Contributors

Steve Wiley, Author

Steve is a purveyor of the Finest in speculative literature from Chicago. Publishers Weekly called his first novel, The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan, "Intelligent, enchanting, and playful." Wiley's second novel, The Imagined Homecoming of Icarus Isakov, recounts the experience of a mystical tavern serving memories instead of drinks. His 2022 novel, a Beard tangled in Dreams: The True story of Rip van Winkle, is a dreamful reimagining of Washington Irving’s 1819 classic. His most recent novel, The Curious Case of the Village in the Moonlight, is another unconventional fantasy set within Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

His short fiction has been published everywhere from Crannóg Magazine in Galway, Ireland, to Papercuts Magazine in Pakistan. Steve once passionately kissed a bronze seahorse in the middle of Buckingham Fountain. Seriously, he did.

Additional titles and information on Steve Wiley can be found at absurdistfiction.com. You can email Steve at Lavenderlinepress@gmail.com.  

Chris Cihon, Illustrator

Chris is an artist who studied at Columbia College Chicago. He is a Chicago native and has lived here all his life. Chris’s paintings have been showcased in many local galleries and beyond. When he feels like it, he travels elsewhere to find inspiration. You can reach him at Chris.cihon@gmail.com, or visit _ccihon on Instagram.

Jen McDonald, Editor

Jen is an editor, writer, teacher, dancer, chef, traveler, and lover of hedgehog videos. Before opening her own editing shop, she worked for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications, and in 2012-13 she was a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. In addition to editing, she's currently an adjunct faculty member in the Writer’s Studio at the University of Chicago’s Graham School. She lives in Chicago, off the Red Line, not far from the Green Mill, and takes her Manhattans up.

Learn more about Jen here: http://www.jenbmcdonald.com/

Sean Lenhart, Audiobook Narrator

Sean is a graduate of Point Park University's Conservatory Of Performing Arts with a degree in musical theatre. He is happy to have a thriving stage career in Pittsburgh, working with Stage 62, Front Porch Theatricals, The Pittsburgh Opera, Food For Groundlings, Resonance Works Opera, The Pittsburgh Savoyards, Undercroft Opera, Microscopic Opera, Greensburg Civic Theater, South Park Theater, and the South Hills Players.  When he’s not on stage, Sean works from his home studio as a Voice Actor, with many audio books available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. 

Learn more about Sean here: http://www.seanlenhart.com/

Works Cited

The cover for this book was based on a mural in N. Ireland you can see here (http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Murals_in_Northern_Ireland) in examples.  I'm not sure if that mural still exists, and I can't find any information on the artist, but thank you, whoever you are.  

Allingham, William. “The Fairies.” In Irish Songs and Poems. London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1901.

Corgan, Billy. Tonight, Tonight. On Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Smashing Pumpkins. © 1995 by Virgin.

Gurnon, Emily. “Ice from Michigan Ave. Building Falls, Kills Man.” Chicago Tribune, March 1, 1994. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-03-01/news/9403010211_1_four-story-building-neiman-marcus-john-hancock-center.

Joyce, James. Finnegans Wake. London: Faber and Faber, 1939.

Loerzel, Robert. "The Story of Dunning, a Tomb for the Living."  Curious City, April 30, 2013. https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/the-story-of-dunning-a-tomb-for-the-living/6d71dc74-bb21-4a25-8980-c2d7a5670b06

Matheny, Keith. "Weather Quirk Makes Chicago Skyline Mirage over Lake Michigan." Detroit Free Press, May 7, 2015. http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/06/weather-mirage-chicago-skyline-lake-michigan/70902190/

Ocasek, Ric. Magic. On Heartbeat City. The Cars. © 1984 by Elektra.

Schneider, Ben. The Birds are Singing at Night. On A Walk in the Woods. Lord Huron. © 2015 by Varese Sarabande.

William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Other Comedies, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Borders Classics, 2007.

And of course Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Cock o' the North, Wind in the Willows, Hans Christian Andersen (especially for the wind), and anyone else I forgot...