Category: Author

Olivia Hill is an indie-published playwright and short story author.

What inspired you to become a writer?

It was my desperation to be heard. I began as a young girl writing poetry just to express myself since I lived in a house where my voice was completely silenced. In high school, I had an inspirational educator that encouraged my writing and praised my ability. But because of my undiagnosed learning disabilities, I could not remain in her classroom due to my test scores. Being placed in a remedial class silenced my writing for many years. It wasn’t until I was already a mother, starting college, that I was recognized by a professor. It motivated me to start again. I quickly found it a powerful format to elevate my voice and be heard.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?

One of the first books that inspired and shaped my writing was “Daddy Was a Number Runner” by Louise Meriwether. The direct, raw nature of the writing felt different than anything I had experienced. The story was told from the perspective of a twelve-year-old black girl, a character that I resonated with but was also unlike any character I had been introduced to before. The sound of that story has stayed with me throughout my childhood and adult life.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors

1. “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman
2. “Akata” series by Nnedi Okorafor
3. “Beloved” by Toni Morrison

What’s one thing readers should know about you?

I write from what I know best, myself. The relationships, experiences, and oddities of life are constant material for exploration and stories. Whether through my plays, short stories, or my recent memoir, I find the dialogue and interaction between people fascinating and like to expose truths through what people say and don’t say. Although this form of writing is easier captured in plays, I really like exploring dialogue through my prose as well. I start with myself to explore relationships.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?

Your words and the stories that you tell are more valuable than what it pays.

Olivia Hill is a playwright, author, visual artist, and chef. She shares her journey of mental health, literacy, and being a Black woman within the creative arts to many audiences. She is a published short-story author and playwright of over five plays that have been produced in multiple states. She is the recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Award for her play Mother Spense. As a visual artist, she has specialized in printmaking and watercolor, exhibiting in multiple galleries.

Hill holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She resides back in her hometown, Kansas City, Missouri, where she continues to be an activist on social issues that affect BIPOC creatives and love on her grandchildren.

Our first Author Spotlight, Maggie Westvold, is a published poet and memoirist. She is a founding member of Third Stanza Poets in Ames, Iowa and secretary of the Iowa Poets Association (IPA).

What inspired you to become a writer?

I can’t remember not liking to write; it seemed to come naturally. My high school English teachers were all very encouraging. My junior year, my English teacher read poetry aloud to us. I was hooked, though I did not realize it at the time. Twenty years later, Deb Marquart & others who published ‘Iowa Woman’ offered poetry workshops around Iowa. They were wonderful. Third Stanza Poets, Ames, is a spinoff from a night poetry class at Ames High taught by masters students from ISU’s creative writing program. We’ve existed since the mid 90’s & the poets in the group have been very helpful in my growth as a writer. Omega Poets, Des Moines, & the IA Poetry Association have also influenced my skills & continue to do so.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?

Michael Carey, Jane Kenyon, Ted Kooser, Seamus Heaney & others. I strive to write anything even close to their masterful poetry.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors

1. “Let Evening Come,” Jane Kenyon
2. “Shelterbelt,” Ted Kooser
3. “Lull In The Fields,” M. Carey
4. “Digging,” Seamus Heaney

What’s one thing readers should know about you?

I was a chronically shy country-kid kindergartner. In adulthood, reading my poems aloud to others, even in small groups, initially sent my voice into tremolo mode! Public poetry readings, one after the other, helped. KHOI Community Radio, Ames, helped me get past mic fright. It is a thing. Not easy. I can attest to that and would be more than willing to help anyone with their fear of public speaking.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?

Read a lot of other’s poetry. Read all the how-to books you can find. Write, write, write. Daily challenges are wonderful for the muse!

Maggie Westvold was born in the hospital one block from where she lives today. Some might say she hasn’t gotten far in life, but she truly feels she is exactly where she needs to be in this 3/4-century year of her good life. Writing, reading, woodcarving, volunteering on community radio, and enjoying retirement life with husband Steve, all round out her days as a wife, mom, grandma and friend. Maggie retired twenty years ago from a career with the state of IA writing government documents. She much prefers writing poems.

