Baby Boomers 2022 Authors

The Blizzard of ’78: Diane Lavin’s excellent relationship story wins 1st place in the 2022 edition of Stories Through the Ages Baby Boomers Plus. A blizzard is the setting. A reluctant mother facing her own demons must come to grips with the reality of a husband and daughter that she both loves and resents. The characters leap from the pages like the howling wind from the Blizzard of ‘78’. 

Diane grew up in a small town south of Cleveland, Ohio, when kids walked to school regardless of the weather. She decided in first grade to be a teacher and treasures the decades dedicated to her students. She has three grown children and four gorgeous grandchildren. She and her husband met in middle school and are approaching their 50^th wedding anniversary. The Blizzard of ’78 is her first completed short story. Go to the book page.

Rounding Third: Author Elaine Thomas is the 2nd place prize winner in the 2022 edition of Stories Through the Ages Baby Boomers Plus. An unwitting love triangle with her dead brother’s best friend and the young boy next door set the stage for a young woman ready to start a new stage of her life. A fantastic coming-of-age story. 

Elaine Thomas has published work in numerous journals and magazines, including Syncopation Literary Journal (which first published “Rounding Third”), The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, moonShine Review, and Pembroke Magazine. She is a former winner of the North Carolina Writer’s Network’s Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition, and has been awarded several prizes in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition of the National League of American Pen Women. A retired college communications professional, she served as director of communications for Hampshire College (MA), Green Mountain College (VT), and her alma mater, St. Andrews College (NC). Thomas also holds an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School and is an on-call hospital chaplain. She lives in the beautiful coastal community of Wilmington, NC. She wrote “Rounding Third” shortly after news broke of the loss of Meat Loaf, one of her favorite rockers, and considers it a fictional tribute to his music and to small-town life in the southern United States. Go to the book page.

Mouth Sewn Shut: As the only witness to the assault and abduction of her sister, Martha is under pressure to remember what happened. Mary Ellen Fox, the 3rd place prize winner in the 2022 edition of Stories Through the Ages Baby Boomers Plus, has given us a look inside the mind of a troubled young girl.  

Mary was born in London to Irish immigrant parents. She graduated with a BSc honours degree in Chemical Engineering and obtained an accountancy qualification. After having her children, she gave up the glamourous world of accountancy and became a maths, chemistry and English language tutor. A creative writing course at City Lit in central London rekindled her passion for writing short stories and she has been short and long listed for many competitions and has had stories published in anthologies in UK, Ireland and USA. She currently resides in Epsom, home of the famous Derby horse race, with her husband, two children and a pair of hens named Tikka and Jalfrezi. Go to the book page.

Emely Bennett

Jimmy’s Swing:  It is moving day from the family home and our heroine reminisces about her life with Jimmy while sitting on the swing he built for her. Emely Bennett has given us a poignant tale of moving on when life changes and an excellent surprise ending that makes sense after the fact. 

Growing up on a farm in southwestern Ontario, Emely spent many happy hours sitting beside her widowed grandmother on an old, leather loveseat in the glassed-in porch of her grandmother’s house. She still recalls the comforting scent of lilacs and roses as they looked out over her grandmother’s colourful flower garden and talked about their day; these particular memories would form the foundation of Jimmy’s Swing. Emely moved away from the family farm when she was 18 but the memories of those special times shared with her grandmother remain with her to this very day.

Emely and her husband, Wayne, have three children (actually five counting their daughter-in-law and son-in-law) and eight grandchildren. After they retired, they sold their house near Toronto and purchased a farm in eastern Ontario and, after 50 years, returned to their country farm roots.

Being an avid reader ever since she was introduced to Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff in her Grade 1 reader, Emely can be found at any time of day with a book in her hand. In addition to her family, reading, gardening, volunteer work, and working on her next short story help keep Emely busy and out of trouble! Go to the book page.

The Blessings of Grasshoppers: The grasshoppers used as bait to fish become the food needed for survival when a virus rampages the world. Adele Evershed has written a fantastic story of love, family, and the basic instinct to survive whatever the cost.

Adele Evershed is a teacher who is gradually starting to call herself someone who writes. She was born in a small town in South Wales and now lives in a small town in Connecticut. The towns have absolutely nothing in common apart from Adele and lots of trees. She started her writing journey by producing corny rhyming couplets and scripts for a British expat’s annual Panto. This is a peculiarly British type of entertainment that relies on double entendres, men dressed as women and women in short shorts acting the role of principal boy. Since then she has had poetry (of the non-rhyming sort) and prose published in a number of online journals and print anthologies. She still writes Panto scripts and you can see the productions on YouTube if you search The British Theatre Group of Darien. Adele has recently been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for poetry. Her writing can be found at thelithag.com. Go to the book page.

