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Meet a New Columbia II Writer

LIS ANNA-LANGSTON 

Lis Anna-Langston was raised along the winding current of the Mississippi River on a steady diet of dog-eared books. She attended a Creative and Performing Arts School from middle school until graduation and went on to study Literature at Webster University. Her two novels, Gobbledy and Tupelo Honey have won the Parents’ Choice Gold, Moonbeam Book Award, Independent Press Award, Benjamin Franklin Book Award and NYC Big Book Awards. Twice nominated for the Pushcart award and Finalist in the Brighthorse Book Prize, William Faulkner Fiction Contest and Thomas Wolfe Fiction Award, her work has been published in The Literary Review, Emerson Review, The Merrimack Review, Emrys Journal, The MacGuffin, Sand Hill Review, and dozens of other literary journals.

 She draws badly, sings loudly, loves ketchup, starry skies, and stories with happy aliens.

You can find her in the wilds of South Carolina plucking stories out of thin air.  

 www.lisannalangston.com

Lis's first post follows.

THE LATEST ADDITION

Meet a New Columbia II Writer

SHARON A EWING

Sharon A. Ewing is a retired teacher with 30 years of experience, mostly in the elementary and middle school grades. Also she’s taught Language Arts skills at the high school level, as well as technical and junior college and worked as a library assistant in both public and college libraries.

In 2015, she wrote the text for The Historical Stained Glass Windows of St. Peter’s Catholic Church. In 2017, she contributed an article to The Word Among Us. She is currently working on her first historical novel based on her great-great grandmother’s experience of immigrating to America.

Sharon’s  family includes a son, a daughter and 5 beautiful grandchildren. She and her husband love to travel. Her other passions include sewing, gardening, refinishing furniture and, reading, especially anything to do with history.

Sharon's first post on this page follows.

 

 

 

THE LATEST ADDITION

Meet a New Columbia II Blogger

ALEXA BIGWARFE

Alexa Bigwarfe is a USA Today Best-Selling Author, an author coach, and a publisher. Through her company, Write|Publish|Sell, Alexa loves helping other authors through the maze, and oftentimes, the confusion of publishing and book marketing. She resides in Columbia, SC, with her husband, three children, dog, and a lot of characters in her head that are just waiting to make it to print.

Alexa's first post on this page follows.

THE LATEST ADDITION

Meet a New Columbia II Blogger

JERRY D. PATE

Jerry D. Pate is a retired trade association executive and broadcast news director, reporter, anchor. He has written nearly 20 short stories and is working on a book about a South Carolina cotton mill and its people. 

Jerry's first post on this page follows.

THE LATEST ADDITION

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SAM GRIFFITH

Sam is an English teacher from the American southeast. He writes poetry, fiction, and, occasionally, song lyrics. An early reader of fantasy, his tastes now range from Russian epics to Japanese haiku. When he isn’t doing something related to literature, he enjoys playing disc golf or collectible card games with friends. As of August, 2019, he will begin a teaching position at a public high school in Qingdao, China.

Sam's first post on this page follows.

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RUTH P SAUNDERS

Ruth retired in February, 2015, after 30 years of teaching, research and service in the Department of Health Promotion and Education in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Retirement afforded her the opportunity to begin writing creative nonfiction in earnest after years of dabbling. In addition to focusing on writing, Ruth is also a visual artist and has worked for about four years with oil, oil pastel, gouache, graphite, collage, and mixed media. She plans to combine her passions for literary and visual arts. Her current goal is to develop professionally as a creative nonfiction writer and to write, illustrate and publish a collection of memories and stories about growing up in rural Lowcountry South Carolina in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Latest Addition

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EL OCHIIS

El is a recent transplant to Columbia, SC, having relocated from New York/New Jersey to attend classes towards a second, advanced degree at USC.   

She earned a BA Degree in English, studied art in Paris and Athens, traveled abroad, married, divorced, then took a hiatus from creative writing and graduate school, to rear two offspring. Putting her writing on hold, she focused on earning a paycheck to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on. As a result she spent a considerable amount of time as a freelance and contract writer for New York advertising, marketing and public relations firms, however she vowed to get back to writing stories. 

After returning to storytelling, El has won various accolades for her writing, including First Prize in Adventure for a Screenplay in a New a York Screenwriting Contest; Quarter Finalist in an Annual Screenwriting and Fiction Contest for a short story; and a poem about a famous street in NYC, in song format, won Honorable Mention at the Grand Ole Opry in Songwriting (no, she does not know how a song about NYC won in a country music competition).

El's first blog post on this page follows.

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NICK ROLON

I dedicate my first blog post to my mother, Teresa, who has been battling brain cancer for nearly  three years. She has been an inspiration as she has hand-written over 3,000 cards during her life with notes of hope, thanks, and goodness to others.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from John Jay College, New York City, and was a staff member of its newspaper The Lex Review. I have spent over 30 years in the retail industry. Sharon, my supportive wife, and I have two adorable dogs, Tucker and Madison. In addition, I have been active in many charities during the last 35 years including the March of Dimes, St. Jude's Children's research hospital, Adam Walsh Center, DARE programs, Kiwanis club, and many local good-news community initiatives. My favorite book/movie is The Natural starring Robert Redford.

Nick's first blog post on this page follows.

