Authors, poets, and artists featured in this issue…
Art:
Chrysalis
Amelia Shields (b. 2002) is an artist living and working in North Carolina, USA. Born and raised in Greensboro, she graduated from Davidson College with a BA in Studio Art and Art History in May 2024. In her oil paintings, she immerses herself in the process of worldbuilding, creating spaces that capture the essence of transition. Influenced by the intricacies of natural patterns and the wonder of speculative fiction, her work invites you to explore moments suspended between the conception and final establishment of a fantastical realm.
Poem:
Waltmaries
Ang E Miller is a high school English teacher who is described as a builder of unapologetic, transformative sanctuaries for youth, particularly for queer voices and bodies to be themselves. Beyond teaching, she is the advisor for the Animation Club, the Gender-and-Sexualities Alliance, the Literary Arts Magazine, and the Creative Writing Club in her school; a coach for her district’s Slam Poetry Team; and the Director of the Youth Poet Laureate Program for the Fox River Valley. When she’s not working or writing, she spends her time lecturing her dog for eating the yarn she’s crocheting with.
- Facebook: Angie La
- Instagram: @ang_e_miller
- Twitter: @AngieLa213
Art:
Another Mask
Carol Radsprecher is a Brooklyn-based painter and digital printmaker. She earned her MFA in painting from Hunter College, CUNY, in 1988. Her work has appeared in several solo shows and numerous group shows and has been published in many publications. Distortion of the human figure is a key element in her work. These distorted representations of the figure interact with abstract areas in a confined space. Most of her figures are representations of the female figure — one of the first landscapes we see as we enter the world.
- Website: www.carolradsprecher.com
- Instagram: @cradsprecher
Art:
Leaf Lace
Christine Taylor is a young writer from New England who writes poetry to connect with others through personal experiences as a queer person and someone fighting mental illness. They enjoy spending time with family, their dogs, and listening to electronic music.
- Medium: crostini925.medium.com
Art:
Haunted Recall no2
David A. Goodrum is a photographer and writer living in Corvallis, Oregon. His photos have graced the covers of Cirque Journal, Willows Wept Review, Blue Mesa Review, Ilanot Review, Red Rock Review, The Moving Force Journal, Snapdragon Journal, Vita Poetica, and many others.
- Website: www.davidgoodrum.com
- Instagram: @goodrum
- Twitter: @goodrum
Art:
Underfoot
Em Harriett (she/they) is an author and photographer from New England. Aside from Audience Askew, their photography has appeared in F-Stop Magazine, Kelp Journal, and Reservoir Road Literary Review.
Story:
Little Mouse
J.Fowler resides in the Northwest of Ireland.
Story:
Shadows
Kalan is a horror writer based in Los Angeles. His favorite author is Clive Barker, and his favorite book is Rosemary’s Baby. He has published works in The Northridge Review, Valley by Valley, Spectre, Beyond Queer Words, and Blue World Lit. During his free time, Kalan likes to go to the gym.
- Instagram: @kalandelrey
Story:
Other Side of the Curtain
Kayleigh Marinelli is a writer, researcher, editor, and teacher. Marinelli’s debut novel, The Fantastic Fabricated Life of Lyle Farker, was published in 2021. Her work has been published in literary journals, short story collections, and poetry collections. She earned her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) in 2019.
Art:
Insider Trading
Matthew McCain is an author and fine artist, with three of his novels reaching the top #10 on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. His paintings can be found all around the world, from London to Alice Cooper’s Teen Youth Rock Center in Phoenix, Arizona. He’s currently represented by the Bilotta Gallery in Florida.
Art:
Bird on a Treebranch
Michael Noonan is from Halifax (home of the Piece Hall), West Yorkshire. Has a background in retail, food production, and office work. Has had artworks published in literary journals in the US and UK, and elsewhere, including, After the Pause, Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, The Hooghly Review, and Noctivigant Press. Won a runners up prize for a black and white line drawing in a competition run by Arts and Illustrators Magazine in the UK, and his own painting can be seen on the cover of a volume of his short stories, entitled, SEVEN TALL TALES, that is available at Amazon.
- Online Portfolio: www.behance.net/gallery/182795873/Imaginative-Images
Art:
Haunted House
Natasha Hoyt is an Armenian artist, and art has been her passion since her early childhood. Over the years, she’s explored many styles and genres, but she ultimately found her true calling in graphic art. Using monochrome markers on watercolor paper, she creates pieces that resonate deeply with her soul. She finds inspiration in everyday life as well as in weird and forgotten objects. Sometimes, it’s ornamental free drawing inspired by nature or drawings of abandoned buildings, factories, and haunted houses – these influences shape her work. Natasha Hoyt lives and works in New Jersey, and when she doesn’t create new art, you’ll find her watching horror movies.
- Website: https://hoytish.art/
- Instagram: @hoytish
Micro-fiction:
Taste
Paul Shovlin is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who lives and teaches writing in Ohio. His work has been published in Gramarye: The Journal of the Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. His poetry will be appearing in Drunk Monkeys in April and later this summer in an anthology by Middle West Press.
Poem:
Whiskeytown Lake
Philip Chiles is a full-time stay-at-home dad, part-time DM, and aspiring poet. He was raised in Southern California within the conservative evangelical tradition of the 90s and all the baggage that entails. Following grad school, Phil moved with his family to Northern California; after working for a few years as an Adjunct English Professor at nearby Simpson University, he was diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD, which suddenly made everything make sense. These days, Phil lives in Shasta Lake, CA, with his wife and two daughters.
Poem:
Chirp in the Night
Rebecca Thrush grew up in central Massachusetts and currently works in property management. When not working, she enjoys writing poetry, painting, and creating digital collages from her personal photography collection.
- Instagram: @rebeleigh92
Poem:
Dissection
Rey Fairburn (she/they) is a queer, neurodivergent poet and artist. Her work has been published by Lupercalia Press, Lived Collective, ROOM Magazine, and more.
- Website: www.reysenchantments.com
- Instagram: @reysenchantments
Art:
Behold the Eye
Cover Art:
She Looks into My Soul
Robin Young is based in Borrego Springs California, currently works in mixed media focusing mostly on collage and contemporary art making. Her focus on collage art using magazine clippings, masking tape, wallpaper, jewelry, feathers, foil, etc. allows her to develop deep into the whimsical and intuitive. From large, life-sized pieces, 3D sculptures, to small postcard-sized arrangements, Robin’s keen eye and gripping esthetic guide her viewers into her own semi-readymade world. Repurposing nostalgic images for lighthearted and sometimes disquieting messages; Robin’s artistic universe is strange, funky, sometimes perverse, and always alluring
- Instagram: @2songbird
Poem:
Samhain Dreams
t.m. thomson is co-author of Frame & Mount the Sky (2017), a chapbook of ekphrastic poetry, and is the sole author of Strum and Lull (2019) and The Profusion (2019). She is a lover of animals, art, trees, surrealism, black and white movies, walking in autumn rains, feeding wild birds in winter, playing in spring mud, & bat-watching in summer. Her first full-length collection of poems, Plunge, was published by Uncollected Press in 2023.