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JoAnna Arnold lives in Americus, Georgia, with her husband and three children. She is a teacher of French and Spanish at a local high school. In addition, she serves as an adjunct professor of French at South Georgia State University. JoAnna regularly travels with her family and students throughout Europe and Latin America. Although she believes that teaching high school is an incomparable mission field, she continues to nurture an insatiable love for Jubilee, Haiti.

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Sam Barbee’s poems appeared Crucible, Asheville Poetry Review, Potato Eyes, Georgia Journal, St. Andrews Review, Charlotte Poetry Review, and Pembroke Magazine; plus on-line journals Vox Poetica and The Blue Hour. He was awarded an "Emerging Artist's Grant" from Winston-Salem Arts Council to publish his first collection Changes of Venue (Mount Olive); and received the 59th Poet Laureate Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society for "The Blood Watch." Sam is current president of Winston-Salem Writers.

Fred Bassett’s poems have been widely published in journals and anthologies. He is also a frequently contributor to Old Mountain Press anthologies. His most recent book of poetry, The Old Stoic Faces the Mirror, was published by Salt Marsh Cottage Books in 2010. He has two novels, South Wind Rising (2010) and Honey from a Lion (2014), both published by All Things That Matter Press. Now retired from academia, he lives with his wife Peg near their grandchildren in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Glenda Council Beall’s poetry, creative nonfiction and short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals online and in print. Her poetry chapbook, Now Might as Well be Then, was published in 2009. She is owner/director of Writers Circle around the Table, a writing studio in Hayesville, NC where she lives. Beall teaches adult writing classes at Tri-County Community College in Murphy, NC. Visit her website, www.glendacouncilbeall.com, for more publication information.

Joann Bishop retired after thirty-two years and is presently working on two books for publication as she helps family and friends with closet and home organizations. She hopes to continue writing her poems and some short stories. Some of the poems written have been about spoiled pets, nature, and observations since she has retired. She lives in Jacksonville, NC.

Jerry Bradley retired from the military after thirty years of service in 2008. He now has the opportunity to concentrate on his writing. He and his wife, Laura, raised three children, a daughter in the Army, a daughter married to Army, and a son in the Air Force. Jerry is the Facilitator for Writing Can Help, a group that helps those dealing with trauma through writing. Jerry and Laura currently live in Raeford, NC.

Rachel Bronnum’s work has appeared in several Old Mountain Press Anthologies including In the Yard, Mountain Time, Home for the Holidays, and Looking Back. It’s always fun to fit the work to the theme! She has also been published in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge and Freeing Jonah. She lives in Lawrenceville, GA.

Stuart Burroughs works with visual art, poetry, and music. Her art hangs in many homes, and she has taught at various times. Her poems appear in anthologies including several NC Poetry Society’s books and OMP books. A collection of many poems, Beyond the Hills, is listed with Amazon.com. Stuart lives in Chapel Hill, NC, where she plays piano at several locations.

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Nancy Hall Cody enjoys writing poems. She has written several that are too long to be included in the anthology books. She has contributed to OMP’s When We’re Together and Looking For Santa. Nancy is married to her wonderful husband, Bill. They have two grown children; a daughter, Lynae and a son, Kyle. Nancy has four grand-children that she adores. She and her family reside in Hayesville, North Carolina.

Vicki Collins lives in Graniteville, SC, and teaches English at the University of South Carolina Aiken. Her poetry and prose have been published in several anthologies, most recently The Southern Poetry Anthology and The Way the Light Slants. She is currently working on a book about Appalachian literature.

