Acknowledgments

Dedication

Words That Flow

LHR Host, Victoria Valentine

SHORTSTOPS

Anthony J. Mohr

HAPPINESS USA

Matt Thomas

WIGGLE ROOM

Ann Hite

A SIMPLE MATTER

Jonathan Stephens

WILD WINDS

Victoria Valentine

I BLESS THE RAIN

Harold Houser

THE CHALETS

Eric Tessier

THE GLITTER OF GOLD

George G. Wilson

GHOULASH

MATERNAL NEUROSIS

Marissa Morrison

THE CAMP

Caleb Ross

A BAD WEEK FOR ERIC

Susan Sabia

THE CORNER BOOTH

Melissa Lowes

Contingencies

King Snake

Arlene L. Mandell

Summer Symphony

Arlene L. Mandell

Lamenting

Serena Spinello

Subtlety

Arianne Shahvisi

The Diary Of Tomorrow

Jéanpaul Ferro

The Way Things End

Jéanpaul Ferro

Gillette Inclinations & Stained Tablets

Jacob Erin-Cilberto

The Call

Michael Keshigian

Doloroso Ergo Sum

So. Noël

Reading

Jaz

Grey

Christopher Fog

Aglow In Oz

That Handsome Rogue

Janann Dawkins

The Hiding

Jacob Erin-Cilberto

Impromptu Symphony In The Mythological Zoo

Patrick Ryan Dunn Sullivan

Speaking Of Today

Amanda McQuade

Two For The Starlight

James Grabill

The Well Of Desire

Alessio Zanelli

In The Center Breathes An Idea

Dennis Patrick Slattery

Long Shadows In The Twilight Zone

Pamela A. MacBean

The Trousers

Tricia Asklar

Visibility

George Bishop

Waiting

Yevgen Fedotov

Anymore

Matthew Woolven

Thereafter

Matthew Woolven

The Ambling Ash

Ray Succre

The Removal Crew

Ray Succre

The Last Happiness

Michael C. Rush

The Rule Against Perpetuities

Rob K. Omura

Splitting Atoms

It’s Like That, Most Days

Annette Nasser

Hold Your Tongue

John Grey

Wild Horses

Joyce Raab-Faber

The Pattern Of Your Eyes

Steve Klepetar

Drought

Michael C. Rush

God’s Desert

Patrick Reed

Summer Images In Meadows Of Silence

Michael Levy

Tides Of Wonder

Diana Raab

The End Of Solitude

Turning Forty-One

Things I Think When I’m Pissed At Susan

J. Alan Nelson

The Horrors

No Poem

Why Areograms Are Always Blue

Lyn Lifshin

Drifting

Lyn Lifshin

Sylvia Speaks

Specters

Patty Mager

To The One

Endings

BIOGRAPHIES

PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEES

BIOGRAPHIES

Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, Tricia Asklar received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She lives in Rochester, New York, and teaches writing at Nazareth College. Her poems have recently appeared in Redactions, Verse Daily, Boxcar Poetry Review, Blue Earth Review, The Dos Passos Review, and Neon.

George Bishop was raised on the Jersey Shore and attended Rutgers University studying English/Creative Writing. He relocated to Florida in 1985 where he now lives and writes. Recent work has appeared in White Pelican Review, Comstock Review and is forthcoming in Jerseyworks.

Featured most recently in Alba, freefall, mad swirl, MiPOesias, Mississippi Crow, Poesia and Third Wednesday, Janann Dawkins has poems upcoming in At-Large, LiteraryMary, and The Tonopah Review. Leadfoot Press published her chapbook, Micropleasure, in 2008. Awarded a B.A. in American Studies from Grinnell College, she now resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Jacob Erin-Cilberto is a poet & teacher. He has been writing poetry & prose since 1970, and has taught English composition and literature at John A. Logan College and at Shawnee Community College since 1994. He enjoys teaching poetry workshops for the Heartland Writers Guild in Sikeston, Missouri & the Southern Illinois Writers Guild. His work has been published in numerous magazines & journals. Received a Pushcart Poetry Prize nomination for 2006 & 2007. He has recently published his 10th book of poetry, "against the current".

