, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, the local literary magazine Almagre Review, and many other journals and anthologies. She has hosted and read her work at PPCC and local readings as well.

Her first poetry collection, Only Flying, is due out Nov. 16, 2021 from Unsolicited Press; other current projects include a literary fantasy novel, a second poetry collection, and an early readers chapter book about two young children in rural India. See more at www.brook-bhagat.com or reach her on Twitter at @BrookBhagat.

Liz has followed her heart through a wide variety of careers, including farming with a team of draft horses and working as a field paramedic, Outward Bound instructor, athletic trainer, and roller-skating waitress, among other curious choices. She also knows more about concrete than you might suspect.

Her novels written under the name L. D. Colter explore contemporary and dark fantasy, and ones written as L. Deni Colter venture into epic fantasy realms. Following a long interlude in Southern and Northern California, she returned some years ago to her home state of Colorado, where she spends her time with her husband, dogs, horses, and writing (according to her husband, not always in that order of priority).

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.

Carina Bissett spent her youth in Colorado Springs, and eventually returned after a decade-long stint writing about the Southwest. Carina is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and interstitial art. Her short fiction and poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Hath No Fury, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Mythic Delirium, NonBinary Review, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V.

She teaches online workshops at The Storied Imaginarium and she is a graduate of the Creative Writing MFA program at Stonecoast. She also teaches at Pikes Peak Community College. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Her work has been nominated for several awards and she was the recipient of the 2016 HWA Scholarship.

Link to her work can be found on her website (http://carinabissett.com).

I was still living as a man when I moved to in the year 2000. Having been outed as transgender, and fired at the Prep-School where I had been working, I was recruited at the National Librarians' Conference to be the Coordinator of Information and Technology at Mitchell High School, where I was again outed and fired.

In 2007, after being outed and fired at CollegeAmerica, I transitioned to living full time as a woman. My storytelling-performances in The Story Project in Colorado Springs and for The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers are viewable on YouTube. I also sing karaoke and do an occasional standup open-mike.

Born in Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, I have been a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado since November 2011. I have written over 100 original stories (short stories, poems, indie screenplays, stage plays) and audio (radio) plays & skits (audio short stories) of several genres: Twilight Zone-type stories, science fiction, horror, comedy, satire, and drama.

I am currently working on a sci-fi novel that is a cross between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. A former homeless veteran (U.S. Army), I am now student at Pikes Peak Community College.

Mike Torreano has lived in Colorado Springs since 1977. A retired Colonel, USAF,
he is also a retired financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual of 35 years.

Steven LeRoy Nelson is an award-winning humorist whose short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Leviathan, Fire And Ice, and other publications. He has published six novels in the Axel Hatchett series set in the Colorado Springs area.

A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in anthologies and magazines, including Once Upon a Scream, Dark Moon Digest, and The Literary Hatchet. When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster. Find her at www.thewarriormuse.com.