Megaphone Members

Casey Wendleton, founder
I was born and raised in Boonville Missouri. I now live 30 min away in Columbia. I am passionate about all things creative: I am a writer, artist, home remodeler, and mother. On the side, I try – where I can – to save the world. I love Halloween and all things creepy.

I am currently stumbling through self-publishing my series of novels. The Dove: Book One of the Legend is published and book two is in the works. I have blogged the journey at caseywendleton.com. It, and the stories of friends I have met along the way, have been my inspiration behind starting the Megaphone Society. My favorite quote is by my three-year-old son, when asked what it means to be an artist: “It means you have rainbows in your head.”

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Larissa Dalton Stephanoff, founder
Writing has always been a core part of my life, from journals and stories to a Master’s degree in journalism. I am an avid blogger, social media administrator, graphic designer, start–up co–founder, fitness junkie, aspiring runner and professional pinterest–er. I am also a newly–wed!

What I love most about blogging and social media is the strong community. My running bloggers and fitness “Tweeps” consistently encourage and motivate me, providing a sense of belonging and support. Our goal with the Megaphone Society is to create such a support system and community to writers!

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Marjorie Brimer
I am a young adult fiction writer and graduate of Columbia College with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Teacher’s Certification in Middle School Science and Elementary Education. I reside in rural mid–Missouri where I am a locally–known musician and artist who has finally settled down after years of nomadic travel. I have lived with the Navajo on the reservation in Arizona, in the mountains of Colorado, the plains of Nebraska and many other regions of the country.

I am currently submitting my first book to publishers.

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Alton Bock
I am a writer, software developer, and Star Wars/Bruce Springsteen fan originally from New Jersey, but now residing in Southeast Missouri with my wife and three sons. I play piano, crochet a fierce chain–link scarf, and can defeat almost anyone in Mario Kart. I also tinker with game development, pencil sketching, and cycling.

I like to write “time–travel with heart” stories, character–based adventures that explore people under unusual circumstances rather than the science or technology involved. My stories are personal, intimate, and raw, but are also suitable for readers of all ages.

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Dave Donahue
I am a former U.S. Marine and have worked as a commercial electrician for years in San Diego, California. I took up writing after a serious setback and hospitalization. My book The Sunshine Murders was recently published on Amazon and Audible. I also have an autobiography called My life, a life story of a man infected.

I am an avid surfer and have travelled the world in search of the perfect wave. I live in Durham, North Carolina and have a 10–year–old son.

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Jennifer Frontera
I have been making up stories since I was old enough to make pictures with crayons and writing them since I could write. I wrote my first novel-length story by hand at 14 and a second in high school. There was never a point in life where I wasn’t writing SOMETHING.

For many years now I have told myself to get serious about crafting a novel as an adult, but have found every excuse under the sun to procrastinate. Everything came to a head in October when I enrolled in a Writer’s Digest Workshop and then in November when I signed up for NaNoWriMo 2012 (and WON!), and so here I am, ready to finally get serious about my life-long passion for writing!

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Lindsay Heidbrink aka “Rolark”
I’m a book fanatic who also enjoys writing and was once attacked by an octopus. True story! I spend at least a couple of hours each day writing and have found that the only way to be a good writer is to read, read, read. I have dreams of becoming a published author and don’t mind going the traditional or self–published route. I’ve written (and re–written) a handful of novels and try to start at least two new ones a year. I have yet to seriously pursue an agent or editor, waiting until I’m “ready.”

When I’m not reading, writing, or helping other writers, I like to sleep or hang out with my husband. I graduated from Brigham Young University in Public Relations and have worked for real estate groups, software companies, laundromats and a fiction magazine. Someday soon I hope to add some little ones to my family and share with them my love of all things reading and writing.

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Kristin Helling
When I was 14, I started my first novel. A few weeks ago I finished my first novel (the same story), 10 years later. I’ve started on the second book in the trilogy, as well as a few children’s books.

I have only had a few short stories published in literary magazines so far, and I’m currently searching for an agent in publishing my novel. I love writing young adult fiction, creative nonfiction prose, and children’s stories.

I received my BA in English-Writing from Park University in Parkville, MO with an 18-hour minor in Psychology. I am married to a photographer, and we live outside Kansas City with our husky and mini sheltie.

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Ian Hutson
Good grief, a mini-bio with all of the discomfort that implies in the way of using the word “I”. Hmm. Very well then. I was born in England and have lived in peculiar places as diverse as Hong Kong and The Outer Hebrides in Scotland. I stand in awe of folk who write heavy, complicated plots since all of my writing is intended, mostly, for giggles.

My favourite hats are the “smoking” cap, the tweed cap and the pith helmet but I only ever wear one at a time. I was thrown out of the British Civil Service, thrown out of several multi-national corporations and now work as an Edwardian photographer by day and a scribbler by night. Vegan; rural; English; ever so sorry. Chin-chin.

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Lou Kief
I was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1945 and am the son of a carpenter and a self-educated mother. From childhood I have had an insatiable appetite for writing, designing and building things with my hands.

A closeted gay man as a young adult, in the 1960’s I ran away to San Francisco and found myself in the middle of the most significant period in the history of gay liberation. Of the many places and times that have set the foundation for American gay rights, I was there living through it.

Today my partner of 34 years, Bill, and I live in Guadalajara, Mexico and share a home with Katrina, a huge, not very lady-like, Neapolitan Mastiff, Mexi-cats; Diego, Frida & Trotsky, and Rocco, a pushy Amazon Parrot.

