Category: Author

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Author

Stephen Brayton

What’s your genre?
Mystery and horror

Are you published?
Indie press

What inspired you to become a writer?
I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child. At some point, I thought that I could write what I’ve been reading. I created a police detective. Years later, I changed the man to a woman, added in my martial arts experience, and created a heroine. Currently, I have eight books in the series in various stages of completion

What authors do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
H. P. Lovecraft—The mythos he’s created has inspired writers for decades. I became a big fan of horror writing and keep him in mind whenever I write short horror. I even mentioned him in my novel, Night Shadows.

Franklin W. Dixon—While not a “real” person, this team of writers created The Hardy Boys (and Nancy Drew). I latched onto this series and became a mystery fan as a child. The two brothers who never age throughout the series have stayed with me, and I still read them.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
At The Mountains Of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Killing Floor by Lee Child

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I’m a Sixth Degree Black Belt and certified instructor in taekwondo with over 30 years experience.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
You can do all the research and outlining and character profiling you want, but at some point, you have to turn off the distractions, put pen to paper or fingers on the keyboard and WRITE. If it’s important, you’ll make the time. If it’s not, you’ll make excuses.

Author Bio
Stephen L. Brayton is a Sixth Degree Black Belt in the American Taekwondo Association and a Marketing Associate for a software company.

He began writing as a child; his first short story concerned a true incident about his reactions to discipline. During high school, he wrote for the school newspaper and was a photographer for the yearbook. For a Mass Media class, he wrote and edited a video project.

Current publications include Alpha, the first of his Mallory Petersen action mystery series, and Night Shadows, the first in a supernatural series featuring a homicide detective and an FBI agent.

He is the editor and contributing author of The Peace Tree Mystery, a story set in the Knoxville, Iowa/Lake Red Rock area.

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Author Uncategorized

Charles Kniker

What’s your genre?
Currently, I am a political writer writing about saving democracy

Are you published?
Traditional and indie press.
Books include: Raising America: Building a More Perfect Union (co-editor and author), Myth and Reality, Teaching Today and Tomorrow, You and Values Education, Spirituality That Makes a Difference

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Since I first began writing as a high school paper sports editor, I liked those who could make sports “live.” In time, I came to like Hemingway. Perhaps not surprisingly, with my religious background, the authors of various biblical books are some favorites.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Because of my current interests, I have been moved by:
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Yuval Harari’s works (because I disagree with him on many points, but respect his perspective).

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
That I survive with humor. As serious as life and world conditions are, we need release and humor as a way of putting things in context so we can learn new ways to deal with consequential matters.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writers?
Know you rarely get it right the first time. Discover a time and method that helps you revisit what you have written.

Author Bio
Charles Kniker is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He has served congregations in Illinois, Missouri, California, New Jersey, Iowa, and Texas. Now retired, he lives at Green Hills Retirement Community in Ames. As a hobby, he has written texts for over sixty hymns.

Charles served as a professor of education at Iowa State University from 1969-1993. While there, he founded the journal, Religion & Public Education (now Religion & Education). He left Iowa State to become president of Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri, in 1993. In 1996, he became pastor of Faith United Church of Christ, Bryan, Texas. He returned to Iowa in 1998 as Associate Director of Academic Affairs for the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

In 2022 he authored Spirituality That Makes a Difference, his seventh book. During his academic career, he wrote numerous articles on moral and values education, teacher preparation, and was co-editor for several reference works. Currently, he teaches courses for the Iowa State University Alumni Association OLLI (College for Seniors) program.

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Author

Kim Mosiman

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What’s your genre?
Nonfiction leaning toward Christian nonfiction

Are you published?
Indie press publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
I have lived a good life and been influenced by several amazing people, some of whom have no idea of the impact they had on me. I hope to share my thoughts and words so that others can see the good in the world.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
There are too many to name and the one at the top of the list changes from day to day.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Life’s Golden Ticket by Brendon Burchard
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I write from my heart and edit from my gut. I’m too old to sugarcoat or deny my interpretations, but I don’t write to make a point or to call someone out. I believe in God with all I am, and you can’t change my mind. I hope you can use my writing to help you find something beautiful in yourself and share that beauty with another in need.

