Judie Rae is the author of the novel , The Haunting of Walter Rabinowitz. Her poems have appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, among them Nimrod, Wisconsin Review and Mudfish. She is the author of two chapbooks, The Weight of Roses, and Howling Down the Moon. Her essays have appeared in Tahoe Quarterly, The Sacramento Bee, as well as online at San Francisco's NPR station, KQED. Judie taught college English classes for twenty-seven years at various colleges throughout California. A Canadian, she now lives in Nevada City, California, a landscape reminiscent of her grandmother's home on the Ottawa River, where Judie spent her childhood summers.

Donna Meares is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, currently living with her husband in Grass Valley, California. Having worked as a social worker, she pursued her interests in writing after the birth of her first child. She engages in volunteer work, and enjoys bonsai gardening, genealogy, Zumba, and baking seedy sourdough bread. Donna has been published in Whiskey Blot Literary Journal, Home Life, Romantic Hearts Magazine, and Thelma Literary Journal.

Susan Solinsky raised her family in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, on land inhabited by the Northern California Nisenan Tribe for thousands of years. Since childhood, she has painted and drawn, taken photographs, traveled, and written stories and poems about the wonders and heartbreak of life and love. A good, formal education helped hone her creativity. The world continues to inspire and bewilder her as she watches her grandchildren grow into young adults and the land regenerate year after year. Susan has been published in Canary, Dharma Stream Magazine, Writing for our Lives, Wild Duck Review, and other publications.

Susan Warden has lived many places throughout her life, each providing a wealth of material for her poems. Early on she taught elementary school, where she discovered the power of story. She became a professional storyteller, sharing fairy tales, legends, and myths with audiences of all ages. Later in life she found herself writing poetry in response to music. She has continued her interest in the arts, honing her craft while living in Grass Valley, California. She has been published in Current Magazine

Ellen Reynard spent her childhood on a cattle ranch in Jackson, Montana. A one-time editor of Parabola Magazine, she is retired and lives in Grass Valley, California. Sh is the author of two chapbooks, No Batteries Required (Yellow Arrow Publishing) and Double Stream (South Forty Press). She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.