In 2010 “In All The Silent Manliness”, a novel of family loss and grief was released. In 2012, Bill Walls and I wrote “Doing Retail Right” to help retailers stay happy and motivated as the worlds of brick and mortar stores began to collide with virtual retailing. The release of “Let No Stranger Wait Outside Your Door” is a memoir about coming out and San Francisco during the 1970s.

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Margaret Locke
In my life-before-kids, I was a doctoral student in medieval history. Now I’m a romance novelist aspiring for publication. For years I’ve promised myself I would write romances, not just consume them. It’s time.

I’ve completed a full draft of “A Man of Character,” and am trying to figure out how to attack the revising/editing process. I’m also scribbling a draft of my second novel, “A Matter of Time.”

When not writing, you can find me hanging out on Twitter and Facebook, inhaling chocolate, blogging about my Merlin obsession plus other topics, and reading. Sometimes I even pay attention to my hubby and children. 😉

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Katherine Lowry Logan
I was born the second of five children to a Presbyterian Pastor and a stay–at–home mom. I came of age in Louisville, Kentucky, during the tumultuous 1960s. Sit–in’s, bra burnings, the sexual revolution, pot, campus unrest, and the Vietnam War were brought vividly to life by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News. While the rest of the world seemed to spin out of control, I spun stories in my head.

College, marriage, and two daughters kept the muse simmering on the back burner. It wasn’t until the nest was empty that I sat down to write full-time. Life, as it often does, brought tragedy and a screeching halt to my writing. My husband, best friend, and lover died unexpectedly. Healing was a slow process, but two weddings and five grandchildren have a way of putting life into perspective. Following the birth of my second grandchild, I found my writer’s voice again. I also found my legs and ran my first marathon on September 15, 2012.

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Laura Miller
I am the author of the contemporary romance novel, “Butterfly Weeds.” I grew up in New Haven, Missouri and now live with my husband in Columbia, Missouri. I am a Mizzou graduate with a degree in newsprint journalism and spent years as a newspaper reporter, covering government and business news, before starting to write fiction.

I love running and spoiling my little nephew, and currently I’m working on my next novel.

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Daniel Neff
I was born in 1963 on the banks of the Ohio River, the third of four children born to Maurice and Sarah Neff. Twelve years ago cancer interrupted my plans to remake my life and return to school to pursue a degree in architecture. After a long battle using traditional treatment and despite being given just months to live, I turned to an alternative treatment and today I am alive and well.

Since the story was too long to fit into one paragraph, three years ago I wrote a book about my experience – God Said Not Yet! One Man’s Experience with “Terminal” Cancer (a previous bestseller among memoirs on Amazon, with more than 15,000 copies in print and Kindle). I enjoyed the writing experience so much that I decided author would be my new chosen career. I have since written four more books and have others in production. I currently live in western North Carolina with my wife Linda, our son Daniel, and our Golden Retriever Johnny Bud.

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Victoria Sawyer
What you see on the outside is not what you get on the inside. On the outside, I’m polished, put together, a professional, but on the inside things are a bit different. I’m creative, anxious, alternately depressed and happy, energetic, charismatic, cranky, panicked and yeah…crazy.

I’ve suffered from panic attacks, anxiety and depression since the age of 10 and have been writing for just about as long. My writing journey started as journal entries for therapy and morphed into a melding of fact and fiction. Sometimes writing drives me to drink or drinking drives me to write; sometimes it’s depression, anger, mental illness or love. My first novel, Angst, is a fictional retelling of my own struggles as a college freshman. My goal is to be honest about mental illness and life’s struggles and I’ve started a second novel that picks up a few years after Angst.

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Sarah Shackleford
I’m a writer of literary and genre fiction in all shapes and sizes which includes, but is not limited to, novels, short stories, poetry, rants, raves, and the occasional made up word.

I currently reside in suburban Kansas City with a cohabiting boyfriend who does the cooking (score!) and two cats, who are more like kids. I’ve always know that I’m a writer, but it wasn’t until I was done with school and in the real world that I realized this life is flying by, and I want to do what I love. So here I am and here I go, flinging myself into the literary world with all my might, trying to get to the magical (and probably mythical) Land of Literary Abandon. Join me, I’d love the company on this crazy ride!

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Jon Simmonds
I first decided to write a novel at the age of 7. I got out my child–sized typewriter (the size for a child, not of a child I hasten to add), a copy of Alice in Wonderland and began dutifully typing it out word-for-word. I figured, with unbeatable 7–year–old logic, that it had sold millions of copies, so selling a few million more would make me an overnight star and unspeakably wealthy. Plagiarism is a long word for a 7–year–old.

The journey to a completed first draft was a long one, fraught with wrong turns and dead ends, finally culminating 3 years later. On the way, I learned a huge amount about how to write and, more importantly perhaps, how not to. Having eventually completed a final manuscript, I’m setting out on the road to getting published – either traditionally, or self-published, whichever comes first.

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Eve Thomas
Mum, author, passionate campaigner, Tiny Peacefighter, SURVIVOR!

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Barbara Wendleton
I’ve always had a great respect for the Native american culture. I find the stories just as fascinating and as magical as stories about hobbits, wizards and elves. These people are amazing and were the perfect inspiration.

I have found writing very therapeutic; there is a freedom that comes easily with a simple pen and paper.

It has been a wonderful journey working on this with my daughter Casey and we are looking forward to completing book two. It will be a fun winter following our characters on some epic journeys.

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