Michael Creeden was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. After graduating from Southeastern Massachusetts University, he worked for fifteen years as a technical writer in the software and biotech industries. He began attending Friday Night Writers in 2005, when he was a student in the Florida International University MFA program. He has been a semi-regular attendee since then, coming for inspiration, camaraderie, and the quality feedback that John and the group provide. His short stories and non-fiction have appeared in Miami Living, The Florida Book Review, and Tigertail. He lives in Miami, where he teaches writing at Florida International University.
Ingrid wrote her first tragedy at age seven on a Soviet typewriter she says was "roughly the size of a family sedan." She soon discovered that writing was the perfect loophole for lying without getting in trouble. "As long as I typed it up and called it 'fiction' my mother never threatened to break out the dreaded Chancleta--that's a flip-flop for those of you uninitiated in the art of Cuban child-rearing. It is a truth universally acknowledged that all Cuban children quiver and pale at the mere mention of The Chancleta." Ingrid has been a member of Friday Night Writers for about four years. "There's nothing like a captive audience to improve the craft," she says. "It's nice to bask in the… warmth of glowing reviews by your best friend and your dog, but ultimately, constructive criticism is the only way to get better at anything. With the exception of skydiving.
A former firefighter, Louis K. Lowy is the author of Die Laughing, a humorously dark sci-fi novel set in the 1950's of flying saucers, communist paranoia, and live television. He is the recipient of a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship. His work has appeared in, among others, Coral Living Magazine, New Plains Review, Pushing Out the Boat, The MacGuffin Magazine, and The Chaffey Review. His poem "Poetry Workshop" was the second place winner of Winning Writers Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. He can be reached at www.louisklowy.com and on Facebook. Louis has been involved with Friday Night Writers for six years. He originally joined as a means to connect with other writers--not… really sure what it was, exactly, that connect meant. Over the years he's come to realize that it means an opportunity to learn from its leader, John Dufresne; a safe ground to be criticized and praised; a forum to share in the insecurities and triumphs that come with writing; and a network of friendship, support, and encouragement.
Before moving to South Florida from Chicago in 1993, Lizabeth planted the first seeds of a novel on paper. In 2001, having left her job, she dedicated herself to trying to finish that book. After sending perhaps the fifth (or fiftieth) revision to her longtime friend and editor for a read-thru, her friend replied by sending a book from the slush pile at work: Love Warps the Mind a Little. "It mentions Stirling Road--isn't that near you? It's really good, and in the author's notes, he thanks this writers group." Lizabeth has been a devoted member of John Dufresne's Friday Night Writers since, continuing to work on rewrites to her many-times-revised novel. Lizabeth has written articles for a… handful of Chicago and South Florida local publications as well as the Chicago Tribune and its syndicate. This is her first published short story.