Dennis is a published poet and Sci-Fi/fantasy writer. A military vet, he has been writing for over thirty years and believes that creativity is the key to helping all veterans thrive. He lives here in Ames, Iowa. Learn more about Dennis at his website.

What inspired you to become a writer?
As a military veteran, I write because I need the therapy. Struggling against memories of war is the fate of all soldiers returned from killing places. The creative act, whatever that might be, is the most potent therapy I have discovered. The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will create another generation of afflicted men and women. I hope they will also make this discovery.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I most admire the early Sci-Fi writers: Azimov, Heinlein, and Drake for their genre. I really love [James] Michener for the impeccable historical research he does for his novels.

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
My evolution in writing has taken over thirty years so far. I began with poetry, wishing to bring this art’s passion, imagery, and sensuality into prose. So far, I have had two books of poetry, two books of short stories, a collection, and one novel published. The number of my poems, stories, and books accepted by various editors and publishers seem to validate the approach.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Read, write, and submit. Join a writers’ group and learn from their experience and critiquing.

Dennis Maulsby’s poems and short stories have appeared in The North American Review, Star*Line, The Hawai’i Pacific Review, The Briarcliff Review (Pushcart nomination), and on National Public Radio’s Themes & Variations. His traditionally published books include: Near Death/Near Life (Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) gold medal winner), Free Fire Zone (MWSA silver medal winner), Winterset (Eric Hoffer Award winner and Global eBook gold medal winner), Heart Songs, and House de Gracie (Reader Views and Global eBook silver medals). Dennis holds memberships in the SFWA, the SFPA, the MWSA, and is a past president of the Iowa Poetry Association. Website: www.dennismaulsby.com.

What’s your genre?
Historical non-fiction

Are you published?
Traditional publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
I fell in love with writing history while I was in college. The stories I read in people’s diaries and letters fascinated me, and I wanted to bring those stories to readers. From the very beginning, I’ve been committed to writing for a broad audience. I don’t want my work to be accessible only to other historians. I want the public to be able to read my work as well.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I love Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. She is able to take complicated material and present it in an understandable way. She also knows when to say “we just don’t know, and we may never know.” It’s a brave historian who says that.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale
John Ise, Sod and Stubble
Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I’m passionate about what I do! I love history, I love to write, and I love to help students develop their writing.

What one piece of advice you would give a budding writer?
Read, read, read, and write, write, write. If you want to be a good writer, you need to read widely. You also need to keep at the writing constantly, and be willing to do lots of editing.

Author Bio
Pamela Riney-Kehrberg moved to Ames in 2000, when she joined the History Department at Iowa State University. Today, she is a Distinguished Professor of History, and the author or editor of a number of books, including Rooted in Dust: Surviving Drought and Depression in Southwestern Kansas, Childhood on the Farm: Work, Play and Coming of Age in the Midwest, and The Nature of Childhood: An Environmental History of Growing Up in America, 1865-Present. She is the author of a historical book for children, Always Plenty To Do: Growing Up on the Farm in the Long Ago. Her most recent work is When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa, and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, to be published in 2022. Visit her at here. On September 21, Pam will read at the Author Spotlight Series from 7 to 8 PM at KHOI Community Radio. Check our calendar for further details.