What one piece of advice would you give a budding writer?
Just start! I know how hard it is to push through, but it’s worth it. It’s worth it to the people you love and the ones who love you. Someone who doesn’t even know you yet will pick up your book and it will turn their world upside down because you took the time. You’ll make a difference, and there is a chance you’ll never know—except in your heart, you already know. Share your stories, share your heart, and make the world a kinder place.

Author Bio
Kim Mosiman is a wife, mom, and loving grandma. As an author and coach, Kim specializes in empowering women entering their “second act.” She is a nutritionist with certifications from Precision Nutrition and The Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a certified Christian life coach. With her faith-driven approach and experience as a gym owner, Kim offers a unique blend of spiritual and physical wellness. Her book, Reflections of Joy, provides practical, faith-infused strategies to inspire strength, beauty, and holistic growth in every aspect of life.

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Author Uncategorized

Linea King

What’s your genre
Nonfiction

Are you published?
Traditional publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
Being an English teacher
Having a niggle
Having a wonderful mentor through the National Oregon Writing Project

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
James Baldwin’s passion, depth and turn of phrase. Martin Luther King’s use of metaphor. Anne Lamott’s honesty, unalterability and humor.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I have a love/hate relationship with writing.

What’s one piece of advice you would give a budding writer?
It’s OK to have a love/hate relationship with writing.

Author Bio
Linea retired after a 30-year teaching career in Portland, OR teaching mostly middle school English as a Second Language. She now substitute teaches and writes in Iowa and a little in Oregon. She has published pieces in Rethinking Schools Magazine. Visit her on Facebook.

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Author

Claire Kruesel

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What’s your genre?
Poetry (but I dabble in CNF, memoir, and sci-fi)

Are you published?
Traditional publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
Perhaps it was being gifted diaries at a young age—or perhaps those gifts were based on observance of an inner drive I felt to document—but I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, and felt a serious devotion to somehow reducing the emotional entropy of this world by putting it into words. In other words, as a young girl writing in my diary, I was trying to figure out the world around me and how I felt about it, and to give it some sort of logical and witnessed form that was also poetic. I always loved reading and libraries, and writing was a way to get closer to those sacred places.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writer?
This is the hardest question for me because I find inspiration everywhere, and for me there’s no author who immediately comes to mind as more personally impactful than others. Overall, I often think about how religious texts captured the hearts and devotion of so many through effective storytelling. Humans crave stories as a form of organizing our knowledge, connecting in community, reinforcing values, and ascribing meaning to our experiences. So—the authors of religious texts and songs, even though I am not traditionally religious, inspire me as a writer by demonstrating that there has long been a visceral need for stories. When I’m feeling uninspired as a writer, it gives me courage to remember this.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors.
This is too hard! These are emotional and not academic choices based on childhood/young adulthood:
Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)
The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden by Mary Chase (1968)
The Crown Snatchers (English translation of Die Kronenklauer) by F. K. Waechter and Bernd Eilert (1972)

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
The sound of my writing is tied to my training as a choral singer. I’ve been singing continuously in ensembles since 1989 so I’m always thinking about how something sounds, liaises to its neighbors, and connects to the bigger whole (columns/”chords”). Perhaps this will explain the weird physical arrangements in some of my poems.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Craft your life to support the best way you write. I’ve learned that when inspiration visits, I need to have prepared for its arrival. This can look like always carrying a notebook or, more often, drafting a poem in an email app on my phone. I regret every time I brushed off inspiration for a seemly more urgent mundane task of living.