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Mary Ann Davis is a 88-year-old southern lady who lives in a very special small town, Vienna Georgia. She has six grandchildren whose ages span from 42 to 8: Tee, Pollyanna, Charley, Lesta, Scout, and Parker Lee; and two great grandchildren: Lewis and Fielding, ages 9 and 7. Her interests today include her family and reading. Add to these her memorable interests of yesteryear: teaching, and traveling. She is the author of Mam Maw’s ABCs offered in the Amazon Kindle Store at:

www.amazon.com/dp/B00NG86KQG

Polly Davis, Ed.D, is retired from the NC Community College System where she served as an English department chair and an administrator. She served as a trustee for the Cumberland County Library and Information Center and chairs its program committee. She is the editor of Daddy Pa’s Diary, and Growing Up Southern in Baconton Georgia. Currently, She’s writing her memoir. She’s an avid reader and supporter of the arts in North Carolina. Polly lives in Webster, NC.

Tom Davis’ publishing credits include Poets Forum, The Carolina Runner, Triathlon Today, Georgia Athlete, Proud to Be: Writings by American Warriors Vol. 3, A Loving Voice Vol. I and II, Special Warfare., and Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN SIGHT program for May 2013 (poetry month). He’s authored the following books: The Life and Times of Rip Jackson, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On, The Patrol Order; and The R-complex. www.oldmp.com/e-book  Tom lives in Webster, NC.

Andrea Dietrich resides in Pleasant Grove,UT. An ESL teacher for 30 years, she began writing poetry in earnest after 2000. She has published 8 chapbooks, edited the magazine SPQuill for Marie

Summers,and judged numerous poetry contests, and appeared in many anthologies and magazines such as Lucidity and Bell’s Letters. She has won numerous contests, many with cash awards, from magazines www.PoetrySoup.com  and www.ShadowPoetry.com . Today she remains active in the poetry community and also enjoys watching and reviewing movies!

Nancy Dillingham, Big Ivy poet, is a sixth-generation Dillingham from WNC. Her poems, short stories and commentaries have appeared in various literary journals and newspapers. Her poem "Snowfall" appeared this past December as part of the Poetry in Plain Sight Project, and she has work forthcoming in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel out in February 2015.

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Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of four collections of poetry, including her latest book, A Lake of Light and Clouds (Press 53, 2014). Her work has appeared in American Life in Poetry, The Writer’s Almanac, 2013 Poet’s Market, storySouth, Verse Daily, and many others, and she has won numerous awards, including a Nautilus Book Award and the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. She lives in Lewisville, NC.

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Dena M. Ferrari, is the author of Poems from the Hearth 2010 and Come Closer My Dearies 2013. She has written poems in many OMP anthologies. Dena’s poetry appeared in WCC of NY The Phoenix 1975. Several of her poems are included within anthologies by the Writers Alliance World-Wide Poets. Dena writes to leave a Living Legacy for her Grandchildren. Dena and her husband, Peter are from Vass, NC Brightest Blessings.

Ann Fogelman, a writer of memories in prose and poetry, was born in Reading, Pa. Her work has appeared in The Noble Generation, That Thing You Do, Pets Across America, Texas Poetry Calendar. Boundless, OMP Anthologies and school publications. Ann is a member of Bay Area Writers League, Gulf Coast Poets, Poetry Society of Texas and Osher Lifetime Learning Institute at UTMB, Galveston, Tx. Ann lives in Friendswood, Tx.

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Christian George lives in Indian Trail, NC. A small town with a rich cultural history of Native American presence. He began writing, starting out with poetry, in his third year of high school. Since then, Christian has won in poetry competitions, including the Olive L. Howe Summer Student Poetry Contest. He also writes prose and short stories. Writing has allowed him to fully express his inner emotions and thoughts.

James Gibson, Northville, Michigan, combined his experiences in the American West and his fascination with Native American culture to write the five novels of the Anasazi Quest series, available at www.PentacleSPresS.com  as well as The Last Ride, a traditional western set outside Tucson, Arizona. Anasazi Princess and Anasazi Journey are now available as eBooks on Amazon.com. Visit Jim’s web site at www.pentaclespress.com

Marian Gowan is author of Notes from the Trunk, published by Old Mountain Press ( www.oldmp.com/mariangowan.htm ). Her work has appeared in several Old Mountain Press anthologies and regional publications, including Longest Hours, Silver Boomer Press, Abilene, TX. Most recently, she contributed to her writing group’s anthology, Crossings, published by Old Mountain Press and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She retired to the NC mountains from western NY in 2001.

