David Yurkovich is the 2017 Delaware Division of the Arts Fellow in the category of literature (fiction). David began writing in 1992 with a focus on graphic novels and comics. His first self-published comic was funded by a grant by the Xeric Foundation. As a writer and illustrator, his works include Death by Chocolate and Less Than Heroes (both published by Top Shelf Productions) and Altercations (published by Sleeping Giant).

In 2007 David wrote, designed, and published Mantlo: A Life in Comics, a benefit magazine to help aid in the medical expenses of Bill Mantlo (creator of Rocket Raccoon and numerous other Marvel properties). In 2016, David was among 10 prose authors statewide selected to attend the Delaware Seashore Poetry & Prose Writers’ Retreat. His short story, “The Last Day of Summer,” appeared in the 2016 anthology Beach Nights (Cat and Mouse Press). He has published two prose novels, Glass Onion and Banana Seat Summer, with two manuscripts in development. In June 2017, David provided an introduction to the second volume of the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus, published by Marvel.

David and his partner and publisher, Dianne Pearce, co-own Devil's Party Press, LLC (founded in 2017) where they have designed, edited, and/or contributed multiple award-winning original novels and collections including Halloween Party 2017, Halloween Party 2019, Solstice, Equinox, What Sort of F*ckery Is This?, and Suspicious Activity. In 2020, Pearce and Yurkovich launched Gravelight Press as an imprint of DPP. Gravelight's debut title, Exhumed, was released in September 2020. The duo also launched Hawkshaw (an imprint dedicated to crime fiction) and Out-of-This-World (a sci-fi imprint) in late 2020.

Pearce and Yurkovich reside in Los Angeles.

David publishes original fiction at yurkoverse.com

J.C. Raye's stories are also found in anthologies with Belanger Books, C.M. Muller, Scary Dairy, Devil's Party Press, Books & Boos, Franklin/Kerr, and Gravelight Press to name a few. More stories in 2020 with Rooster Republic/Strangehouse Books, Transmundane, DBND, and Gravelight Press. Yeah, she writes more than she vacuums, that's for sure.

Stories about?

Hmmm...potato chip bag creatures in Cape May, possessed monkey bridges in Vietnam, inept Inuit shamans in Alaska, crime sprees with cockroaches in the deep south, Pennsylvania tea bugs, witch addictions in Salem, and dust storm bunnies in Kansas. Yep. She is all over the damn place and clearly has some issues. Suffice to say, her tales will bother you long after you donate the paperback to goodwill.

Why horror & sci-fi, you ask?

For 20 years, she's been a professor at a small community college teaching the most feared course on the planet: Public Speaking. Witnessing grown people openly weep, beg, scream, freak out and pass out is just another delightful day on the job for her. And it is not just the students she upsets. For the last four years, she’s led a college-wide campaign to assist her colleagues in locating free, current, credible text resources and break the hold of expensive corporate publishers. Right, so those companies and even some of the faculty are mad at her now. She’s just particularly good at getting under the skin.

Of course, we're also got to throw a little blame her parents way too. As early as ten years of age, they were sitting her down in front of the same movies they were watching. Ahh, the days of one shared screen for the whole family. Her clearest, youngest memories include, The Poseidon Adventure, Night of the Living Dead, The Shining, Baron Blood and Suspiria. Sorry there, Disney. But you can see why she is like this.

DEVIL'S PARTY PRESS:

Devil's Party Press: devilspartypress dot com is the publishing company founded by Dianne Pearce (she, her, hers). Pearce believes that older writers are under-served in the publishing world, and deserve to have their work read. She encourages all older writers to "Finish your damn novel!" The Press is traditional, and is not a vanity press. The Press has expanded to include the imprints : Gravelight Press (horror), Out of this World Press (sci fi), and Hawkshaw Press (mystery/detective), and the online literary magazine, Instant Noodles, which is free to submit to and free to read.

DEVIL'S PARTY PRESS EDITORIAL: Fred wanted to publish his family's story of escape from the holocaust. He wrote it in the 1970s, and he tried, for 20+ years, to find a publisher. Then he met Dianne, and asked her to give it a read. It turned out that the manuscript was missing necessary information, needed to be better organized, and needed a basic proofread. One month after working with Dianne to refine the manuscript, the book was picked up by a university press. Have you been trying in vain to publish your book? You may need editorial services. https://devilspartypress.com/professional-editing-services/ And we also make beautiful book trailers!