Author Bio
Claire Kruesel (KREE-zuhl) lives and writes from Story County, Iowa, focusing primarily on the intersections of science, art, objects, and grief. She received an MFA in Creative Writing and Environment from Iowa State University. Her poetry has been published in Rattle, the anthologies Fracture and Prairie Gold, and elsewhere. Her day job involves mentoring biochemistry undergraduates on science communication. Claire also teaches Pilates and yoga, travels to France and Italy whenever she can, and sings with Ames Chamber Artists. Click here to visit Claire.

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Author

Eva Newcastle

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What’s your genre?
Magical Realism

Are you published?
Self published

What inspired you to become a writer?
My late father was an English teacher. I suppose I take after him.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I admire any successful author who can develop a marketable template and craft a bestseller year after year.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I am a stickler for dialogue.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Don’t take my advice.

Author Bio
I am a classically trained musician with a background in design and film. A Chicago native, I relocated to Ames with a curious assortment of guitar picks and pens. Have typewriter, will travel. Click here to visit Eva.

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Author

Ana McCracken

What’s your genre?
Creative nonfiction

Are you published?
Anthologies, literary reviews, and magazines.

What inspired you to become a writer?
Perhaps the impetus to become a writer began when my mother taught me to write thank you notes? Maybe it was the 20-years of writing letters to my pen-pal, Lisa? Or writing soul-searching stories in my English classes, and my stint as an editor for The Opinion, the Peoria High School newspaper? Much later during the two years that I searched for my birthmother, I wrote annual holiday missives that caused my friends to encouraged me to write my memoir. The inspiration to become a writer is a culmination of life events.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired you?
Dani Shapiro! All of her memoirs in my possession are dog-eared and the pages are filled with marginalia. I have learned dialog, scene-setting and exposition from Dani. She is my go-to author when I need inspiration.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Let’s Take the Long Walk Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell
Heating and Cooling 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
Slow Motion, Devotion, Still Writing, Hourglass, and Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
In February 2022 anticipating the death of HRH Queen Elizabeth, I wrote her a letter of condolence on Smythson stationery, and sent her a photograph taken at Hewlett-Packard of HRH and Dave Packard, and Prince Philip and my husband, Ed. (Circa 1983.) Her Lady in Waiting read it to her, and they wrote me back. It is one of my greatest pride and joys!

What one piece of advice would you give a budding writer?
Just one? When you are sitting in a workshop group and fellow writers are giving you feedback, don’t justify what you’ve done and written and banter back and forth. People have taken the time to read your writing, and it’s annoying. Just LISTEN! You don’t have to take their advice, but often times it might be good advice. And… edit, edit, edit! Your first draft isn’t even close to the draft you send off to an agent.

Author Bio
Ana’s stories have appeared in the California Writers Club’s Literary Review, the anthologies Nothing But The Truth So Help Me God—51 Women Reveal the Power of Positive Female Connection, and Chicken Soup for the Soul—The Joy of Adoption, and poetry at Telepoem Booth®Iowa. At one time Ana was a columnist and editor for Maui Vision Magazine, and her essays and articles have appeared in various publications around the San Francisco Bay Area. Additionally, she is the founder of the Ames Writers Collective based in Ames, Iowa, and she serves on the Willa Cather Foundation Board of Governors, and served as a board of director for Litquake in San Francisco.

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Author

Rachel Aukes

What’s your genre?
Speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, and horror)

Are you published?
Indie press publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
Like most writers, I’ve always loved reading. Couple that with a brain that’s constantly daydreaming, the desire to create stories is an intrinsic part of my spirit. From the age I could spell, I wrote. But a “normal” life took over for some time (had to pay the bills) until I inevitably picked up a pen… I’ve thankfully never lived a normal life since.

What author to you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Jonathan Maberry is a fascinating writer who’s not afraid to write multiple genres. He’s also a prolific anthology editor—and one of the first to give a newbie writer a shot (he’s given a lot of newbie writers a shot!). He’s been an inspiration, a mentor, and an all-around admirable guy.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman = inspirational bliss.
Murderbot by Martha Wells = a fun modern classic.
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy = an old classic introducing the first masked hero.