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Kerri Mai Habben lives in Raleigh, NC where she works as a writer and a local historian. A graduate of Peace College and North Carolina State University, her work has appeared in literary journals, The News and Observer, and other publications throughout the United States and Canada. She has recently compiled a decade of essays into a collection she is seeking to publish.

MaXine Carey Harker, a lover of haiku for many years, but who finds life more amusing than sublime lending itself more to senryu than haiku. MaXine has lived in Grifton for nearly 66 years with husband Berkley, raised 5 kids and a multitude of cats. Teaches Writing for Publication at the Recreation Center in New Bern NC.

Robert Hewett lives in Louisville, KY and writes in several genres including Children; Romance; Old West Romance/ Adventure; Humor and Skits. He has been named Poet of the Month on several worldwide sites and Poet of the year on:

www.publishingwithpassion.com , a poetry forum. You can find some of his writings at roberthewettsr.hubpages.com (no www or http://)

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Beverly Johnston. Some people think she hasn’t had time to pursue this writing thing, full tilt. Others say she’s just lazy...like that’s a bad thing. On the Myers-Briggs, she’s an INFJ which pretty much means she is destined to live in obscurity until, upon her death, becoming famous when her massive collections of dog hair and unpublished poems are uncovered. Till then, she is hiding in plain sight in Lewisville, NC.

David "Buzz" Jones, D.D., L.L.D., is a freelance writer that has chosen a spiritual genre,with 30 years in Baptist ministry. Buzz is from Hartsville, S.C., but makes his home in Henrietta, N.C.. He has self-published five booklets which can be read on his website www.buzzwrites.com  where you can also read all his writings.

Jerry Judge lives in Cincinnati, OH, with his two imperial felines and a sophisticated lady dog named Luna. During the summer of 2013, he lost his beautiful wife of 33 years to breast cancer. Anything he writes is now dedicated to Michele Judge. Jerry has had seven chapbooks published and has had work in several journals. He enjoys reading and often being one of the writers in the Old Mountain Press anthologies.

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K. D. Kennedy Jr. has published four (4) books of poetry, short stories, and essays: Our Place In Time, Waiting Out In The Yard, For Rhyme Of Reason, and Progenitors: A Kennedy Genealogy. He has also published works in over twenty anthologies and periodicals. He has served as Chairman of the following: The Board of Trustees of Barton College, the North Carolina Board of Ethics, the North Carolina Theatre, and the Building Committee of the Duke Power Performing Arts Center.

Nita Hallford Killebrew thanks her friend, Rachel Bronnum, for introducing her to Old Mountain Press. Nita was thrilled to be published in Looking for Santa. For the past two years, Nita has been the editor of Newsline, a publication for educators. Living in Lilburn, GA, she continues to look for inspiration in unusual places.

Jo Koster teaches at Winthrop University, where she spends too much time on administrative duties and not enough on writing. Recent work has appeared in the collection Mother’s Little Helper (Old Mountain Press) and a new chapbook, Nine Days’ Wonder, is due in 2015. She was a finalist in 2011 for the Carrie Cray Nickens Fellowship in Poetry from the South Carolina Academy of Authors. She and her cats Max and Neville live in comfortable chaos and in Rock Hill, SC.

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Patsy Kennedy Lain still rambles the roads in Hubert, North Carolina, with pens in her pockets, papers in her car door along with brushes, an easel and paints in her trunk plus a camera to capture the wonders of life through words, art or flashes. She has published works in several magazines, anthologies, and even a local newspaper.

Blanche L. Ledford’s work has appeared in many Old Mountain Press anthologies. She received the Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her book, Planting by the Signs. She’s the associate editor of Hometown Memories. Blanche lives in Hayesville, NC and enjoys driving on the round-about.