WORKSHOP LEADER:

Dianne Pearce was the founder of The Milton Workshop, in Milton Delaware, which had the same folks attending for 7 years, until Pearce moved back to Los Angeles. Over half of the workshop members finished and published their novels. If you need a workshop to get you to the next level, Pearce now holds them virtually. https://devilspartypress.com/workshops-for-writers/

Pearce can also work with you, one-on-one, as a writing coach, to help you get your career going, give you live feedback, and make you accountable for your writing goals. Check out the Press for more information on all the author services we have. Also subscribe to our newsletter and blog for free information and opportunities for authors.

WRITING:

Pearce writes novels, short stories, and poetry. Her stories are quirky and compelling, with an immediacy to them that makes a reader feel that he or she must push on to the end. Her novels are all about pushing the envelope out to the absurd edges.

EDUCATION:

Pearce earned her BA at Temple University. She is a graduate of both the West Chester University and Vermont College writing programs, earning an MA and an MFA respectively.

MENTORS:

Pearce has been extremely lucky to be taught writing one-on-one with some wonderful writing mentors: Luann Smith, Syd Lea (Vermont Poet Laureate), Juan Felipe Herrera (US Poet Laureate), and Chris Buckley, poet and biographer of Philip Levine. Please check out their Amazon pages for some wonderful poetry and short stories.

WRITING CONFERENCE SPEAKER:

Pearce has presented many times, and was recently a guest editor at the Atlanta Writers Conference. Pearce loves finding authors to publish at these conferences, and is available for your conference. Contact her through Devil's Party Press.

INFLUENCES:

Pearce's favorite writers include folks like Tom Robbins, Lemony Snicket, Raymond Chandler, Diane Wakowski, Agatha Christie, Caroline Keene, JK Rowling, Russell Hoban, Neil Gaiman, Arnold Lobel, Maurice Sendak, and Douglas Adams.

PERSONAL STUFF:

Pearce is an adoptive parent of a wonderful daughter and also an admitted cat hoarder, but, sadly, has only one dog, a fact which she blames on her husband entirely. Check out her husband's Amazon page as well: David (6 pets are enough) Yurkovich.

Pearce is, above all else, a late bloomer. Late bloomers rock, and they deserved to be published. She hopes you are one too, and she hopes you get your work published. Keep writing, and share what you write. #finishyourdamnnovel

I am a semi-retired residential designer specializing in large, ocean front properties. I have three children and seven grandchildren. My wife and I reside in Milton, Delaware. I have taught English at the elementary school level as well as writing at the adult high school level. I have

also taught drafting and design at the community college level. I have written two novels, several short stories, eleven plays and two musical comedies. I have been deemed an established writer by the Delaware State Arts Council. I have been published in the Delaware Literary Connection anthology, Terrains, as well as the Delaware Beach Life magazine. I enjoy most types of writing but seem to prefer fiction. One of my musicals has been produced by two local theater companies. The Delmarva Chicken Festival commissioned me to write a play entitled, Why the Chicken Crossed the Road, which was successfully produced by the Festival commission. I am currently working on my third novel which is scheduled to be published by the Devil's Party Press in 2018.

Dan Allen is Canadian and enjoys spending time in Northern Ontario. You can find his short stories in numerous magazines, anthologies, and podcasts. Visit www.danallenhorror.com to see a presentation of his published work.

His terrifying look at Alzheimer’s, “Above the Ceiling,” is featured in Bards and Sages collection of the Best Indie Speculative Fiction Vol. 2.

A personal favorite, “Sympathy for the Zingara,” can be found in the March 2019 edition of ParAbnormal Magazine.

His terrifying story, “The Basement” (edited by Horror Zine’s Jeani Rector), was published by Hellbound Books in July 2020.

You can visit Dan at www.danallenhorror.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter at

@danallenhorror. You can write to Dan at contact@danallenhorror.com

Lisa Fox is a pharmaceutical market researcher by day and fiction writer by night. She enjoys crafting short stories and short screenplays across genres, but her passion is for Sci-Fi/Drama hybrids. She thrives on the thrill of creating something out of nothing, in transforming life’s ‘what ifs’ to prose that flashes a mirror on the human condition. As a writer, nothing makes her happier than having readers say that her work made them feel something or look at the world in a different way.

Lisa won the 2018 NYC Midnight Short Screenplay competition, placed third out of over 3000 writers in the 2018 NYC Midnight Flash Fiction contest, and secured an Honorable Mention in the 2020 competition. Her fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions. Her work is featured in various publications, including Metaphorosis, Theme of Absence, Luna Station Quarterly, New Myths, and Brilliant Flash Fiction, among others, as well as in various anthologies.

A resident of northern New Jersey in the USA, Lisa relishes the chaos of everyday suburban life. She and her husband Dan are kept busy by the comings and goings of their two sons. Lisa hopes to begin working on a novel in the foreseeable future – she just needs to get those first few words on the page.