Yevgen Fedotov was born in Ukraine in 1980. Since then he has lived in several places including the U.S. and Mexico. Traveling has allowed him to learn several languages and enrich his cultural background. Currently he resides in Canada, where he is pursuing a career in Psychology. His inspiration for poetry comes from any daily interaction that evokes a strong emotional reaction.

Jéanpaul Ferro is a 4-time Pushcart Prize nominee.  His work has appeared in Columbia Review, Cortland Review, Review Americana, Providence Journal, and Hawaii Review.  His poetry has been featured on WBAR radio in NYC and he was the featured author in the August 2008 issue of Contemporary American Voices. 

Christopher Fog lives in Los Angeles, but travels a lot. He rarely stays longer than 6 months in one place, as he gets bored easily. He will soon go to Russia to explore the snow, as L.A. certainly doesn’t offer any. He has a degree from Colorado State University, where he studied (sometimes) and wrote often. He had a pet ferret, but he died from old age.

James Grabill has had work in literary periodicals since the early ’70s and teaches writing and sustainability in Oregon.

John Grey is an Australian born poet, playwright, and musician. His latest book is "What Else Is There" from Main Street Rag. Recently in Cape Rock, Weber Studies, Writers Bloc and the Connecticut Review.                         

Ann Hite’s short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including The Dead Mule, where her selected Black Mountain Stories are featured for the May 2008 Issue, Fiction Warehouse, Cup of Comfort, Foliate Oak, and Moonwort Review. Her essay, Surviving Mom, appeared in Marlo Thomas’ bestselling collection, The Right Words At The Right Time, Vol., 2. Ann lives with her family in Atlanta where she has over 1,000 books, a flower garden, and her laptop. Feel free to visit her website: www.att.net/p/pwp-painteddoor

Harold Houser is primarily a Sci-Fi writer, with stories published on Bewildering Stories and Everyday Fiction. As a new writer, Harold wants to try different styles and genres.

Michael Keshigian is the author of five poetry chapbooks, including Warm Summer Memories, recently published by Maverick Duck Press.   His poetry has appeared in numerous national and international journals as well as many online publications, including ByLine Magazine, Oyez Review, The Sierra Nevada College Review, Bellowing Ark, and Ibbetson Street Press.  He has been the feature poet in The Aurorean, Pegasus Review, Chantarelle’s Notebook and Reader’s Choice in the Fairfield Review. He is a multiple Pushcart Prize and Best Of The Net nominee.

Steve Klepetar teaches literature and writing at Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota.  His work has appeared in many journals and has been nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Web.

Russell H. Krauss was born and raised in New Jersey, and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in mathematics. He served as an actuary for a national life insurance company, the last thirteen years as senior vice president and chief actuary, and then established his own software and actuarial consulting practice. He is now retired and lives in Nampa, Idaho and has a second home in the mountain resort town of McCall, Idaho. He keeps busy writing software, fiction, & commentary.

International talk show host Michael Levy, is the author of eight books, a mystical poet, inspirational philosopher and wellness/healthy living speaker. His latest books are "The Joys of Live Alchemy" and "Worry Causes Wrinkles" which can help a person change dark negative situations into beautiful, colorful, positive actions, that bring de-lights on the darkest of days. www.pointoflife.com/

Among Lyn Lifshin’s recent books: THE LICORICE DAUGHTER: MYYEAR WITH RUFFIAN, Texas Review Press and from Black Sparrow at Godine: ANOTHER WOMAN WHO LOOKS LIKE ME. Just out:  DESIRE and 92 RAPPLE. www.lynlifshin.com

Patrick Loafman has been a seasonal wildlife biologist since 1988. He has published poems in over twenty journals, two chapbooks of poetry and is trying to get his first novel published. He’s also a gourd artist, overly proud of the gourd banjo he made, which he plays constantly.

Melissa Lowes has a degree in Literature, and an MFA in Creative Writing. Her short fiction has appeared in Skive Magazine, Orchard Press Mysteries, and The Green Silk Journal. She currently resides in the San Diego area with her husband and son.