What’s your genre?
Horror/Sci-Fi

Are you Published?
Self published

What inspired you to become a writer?
I had an experience in my teens that I later decided would make an interesting story if I spruced up a few of the details and added a little pizzazz. A few months later, I had the first draft of my debut novel, The Collins House. I had started with the goal of self-publishing one novel, just for fun. The feeling I got from finishing that book was something I couldn’t leave behind, though. I started The Warning Woods podcast as a means of publishing short, fictional stories and continue to work on novels in the meantime.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I could try to skate around the obvious, but Stephen King’s work has had a profound impact on me and my writing. I was introduced to horror and sci-fi by Poe and Bradbury, but once I started reading King my perspective on writing changed. I realized the power of great dialogue, uncomfortably relatable characters, and raw language while reading Bag of Bones. The way he can translate outlandish ideas into believable narratives that draw the reader in encourages me to explore even my most absurd ideas.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

What’s on thing readers should know about you?
I’ve been a fan of horror far longer than I’ve been creating it. I see myself first and foremost as a fan of the genre and wish nothing more than to be a part of its future.

What one piece of advice would you give a budding writer?
Read as much as possible from as many authors as you can. However, if you start reading something that feels poorly written put it down and get it out of your head. What you read will inevitably affect what you write. This can be both a blessing and a curse to an author trying to find their voice.

Author Bio
Miles Tritle lives in Ames, IA with his wife and daughter. He has released over one hundred short horror stories on his podcast, The Warning Woods. In 2021, he released his debut novel The Collins House. Visit him here.

What’s your genre?
Poetry, research, and books

Are you published?
Traditional Publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
What inspires me to write? Questions. Poetry, particularly Haikus, have been a part of my writing for decades. I have published articles including my research focused on the syndrome I call Corporate Prisoner(TM). My first book for young readers is My Name is Dixie: Designer of the Iowa Flag, a creative non-fiction and journal. Other books coming. Interesting to note: adults have enjoyed the reflective questions as well as the history of the flag and Iowa. The art in my books are by noted artists including Jess Waldmann and Cindy Gordon. I am inspired to write because I know all change begins with new questions. I want to encourage everyone who reads my articles and books to consider where they are in their life’s journey and reconsider how they want that journey to continue and end because questions help me on my life’s journey too.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
As an author, I admire Taylor Caldwell’s work. She inspires me because every sentence is meaningful and her books are impactful. I not only enjoy reading her books, I find them inspiring. She doesn’t seem to sacrifice her writing competency in favor of selling her books.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Prologue to Love by Taylor Caldwell
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I enjoy writings to reflect and lighter readings including, but not limited to, novelists, prose, poems, verse of Twain, Shakespeare, Rowling, Hemingway, Chekhov, Garcia Marquez, Young, Melville, D. Owens, Hugo, Dostoevsky, Plato, Socrates, Tolkien, Austen, Mann, Suckow, Loyola, Greenleaf, Whitman, Augustine, Dickens, Dumas, Camus, Barren, Hosseini, Tolstoy, etc. Other writings include Bible, U.S.A Constitution, and Federalist Papers. I love art in general as we need those who can lift us up.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to a budding writer?
Start, review, restart, review, restart, continue, and not get discouraged.

Author Bio
T. Waldmann-Williams, PhD believes that service to God, self, family, and others is of utmost importance. If you serve all of these than you serve your community, state, country, and world, which is why she joined Rotary. She was raised in Council Bluffs, graduating from St. Albert HS, College of St. Mary in Omaha, masters from University of Nebraska, and doctorate from Union Institute and University. She worked for AT&T, established TWW Consulting LLC in 1998, and was an undergraduate and masters adjunct. She’s lived in Iowa (three times), New York, New Jersey (twice), Nebraska, and now resides with her husband, Merrill Williams, in Knoxville (Marion County), Iowa, Sprint Car Capital of the World and home to Dixie Cornell Gebhardt. Visit her here.