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Meet Another Columbia II Blogger

TRAVIS PAGE

Travis graduated from White Knoll High School in 2007.  In college he studied Mechanical Engineering, Biology, Biochemistry, Architectural Engineering and briefly thought about trying to get into Pharmacy School.  However, after ten years of becoming familiar with different disciplines he ultimately learned that what he needed was a more traditional 9-to-5 job to make ends meet while he continues to pursue the things about which he’s most passionate.  He’s a bodybuilder, you may have seen him on a community theatre stage and now he is taking on writing.  Maybe you’ll see him in a publication one day.

Travis's first post on this page follows.

The Latest Addition

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RAEGAN TELLER


Raegan Teller is an award-winning mystery author in Columbia, SC, where she lives with her husband and two cats. Her debut novel, Murder in Madden, received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Her second novel in the Enid Blackwell series is The Last Sale. Both books were inspired by real-life cold cases in her hometown. Before writing fiction, Raegan was a business writer and copy editor, executive coach, and insurance manager—among other things. While working her way through school, she even sold burial vaults at a cemetery. How apropos is that for a mystery writer!

The Latest Addition

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LYNDA MASCHEK

Lynda Maschek has had a lifelong dedication to promoting healthy lifestyles which fueled her decision to become a Licensed/Registered Dietitian, Nutritionist. She earned her Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Food and Nutrition from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. Lynda is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as well the American College of Sports Medicine. She has been recognized as a professional wellness practitioner for over 12 years. Now Lynda has begun writing articles for nutrition, yoga, exercise and wellness publications.

Lynda is married and has two adult children living in Charleston, SC.

Lynda's first post on this page follows.

The Latest Addition

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SHARON MAY

Sharon May was born in Appalachia, specifically Eastern Kentucky, the granddaughter of a coal miner. She attended the University of Kentucky for undergraduate degrees in English and English Education and later earned a Masters in English Literature from Marshall University and attended the University of South Carolina for Ph.D coursework.

In 1993, after two years as an adjunct for Midlands Technical College, May was hired full-time in the English Department, later transferring to the Developmental Studies Department to help under-prepared students qualify for college-level courses. She co-authored, along with four colleagues at MTC, a textbook Reading, Analyzing, and Writing for College Students published by Pearson for a developmental English class.

Her hobbies include owning four cats, following UK basketball, and  reading.


Sharon's first entry on this page follows.

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AMANDA JONES

Amanda holds a Juris Doctorate and is a second year Ph.D. student of Public Law and Public Administration. Her research focuses on judicial decision-making both in American courts and abroad. Though the rigor of graduate school rarely affords time for fun, she has made it a priority to focus on her writing and to allow herself to indulge in a creative outlet. 

Amanda's first post on this page follows.

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OLGA AGAFONOVA

Olga Agafonova is a front-end developer who loves good books and smooth coffee. Professionally, she is interested in 3D modeling and animation.  Creatively, her background is in the visual arts and she is excited about learning to tell stories through fiction. 

Olga's first blog post for SCWW Columbia II follows.

The Latest Addition

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BRIAN BARR

Brian Barr is an American author of novels, short stories, and comic books. Brian has been published in various short story anthologies, including Queer Sci Fi’s Discovery, NonBinary Review No. 3: The Wizard of Oz, Dark Chapter Press’s Kill for a Copy, and various short story collections. Brian collaborates with another writer, Chuck Amadori, on the supernatural dark fantasy noir comic book series Empress, along with Pencil Blue Studios’ Marcelo Salaza for the art. His first two novels, Carolina Daemonic and Psychological Revenge, will be published by J. Ellington Ashton Press in 2015.

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REX HURST

Rex Hurst is a writer and a university instructor orginally from Buffalo, NY. After 30 years of attempting to write stories, he feels his talent has finally hit the right pitch to attempt to sell it. He also is trying to discover if one can grow wheat in a pot sitting by the window.

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JULIA ROGERS HOOK

Julia Rogers Hook comes to Columbia, SC after almost 30 years of life in Los Angeles where she worked as a journalist in radio, television, magazines and newspapers. She covered local politics, community events and national news such as the 2000 Alaskan Flight 261 plane crash off the coast of Ventura, CA and the 911 bombings. She also taught courses in broadcast writing at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, CA.

She has long had a burning desire to share the misadventures and wrong directions of her misspent youth to the reading world in book form and is currently working on her first book and possible syndicating her local column in “The Columbia Star” newspaper.

She is unbelievably happily married to the man of her dreams, Marty Hook and enjoying learning to be a stepmom to his son Van. While Van has his own apartment, Julia and Marty share their home with Whitman, a 95-pound standard poodle and two cats, Molly and Scrappy. They will all have their own stories in the book.

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GEORGE H. LONG, JR.

George Long's mother instilled in him her love for language. He uses that love to express his own experiences into life-enriching lessons for children and their parents to enjoy. Just a Penny for a Pocketful of Dreams is the first of four," Daddy always Says" Books. His motto is: "Our goal is to enrich the the lives of those we touch."

 For ideas you may go to www.georgelongchildrensbooks.com to view his the gallery of book-signings.  

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KASIE WHITENER

Dr. Kasie Whitener is a professional educator and fiction writer. She blogs about the writing process at GenX Stories and about her life in transition at Life on Clemson Road. Her fiction has appeared in Spry Literary Journal and Enhance Literary Magazine. She is a member of SCWW Columbia II and a board member for Wordsmith Studio, an online literary community.

Updated Bio

JANIE KRONK

Janie lives with her husband and daughter in Columbia, South Carolina, where she has enjoyed the camaraderie and critiques of the South Carolina Writer's Workshop since 2006. Her writing has appeared in The Petigru Review and South Carolina Architecture.