Author profile: Pebbles on the Strand

David W. Berner is the author of several award-winning books of fiction and memoir. He has been honoured as the Writer-in-Residence at the Jack Kerouac Project in Florida, and the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Home and Museum in Oak Park, Illinois. His short stories and poems have been published in literary journals and online editions.
Susan M. Breall is the 2022 winner of the Gateway Review flash fiction contest. Her short stories appear in numerous anthologies including Impermanent Facts, Running Wild Press, Kairos Literary Magazine, The Raw Art Review, Aba Terra anthology, Beyond Queer Words, Dreamers Creative Writing, The Good Life Review, and Paragon Press’ Martian Chronicle. By day she handles cases involving abuse, abandonment and neglect of children. By night she writes fiction.
Allison Collins is editor of Upstate Life Magazine and a writer with The Daily Star and Kaatskill Life Magazine. Her work has been published in online and print journals. Allison lives in upstate New York with her family. 
Russell Doherty has studied with George Saunders, Greg Iles, and Joshua Mohr, and attended the Writer’s Digest, Santa Barbara, and Kauai Writers Conferences. Russ has a double BA from UCSB in Screenwriting and Music Composition. His work is published in Ellipsis, Evening Street Review, Glint Literary Journal, Havik, Lunaris Review, The Opiate, The Quiet Reader, and Summerset Review. His short story “The Towers” is published in Potato Soup Journal’s Best of 2021 anthology. Russ walks the beach a lot, arguing with the characters in his head. He also loves to travel with his family. 
Stephen Elmer lives and works in Ventura County, California, where he builds software by day and creates stories by night (and early, early morning). His stories mix quirky, satirical characters with social commentary on a wide variety of topics. When he isn’t reading, he can be found playing games with his two sons or biking around town looking for great food. 
Siobhan Gifford lives and writes in an old cottage in the shadow of the North York Moors which historically housed the village witch. A former journalist, her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines and various anthologies; in 2023, three poems were chosen for the Ripon Poetry Festival anthology Creative Juices, one appeared in New Contexts: 5 and a fifth poem was Highly Commended in the King Lear Prizes. Siobhan loves playing with the mosaic of words, fitting them together to weave a story or pattern a poem. She is also a mosaic artist. 
Susan Perkins lives in North Yorkshire and writes mainly short poems and stories. 
Jenna Plewes has 2 pamphlets and 7 collections in print. The Salt and Sweet of Memory, (Dempsey and Windle, December 2019), The Underside of Things (Hedgehog Poetry Press, 2020), A Woven Rope (V. Press, 2021) and A Lick of Loose Threads (Hedgehog Poetry Press, 2021. The Underside of Things has raised £1,280 for Childline and the Samaritans, The Salt and Sweet of Memory and A Woven Rope are both being sold in aid of Freedom from Torture and A lick of Loose Threads is raising funds for Doctors Without Borders. She and her husband live in Worcestershire with their collie. She has two children and 4 grandchildren. 
David Punter is a writer of stories and poetry. He has lived and worked in many places across the world, including England, Scotland, China and Hong Kong, and is now located in a village near Bristol. His most recent published work includes three poetry collections, Those Other Fields (Palewell, 2020), Stranger (Cinnamon, 2021) and Ship’s Log (Bristol Books, 2022), all available from his website, davidpunter.org. 
Greta Ross was born in Australia. A retired doctor, she is an active poet and member of SaveAs Writers, Canterbury. Greta graduated MA (Distinction) in Poetry Writing through Newcastle University in 2022. Her poems have appeared in over 30 poetry anthologies and journals, as well as gaining prizes in competitions. She was Canterbury International Poet of the Year 2022. Greta enjoys writing in different styles. Many poems are a response to social and political impacts on society or the natural world. Some of her more unusual poems explore the “underbelly” of human experience with the aim of unsettling readers’ expectations. 
Debra Tillar has been an archaeologist, a teacher, and a freelance travel and food writer. Her short stories have recently been included in several science fiction anthologies and literary journals. Debra spends most of her time writing, creating art from natural and found objects, and traveling the world (she has visited all seven continents). She grew up in New York City but now lives on the Seacoast of New Hampshire and is currently working on her multi-volume science fiction series, The Nomad.
Bill VanPatten is an award-winning author of novels and short stories. Because of his background, gay and Latino characters tend to populate his stories. He left a successful career in academia to return to his native California and write full time. On occasion, he still performs standup comedy. You can find out more at http://www.billvanpatten.net. 
Ellen Wade Beals trained as a journalist, and writes poetry and prose. Her work has appeared in literary magazines, in anthologies and on the web in the US, Ireland, and the UK. Her poem “Between the sheets” appears in the textbook Everything’s a Text (Pearson 2010). She is editor and publisher of the award-winning anthology Solace in So Many Words (2011). “Complete and utter loss” is an excerpt from The Good and Bad of It, her yet to be published novel.
Keith Willson is a retired clinical scientist who lives in East Sussex. In 2023 he completed an MA in creative writing at the Open University. His writing has been published in London Magazine, Hot Tin Roof, and New Contexts: 5. As a labour of love, he is currently completing a biography of the novelist, short story, and travel writer William Sansom.