Rightful Magic:  A midwife and healer of the 16th century, who is running away from home, performs a good deed in a neighboring town. When things appear to go wrong, she is accused of witchcraft by the people she tried to help. A riveting story by Carol Campbell. Very creative and well written.

A self-described Jill of All Trades, Carol raised two daughters and returned to school for a master’s degree to focus on ending gender oppression. From award-winning theatrical and literary contributions to starting a new band with her husband, Carol decided that spending time doing everything she loves to do was the best tonic for empty nesting. She currently teaches Humanities courses at several Virginia community colleges and travels regionally as a lecturer, a musician and a dramaturg. Go to the book page.

Karen Ekstrom

New Neighbors: It’s 1996, and a young environmental consultant is intrigued by the mysterious new tenants in the office next door. Something is up in the sleepy little town of Helena, Montana and she is dying to find out what it might be. In her wildest imaginings, she could never have envisioned what the real story was and how it would light up the news media around the world.   Author Karen Ekstrom has given us an excellent story. 

Karen Ekstrom is a geologist and environmental consultant based in Montana with stories to tell and an itch to put them on paper. After 40 years of writing technical tomes about waste site investigation and cleanup, she switched gears. It began with a newspaper column and evolved into novels and prize-winning short stories. In her spare time, she loves to hike, garden, and raft or kayak in her adopted home in the foothills of the Continental Divide. Her passion to write is supported by her husband and friends who will graciously read anything put before them. An obsessive border collie, two cats, and a flock of ungrateful hens keep her hopping.  Go to the book page.

Waiting Room: Henry and Lillis deal with the stress of waiting on the results of a biopsy while at the same time dealing with their two adult children. The successful daughter who has little time for them and the son who puts in the time but not the effort. Susan Evans has given us a great story of family relations. 

Susan Evans is a recently retired entrepreneur, having founded two educational technology companies, where she served as CEO for nineteen years. An avid reader, her recent retirement has afforded the opportunity to return to an early interest in fiction writing. Her undergraduate degree from Indiana State University included a minor in Creative Writing and a double major in Journalism and Psychology. She also holds a Masters in Research Psychology. She resides in Richmond, Virginia. Go to the book page.

The Outing: A man gets up the courage to visit a gay bar. We don’t want to give the plot away, but Alan Gartenhaus has written a story that made us chuckle at the end. 

Alan Gartenhaus served as an educator at the New Orleans Museum of Art and Smithsonian Institution, and as a director of Cornish College of the Arts, in Seattle. A recipient of an Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellowship, he created and was the publishing editor of The Docent Educator magazine.

His fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Broad River Review, Entropy Magazine, Euphony Journal (University of Chicago), Ignatian Literary Magazine (University of San Francisco), and the Santa Fe Literary Re- view. His non-fiction has been published by Running Press, Smithsonian Press, and the Writer’s Workshop Review. His new novel, Balsamic Moon, is being released in the late fall of 2022. Go to the book page.

Between Heaven and Earth: Frugalista, a superstar angel from the Depression era, reluctantly agrees to help boomer women and their older sisters deal with the after-effects of the 2008 recession. Her first client is a divorced, unemployed woman who has just received a cancer diagnosis. An inspiring and entertaining tale from Joanne Guidoccio. 

In high school, Joanne Guidoccio dabbled in poetry, but it would be over three decades before she entertained the idea of writing as a career. Instead, she listened to her practical Italian side and earned degrees in mathematics and education. She experienced many fulfilling moments as she watched her students develop an appreciation of mathematics. Later, she obtained a post-graduate diploma as a career development practitioner and put that skill set to use in the co-operative education classroom.

In 2008, Joanne took advantage of early retirement and launched a second act as a writer. Her articles and book reviews have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and online. When she tried her hand at fiction, she made reinvention a recurring theme in her novels and short stories.

A member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Joanne writes cozy mysteries, paranormal romances, and inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario.

Website: https://joanneguidoccio.com

Go to the book page.

Michael Jefferson

Curse of the Cane Man: A newly hired detective investigates the disappearance of some local people. His inquiries turn up more than a simple tale of abduction. A story of intrigue by Michael Jefferson. Beautifully written and crafted with more than its share of gripping revelations.  

Michael Jefferson has been writing books, articles, short stories, and scripts since he was 12. His firstnovel, Horndog: Forty Years of Losing at the Dating Game was published in 2017. He is author of more than forty short stories in virtually every genre. His scripts include “Hell in Little Heaven,” a western, and “Foul Ground,” a baseball treatment.

His second career as a singer led to his writing articles and reviews about numerous artists, including Traffic, Spooky Tooth, The Band, Tony Joe White, Jim Capaldi, and the Moody Blues. His extensive review of Spooky Tooth’s “Lost in a Dream” CD is a permanent feature on Goldmine Magazine’s website. He was the primary reviewer and writer for Coffeerooms.com for a decade, penning over 80 DVD and 120 CD reviews.