Lisa can be found on her website: lisafoxiswriting.com and on Twitter (@iamlisafox10800).

Patsy Pratt-Herzog is an emerging freelance writer from Southwestern Ohio. Her favorite genres to write are Sci-Fi and Fantasy. When she’s not writing, she enjoys painting and riding roller coasters. She shares her house in the burbs with her husband, Tim and three chunky cats. To learn more about Patsy and see other samples of her work, you can visit her blog at https://patsyprattherzog.wordpress.com/.

My publishing credits include a story in the upcoming Issue 5 of Fiction War Magazine and a story in an upcoming Devil's Party Press anthology titled "Suspicious Activities."

I’m a storyteller. It took years for me to come up with that descriptor to answer the question, “What it is you do exactly?”

I spent decades as an actress telling other people’s stories and then one day, I started to tell my own. I’ve never looked back. My short stories can be found in several anthologies and online magazines. Over a dozen of my plays have been produced at a variety of theatres in Los Angeles.

I couldn’t do it without the amazing network of writers, artists, friends, and family that help me find the will and time to create. You all make me better, and I’m lucky to know each and every one of you.

When not tinkering with the alphabet, putting little black marks on the computer screen, I work my day job as a Pilates teacher, paint, cook, garden, and enjoy time with my husband Ron and our many critters.

Sarah Van Goethem is a Canadian Author who resides in Southwestern Ontario. She spent lazy childhood summers on the farm, reading on the old tire swing beneath the maple tree, believing in fairytales. Now she weaves that memorable enchantment into her own short stories & novels.

She’s also convinced she was born in the wrong decade, maybe even the wrong century. She’s a nature lover, a wanderer of the fields & forests, and gatherer of vintage. Inspired by the natural world and the past, she blends history with the magic of nature in her writing.

You can find her at auctions, thrift stores, the back of her farm, maybe an abandoned house. Always in a rocking chair.

Most recently, Sarah's novels have been longlisted for the Bath Children's Novel Award and in PitchWars. Sarah is represented by Dorian Maffei of Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Robin Hill-Page Glanden worked as a writer and in the entertainment industry in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles for twenty years. Now back in her home State of Delaware, Robin works as a freelance editor for authors, and writes magazine articles, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. She also performs original music and spoken word with her husband, Kenny, and produces cabarets. Her short stories have been published in five anthologies, and three of those stories have won Delaware Press Association awards. Her poetry has been published in Dreamstreets magazine and in the Delaware Bards Poetry Review anthology. She is a regular contributor of non-fiction stories to Mysterious Ways and Angels on Earth, two of the Guideposts magazines. She lives in Newark near the University of Delaware with Kenny and their two fine felines, Teddy and Lucy.

Doyle Weldon Knight was born in Alexandria, Louisiana on Thanksgiving Day in 1961 to a mother born on Friday the 13th of 1939. Before his fifth birthday, his father was tragically killed in an automobile accident.

In 1970, his mother remarried and the fourth grader named Weldon was uprooted from Rapides Parish and moved to Sabine Parish. Work was expected by all family members and Weldon and his stepbrothers worked hard. They played even harder and loved the benefits of the great southern outdoors. Hunting and fishing became a lifelong passion for Weldon.

In 1979 Weldon entered the offshore environment of southern Louisiana. He met his soulmate and they wed in 1983. He worked multitude of roles from oilfield laborer to corporate management over the next forty years, both domestically and abroad, with residences in Scotland and Brazil. He always loved to read; mostly the macabre and the supernatural fiction authors.

During a shipyard project in 2016, Weldon was asking other personnel onboard if they had any books that he could swap out with. He had read the books he had brought and wanted to exchange. A couple of colleagues suggested that with his story telling skills, he should write books instead of reading them. He tried writing and found a passionate enjoyment that has persisted since. The origin of the novel, The Flip, was started with the original first draft completed in two weeks.

The grand lady that was born on Friday the thirteenth in 1939 succumbed to cancer on the night of her last remaining unwed granddaughters wedding day in March 2017. Weldon took a sabbatical from writing for a while and after semi-retiring from the oilfield at the end of 2018, restarted writing interests in 2019. Nothing like twin grandsons to kick start the anti-depression train; Chuga-chuga-Choo-Choo!

His short story, The Matriarch Sin, was published in the Anthology: Halloween Party 2019 by Devil's Party Press in October 2019.

Weldon's debut novel, The Flip, was released August 1st, 2020 by True Southern Gentleman Publishing.

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York James Goodridge is new to writing in the world of speculative fiction . After ten years as an visual artist "rep" and paralegal James decided to make more of a commitment to writing in 2013.