Hello, lovelies!
 
As we prepare our new anthology, TRANSCENDENT, for its release this upcoming holiday season, we’re showcasing our authors and their stories. Get to know more about them below.
 

Samantha Pilecki
 

Tell me about the setting you chose and how it influences your work.
 
This story takes place in places that are intentionally bland: a restaurant and a hotel. Lisa, weakened from her divorce, is affected by the un-altering sameness of reality.
 
Get to know more about Samantha Pilecki in her featured interview and more about how a short story collection influenced her story in her featured guest post, “Boxes and Buffalo.”
 

Daniel M. Kimmel
 

Having spent most of your writing career as a film critic and journalist, what’s the biggest challenge in writing fiction?


For me it’s being funny. My novels have their dramatic moments but, in the end, I hope I’ve made the reader laugh while enjoying the book.  My short stories don’t always have happy endings, but the humor – though dark – is still there. At least I hope so.
 
Get to know more about Daniel M. Kimmel in his featured interview and more about how his daughter inspired his satirical piece in, “About My Story.”

Maul Allan Hewish
 

Do you have any advice for people who want to write? 
 
Every career in life has a “shit sandwich” that you will have to eat. Writing is no exception.
It’s not an easy profession, in fact it takes more dedication, work and focus than any other job I know. The hours are endless, the pay is next to nothing, and the only thing motivating you is your own belief in the strength of the work. Editing a 150,000 word piece is no cakewalk, but if you want to have a finished product you’re going to knuckle-up and do it, even if it kills you. 

This isn’t the profession you pick if you just want to have “fun” telling stories or think you like the “idea” of being a famous author. A lot of people are in love with fame itself, more than the actual writing. Rowling and King got where they are through stupid amounts of extremely isolating, grueling work. It’s a workaholics profession – know that going in. If you don’t work harder at this than anything you’ve ever done, you will fail. No other market is as punishing or as difficult to get into. 
 
Get to know more about Maul Allan Hewish in his featured interview and more about making a living as a writer in his guest post, “My Head Is Full of Teeth.”
 

Kacie Berghoef
 

What would you like readers to take away from your story?
 
Night Terror is a fast-paced flash piece, and my intent is to get readers’ hearts pounding and their minds spinning, to see where our biggest fears can take us.
 
Get to know more about Kacie Berghoef in her featured interview and more about the difference between nightmares and night terrors in her guest post, “The Terrors in Our Own Minds.”

 
Gwenda Major
 

If your story was front-page news, what would the headline be?
 
Nightmare in Stone Circle – Two Couples Share Their Terrifying Experience.  “I Thought We Were Going to Die” said Kelly.
 
Get to know more about Gwenda Major in her featured interview and more about the ancient stone structures that feature in her story in her guest post, “Stone Circles and Summer Solstice.”

 
Claire Davon

What would you like readers to take away from your story?
 
That we are social creatures and at the end of the day loneliness and solitude may drive us mad…if other people actually exist. 
 
Get to know more about Claire Davon in her featured interview and more about how finicky our memories can be in her guest post, “Are We Really Alone?”

 
J.N. Powell
 

Did you have to do any research? If so, what kind? What did you learn?
 
I didn’t do much research aside from reading about bog mummies as a jumping off point.  The culture I created where human sacrifices are required in order to make an oracle who can speak to the gods is a subconscious culmination of my many childhood years reading Fritz Lieber and Michael Moorcock.
 
Get to know more about J.N. Powell in her featured interview and more about using tarot to break past writer’s block in her guest post, “Writing with the Tarot: the Answer Is Inside You.”
 

Bekki Pate
 

Tell me about your workspace and how it influences your work.
 
I have managed to carve out a little space in my spare room which I decorated with calming colours. It has a desk, a chair and a bookcase and that's it, to avoid distractions. The desk faces the window so I can look out at the trees and fields – it seems to help me if I get stuck on a certain part of the story.
 
Get to know more about Bekki Pate in her featured interview and more about how nice people can write dark stories in her guest post, “But I Am a Nice Girl.”

 
 
Morven Westfield
 

What would you like readers to take away from your story?
 
Oh, so much, but probably what’s most important in the current fractious society is that there are kinder ways of asking someone to stop behavior that you consider rude. 
 
Get to know more about Morven Westfield in her featured interview and more about expectations at concerts in her guest post, “Cosmic Justice.”
 

 
Belinda Stoner
 

If you could choose a single superpower, what would it be and why?
I’d choose the ability to communicate with animals. They know much more than we give them credit for, and they’re infinitely better than humans, in my opinion.
 
Get to know more about Belinda Stoner in her featured interview and more about how real karma played out in her guest post, “Karma: Real, or Just a Dream?”

 
 
Arlen Feldman
 

What would you like readers to take away from your story?
 
Life is all about choices. Even if you only have small choices left to you, you can choose to take a little bit of control of your life.
 
Oh, and don’t get seriously sick in America.
 
Get to know more about Arlen Feldman in his featured interview and more about writing what you know in his guest post, “What You Know.”
 
 
Stay tuned as we celebrate our TRANSCENDENT authors each month.