A brief introduction to a few of the writers who empower Across the Margin with their words….
Michael Shields
Editor-in-Chief / Contributor
Brooklyn, NY
Regardless of what you may infer from the above sketch, Michael Shields would hardly be described as money grubbing. Nor does a perplexed frown blanket his face. A more accurate description would be that Michael is a writer hailing from Brooklyn. And to know Michael, the man who steers the ship at Across the Margin, is to love him, or so he will tell you. Although he has spent a great deal of his life devoted to projects that haven’t allowed for literary expression, he has, since youth, been soaking in the ways of the world as he perceives it, and writing. Telling and molding stories is not only a passion of Michael’s, but a necessity, a true way of life. Michael has contributed countless pieces to many notable magazines, websites and blogs but, most importantly, his work can be found right here, at this esteemed periodical, Across The Margin.
Chris Thompson
Editor / Director, Art Department / Contributor
Brooklyn, NY
Chris Thompson is a writer, artist, and scientist living in Brooklyn, New York. A man of countless talents (he once built his own Ms. Pac Man arcade because he grew tired of pumping quarters into the one at his local pizzeria), Chris is the forward-thinking Co-Editor at Across the Margin, a Co-Manifester of the magazines limitless future and the Director of its wildly creative Art Department. When he isn’t pulling late nights in the lab, Chris can often be found at his home studio, writing about and illustrating the endless visions that dance about his overactive mind. A fan of late-night wrestling with his dog, 50s-era Science Fiction stories and whispering secrets to a tattered photograph of his hero, Kurt Vonnegut, Chris has spent most of his life keeping his creations and his creativity close to his chest. But with time comes wisdom, and insight, and here at Across the Margin, his works and talent have finally found a place to shine.
Richard Roundy
Poetry Editor / Contributor
Brooklyn, NY
Richard Roundy lives in Brooklyn with his wife, daughters, and dog. Since returning to NYC many years ago from the storied Poetics Program at SUNY Buffalo he has been teaching in the public schools. He has published poetry and fiction in a number of places; most recently a poem has been included in the anthology Like Musical Instruments: 83 Contemporary American Poets (Broadstone).
Tom Rau
Contributor
Durham, NC
Ever modest, Tom turned to his mother, Paula Rau, to pen his bio….
“Tom Rau is a writer, musician, composer, and professional poker player based in Durham, North Carolina. When he is not fronting for his band Big Hell or playing with Broken Tapes, he can usually be found writing, reading or playing cards. Though his music is cataloged variously as alternative, hip-hop, indie, experimental, rock, or post-rock, it really can’t be pigeonholed. Whether writing, playing music or just living on his own terms, Tommy values and practices a freedom and creativity born of a resilience that allows him to take risks and that underlies the edginess of his writing and music.”
Douglas Grant
Contributing Editor
San Diego, CA
Douglas Grant is the author of the novels Preemptive and Imaginary Lines. While piecing together his next work, he spends his days downing copious amounts of coffee while exploring new authors and new writing styles which often become influential in his own work. His works are usually narratives in which he comments on the human condition or on social inequity, narratives that often pay tribute to some of the most banal of literature and film genres.
Heather Fawn
Contributor
Numazu, Japan
Heather is a writer, an artist, a teacher, and a cartoon connoisseur who finds herself held captive by red tape and pretty things in Durham, North Carolina. Possessing an obsessive fascination with all things cerebral, she has pursued study in Japanese, fine art, and education, with plans to worship again at the alter of academia in the near future. As an aspiring activist, she spends a great deal of time reading and ruminating over the injustices of the world. She has a persistent case of wanderlust that has led her to take big leaps to live in foreign countries. Ironically, she is reclusive to a fault, and finds it difficult to drag her ass out of the house for anything less than intensely gratifying culinary indulgences, meaningful discourse, or an opportunity to act like Mowgli from the Jungle Book.
Allie Burke
Contributor
Los Angeles, CA
A Bestselling Author, NPO VP, and Psychology Today Blogger from Burbank, California, Allie Burke writes books she can’t find in the bookstore. Having been recognized as writing a “kickass book that defies the genre it’s in,” Allie writes with a prose that has been labeled poetic and ethereal. Her life is a beautiful disaster, flowered with the harrowing existence of inherited eccentricity, a murderous family history, a faithful literature addiction, and the intricate darkness of true love. These are the enchanting experiences that inspire Allie’s fairytales. From some coffee shop in Los Angeles, she is working on her next novel. Visit Allie at http://haphazardcoffee.com.
Christopher Rockwell
Contributor
Los Angeles, CA
“Well, you’re my friend, that’s what you told me. And can you see what’s inside of me? Many times we’ve been out drinking. And many times we’ve shared our thoughts. But did you ever, ever notice, the kind of thoughts I got? Well, you know I have a love, a love for everyone I know. And you know, I have a drive to live, I won’t let go. But can you see its opposition, comes arising up sometimes? That its dreadful anti-position, comes blacking in my mind? And then I see a darkness. And then I see a darkness” -Bonny Prince Billy
Frederick K. Foote, Jr.
Contributor
Sacramento, CA
Frederick K. Foote, Jr. is a writer and poet who was born in Sacramento, California. He served three years and nine months in the USAF and retired from the State of California in 2001. In 2010, Frederick retired, again, this time from ten years of teaching at Sacramento City College, He then started writing short stories. Since 2014 Frederick has been published in a plethora of publications, and many of his tales which exemplify his unique brand of flash-fiction have found a home Across the Margin.
Michael Bradford
Contributor
Cleveland, OH
Half full on the contents of his glass, Mr. Bradford remains conflicted by its consumption and the change it has brought to not just the part in his hair but also the cut of his jib, and even more so, the get in his go. Words are his handcuffs, a “?” his legal counsel, and a “!” his emergency power source.
Art Rosch
Contributor
West Coast, USA
The greatest thing that ever happened to Art Rosch was his awful childhood. He had no choice but to get angry, rebel and give into his destiny of becoming an artist. His first duty as an artist was to cultivate obsessions. He proceeded to do this with gusto and learned that there is no substitute for creative addictions to gain insight into human nature. He managed to stay out of jail and the loony bin, surprisingly, and it wasn’t until he was twenty six that he realized he could write novels. Since then, writing has been the been his refuge. You can read more from Art at his blog or by downloading his free e-book, THE ROAD HAS EYES, a travel memoir. His photography can be found here.
Paul Gutkowski
Contributor
Brooklyn, NY
Paul Gutkowski is an author whose writing has often been described by Paul to be “Hemingway-esque.” He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who helps troubled adolescents upon release from Riker’s Island navigate the often cruel and unjust world that hungrily awaits them. He believes in little else save that human beings are complex motherfuckers capable of both absolute beauty and incredible acts of terror and malice. He gets off on exploring all the shades of grey area in between. He has a crippling fear of sweeping epidemics and can regularly be seen hiding from the fact that we are all going to die alone by trying to find the perfect mixture of bourbon and tree that allows him to feel most charmingly alive.