Valerie Crowe

Valerie Crowe is an ex-pat who moved to Florida from the UK ten years ago and shows no signs of returning any time soon.

Having had a professional career in forensic science she observed that it doesn’t matter how many scientific papers one writes, they will not hold the attention of many young children. That’s when she decided that writing children’s stories may hold their attention in a more productive framework.

 Living in the European environment with its rich history for the first part of her life has helped Valerie with the background of some of her stories, especially the Precious Knights series. As she has often been reminded by her four grandchildren, stories need to be written down if they are going to be told and re told correctly to different generations. The four stories in the Adventure of the Precious Knights definitely owe their backgrounds to European culture, with the fourth book Are You a Dragon? bringing in the Scottish love of myths and monsters.

The onset of school and the joys of pet ownership for the grandchildren resulted in the next series of the ‘Panic’ books. With this series, Crowe has identified some of the problems that children face when they start school and also how the bond between a child and a pet can influence their actions. The third and last book in the Panic series is a Christmas story with the characters once again encountering a problem which gets solved in time for the holidays.

Future stories are being planned, and new characters are being formulated. Crowe shows no signs of hanging up her pen any time soon because her reading audience (especially her own grandchildren) is ever demanding.

Future travel will provide more material, and more ideas for more stories. If you look hard enough, the material is all around you. You just have to sort it out, add your magic, and write it down.

Jock Miler

Jock Miller comes from a strong publishing background. His great grandfather, George Terry Dunlap, was founder of Grosset and Dunlap book publishers; his father, John R. Miller, Jr. was President of the William Randolph Hearst publishing empire; his grandfather, John R. Miller, Sr., was president of West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company (Westvaco); his uncle, Dunlap Fulton, founded the first Pennysaver on the east coast, and Miller founded his own publishing company at the age of twenty-eight.

Jock Miller, (John R. Miller, III), received a BS degree in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University. He attended Harvard Business School to participate in a case study publishing management program sponsored by the American Business Press.

 Before starting his own publishing company, Miller served as Director of Marketing and Sales for Billboard Publications, Inc, then Director of Circulation for the twelve magazine publishing company. 

 Miller has appeared on cable TV talk shows, been interviewed on numerous radio talk shows, and interviewed live on the Today Show by Barbara Walters and Edwin Newman. He has been a guest lecturer at C.W. Post College, and C.W. Post Brentwood Campus, lecturing on industry's responsibility to society and its community.

Miller is Director Emeritus of The First National Bank of Long Island where he served on the Board as a Director for twenty-three years. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Middleby Company, a $4 billion dollar manufacturing company, as Chairman of the Compensation Committee. He is past President of the Boards of The Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum, The Huntington Arts Council, the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery Board of Directors, and was president of his New York City Co-Op Board. He has served as an Elder and Deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington, Long Island New York. 

Miller has received the coveted Pericles Award for his work promoting people with disabilities, wounded warriors, minorities, and women into the workforce through the company he founded, EOP, Inc. (www.Eop.com) and seven diversity & inclusion career magazines and diversity career expos. He currently serves as Chairman and CEO of EOP, Inc. The Company became the nation’s first interracially owned and staffed company in the nation. He is also the recipient of the Valley Forge Honor Certificate Award recognizing his contribution to a free society. 

His hobbies are writing novels, fly fishing, playing the bag pipes, golf, and the piano. Miller is an amateur radio operator, call sign K2MUS.

Jim Lee

Jim Lee is a fourth-generation Floridian raised, in his early years, on a cattle ranch south of Kissimmee, Florida. As a boy, he spent considerable time hunting rabbits and running fish traps. His family moved to Orlando where he remained until he joined the U.S. Army. During his time in the service, he worked as a cryptographer in Japan.

Jim has hunted many areas of the state, fly fished many central Florida lakes, and salt water fished most of Florida’s coastline and the Florida Keys. Turkey hunting and offshore fishing are his passions.

He was schooled at the University of Florida and at Alameda University. While making a living and raising his children, he was CEO of Florida Material Handling and Caster, Executive Director of the Florida League of Anglers, Sales Manager for Craft Equipment, Agent Manager for Allied Van Lines and Mayflower Van lines, owned a restaurant and finally a became mortgage broker. All the while, he wrote various articles for fun and profit.

Lee published Seafood Legends in 2008 and distributed them on both coasts of Florida and published a second edition in the summer of 2018.

