Forsaken Stars

Who do we think we are? Besides the usual, I asked the writers what scares them most or who or what has influenced them most. These are our answers [editor’s note: as of this moment, not all writers and sponsors have had the chance to respond to the questions posed, so some entries are briefer than others. So check back for updates!]…

The REBIRTH Writers

Gifts of the Wind by Tirzah Duncan at the inkcaster.com

Tirzah has written a fairly comprehensive field guide to her person here.  Cry of the Nightbird is one of her recent works.

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Water Drops by Nichole McGhie at Random Outbursts of an Excited Writer

Nichole writes: I am a wife and mother of four beautiful and energetic kids. I am a writer and a small business owner. [simplymcghie.etsy.com] I am a great advocate of literacy programs. As a young student, I struggled with school because I didn’t know how to read. It took a very loving reading specialist to open up my world and I have been an avid reader and writer ever since. Since that time I have gone on to be a reading tutor myself as well as graduate with a BA in English from Fresno State.

The story I am most proud of is probably To Kiss a Storm (Elina). It’s still a work in progress. I’m most proud of this story because it’s the first novel that I’ve written and it gave me a great confidence boost when it comes to my writing. As a mom of four kids and having to go through “pregnancy brain,” as well as the ever present “mommy brain,” to be able to finish something of that magnitude, was a huge thing for me. When I finished it, it was the first time I thought to myself, “yes, I can do this.”

There isn’t a lot that scares me. I’ve faced so many different things in my life and have somehow conquered them. However, the secret fear that I do have is being considered insignificant. This is probably one of the things that inspires my writing the most. I want everyone to know that they truly matter in this world. A lot of my stories are about people realizing that they are worth something and that they are capable of truly amazing things. It’s my belief that if more people realize their own individual worth, they can be the hands that lift others, helping to make this world a better place.

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New Earth by Jim D. Geiser hosted at forsakenstars.com

New Earth is an excerpt of the sequel for The Decisions, a story that will be included in a short story collection he is currently working on. Jim is a fellow member of the Fresno Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers and is one of the authors of the FSFW Anthology I Dreamed A Crooked Dream. Other published works include the Return of Satan and Cloud Sculptures.

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Wishmaker by Danielle E. Shipley at Ever on Word

Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. …Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who home schooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing, publishing, and all that authorial jazz, she’s probably blogging about it at EverOnWord.wordpress.com.

Her debut novel, INSPIRED, is the story of orphaned fictional characters looking for a new author home and she looks forward to sharing further adventures in that world of layer upon layer of imagination for years to come! Danielle also invites you to check out her new project, from the world of her reader-acclaimed fairytale mash-up retelling novellas The Wilderhark Tales,  it’s “The Wilderhark Talettes”, one of many series available on Channillo.com. The next Talette releases on Monday, May 25th. Consider a subscription!

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Rebirth by Collin Shaw at horrorshorts

Collin writes: I’ve only recently started to write seriously but I’ve been inventing stories and characters my entire life. Right now I’m only going for short story’s to find my own style of writing, but later there might be a book or two in the works. I love writing horror because I love thinking of new ways on how to scare or unnerve the reader. With the Rebirth blog fest I wanted to try my hand at a small sci-fi horror story.

The story I’m most proud of right now is Smoke. I’ve heard about erotic horror and wanted to give it a go too. Out came this story about a detective that is having the night of his life. I had a lot of fun writing it and, even though it’s far from perfect, it’s definitely my favorite work to date.

The greatest influence on my writing is definitely the world around me. It’s always something small that people have gotten to know for a while. I like to look at that and turn it into something creepy or scary. For Rebirth it was blogging, for Smoke it was sex and for The Confession a stranger. That’s always my seed and from there I go out and try to make a story out of it. At this point it’s largely experimenting until I’ve found my writing style. Of course my girlfriend and my family are very supportive of my hobby and I’m very happy to have them.

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REBIRTH Entries at reddit

On the REBIRTH entry by reddit user fazbear: I go by the nickname Mikki and I really enjoy science fiction stories, and I was inspired by the game Halo and [the film] The Fountain to write this short story. It did just start out as a random short story, I might expand on it and write more.

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Valiance by Rob Lopez at forsakenstars.com

Rob Lopez recently married Alisha Vargas. He is the creator of Forsaken Stars and Spiral Legion.  Recent works include The Dark Lady: A Forsaken Stars Tale and Prelude to Spiral Legion. He is a member of the Fresno Scifi and Fantasy Writers. His influences include Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Stan Lee, Chris Claremont and artists Arthur Rackham, Arthur Adams, John Romita Sr. and Jr., and Neal Adams. What terrifies him most? That he won’t be able to get all the stories out of his head and onto the page before he forgets them. In more general terms, not finishing the things he has started.

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Sponsor links

fsfw.net

Established at their first meeting April, 19th 2008, Fresno Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writers is a group for local writers that meet face-to-face and discuss their work. They published their first anthology, I Dreamed A Crooked Dream, November 11, 2010.

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aisteach.com

Kyle Aisteach lives with his husband in Fresno, Calif. Kyle earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California with a degree in Classics and Theatre and his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno. He has at various times worked as an actor, a stage manager, a journalist, a video producer, a short-order chef, a marketer, a grocery store cashier, a science outreach professional, and a newspaper carrier. Some of these jobs he would go back to more readily than others. He currently teaches college writing part-time.

Kyle has three cats, a dog, and a tank full of tropical fish. Allergies — to animal hair and changing tank water, respectively — prevent him from having more pets.

In his spare time, Kyle enjoys bicycling, weightlifting, rock climbing, scuba diving, and harassing people with different political views.

Kyle’s works include The Survivor’s Menagerie, Pressure and the Argument Tree and Man of Water published in Fantasy for Good: A Charitable Anthology.