What’s your genre?
Memoir

Are you published?
Indie press publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
I consider myself a free spirit and a healer, and writing is one way I can share my joy and healing with others. Until recently, writing has been a hobby and a college elective because I knew I would lose my love of writing by turning it into a demanding job. In 2020, a book came pouring through me. I finally had a story to tell—my own. I may or may not write another book but I am proud and happy to offer this one to the world.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Diane Glass co-facilitated my spiritual direction training. Friends had taken her writing workshop, “Tending to Your Inner Garden”, and published essays in her book compilation series by the same name. I was impressed that she shared the limelight by showcasing her students’ writings. Then I was mesmerized by Diane’s memoir, This Need To Dance, as she told her personal story of living with spina bifida with unflinching honesty while sharing the painstaking heartbreak it took to create a beautiful life. When my story began to emerge, I thought of Diane. If she could honestly tell the world about her life struggles and be the hero of her own story, so could I. Diane agreed to mentor my completed rough draft and connected me with her publisher.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh
An Interrupted Life, by Etty Hillesum
Why I Wake Early, by Mary Oliver

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
While I love to play with words and sounds, by composing guitar and piano music and lyrics, poems, blogs, or books, I also enjoy a space beyond words. In my energy healing work, I reside in a liminal vastness, a place of no thought, and relish the silence. As a spiritual director, holding space and deep listening are essential without my mind noise getting in the way. My favorite moments are the pauses—there are no words.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to a budding writer?
Never let the fact that you have no idea what you are doing stop you. Find those who have done what you want to do in the way that you want to do it and ask for help. Honor those who say no, or do not respond, and go with the yes people. What kept me going was knowing that I was not writing my story for me, but for the one person whose life would be touched for the better.

Author Bio
Deb Kline started Wellspring Wellness, LLC, in 2006, and continues offering energy healing and spiritual direction out of her home office in Ames, Iowa. Through her business, art, music, poetry, and now her book, Forgetting to Remember, she hopes to inspire others to find their own internal healing gifts and zest for life. Deb cherishes downtime with her husband, Kendal, and enjoys perennial flower gardening, feeding the songbirds, and walking the family dogs. Visit her here. On September 13, Deb will read at the Author Spotlight Series from 7 to 8 PM at KHOI Community Radio. Check our calendar for further details.

What’s your genre?
Nonfiction

Are you published?
Traditional publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
As an academic it’s part of my job. Early on, however, I found that it could change the world—one of my papers got hearings held in Congress. Being able to change lives for the better with one’s writing is highly motivating.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Malcolm Gladwell, as he has a great way of explaining complicated science such that people can see how it relates to their lives.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Any book by Neil Gaiman. It’s so hard to choose a favorite

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
It’s not about me.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to a budding writer?
Great writing is not about writing—it’s about rewriting. And more rewriting. And yet more…

Author Bio
Dr. Douglas Gentile is an award-winning research scientist, educator, author, and is Distinguished Professor of psychology at Iowa State University. He has authored over 140 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, including studies on the positive and negative effects of mass media on children in several countries, video game addiction, and mindfulness practices for reducing anxiety and increasing happiness. He has written several books on similar topics.

In addition, he is a Zen Buddhist monk and meditation teacher who wrote and narrated the best-selling audiobook “Buddhism 101: How to Walk Easily over Rough Ground” and the book “Finding the Freedom to Get Unstuck and Be Happier.” Visit Douglas here.

What’s your genre?
Essays

Are you published?
Traditional publisher

What inspired you to become a writer?
I spent many summers working as a lifeguard. To pass the time, I would watch the stories unfold on the pool deck and in the water. Being focused on a mundane locale—a public pool in a park—brought the dramas of life around me into sharp focus. To understand what I saw, I wrote my way toward a richer sense of meaning.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
I find myself returning again and again to writing from Thoreau, and each time, finding out something new about him and about myself. Our writing styles have nothing in common, but I respect his sensibility as an essayist.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Devotions by Mary Oliver
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I view myself primarily as a teacher of writing and then as a writer.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Write the first draft with your heart and the second with your mind. By embracing the mess and frustration of revision, your will craft a piece of writing others may be interested in reading.

To quote Cheryl Strayed, “I write to find out what I have to say. I edit to figure out how to say it right.”

Author Bio
Karen Downing was a high school English teacher in West Des Moines for 34 years. She received an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa. She is the Special Projects Coordinator for CultureALL.