He was a correspondent for the Tampa Tribune for 27 years, writing a weekly column on fishing and human-interest stories. His articles have been published in Saltwater Fishing magazine, Florida Sportsman magazine and six other outdoor magazines. He also published Florida Fishing magazine, a newspaper give-away that was distributed on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and through J.C. Penny Co. where he wrote ad copy.

Lee wrote and produced several radio shows, and wrote ad copy and sold ads for three radio shows on three different radio stations, The Getaway Show with Jim & Joe, The Getaway Show with Sergio, and The Getaway Fishing Show. Lee also hosted a nationwide telephone fishing report for the Tampa Bay area, where northern anglers could get the current information to be able to plan their trips in advance.

Lee also served as a food critic for seafood restaurants on-line on a weekly basis and wrote a weekly column for the Tampa Bay Area website.

You can reach Jim via email at: jleebetterrates@tampabay.rr.com.

Bart Billings, PhD

Dr. Bart P. Billings has been working in the fields of Mental Health, Human Services and Management for over 50 years. He possesses licenses in Clinical Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy and has past expertise as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. In Feb.2014, he received the International Human Rights Award from the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Dr Billings most recent award on June 3, 2016, was presented to him from the University where he received his BS and MS Degrees, the University of Scranton. This Jesuit University’s highest award is the Frank O’Hara Award, given for living the Jesuit values of Serving Others over his career.

He has an extensive background in Management and Program Development. He has a PhD in Research and Program Development from Saybrook University as well as a PhD in psychology from the same University. His education allowed him to work as Chief of Professional Services/Assistant Director at the University of California, Davis Teaching Hospital’s Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department.

He also founded the Institute for Occupational Services (IOS). He was the Commanding Officer for an Army Reserve General Hospital Section & has served a total of approximately 34 years in the US Army as enlisted and as an officer. His highest military rank was Colonel (SCNG-SC Medical Directorate). He has founded and directed: The Annual International Military and Civilian Combat Stress Conferences (22 yrs.), Prisoner of War Conferences and the military wide Human Assistance Rapid Response Team (HARRT), which was accepted at the Pentagon in 1997 as a readiness protocol to be implemented military wide.

He was a guest on HBO’s Vice News, previously ABC’s Night Line and US News and World Report. He has been featured on national and international documentaries, TV news shows and extensive radio shows, discussing Combat Stress. He has given testimony to Congressional and at State Legislative Hearings on the need for better Mental Health Treatment Programs for military personnel and their families. Some of these hearings resulted in the awarding of a multimillion-dollar Department of Defense grants for national research on how to improve treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries. He is responsible for initiating Congressional Hearings held on Feb. 24, 2010, providing Congressional Hearing testimony on the relationship between psychiatric medication and increased suicides in the military (available on the Congressional Record). September 2012, he lectured to some of the psychology faculty at West Point USMC.

On June 5, 2003, he was named as a member of the Governor's Advisory Board to Patton State Hospital, California. He has worked overseeing all psychological services for the San Diego District of the California Department of Rehabilitation. He has developed residential treatment programs in substance abuse and alcoholism, as well as human assistance programs for the civilian and military community. Recently he wrote a chapter in a book for attorneys called” Attorneys Guide to Defending Veterans in Criminal Court”. He is a member of the National Center for Youth Law Medical and Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Billings had been senior faculty at the William Glasser, MD Institute for over thirty years and has thought classes at the University of San Francisco, University of California Davis, United States International University, etc., as well as workshops on counseling and management throughout the United States. He speaks on Health and Nutrition with the focus on “The Psychology of Eating, How We Choose To Eat – Alternative Thinking/Healthy Cooking”. As prior owner and operator of a restaurant for 4 years, he practiced his teachings.

