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Words from the wise

Author Interviews

Atmosphere Press is proud to bring readers the Atmosphere Press Presents author interview series. We’re happy to have this archive of excellent interviews and author success stories for you to enjoy. Learn about writers and their books, from book title origin stories to music playlists that relate to their writing to what it was like seeing the cover for the first time.
 
Atmosphere puts the author experience first, and these interviews make up just one facet of a meaningful and rewarding author journey. Please share your favorite interviews and author success stories on social media, and stay in touch so you can be the first to know when new posts are published. Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on interviews, Atmosphere Press Presents readings, and other news!

Gary Green grew up on a small dairy farm in central Minnesota. He has worked in many different occupations, finally settling on mental health. He is the author of three published books, two of which are award-winners. He lives on a small farm with his wife, Tammy, dog Basil, and a small flock of chickens.

Rekha Valliappan is an award-winning multi-genre writer of short stories, poetry and creative nonfiction. She has been widely published online and in print in hundreds of literary and genre magazines and anthologies including New World Writing, Ann Arbor Review, The Museum of Americana: A Literary Review, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, The Cabinet of Need, Queen Mob's Teahouse, Bending Genres, Lackington Magazine, Aphelion Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy, Saturday Evening Post, and other places. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Besides being published in winners' anthologies her work was also named Poem of the Week and Best of Fiction by Red Fez and Across the Margin respectively.

T.R. Slauf was born and raised in Michigan, originally studying and working in the field of Biochemistry. After having open-heart surgery for congenital heart disease, Slauf changed career paths to pursue the passion of storytelling and published their debut novel, Hidden Realm, two years later. Slauf now lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with their spouse and two cats.

Azra Rahman was born in India. She has been tapping into the profession of writing and published for the past nine years. The Mother of my Children is her debut novel. She currently lives in the beautiful valley of Salt Lake City, Utah, with her family of five.

Kim Fleet has an MA and a PhD in Anthropology, and worked with indigenous people in Australia for five years. This experience informed her murder mystery novels, Sacred Site and Featherfoot. Turning to crime closer to home, she is the author of the Eden Grey mysteries, a series of time-slip crime novels featuring determined PI Eden Grey. Kim has spoken about her writing at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and at Bristol Crime Fest. She lives in the UK with two bossy cats who assist the creative process by standing on the delete key.

When I am not sewing, cooking, gardening, roasting cacao, fire dancing, writing, crafting, singing and playing music, mixing batches of salve, seasonings and herbal infusions, painting, drawing, making candles, feeding the donkey, sheep, guinea pigs, chickens, cats or other humans, find me near a shore playing my drum while my children swim salty waves watching for whales and rainbows or deep in a forest listening to the wisdom of trees, breeze and wildflowers whisper their truth.

East Texas author JoDee Neathery has written two award-winning novels: Life in a Box, published 2017, and A Kind of Hush, released July 2021. Both have won the International Firebird Book Awards for literary fiction and were awarded Readers’ Favorite 5-Star designations. A Kind of Hush received critical acclaim as one of five finalists in the highly contested mystery category of the 16th annual 2022 National Indie Excellence Awards, the 2022 Silver Medal Winner, Readers’ Favorite Annual International Book Awards, Literary Fiction, and was a shortlisted finalist in the 11th annual 2022 Millennium Book Awards and winner in the literary fiction category.

Irena Smith is a former Stanford admissions officer, long-time college counselor, and relatively new author. She emigrated from the Soviet Union with her parents when she was nine, and after vowing strenuously that she would never learn English, she earned a PhD in Comparative Literature and taught literature and composition at UCLA and Stanford before transitioning to admissions counseling and writing. Her memoir, The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays, recently won the 2023 Best Book Award for creative nonfiction. Forbes lauds it as "captivating and smart," an antidote to conventional thinking about elite college admissions.

Debut author Emily Hood is a primary school teacher from Warwickshire, UK. She started writing nearly two years ago and is incredibly excited for her debut release, The Black That Surrounds Us. She has several other works in progress, all based around the fantastical Vadorian Universe. When she isn't writing, she is spreading her love of creativity through teaching, drawing animals, or taking long walks.

Jessica K. Foster is an author of young adult contemporary romances including Andy and the Extroverts and the forthcoming Andy and the Summer of Something. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, two boys, and ragtag crew of rescue animals. Find out more at jessicakfoster.com.