BIO:

Sarah, who writes under the pen name, Serra Wildheart, is a multi-genre indie author, speaker, and coach. The Legends of Star Junction series invites readers on an entertaining and insightful journey with captivating characters and mystical allies. She is the managing co-founder of Scribe Hive Publishing, which is a cooperative of indie authors.

LINKS:

www.serrawildheart.com

https://www.scribehivepublishing.com/serra-wildheart

BIO:

Angie is a former pediatrician, mother, and a Wisconsinite from birth. Her interests run the gamut from genealogy to the obsessive collecting of perennials, from pilates to creative napping. Voices is her second book, the first was a work of nonfiction genealogical mystery titled The Accidental Archivist. She is a member of AllWriters Workplace & Workshop and a member of the Door County Published Authors Collective. She lives between Franklin and Gills Rock, Wisconsin, with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs.

SYNOPSIS:

When Elena moves to small-town Belvedere her junior year, she worries about fitting her high-achieving self into a new small-town school. When she starts hearing voices, the challenges wildly multiply. Told from the points of view of Elena, her mother, and a new frenemy named Kat, Voices explores relationships between women and the stories we tell ourselves--with a dash of magical realism thrown in.

LINKS:

www.angelabier.com

BIO:

Mike Barden wrote From Reactive to Resilient because he lived it. After his 25-year marriage ended, his career in ministry dissolved, and his belief system shifted, he found himself wondering, "Who am I now?" The book emerged from his journey through identity crisis—discovering that beneath all the roles and labels, something steady remained - the core self. Mike currently works in customer support for a software company and performs regularly as keyboardist for Boogie and the Yoyoz out of Appleton. He lives in central Wisconsin with his wife Melony and wrote this book to help others find clarity during life's hardest transitions.

SYNOPSIS:

From Reactive to Resilient: Practical Awareness for Major Life Changes is a guide for anyone navigating identity crisis during divorce, job loss, crisis of faith, or any other major transitions. When the roles that defined you fall away, who are you underneath? This book introduces the C.A.L.M. Method—a four-step framework (Connect, Allow, Let Go, Move Forward) grounded in mindfulness and psychology research. Through fifteen chapters, practical exercises, and a 30-day action plan, readers learn to distinguish between reactive patterns and conscious responses. Non-dogmatic and evidence-based, it's written for readers who want real tools without spiritual or motivational jargon—a practical companion for life's hardest moments.

LINKS:

www.ReactiveToResilient.com

BIO:

Michael Carr has a background in editing and writing, and represents writers in a variety of genres, with a special emphasis on historical fiction, mystery and suspense, and science fiction and fantasy.

Michael works carefully with clients to produce the cleanest, most professional manuscripts and enjoys teaching at workshops and conferences to help develop emerging writers. He speaks Brazilian Portuguese and Swahili, and before joining Veritas had professions as diverse as programming simulators for nuclear submarines and owning an inn in Vermont.

LINKS:

Veritasliterary.com

BIO:

Matt Cashion’s fourth book, HOW WE DO THINGS HERE (a finalist in the Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction) is forthcoming February 17 (Cornerstone Press). His story collection, LAST WORDS OF THE HOLY GHOST won the 2015 Katherine Anne Porter Prize, and his novel, OUR 13th DIVORCE, won the Edna Ferber Prize. Other work appears in The Sun, Cincinnati Review, Willow Springs, Carolina Quarterly, The Writer’s Chronicle, and elsewhere. Born in the North Carolina mountains and raised in Coastal Georgia, he earned an MFA from the University of Oregon and now teaches Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

SYNOPSIS:

In Wisconsin and Florida backyards, waiting rooms, boardrooms, and bedrooms, HOW WE DO THINGS HERE exposes the hilarity and heartbreak caused by mess-makers struggling to survive themselves, each other, and the places they’re trying to call home. Gun-toting neighbors offer too much help, dead grandmothers make demands, music professors erupt from noise-pollution, a daughter confronts her estranged father (and his pet vulture) after a hurricane, outcasts humiliate themselves at high school and family reunions, men resolve violent confrontations from their backs, the world’s loudest typewriter threatens sanity, a college student educates his professor in the art of failure, an emergency meeting of the Hospitality Committee adjourns with murder. Inside moments that make us laugh and wince, these slow-learners teach us how to fail and forgive and try again to forge connections in all the troubled spaces we’re so desperate to share.

LINKS:

https://mattcashion.com/

BIO:

Ken Humphrey is the author of nine novels in the genres of middle grade, teen reader and adult thriller. His most recent release, The Breakfast Jury, spawned from a Kenosha, WI, murder trial. He served as jury foreman for a man accused of murdering his wife with antifreeze. The result of this experience was a murder mystery that's part Breakfast Club and part John Grisham thriller. Ken is also the Director of Operations for Wisconsin Writers Association after retiring from a corporate technology career in 2023. He also spends an unjustifiable amount of time keeping his collection of German vehicles in working condition.

SYNOPSIS:

In 1999, a jury of misfits is thrust into the case of the century. A man stands accused of poisoning his wife with antifreeze and they are charged to deliver judgment. During the longest trial in Wisconsin state history, they unwittingly form bonds stronger than anyone could have predicted and come to realize their differences are not so great after all.

One year later, a reunion turns deadly when they fall victim to poison. Is this targeted retribution for their verdict or simply forewarning of something darker to come?

Enter disgraced detective Aramis "Arch" White and his penchant for finding trouble. As he digs into the shadows, skepticism plays a third wheel, blurring the line between duty and vendetta. Can he unmask the puppeteer orchestrating this twisted tango? The clock is ticking and as time winds down he finds that vengeance possesses a wicked sense of irony.

LINKS:

kenhumphrey.com

BIO:

Erin has spent the last 29 years in middle school. Yes, by choice. She is a cross categorical teacher specializing in reading, writing, math & social thinking, and an experienced mother of two daughters. She has a master’s degree and is twice National Board certified. Writing has been a lifelong project.

Between the Lines (book one of a three-book series) and Seeing Eye to Eye (book two in the series) were created out of a need observed in classrooms every day. Erin was born, raised, and continues to teach in Wisconsin. She loves coffee, card games, and traveling with her family.

LINKS:

Website - erinminchk.com

Instagram - @erinminchk

BIO:

Today we are interviewing Maggie Ginsberg. Maggie Ginsberg is the author of the novel Still True, published by the University of Wisconsin Press and winner of the Wisconsin Library Association’s 2023 Literary Award for Fiction. Still True was the honorable mention selection for the 2022 Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award, and is the 2026 inaugural pick for the new Wisconsin Libraries’ statewide Wisconsin Reads digital book club.

Maggie is also a nonfiction writer who published hundreds of articles throughout her career, earning numerous honors from the City Regional Magazine Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Milwaukee Press Club, and others. She is the former managing editor at Madison Magazine, and now works full-time as an arts writer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

LINKS:

maggieginsberg.com