He was the founder and president of a manufacturing company called TBH Productions that produced OmniSonic professional audio loudspeakers. His work with sound and vast experience in the medical field has resulted in him writing an article in the Navy Medicine Journal titled, “The Sound You Feel Can Be Dangerous to Your Health “(Jan-Feb 2002, p.22-26), which deals with vibroacoustic disease. He also was published in The Hearing Journal (August 2019-Volume 72 - Number 8), “ Vibroacoustic Disease: More Than a Hearing Problem”. He was awarded an Honorary Chaplain Certificate from the Georgia State Defense Force. He has also volunteered for charities at times as a performing arts / special events director, producer, and writer for over thirty years. He has directed The All-American Festival, which raised funds for Veterans Scholarships. From April 2010 until November 17, 2012, he personally owned a very popular restaurant/bar in La Costa California, drawing a large number of retired and active-duty veterans, who often spoke to Dr Billings about their own personal issues with combat stress problems. An article in the military section of the North Coast Times (9-17-10) described his work with veterans and their visits to his restaurant. In 2015, and later in the 2018 Winter issue of The Marine Corps League’s Semper Fi Magazine was interviewed on Combat Stress Issues. He was asked to be a Commissioner for the CCHR International organization. His book titled Invisible Scars – Treating Combat Stress, PTSD Without Medication (Number One Best Seller on Amazon), covers over 40 years of his work with Combat Stress’ residual effects on our veterans and their families, with the Marine Corps League distributing over 1000 copies to its members for use in peer groups. www.bartpbillings.com

Richard S. Smith

Richard S. Smith lives in Florida with his wife Josephine, and his cat, Ming-Ming. He takes full advantage of living in Florida. His favorite place is Disney’s Magic Kingdom as he enjoys riding on various rides, or sitting quietly watching people pass by, as he takes in the sights of ‘The Board Walk’.

Richard also enjoys taking long walks on the beaches with his wife sometimes even catching glimpses of dolphins swimming near the shore or simply watching the sunset. He explains, “It’s hard to say there’s no God when you watch a sunset. God is such a good painter. Have you ever looked at the clouds and pondered at what a good painter He is?”

After college no job even came close to the destiny Jesus had for him. Richard shares, “Nothing has ever matched, or has been more satisfying than writing about my time spent with Jesus in Heaven.”

You can reach Richard via email at: c.wyen@yahoo.com.

Stephanie A. Kilgore-White

Stephanie White, wife, mother, licensed minister, former missionary with Cru, and teacher, has come to know God as Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides. She graduated from Appalachian State University with a bachelor’s degree in special education. White has spent 23 years as an educator in public schools.

In 2011, due to a sustained injury, she lost her job. She found herself humbled before God and the following day she received a check in the mail. She declared that to be her kiss from God.

In 2014 she took on the role as youth minister. White possesses a passion for communicating the gospel to people of all ages. This is evident through her six-year ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ.

The term kiss from God transformed her completely. Within weeks, she began to use what she had come to describe as her two fish and five loaves—the little talent that she had to write and draw—as an opportunity to create poetic messages and images that coincided with the theme, “Kisses from God”.

God has orchestrated her life with intention and divine purpose—to impact the hearts of young people for Him. Her prayer is that God use her written work, Kisses from God, Little Brown Boy You Are a STAR!, I Am Divinely Beautiful, and her new Charity Series books as ministry tools to convey His love to children near and far. In addition, her prayer is that every reader will experience the relational God, she treasures, both intimately and personally, as He bestows heaven-sent kisses on their daily lives.

She currently resides in McDonough, Georgia with her husband, Jerry, for 29 years and is a mother of four.

D.W. Powell

Dick W. Powell grew up in Largo, Florida on a dead-end street which ended in a swamp. He finished high school and worked for General Telephone Company where he began as a lineman and worked his way up to retire after thirty years as the Interim Director of Outside Plant Instruction.

He then went on to build several successful companies as well as becoming a spokesperson for a large manufacturing company located in northern California. It was here that he discovered that what he had always done was what he was supposed to do—help others help themselves to realize their dreams.

Dick is a Certified Life Purpose and Business Coach. He trained with the Life Purpose Institute. He is also a Certified Speaker, Teacher, Coach, and a Founding Partner with the John C. Maxwell Group.

Melanie Barton Bragg

Melanie Barton Bragg has a master’s degree in social work, a doctorate in pastoral counseling and community development, and is an ordained Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister with Ecclesiastical Endorsement as a pastoral counselor. Since 1985 Dr. Barton-Bragg has maintained a private holistic psychotherapy practice. She is a Reiki and Rife practitioner. Her work has included teaching at the college level, leading multiple workshops, and consulting with organizations and churches to navigate through transitions, including educating them about sexual addiction. As a trained crisis responder, Dr. Barton debriefs critical incidences in private and governmental agencies.