Brenda Kay Ledford is a native of Clay County, NC. She’s a member of North Carolina Writer’s Network and North Carolina Poetry Society. Her work has appeared in many Old Mountain Press anthologies. Kelsay Books printed her latest poetry book, Crepe Roses. Visit her blog at: www.blueridgepoet.blogspot.com

K.A. Lewis is living her dream of being a writer. A painter and photographer, she graduated from the Corcoran School of Art in 1986. Since then she's worked as a custom framer and buyer for a retail store. She has written science fiction, fantasy, and poetry since 2010, and this is her fourth published work. Katy and her husband live with five demanding cats in a little book-stuffed house in Falls Church, VA.

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Valerie Macon lives and writes in Fuquay Varina. She finds poetry everywhere, just waiting to be put into words. She has written Shelf Life, Sleeping Rough, and coming soon, A String of Black Pearls

Celia Miles, a retired community college instructor, lives and writes in Asheville, NC. The author of several novels and short stories, she has co-edited three WNC women writers’ anthologies, and has a new mystery novel out: The Body at Wrapp’s Mill: A Grist Mill Mystery. Her website is www.celiamiles.com

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Beverly Ohler is a theater designer and teacher at Warren Wilson College, who loves to write. She began her writing career with animals stories, published a book: FOR THE LOVE OF ANIMALS, Stories from the mother of a veterinarian. Many other subjects followed in books and publications. She lives with her dog, Mikey, in Black Mountain

Karen O’Leary is a writer and editor from West Fargo, ND. She has published poetry, short stories, and articles in a variety of venues including, Frogpond, A Hundred Gourds, Haiku Pix, Sharpening the Green Pencil 2014, Now This: Contemporary Poems of Beginnings, Renewals and Firsts, Creative Inspirations, and Poems of the World. She currently edits an online poetry journal called Whispers www.whispersinthewind333.blogspot.com

Martha O’Quinn writes non-fiction and poetry, all prompted by family lore and life’s experiences. She is a regular contributor to OMP anthologies and her work appears in regional publications. She is one of six authors who collectively created Crossings, a poetry and prose anthology published by Old Mountain Press. Martha lives in Hendersonville, NC.

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Edwina Rooker grew up in Warrenton, NC. She holds an AB in English from Duke University and a MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She taught English or worked as a media specialist in Southern Pines, NC, Virginia Beach, and Warren County, NC. She’s a frequent contributor to Old Mountain Press. Her newspaper column, Observations, appears in the weekly Warren Record. Today she lives at Courtyards at Berne Village in New Bern, NC.

Dwight Roth is a retired elementary school teacher of 29 years, who grew up in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He enjoys writing, poetry, painting, and music. He enjoys participating in the Indian Trail Cultural Arts poetry group and has had works published in Tea and Poetry blog spot, Common Ground Magazine, and recent OMP Anthologies. He has self-published two memoirs and a book of poetry. He and his wife Ruth live near Monroe, NC.

Carmen Ruggero, Argentine borne, moved to America in 1959. Her photography work was published in California. A published writer for The Paper of Montgomery Co. in Crawfordsville, IN -- her home town. Her photography work was featured in an HBO documentary called "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks". Publishing credits include: "Shaken & Stirred" poetry collaboration, "Kaleidoscope", short fiction collaboration BeWrite Books, "Eighty-six Eggs", sole author short fiction collection published by Adventure Books.

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Dr. Lynn Veach Sadler lives in Pittsboro. A former college president, she has published 5+ books and 72 articles, edited 22 books/proceedings and 3 national journals, and writes a newspaper column on history. In creative writing, she has published 10 poetry chapbooks and 4 full-length collections, 100+ short stories, 4 novels, a novella, and 2 short story collections and written 41 plays. As a Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet 2013-2015, she mentors student and adult poets.

