Issue 162 Contributors

Mark SaFranko
Mark SaFranko’s novels include “Hating Olivia” (Harper Perennial), “No Strings” (Thomas & Mercer), “Lounge Lizard” (Murder Slim Press), “God Bless America” (Murder Slim Press) and “Dirty Work” (13E Note Editions). They have collected rave reviews and a cult following in Europe, especially in France, where a fourth novel, “Travaux Forces (or Forced Labor) was recently published. His stories have appeared in over 60 magazines and journals internationally, including the renowned Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. In 2005 he won the Frank O’Connor Award from descant magazine for his short fiction. He was cited in Best American Mystery Stories 2000 and has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. Mister SaFranko is also a playwright. His plays have been seen on stages in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as well as many in the United States. As an actor he has appeared in several independent films, including Inner Rage, A Better Place, Shoot George, and The Road From Erebus, which are seen on cable television. His music is available on iTunes.

Terry Sanville
Terry Sanville lives in San Luis Obispo, California with his artist-poet wife (his in-house editor) and one skittery cat (his in-house critic). He writes full time, producing short stories, essays, poems, and novels. Since 2005, his short stories have been accepted by more than 200 literary and commercial journals, magazines, and anthologies including The Potomac Review, The Bitter Oleander, Shenandoah, and Conclave: A Journal of Character. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his story “The Sweeper.” Terry is a retired urban planner and an accomplished jazz and blues guitarist – who once played with a symphony orchestra backing up jazz legend George Shearing.

Melissa Marni
Melissa Marni is the founder and author of littlewordstudio.com, where she posts works of original short fiction. A native of New York, Melissa now lives in Newport Beach, California. She wrote her first story at the age of nine, (something about evil witches and shoelaces), and has been writing ever since, earning a B.A. from Columbia University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University. Melissa is a lover of red wine, soft cheese, books read by firelight, Pacific Ocean sunsets and her crooked-eared little dog, Austin.

Daniel Moore
Daniel Moore is a southern poet, who has spent the past 17 years in the Northwest. His work has been widely published in The American Literary Review, Western Humanities Review, Cream City Review, The Spoon River Poetry Review, Rattle, River Styx and others. In December 2003, he was one of eight honorary poets chosen by a panel from the University of Washington and Poets West to read at the annual reading held at the Frye Museum in Seattle. In May 2004, six of his poems were chosen by Rudy Kikel, editor of Bay Windows magazine to appear in a national anthology of poets, entitled, “This New Breed: Gents, Bad Boys, And Barbarians,” published by Windstorm Creative press. He lives in Washington on Whidbey Island where he is working on his manuscript, “Waxing The Dents.” He currently has work in Ithacalit, and work forthcoming in the Flint Hills Review, Steel Toe Review and Harbinger Asylum.

John Marvin
John Marvin is a teacher who retired and subsequently earned a Ph.D. in English at SUNY Buffalo. He has poems in scores of journals, and literary criticism in Hypermedia Joyce Studies, James Joyce Quarterly, Pennsylvania English, and Worchester Review. His book, “Nietzsche and Transmodernism: Art and Science Beyond the Modern in Joyce, Stevens, Pynchon, and Kubrick,” awaits a publisher.

Jackson Braun
Jackson Braun is a freelance writer living in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Columbia University and a former staff member of The Berkshire Record and Open Range Magazine.

Megan Merchant
Megan Merchant graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas after completing her M.F.A degree in poetry. Her poems and translations have appeared in publications including the Atlanta Review, Kennesaw Review, Margie, International Poetry Review and The Poetry of Yoga. She was the winner of the Las Vegas Poets Prize, judged by Tony Hoagland. She is a the author of two chapbooks; “Translucent, Sealed,” (Dancing Girl Press) and “In the Rooms of a Tiny House” ( ELJ Publications, forthcoming October 2016). Her first full-length collection, “Gravel Ghosts” (Glass Lyre Press) will be making its way into the world summer of 2016. Her first children’s book, “These Words I’ve Shaped For You,” will be also appearing in 2016 through Philomel Books. Her future is bright. She wears shades.