Frederick Blanch was bitten by the writing bug at the tender age of six. Blanch’s literary ambitions suffered setbacks from anxious English teachers, hoping to preserve some continuity and/or common comprehension of the language, and interruptions by protracted stints as life insurance salesman (6 years), entre-preneur/printer (20 years), composer (10 years), actor (dabbled for 5 or 6 years), beekeeper (10 years), non-profit director – television producer (15 years), and a long, long time nature photographer, none of which derailed a stream of short stories, poetry, plays, novels, and commercial writing. In Blanch’s own words, “The path to anonymity has not been easy.”
He passed away on May 7, 2023, and the Workshop deeply feels his loss.
Websites: Amazon
Mary Ellen Boyd considers herself a hopeless romantic, and wants all her books to have a happy ending. Her favorite time periods in which to write are Regency England and Biblical eras, although if the muse strikes, she will cheerfully stretch her literary wings. Her special passion is building fictional stories around factual accounts.
She has been happily married since 1982, in May, the prettiest month of the year. She and her husband have one son, who is now married himself to his high school sweetheart.
Websites: maryellenboyd.com, Amazon
Anne Greenwood Brown got her start at the Workshop in 2010 and is now an Amazon best-selling author of numerous adult romances (penname A. S. Green), as well as several young adult (“YA”) titles. She writes both contemporary and paranormal under both names and has been published by Random House’s Delacorte Press, Albert Whitman Company, Entangled Publishing, Harlequin imprints, and Tortoise House Press. Anne blogs for WriterUnboxed.com.
Websites: Amazon, annegreenwoodbrown.com, and asgreenbooks.com
Denise Brown enjoys time with seven grandchildren when not writing, much of it watching a hockey or baseball game, attending a dance recital and playing monster hide and seek. Oh, and she collects vintage Betty & Veronica and Katy Keene comic books. The Minneapolis Writers Workshop is important to Denise and she serves as Social Media Director on the Board of Directors.
Denise has been published in Specialty Fabrics Review, Thunder Press, Bikes & Spikes Magazine and Sonni & Al’s Garage TV talk show – creator, producer, talent.
“Follow the Skull Bandanna” is her first foray into a planned series, following “Sheila” on her search for female empowerment in the world of motorcycles. Denise’s writing was inspired by women who fantasize about Harley-riding men. Having spent much of the last 30 years riding around the U.S. with every type of biker—including Evel Knievel—she knows she is a reliable source to write about it to these women.
Samuel E. Cole, a writer of prose and poetry, lives in Woodbury, Minnesota. His stories, poems, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines. Cole’s first poetry collection, bereft & the same-sex heart, was published in 2016 by Pski’s Porch Publishing. A second book, Bloodwork, a collection of short stories, was published in 2017 by Pski’s Porch Publishing. A third book, Siren Stitches, a collection of short stories, was published in 2017 by Three Waters Publishing. A fourth book, dollhouse masquerade, a poetry collection, was published in 2018 by Truth Serum Press. A fifth book, Young Thieves in a Growing Orchard, a collection of short stories, was published in 2019 by Weasel Press.
Websites: Amazon
David Fingerman has worked twenty-plus years for the Hennepin County court system. He has seen the best and worst of the human condition. From violent offenders to powerless victims, to lawyers to law enforcement, he is fascinated by the human condition. Combining that with a love for the macabre and an overactive imagination, he incorporates all of these traits into his writing, along with just the right amount of snark. His goal is to entertain with characters that will stay with you long after you put the book down.
Websites: davidfingerman.com, Amazon
Lee Henschel Jr. was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began his writing life when he was twelve.
His poems have been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies.
His short stories have been included in many collections, as well as his own collection, Short Stories of Vietnam, published in 1982.
Websites: Amazon
Kim Idynne is a Minneapolis-based writer and illustrator. She is the author of several novels and has also published a variety of short fiction. Her first short story, “Meat,” was published in the February 2015 issue of Literary Mama; the following year, Idynne received a Silver Pen award for her story “Fungus.” Her artwork has been featured in journals, books, datebooks, and at galleries around the Twin Cities area.
Websites: idynne.com Amazon Goodreads
J.P. Johnson
J.P. Johnson is a semi-retired real estate agent as is now living a work-optional lifestyle in Minneapolis, MN with his wife, Marylee and daughter, Erin. He is a long-time member of the Minneapolis Writers’ Workshop.
Sandra Appleby Joyce of Minneapolis and Beverly Monette Milbrath of Stillwater, are a writing duo from Minnesota. Classmates at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, their long-time friendship evolved into a fulfilling writing relationship. “Where the Tamarack Grows” is their debut suspense novel, and the are already planning their sequel. Sandra enjoys playing golf, bridge, and writing, and is hard at work in a sequel for “Tamarack.” Beverly is now widowed as well, and is an avid reader, which has found its outlet in her own writing.
Websites: Amazon
Ben (Evangelos) Kyriagis was born in Greece in 1954. He first came to America in 1971 as a high school foreign exchange student in Barron, Wisconsin. He later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
After working for two large American corporations, he founded his own international trading company that took him to thirty countries, including China, Japan, and most countries in Europe.
He lives with his wife in Minnesota and in Greece.
Websites: Amazon, http://www.benkyriagis.com/
Christy Marie Kent was born in Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Every couple of years, her parents moved around the south, averaging a new state every two years, yet, wherever they went, she found them.
After college, with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s in mathematics, her day job as an actuary moved her further and further north. Now she finds herself living in the frozen tundra of Minnesota with her husband, two sons, and a cat who begs to return to a warmer climate.
Nevertheless, she thinks the Twin Cities are the ideal environment to pursue her second career as a writer, storyteller, and college instructor. She loves Minnesota, and the cat will just have to suck it up and grow a thicker coat … don’tcha know.
Websites: Amazon
Roger C. Morris, a retired computer technician and technical writer, lived in northeast Minneapolis where he grew tomatoes in a raised-bed garden and wrote poetry essays and fiction. He is survived by two grown children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Roger was a longtime member of the Workshop, and served faithfully as our Treasurer for decades.
10/16/1939 – 3/3/2020
Janet Preus is a writer, playwright, songwriter, lyricist, and editor based in Minneapolis and “Up North.” She has several personal essays, a musical, a series of children’s books, many theater reviews and trade magazine articles published. She has won awards in journalism (broadcast and print), nonfiction, songwriting and playwrighting. She recently completed her first book, a genre-blended work of historical fiction and creative nonfiction, and she is hard at work on a new musical with Robert Elhai and Fred Steele.
Website:https://www.janetpreuswriter.com