Pamela MacBean lives in Northern New Hampshire with her husband on a small farm. She has been writing poetry since elementary school. Some of the works that she has been featured in are Poetry Depth Quarterly, Ship of Fools, Ancient Paths, Interpoetry.com, The Lyric and Small Brushes.

Patty Mager is a banker and investor who has been writing poetry for ten years.   Patty has been published in literary anthologies including The Elms, Literary House Review, Skyline Magazine, SpinningS Intense Tales, Skyline Review, and Bottlecap Magazine. The Webster-Kirkwood Times recently did an article on Patty and four of her poems were featured. She has also been published in both the American and Fort Worth Haiku Society Journals.

Arlene L. Mandell, a retired English professor, has published more than 300 poems, essays and short stories. "Up on the Roof," a short story published by Skyline last year, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Four of her poems won ribbons this past summer at the Sonoma County Fair.

Amanda McQuade attended Ohio State University where she earned her B.A. in English, concentrating in American Literature. Her work has recently appeared in, The Cherry Blossom Review, Mississippi Crow, and Rumiate. Currently, she is moving from Los Angeles to the green hills and valleys of North Carolina.   

Anthony J. Mohr’s short stories have appeared in Bibliophilos, Circle Magazine, Skyline Magazine, Word Riot and The LBJ. His essays and memoirs have been published in Bibliophilos, The Christian Science Monitor, Currents, and the Sacramento Bee. In December, 2006, Skyline Magazine nominated one of his short stories for a Pushcart Prize.

Marissa Morrison is a writer, mother, teacher, and hopefully soon, a student once again.  She drinks too much coffee and really likes the Beatles.

As Editor of Celebrated Thoughts, Annette Nasser is as diversified as the next writer. She enjoys reading and publishing many talented and gifted writers from around the world and back. She has been published in various literary magazines and has received a past award for her literary newsletter. 

An author and a poetess, French artist, So. Noël is also part of the Parisian musical scene, as a drummer in the rock and roll band Iku and a singer/lyricist/composer in the avant-garde electronica duo d.e.v.i.a.n.c.e. Her first novel, Plaintes contre X, will be published by the publishing house La Nef Des Fous in 2009.

Robert K. Omura lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he practices law. He is active in education, law reform, the environment and the outdoors. His fiction and poetry appears or is forthcoming in journals in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. He is currently working on a novel, but that’s slow going at best.

Stephanie Pope, A teacher, author, poet and mythologist, Stephanie has a BA in education from Walsh University and a master’s degree in mythological studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Stephanie has established mythopoetry.com to explore myth-logical possibilities with the language of cyber space, to see from within what images see and to make her poetry-making an e-vocation. A poet who lives and works off the grid, surfacing occasionally in Arizona and New York.

Diana Raab’s poetry is widely published in national publications. She has two poetry collections, My Muse Undresses Me and Dear Anais: My Life in Poems for You, and a memoir, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal which won the 2008 National Indie Excellence Award for Memoir. She teaches at UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference.

Joyce Raab-Faber (Joy) attends the University of New Mexico where she studies English and Creative Writing. She earned an Associate of Applied Science in metals technology through Albuquerque CNM. She is also a recycling artist. To view some of her work, go to recyclesantafe.org. Her first short stories will be published this spring and summer in Unlikely stories and Slow Trains. Joy would like to thank Terry Brown Davidson for her help and support in bringing these stories to you.

Patrick Reed received his BA in both English and Philosophy from the Catholic University of America.  He currently works for the District of Columbia Public Schools through the DC Teaching Fellows program.

Caleb Ross’s fiction and non-fiction has appeared widely, most recently in Vestal Review, Word Riot, and Flint Hills Review. He has appeared in journals alongside Ron Carlson, Noah Cicero, Stephen Graham Jones, Steve Almond, Aimee Bender, and others and has studied with nationally known authors including Peter Rock and Craig Clevenger. Visit him at www.calebjross.com.

Michael C. Rush is a poet who lives and works off the grid, surfacing occasionally in Arizona and New York.