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I acquired my private pilot’s license 16 years ago, and I’m still infatuated with flying. Stop by the Ames airport, and you just might bump into me.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Be the writer of your dreams. Envision what you want to be and make it happen. Don’t try to fit into other people’s opinions of what a writer should be and how a writer should write. Define who you want to be as a writer and make it happen.

Author Bio
Rachel Aukes is the bestselling author of nearly forty books, including 100 Days in Deadland, which made Suspense Magazine’s Best of the Year list. She’s published through traditional houses, independent houses, and her own publishing company. Her novels have repeatedly been Amazon Top 100 bestsellers, and she was one of the first Wattpad Stars, with her stories having over eight million reads. She writes in several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, romance, and more. When not writing, Rachel can be found flying old airplanes with her husband and an incredibly spoiled dog over the central Iowa countryside. Click here to visit Rachel.

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Author

Bi Ayers

What’s your genre?
Memoir/creative nonfiction

Are you published?
Indie press publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
I wanted to share what I’ve learned about the nail salon industry with the hope of helping others to excel with their business. I also wanted to shine a spotlight on an industry which many are familiar with, yet most don’t know its history.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I’ve read a lot of business books over the years, and I feel the authors wanted to share their knowledge and expertise on their subject, which to me is powerful, and it inspired me to share my own knowledge in my industry.

Name your favorite books and their authors
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I never meant to include as much personal information in my book, but I’m glad I did.

What one piece of advice would you give a budding writer?
People are interested in your story so, pen your thoughts and keep on writing.

Author bio
Bi Ayers was born and raised in Hue, Viet Nam. At age fifteen, he began a new life in the United States. As a Vietnamese American immigrant, he learned early on how to adapt to change. Coming from a hardworking family of leaders and business-owners, Ayers was motivated to start his own business and follow in the family tradition. His professional journey is intertwined with the history of the nail salon boom. His experience re-settling in the United States after growing up in a Communist regime and his own business success as an American nail salon owner offer other Vietnamese Americans and anyone interested in starting their own business an inspiring example of what it takes to open shop and thrive. To learn more about Bi and Polished, click here.

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Author

Stephanie Hansen

What is your genre?
Crime Thriller

Are you published?
Self published

What inspired you to become a writer?
I woke up during a thunderstorm one December evening and told myself a story to fall back asleep. For days afterward, I couldn’t get that story out of my head so I started writing what would become the opening scene in my first book. Things spiraled from there and I found myself swept up in the world of writing thrillers.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I’ve really enjoyed some of Andy Weir’s interviews. The author of The Martian, he self published that book before it was discovered by traditional publishing. He’s really funny (which comes across in his books) and a total nerd. He does a ton of research for his books and as a professor myself, I find it neat the way he helps the reader digest extremely complex science and engineering concepts in his sci-fi works.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Fox and O’Hare Series by Lee Goldberg and Janet Evanovich
Sigma Force Series by James Rollins

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I’m a beef cattle professor at Iowa State University and writing is one of my side gigs. I love to travel and my books each feature a national park. I’m a coffee addict and amateur photographer. My current series, Harper and Reese Crime Thrillers, starts in Glacier National Park in Cold Woods and I am working on the second book in that series now.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Figure out what motivates you. If you need external pressure to complete the book, join a writing group. It is a great way to connect with fellow writers and help you finish the first draft. Also remember, there is a lot of writing advice out there, not all of it is right for you.

Author bio
Stephanie (S.L.) Hansen knows that isolated, stunning locations and mystery go together like peanut butter and jelly. With a passion for exploring the great outdoors and a knack for crafting heart-stopping adventures in remote wilderness settings, Hansen is always seeking the perfect backdrop for her next page-turner. So, if you find yourself hiking through the backcountry with her, don’t be surprised if she starts musing about the best spot to bury a body – after all, when it comes to creating suspense, she’s got the recipe down pat. To join in on the adventure and discover what twists and turns she has in store for her readers next, click here, and sign up for her newsletter today.