Tremors, a diverse collection from four women and four men, includes flash fiction, excerpts from a novel-in-progress, and short stories that explore a wide range of imaginative themes. The authors, who all live in Contra Costa County, met in 2009 at a creative writing course in Pleasant Hill taught by Hercules resident and author Janice de Jesus.
Ken Branch, a native of San Francisco, received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. After completing law school at the University of San Francisco, he became a real estate trial attorney. He long focused on legal briefs and drafts but recently discovered the “wonder of creative writing.” He is now like “a kid in a candy store” when producing his fictional pieces.
Born in India, Maya Mitra Das earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. She received her training in Pediatrics at the Downtown Medical Center, New York and U.C.L.A. Medical Center, Los Angeles. She currently serves on the medical staff at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California. Mitra’s poetry has appeared in Tuesday’s Poetry, and two of her narrative poems have been anthologized in What’s In a Name? She has authored several scientific publications.
After earning a B.F.A from the California College of the Arts and completing graduate work in Graphic Design at the University of California, Berkeley, Douglas Burgess worked for nearly forty-five years in the advertising departments of such major firms as Safeway, Pacific Stereo, CBS and Rhone-Poulene. He has written a memoir about his “interesting and sometimes astounding life as an army brat.”
Having earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Vassar College and a Master of Library Science from Columbia University, Sue Hummel worked as a librarian in the New York Public Library for nine years. Recently, she added editing both fiction and no-fiction to her repertoire. Also an artist, she published and illustrated The Cow Who Wanted to be an Elephant and The Twinkle Stars.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Franklin T. Burroughs earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Pepperdine College, a Master of Science in Education from the University of Southern California and an Ed.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He did post-doctoral work at the University of Tehran, Iran and served in several capacities in the Middle East for more than fifteen years. He now serves as Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University. His publications include a volume entitled World of Learning: A Collection of Essays and a memoir entitled The Pepper Tree Kingdom.
A native of Northern California, Cecelia Pugh earned a Bachelor of Science degree from San Jose State University and became a licensed Occupational Therapist, specializing in geriatrics until her recent retirement. She is a poet and a writer of both fiction and non-fiction and a member of the California Writer’s Club, Mount Diablo Branch.
A native of Florida, Carlos de Jalisco found a home in labor-friendly California in the late 1960s. He writes simply because “It’s fun.” He gets inspiration from both classes and “strange events.” He “generally writes whatever pops into” his head. Currently Carlos resides in Northern California.
Born in San Francisco, California, Lynne Grant-Westenhaver studied journalism at San Jose State University. Over the years, she has written for many venues, including a weekly column for a local newspaper during her high-school career. Most recently, she has concentrated on fiction. Short stories, novelettes and flash fiction are her favorite genres.