Before reporting news for the Las Vegas Daily Optic in New Mexico, Susan Dlugach earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She also taught English in New Mexico and California while scribbling stories and poetry for herself. Writing retreats and workshops are among her vacation destinations as she continues to hone her craft. She’s published in California Update and participates in poetry readings and a critique group. Not to be a one-trick pony, she also enjoys music, dancing, yoga, hiking and studies Spanish with hopes of someday conversing easily and reading novels in that beautiful language.

Richard Vestnys, D.D., M.C.S., M.C., S.S.C.W. – poet, composer, theologian, master carpenter, chaplain and chorister (retired). Richard has held memberships in several poetry, music, woodworking and theological societies, domestic and abroad. Published works include: “No Greater Love”, small volume of poetry, Abbey Book Bindery (2014); “Everything and Nothing”, poem, “The Best of The Foliate Oak”, University of Arkansas, Monticello School of Arts & Humanities (2006); “Mountain of God”, theology/devotion, Laud Hall Seminary Press (1998)

Judy Presnall has authored thirty-one nonfiction children’s books since 1993. Some of the titles include:  Animals That Glow (Franklin Watts), Artificial Organs and Mount Rushmore (Lucent Books), a fourteen-book series entitled Animals with Jobs — Police Dogs, Sled Dogs, Racehorses, Rodeo Animals (KidHaven Press) and Yukon Sled Dog (Two Lions).

The best part has been the fun research trips along with her husband Lance, who acted as photographer. Some research experiences include:  riding along with a K-9, mushing a dogsled team, visiting a jockey school, observing bull riders from starter stalls, climbing the backside of Mount Rushmore with a park ranger, visiting an artificial arm manufacturer in Salt Lake City, and taking horseback riding classes.

Judy has been a CWC member since 1986 (San Fernando Valley) and 2015 (Sacramento). She is also a member of the Society of Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

Visit her website at:  www.judithjandapresnall.com

Curt grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict, where he earned two meritorious promotions and traversed most of Southeast Asia.

He graduated summa cum laude from Moravian College with majors in English and History and received honors for his dissertation about Japanese-American relations prior to World War II. He had several short stories and poems published during this time.

Curt began his professional career with IBM in management. He left IBM to work with Macmillan Publishing Company, to pioneer electronic publishing and moved on to management consulting, where he practiced internationally He published numerous articles in leading law journals such as The American Lawyer and the New York Law Journal.

Curt retired in 2016 to pursue his interests in religion, philosophy, and 20^th century world history. His debut novel, The Pilgrim’s Progress ~ Part 2, One Man’s Search for Truth, is an anti-war novel covering both World War II and Vietnam. It updates the 1678 classic by taking a contemporary antihero on a pilgrimage through similar moral and existential issues as the original.

Curt lives with his wife, Chris, and their two Yorkies in Northern California.

In 2017, Kathy “Kanika” Marshall wrote The Ancestors Are Smiling! which is a collection of uplifting, funny, touching, maddening, and sometimes harrowing real life stories, creatively told by Marshall’s ancestors and their descendants.

In 2018, she published a research-oriented storybook investigating her enslaved ancestors from Maryland, entitled Finding Otho: the Search for Our Enslaved Williams Ancestors. These true stories are woven by Marshall with the African fabric of American historical events. Marshall has been exploring her family roots off and on since 1976 and is a self-avowed missionary for family history, encouraging others to write their own family history stories NOW!

Marshall was a researcher, analyst, and technical writer for the California Highway Patrol for 36 years. In addition, she has been the owner/artist for her Kanika African Sculptures business since 1993, sharing her love for African fabric, clay, welding, and ethnic-inspired, indoor-outdoor sculptures.