A former amateur boxer, he was 11-0 with 11 knockouts. An avid softball player, he played leftfield for numerous teams for 35 years. Go to the book page.

An American in Paris: Rosemarie S. Perry shares her eye-opening month-long trip through Europe in 1972 as a solo traveler. It makes you wonder, was I ever that young and naïve, and would I do it again? 

Now living in Marietta, Georgia, with Tootsie, a rescue Pomeranian, Rosemarie grew up in Campbell, Ohio, a blue-collar steel community near Youngstown. A second generation American, she’s the only child of a WW II disabled veteran.

With a BA in Psychology from The Ohio State University and a MS in Counseling from Youngstown State University, she retired after 35 years as an educator, once named Cobb County Counselor of the Year.

Rosemarie is the mother of three children, two of whom are deceased. Her son, a former USAF C-17 pilot, lives with his family in Massachusetts. Friends describe her as a lover of all creatures: furry, feathered, and finned. She is also a certified Zumba instructor and former officer of The Atlanta Writers Club.

She has written two books for young readers, My Dog, Me and A Reindear Tale. An antebellum historical novel, Bitter Sugar, is still searching for that agent hiding in the haystack.

“I live to write. I write to live. Yes, I am a masochist…”

Go to the book page.

C. E. Reynolds

Migrations: A Vietnam veteran and Native American struggle as lonely outsiders in their own birthlands in this story set in the 1970s. A tale of the times by C. E. Reynolds. 

Ernie Reynolds instructs Creative Writing, Literature and College Composition classes at Florida State University. He is a PhD candidate at FSU and holds an MFA (University of Tampa) and MAT (Belmont University). He has read or published his prize-winning fiction on NPR, the Nashville Review, Writer’s Loft, and others.

He is a certified arborist as well as a former garden design/build contractor and former NCAA and professional coach. He splits time between Tallahassee and the Tennessee mountains. Go to the book page.

J. R. Reynolds

A Night in a Rural Town: A man has car trouble in a rural area and must spend the night. From the moment he arrives he is treated to the friendliness of people in a small town. Through a chance visit with the local rancher, he enjoys an evening of fine country cooking and hospitality. A heartwarming story by J. R. Reynolds. 

All his life J. R. Reynolds has been a storyteller. It wasn’t until retiring that he started listening to what people were always telling him, that he should put his stories on paper.

For forty years work had him moving every three to four years to different parts of the country. He saw all walks of life, people, events and places which gave him the material for his stories. Go to the book page.

A Saturday Night: A simpler time when kids played outside. A group of boys decide to “go harvesting” from a Jewish sukkah, which puts them in danger from local gangs and on the radar of the local police. A very entertaining story by Gerald Ryan of how appearances aren’t always what they seem. 

In the early 90s, Gerald Ryan enjoyed an unplanned sabbatical from his job and went back to school where he took a writing course. It was like someone let the genie out of the bottle. He hasn’t stopped writing since.

He loves cycling. Friends constantly called with cycling questions. The result was a series of articles for the Courier Sun and Windy City Sports in Chicago, the Chicago Amateur Athlete, the Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers, Senior Living Magazine, and weekly radio spots for WDCB-FM in Glen Ellyn, IL. 

Poetry fills a need that other forms of writing don’t, allowing Gerald to stay in emotional touch with feelings and work through life issues. He enjoys the denseness of language and economy of words inherent in a poem. His poetry has appeared in The Prairie Light Review, won the Mountainland Publishing Poetry Grand Prize and received an award in the Fifth International Poetry Contest in the Firstwriter.com Magazine.”

In May 2007, St. Martin’s Press published his short story “A.K.A.” in the anthology, Next Stop Hollywood, Short Stories Bound for the Screen.

“And The Road Goes On Forever, won first place in the Creative Nonfiction contest in the Bacopa Literary Review 2021.

In April, 2022, the poem “Lip Jazz” appeared in the magazine Jerry Jazz Musician. Go to the book page.

Dodge City: A coming-of-age story about a young man who draws a low number in the Vietnam draft lottery. Rick receives conflicting advice from his family, his friends, and a former military man who tells him...’Don’t Go!’ What should he do? Excellent story by Ann Worrel 

Ann Worrel is recovering from a long career in the roller coaster world of the oil and gas business where she held management positions with large oil companies. She received her BA in Russian Language and Literature from Vanderbilt University and her Masters in Geology from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Houston, Texas with her dog, Foxxy Cleopatra (apologies to the Austin Powers movie franchise) and has rediscovered her love for writing now that her two children are grown.

Ann spends her days writing, reading, working out, attempting to play golf and hosting a cool group of friends for weekly yoga and wine tasting. She travels often and her favorite destinations are the Texas Hill Country, the East Coast and points abroad. Her current writing projects include a work that explores online dating for seniors and a mystery novel set in Key West. Go to the book page.