Archived episodes of her two-and-a-half-year Internet radio show are available for listening to on her website  www.thedrmelanieshow.com. She has been interviewed on television, radio, and online live events. Her three published books are The ABCs of Children’s Sermons, Quicksand: Marion’s Memories Married to a Sex Addict Minister, Clergy Sexual Misconduct: A Layperson’s Guide to Predict, Prevent, Detect, Address, Treat, and Recover from Clerical Sexual Abuse all available on Amazon. She enjoys living in North Florida and spending time with her children and grandchildren. To contact her to lead your workshop, seminar, webinar, or teleconference, or to become a virtual client contact her at drmelaniebarton@gmail.com.

John York

John York grew up in a rural town in central Ohio and has fond memories of working on the extended-family farms during the summer months of his youth. He served in the Air Force with the 3rd Air Rescue and Recovery Group in Viet Nam and in Thailand with the 40th Rescue and Recovery Squadron toward the end of that unpopular war.

John eventually attended college at Florida Atlantic University and received his bachelor’s degree in computer science and worked in that industry for the next 24 years. The beginning of this period was when the Internet was being born, and I was lucky enough to have been involved in many of the historic efforts to create and evolve those technologies.

Along the way, my wife, Paula, and I built our beloved Hellanback Ranch (HB) in the back country of San Diego County. This was our little piece of paradise where we raised livestock, planted wine grapes, and started a winery. Ramona, the little town a few miles from the ranch, was a great place to live, and over the years we became very involved in the community. The time came, however, when ranching and winemaking were a bit overwhelming, and the Yorks made the painful decision to sell the ranch. They relocated to New Port Richey on the west coast of Florida so that he could focus on writing.

John got the idea to start writing novels around 2014. He had done a lot of professional writing dealing with management and technology during his career, but always loved telling stories. It was in his blood, as he would say. In 2016 he retired and has been writing ever since. John has published books in several different genres. He also loves to cook, play the piano and sing, and has composed several songs. John is still involved with winemakers back in California and enjoys mentoring those who are just getting started in that industry.

The Author Show Interview Plus Excerpt from the Trouble In Choctaw County

Wendy VanHatten

Wendy VanHatten is a published author, international travel writer, food, wine, and travel blogger, Editor-in-Chief for Prime Time Living Magazine, wine, food, and travel writer for WE Magazine, and board member of the Bay Area Travel Writer Organization. She has taught writing at the college level and writing workshops. Her Max and Myron series for children teaches reading and good character traits. Her mystery series, Hidden Truths, is published by DocUmeant Publishing.

Current travel advice and photos can be found at www.travelsandescapesblog.com, her mystery novels online  or www.wendyvanhatten.com.

Beverly Mahone

Beverly Mahone, also known as “Auntie Bev” to her nearly 200k TikTok fans, is a veteran journalist who has spent more than 35 years in radio and television news. She has worked as a radio news anchor, talk show host, television reporter, videographer, and as an Assignment Editor.  After leaving the business in 2006, She decided to create a media marketing consulting business where she coached baby boomer women on how to market and promote themselves for media exposure and how to create videos.

She is the author of three Amazon best-selling books, Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age (2006), which takes a humorous and inspirational look at growing older. The second book, How to Get on the News without Committing Murder (2016), offers tips on how to self-promote, and The Baby Boomer/Millennial Divide, (2018), offers insight on how older adults can get along with young people in the workplace.  She has been featured as a baby boomer expert on MSNBC-TV and in the New York Times newspaper. She is listed as an Influencer for Baby Boomers by the online website, 4Retirees.

In addition to being a Professional Writing Consultant at a local University, she hosts online public speaking and writing sessions on YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. She also facilitates conversations on racism with diverse panelists around the country via Zoom.  She also has two blogs BoomerWorld, BabyBoomerBev and have written for or been covered by HuffPost50, Forbes.com, and U.S. News and World Report.  Her video podcast, The Boomer Beat, airs on YouTube.

“I absolutely LOVE being able to help others find their unique voices through the verbal and written words, but my greatest joy is being a wife, mother and grandma!”

Pat Stanford

Pat Stanford was born in Philadelphia. Her farming family, looking for year-round growing seasons, moved to Delray Beach, Florida when she was one. She lived there until a brief stint in the Air Force took her to California.

She graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Secondary Education, which was never used for its intended purpose. While some of her poems have been previously published in anthologies, Proverbs of My Seasons is her first published collection. She also writes short fiction and won second place in the 2004 Seven Hills Contest with her short story, Divorce Sale. Her creative non-fiction, Fixing Boo Boo: A Story of Traumatic Brain injury, won the gold medal for Florida Non-Fiction in the 2017 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Awards.

 With a passion for roses when it isn’t too hot outside, she has served as President of the local rose society and is a bronze medal recipient with the American Rose Society. She is an active member both Tallahassee poetry groups: Poetry for The Love of It and Big Bend Poets & Writers and was the President of the Tallahassee Writers Association for 2019. In 2021Pat held the postion of President for the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA).

Pat lives in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband, dog, and a quirky cat. She is working on another volume of poetry, a follow-up non-fiction, and a novel set in Mongolia.

Dawn Batterbee Miller

Dawn Batterbee Miller is the author of Footprints Under the Pines Deep Woods series that tells the story of a family’s search for security in the dark and dangerous deep woods.

She is also the author of God’s Family Tree and numerous articles in various Christian periodicals. Dawn is uniquely equipped to write about the nineteenth century lumber camp era.

Raised in deep woods territory, she grew up steeped in family stories and the local lore of the lumberjack.

Pioneer Potpourri is the real life stories that spured the Deep Woods series.

Ginger Marks

Born in Lansing, Michigan Ginger Marks moved to the Tampa Bay Area of Florida in 1978. She began her career as a business owner in partnership with the medical profession. Marks owned and operated a multi-million-dollar surgical facility for 23 years with her late husband. After his passing, Ginger’s drive to succeed led her to become a Financial Advisor while working on the side, for her own purposes, in the field of design with the founding of Graph Inc., which eventually became DocUmeant Designs.

Her love for writing and design has been the catalyst for her successful career in the publishing area. Coming from a family of published authors and speakers, it was no surprise when she, herself, embarked on the writing journey.

Ginger enjoys sharing from her vast expertise as a published author and business owner. She is an Expert Author for EzineAuthors and Huffington Post article writer. Marks enjoys giving back to her community and in doing so has been the Design VP with Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) from 2013–2021.

Mrs. Marks has won numerous awards for her writing and designs. DocUmeant Designs is listed on DesignFirms.org and is in the top tier design firm out of over 20,000 design firms in the US. In 2016, she was awarded the Golden Mouse Award as the Publishing Leader of the Year by WECAI.org and in 2020 FAPA honored her with the coveted FAPA Founder’s Award. She pens a monthly ezine titled, Words of Wisdom which she invites you to register to receive and can be found at DocUmeantPublishing.com and her sister company DocUmeanDesigns.com.

Lauren E. Miller, M.Ed, CSC, PCC

As a stress relief expert, award winning author, motivational speaker, HRD trainer, Edge God In podcast host, and certified executive and life coach, Lauren facilitates fun process driven programs with guidance, support and accountability creating positive sustainable behavioral change in business and personal life

Lauren has worked in youth and adult ministries for over 30 years. Through God’s mercy, grace and strength, she uses her experience simultaneously conquering two of life's top stressors: cancer and divorce to help others destress and successfully move through challenges.

Happily, remarried and gratefully enjoying life in Colorado with a loving husband, three grown children and two grandchildren, Lauren is often found in the kitchen dancing to her favorite worship music or rolling around on the floor with her two dogs.

Lauren holds a Masters in Adult Education with a Certification in Human Resources Development | Advanced Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Basic & Master Certification | Faculty Shift Leadership Training | Master Sherpa Executive Coach (MSC) and ICF Certification PCC | 2nd degree blackbelt World Tae Kwon Do.

Lauren has produced 8 CD’s and five 3 minute/30 day Audio/Visual Personal Excellence/Wellness Programs. She has authored 8 books, 3 of which are Award Winning:

• Hearing His Whisper ... with every storm Jesus comes too
• 99Things You Want To Know Before Stressing Out!
• Stop Letting the World Be the Boss of You! 25 Solutions to Refresh Your Identity in Christ
• Lauren’s Mission Statement: Champion Human Potential in Christ

Equip people and teams globally with mindset skills and sustainable behavioral shifts to de-stress their lives, regain inner clarity of purpose and step into personal and professional fulfillment.

http://LaurenEMiller.com • Edge God In Podcast: http://EdgeGodIn.com