About the Author

Marian Blue's award winning fiction, poetry, essays, and non-fiction have appeared internationally in newspapers (such as The Denver Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Virginian-Pilot, and The Oregonian), magazines (such as Cruising World, Colorado Review, Snowy Egret, Eureka Literary Magazine, MotorBoat and Yachting, and Raven Chronicles) and books (such as The Tiller and the Pen(anthology/Eighth Moon Press), A Hundred White Daffodils (a Jane Kenyon anthology from Graywolf Press), Drive, Women's True Stories from the Open Road (Seal Press). Marian has been an editor for print and online publications (such as One World Journeys) and was founding editor for Soundings Review. She has also been a newspaper editorial page editor/writer and press release editor. Marian has taught writing for community schools in Portland, Oregon, University of Minnesota Mankato, Old Dominion University in Virginia, and Writers Digest Schools; she retired from Skagit Valley College (Washington) after twenty years of teaching writing, literature, and communication. She currently writes and edits for Blue & Ude Writers Services and Sunbreak Press from her small farm on Whidbey Island, WA. Dean Gibson pursues his art (oil on canvas) in the forest in Western Washington. The rainy climate inspires many of his paintings. His regional scenes with streetlights and reflected water are collected and displayed on both coasts. Dean's work ranges from figurative to abstract-often featuring bright, bold colors like those he encountered when he lived in India. Cherie Ude currently resides in Florida, pursuing natural images in the wetlands and on the shorelines. She also photographs special events, such as weddings, baby showers, family reunions, and other occasions. She has pursued photography throughout the U.S. and many parts of the world, including Europe, Canada, South America, Australia, and Antartica where she worked for five years. She also lived on Whidbey Island for several years, capturing the many moods of the Western Northwest. Her images have appeared in magazines, both as cover art and as illustrations; they also appear on Facebook at Cherie Ude Photography.