ABOUT THE AUTHORS
This Close to Happy: Jessica Smith received a MFA from the University of Minnesota, Mankato, where she was the editor of its literary magazine, Blue Earth Review. She currently teaches writing and literature at Central Maine Community College. Jessica Smith's work has been previously published in The Louisville Review, Permafrost, The Berkeley Fiction Review, and The Portland Review. Her story, Something Quick and Bright, was published in Ruminate Magazine where it was named runner-up for the William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. It was also nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things: Thomas Kearnes holds an MA in Screenwriting from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin. His fiction has either appeared or will appear in Berkeley Fiction Review, Gulf Stream, Per Contra, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. His work has been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize.
Synagogue: Lindsay Haber teaches Introduction to College Writing and Research Writing at Emerson College while obtaining her MFA in fiction. She is currently working toward publishing her first novel.
Absolute Value: Laura Ingram is eighteen years old. Her work has been published in Gravel Magazine, The Cactus Heart Review, Juked Literary Journal, and over a dozen other anthologies and quarterlies.
The Happy Place: MacKenzie Jennings is an English professor residing in central Florida. Her latest work has appeared in Animal: A Beast of a Literary Magazine and Pop Culture Junction. Jennings is also currently co-editing a creative nonfiction anthology entitled Rendezvous in the Rough: Essays from the 21st Century Dating Trenches.