Nicole Knepper is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with two advanced degrees (psychology and gerontology) whose blog, “Moms Who Drink And Swear™,” became the basis for her first book, “Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind.” Nikki, who is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Cussin’, creates, edits and curates content for her million fans strong Facebook page, Moms Who Drink And Swear™, and for her Moms Who Drink And Swear™ blogs. She also devotes significant time and space on her massive social media platform to raise awareness and funds for charitable organizations and regularly hosts fundraising events.

Nikki’s broad knowledge base and boundless enthusiasm for educating others about mental illness and overall emotional wellness is obvious in her writing. Her unique style of weaving common sense, healthy psychology, and humor into her off-color, sometimes profanity laced blogs and stories is not for the faint of heart! Nikki’s honest, no- topic-is-ever-off-limits observations about the hilarity and heartache in life consistently draw in new readers, and have resulted in a large and army of loyal readers who identify themselves proudly as fellow moms (and dads and single people and….you get it, right?) who drink and swear.

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Angela Amman is a short story and essay writer who lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband and children. She is a mother to two rapidly growing children, a gatherer of moments, and a weaver of words. Collecting her family’s stories is a gift-in-progress for her daughter and son. She blogs at AngelaAmman.com, reviewing books and capturing the craziness and beauty that weave together to create something extraordinary.

Angela is thrilled to share others’ stories as a co-director/co-producer of Listen to Your Mother Metro Detroit. She is a managing editor at Bannering Books and contributing writer at AllParenting and Savvy Sassy Moms.

Angela plans on running her fourth half-marathon this fall. She developed a running habit in college, the same year she writes about in her My Other Ex essay. When she should be sleeping, she works on her latest short story collection. Her short stories have appeared in her collection, Nothing Goes Away, and various anthologies.

You can find her on Facebook here and here, Twitter, and Google +.

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Galit Breen is a Minnesota writer. On any given day she can be found juggling three kids, one husband, one puggle, and her laptop. Galit has had essays published in several anthologies, is the editor of Pens and Paint, a series anthology of children’s poetry and artwork, and co-directs Listen to Your Mother, Twin Cities. Galit is a freelance writer for allParenting, Everyday Family, Mamalode Magazine, Soleil Moon Frye’s Moonfrye, SheKnows, and The Huffington Post blog. Galit blogs at These Little Waves and may or may not work for dark chocolate.

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Alexis is a native New Yorker now living in New Jersey where she works as a Creative Director/Copywriter. In addition to writing ads and web content, she also writes memoir-based essays and is nearly finished with her first book, a YA story about two sisters.

Finding the time to write is her biggest challenge so she has reluctantly become a morning person, waking before her two young kids to pound away on her vintage keyboard (it still makes those “clickety” noises) before the light of day.

The essay she wrote for My Other Ex starts off with a disagreement over poorly chosen words. It’s in the silence that follows the disagreement that Alexis realizes she was holding on to one of her oldest friends for all the wrong reasons.

When she’s not writing, she can be found running trails with her dog Tilly, hanging out with her husband and kids and searching for the perfect snack.

Connect with Alexis on Instagram (@funkylsax), Twitter (@funkyslax) and LinkedIn (Alexis Schettini Calabrese). 

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Catherine Carson teaches creative writing at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL.  She has served as Managing Editor of The Florida Review and has poetry forthcoming in Referential Magazine.  She predominantly writes nonfiction, but she also enjoys a good pantoum now and then.

“Fuchsia,” her essay in My Other Ex, took years of distance to write.  This friendship, though only a few months long, was a pivotal part of her development as a young adult.  The positive memories meld with the regrets.

Catherine was raised near award-winning sand in Sarasota, Florida.  She is a fifth-generation Floridian who probably wouldn’t know better than to wear flip-flops in the snow.  She now lives in Central Florida with two cats who sincerely believe they are superior to her in every way.  Swimming and cycling are her favorite past-times, and she will do anything to avoid cooking for herself.

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