Susan Sabia has had more than 100 articles and stories published, most recently in Skyline Review and SpinningS Magazine. She is a member of The Writers’ Workshop of Fairfield, where she is known for murdering her fictional characters in various gruesome ways. Between killings she is working on a novel and her recipe for deviled eggs.

Ray Succre currently lives on the southern Oregon coast with his wife and baby son.  He has been published in Aesthetica, BlazeVOX, and Pank, as well as in numerous others across as many countries.  His novel Tatterdemalion (Cauliay Publishing) is forthcoming in early 2008.  He tries hard.

Arianne Shahvisi is twenty-one years old, and working towards an MSc in cosmology at Cambridge University. She has been writing since childhood, but is only just beginning to submit for publication.

Tom Siegar was born in Vienna, Austria and was reared primarily in America. He believes firmly in the power of redemption and the timelessness of the present. Tom seeks to convey that there is always more hope than pain, more courage than fear and more love than anger.

Dennis Patrick Slattery is author or co-editor of 11 books, including three volumes of poetry: Casting the Shadows: Selected Poems; Just Below the Water Line: Selected Poems; and Twisted Sky: Selected Poems. He is the author of The Wounded Body: Remembering the Markings of Flesh; Grace in the Desert: Awakening to the Gifts of Monastic Life. Most recently he has co-edited a volume of essays on mythology, with Glen Slater: Varieties of Mythic Experience: Essays on Religion, Psyche and Culture. He has been teaching for 40 years and riding motorcycles for at least that long.

Serena Spinello is 27 years old and lives in New York. Her poetry has been published in over seventy literary journals and she’s the author of two chapbooks. In addition to being a freelance Medical Health & Wellness writer she is an advocate for various nonprofit organizations.

Carolyn Srygley-Moore is an award-winning graduate of the Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminars, in Baltimore, & a Pushcart nominee; her digital chapbook Enough Light on the Dogwood was published by Mimesis. Her work has appeared in a number of journals to include Antioch Review, A Hudson View, The 4 AM Poetry Review, & the antiwar anthology Cost of Freedom. She currently lives in Upstate New York with her husband & daughter.

Jonathan Stephens spends his days teaching middle school English, writing young adult novels, and reviewing books for TeenReads.com. He earned his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from CSULB. Jonathan believes he is the only young adult author whose birth country no longer exists and dares anyone to prove him otherwise.

Eric Tessier resides in Les Lilas, near Paris, France. He writes in both French and English. He is the published author of 5 books in French, and co author of several picture books. His stories, reviews and essays are published in many literary magazines in France, Belgium, India and in the USA. His literary review La Nef Des Fous has become a publishing house in 2005. He is a French social security legal expert.

Matt Thomas graduated with his Masters in English from Syracuse University in 2005. Since then he has published stories and articles in Outsider Ink, Word Riot, a couple of academic journals and Kotori Music Magazine. His first short story, Crossover, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2006. You can read all of his work, and contact him at, www.thevillagetotheleft.com.

Victoria Valentine is an author who founded Skyline Publications in 2001, publishing writers, poets & artists in three print publications & online several literary websites. www.waterforestpress.com and www.nightwindpublishing.com are the latest editions to the Skyline family, designed to help authors publish & promote their poetry collections, short story collections, novellas and novels. Victoria’s own published books: At The Stroke Of Midnight, 24 tales of terror & The Cutest Little Duckie children’s novella.

Matthew Woolven teaches English and resides in Connecticut. Some of his work has been published in Flutter Poetry Journal, Offcourse, The Ranfurly Review, The Scruffy Dog Review, Tonight: An Anthology of World Love Poetry and The Poetry Porch.

Alessio Zanelli is an Italian poet who has long adopted English as his writing language and his work has appeared in over 100 literary magazines from 12 countries including, in the USA, Antietam Review, California Quarterly, Chiron Review, Concho River Review, The Iconoclast, Italian Americana, Main Street Rag, Poesia, Poesy and Potomac Review. He is the author of three collections, most recently Straight Astray, and a featured author in the 2006 edition of Poet’s Market. Website: www.writesight.com/writers/Zanelli/