Marian Kaplun Shapiro is the author of a professional book, Second Childhood (Norton, 1988), a poetry book, Players In The Dream, Dreamers In The Play (Plain View Press, 2007) and two chapbooks: Your Third Wish, (Finishing Line, 2007); and The End Of The World, Announced On Wednesday (Pudding House, 2007). A resident of Lexington, she was named Senior Poet Laureate of Massachusetts in 2006, in 2008, in 2010, 2011, and 2014. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2012. As is obvious in this poem, she is a doting grandmommy.

Jane Shlensky, an English teacher and musician, holds an MFA from UNC-Greensboro. Her recent work can be found in sundry online and print anthologies and magazines, including The Dead Mule, Prairie Wolf Press Review, Pinesong, KAKALAK 2013 and 2014, 2015 Poet’s Market, NC Literary Review, Southern Poetry Anthology: North Carolina, and Writer’s Digest. With work in prior Old Mt. Press anthologies, she lives in Bahama, NC with her husband Vladimir and two pushy cats.

Susan Spalt’s poems have appeared in Carrboro’s 100th Birthday Poetry Anthology, Pinesong, Bay Leaves, and several anthologies, including Happy Feet, and Waiting for Santa (Old Mountain Press) . Susan is one of four poets published in Carrboro Poetica (Old Mountain Press, 2012) which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Carrboro Rocks was set to music to celebrate Carrboro’s 100th anniversary. Susan is on the Carrboro Poetry Council which organizes the well-attended West End Poetry Festival.

Mary Louise Stark has always loved to write since she first learned to hold a pencil, both prose and poetry. She holds a degree in English from Duke and an MFA in acting from Yale. Now she’s enjoying life in the country with her husband and pets but relish the times their children and grandchildren come to visit them in Monroe, GA, or in the mountains in the summer. She loves being so close to the natural world and use it a great deal in her poetry.

Shelby Stephenson’s reissue of Fiddledeedee is from Press 53. He is the current North Carolina Poet Laureate. He lives near McGee’s Crossroads, NC.

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Donna Wallace writes, teaches and bicycles around Lewisville, NC. Her poems and articles have appeared in a variety of community and faith publications. She is a member of Winston Salem Writers – a group she gratefully claims as her creative home.

Charles "Hawk" Weyant and his wife Johanna live in Fayetteville, NC.;where he has been a member of Writers Ink Guild for thirty years. His book An Odyssey In Broken Rhythms And Ragged Lines was nominated for Pushcart award. He read on Public Radio for ten years and has been published in twenty six anthologies and two web-site. He is a decorated, battled scarred veteran of three tours in Vietnam.

Glenda Wilkins, as a child, wrote poetry before she knew of poetry. As an adult, her work has been published in the US, and abroad, as well earning a few awards. She lives on an airstrip outside Winterville, NC; her dog, Tina, and cat, Bustopher, keep her company. But, most of all, the love of a dear husband fighting an illness gives real meaning to life – and words.

Barbara Ledford Wright’s story was published in the anthology Waiting for Santa. (This Old Mountain Press anthology was nominated for a Push Cart Prize). Other’s: Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, Express Yourself 101 Vol 2 For Your Eyes Only, Kaleidoscope, Fireflies and June Bugs, Yesterdays Magazette, Christmas Presence, Clothes Lines, Women's Spaces Women’s Places,Carolina Country, Angels on Earth:Guideposts Publication. Barbara lives in Shelby, NC.

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C. Pleasants York of Sanford, NC, has devoted much thought to naming of pets. As a child in Winston-Salem, she owned kittens Snowball and Powder Puff. Later there was Attila, the Hun. She titled a short story after four kittens she and her husband, Guy, owned in Chapel Hill - Bramble, Briar, Thistle, and Thorn. The literary kitties were Shakespeare, Dickens, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway. Now The Yorks have a white cat of Hamlet fame – Yorick.

Joseph Youngblood lives with his family in Fayetteville, NC. He writes for fun about things that interest or amuse him. His works have appeared in several previous OMP anthologies.