The Writers & Editors for The US Review of Books

Carol Anderson, D.Min., is a retired Clinical Social Worker, Clinical Director, Program Developer, and Adjunct Professor of Social Work. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (spirituality) and is the author of Where All Our Journeys End: Searching for the Beloved in Everyday Life, which has been praised for its depth of prose and beauty of poetry. A voracious reader and writer, she is currently working on her second book, The Soul of Social Work Practice: Embracing Spirituality. She has also written professionally regarding mental health and addiction issues. She is an ongoing volunteer and politically active in the LGBTQ community. Dr. Anderson is a Marquis Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who of America scholar.

Shelby Brooks is a freelance writer and editor, with projects ranging from Disney theme parks to Texas' hidden gems to Dallas bridal shops. She has a bachelor's in creative writing, a master's in strategic communications, and soon, a themed entertainment design certificate. In the last decade, Brooks has worked in higher ed, hospitality, recreation, and immersive, themed entertainment. Beach days, Epic Universe's lights, and dog walks in the forest continue to serve unknowingly as fodder for future stories.

Mari Carlson currently divides her time between WI, MN and DC. When not reading and reviewing, she practices, teaches, and performs violin and viola—Jazz, rock, classical, folk—you name it and she'll join in!

Kellie Crawford is a freelance writer, who has worked for several past online publications including WrestlingInc, Fansided, and the Examiner. When not writing about movies, pro wrestling, or books, she also writes poetry and will be part of the upcoming anthology from Wingless Dreamer.

Carolyn Davis is a librarian, an editor, and author of more than fifty publications and presentations, including a textbook for ABC-CLIO Publishers, How to Write Persuasively Today. As a researcher/librarian, she has lived and worked in six countries, including two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica—the fifth wheelchair-user to have been accepted. Her passions include doing what she can for the physical environment and advocacy for other-than-human animals. Currently a freelance editor and copyeditor, recently for Chiron Publications. She has completed an environmental, conflict-resolution-based young adult book, entitled Eban and the Dolphins, and is writing the second book in the series.

Priscilla Estes is a former medical editor, copy writer, and award-winning freelance journalist. Her most recent book, 50 Day Hikes in New Jersey, was published in 2019 by the non-profit Appalachian Mountain Club. Several unpublished novels lurk in her closet, including one fully developed manuscript. She plays gongs for healing and relaxation and teaches yoga. The mountains of Western North Carolina are home and provide the bliss of hiking and trail work. She enjoys current events and working for The U.S. Review of Books.

Amanda Hanson is a freelance writer, translator, and book reviewer. She has an MFA in Screenwriting and Playwriting. During her spare time, she likes to go to the movies and the beach.

Marie Harrison is a life-long reader and creative writer who began her writing career editing graphic design and IT related documents for her parents. While working on her degree in music, she often proofread and edited her friends’ papers while maintaining a steady habit of reading books and writing stories. In 2019, she was invited by the DC based opera company, Bel Cantanti, to reimagine a story for a collection of unrelated opera arias through a series of narrations. During the pandemic when there were no gigs to be had, she talked herself into a position as technical writer for a government contracting IT company. while editing content for a videogame developer. Now, based in Southern California, she is looking to teach piano lessons, write book reviews, and maybe become brave enough to publish a few stories.

Niknesha Hairston is a poet, educator, and curriculum designer whose work explores legacy, identity, and liberation. She is the author of two poetry collections, The Journey and Last Stop…, and her work has appeared in The Long Island Quarterly and The Nassau County Poet Laureate Society Review. With more than a decade of experience in equity--centered teaching and program design, she creates inclusive learning experiences that uplift student voice and foster critical inquiry. Her forthcoming book, A Walk in the Dark: The Invisible Man, will be published through R.A.R.E. Publications.

Boze Herrington is an award-winning poet, novelist, and culture writer whose work has appeared in the Guardian, the Atlantic, Nerdist, and Lit Hub. At any given time, he would like to be reading a mystery or a book of fairy-tales in an alcove of a university library in a big city.

Joyce Jacobo is a freelance writer with an MA in Literature & Writing Studies. Her work has appeared in anthologies such the San Diego Poetry Annual and Reading Harbor's Seeking Human Kindness, alongside university publications like Bravura and Oh, Cat. In addition, she has recently launched The Literary Serenity Archives, as a place to gather feel-good pieces and encourage other writers to make their voices heard.

Kat Kennedy is a former teacher of English literature and composition. She works part-time as a freelance writer to pursue her photography and art hobbies. Her poetry has won numerous awards and her novella, Flamingo Funeral, was short-listed in the Faulkner Wisdom Competition. She writes about the South, music, and whatever happens to cross her mind on the blog, Tea Cakes and Whiskey. She lives in Mobile, AL with her husband, Randy and too many flying critters to count.

Haley Manning seeks to integrate her career in medicine with a life in the arts. She sees patients by day and spends her evenings wrapped up in a good book. She loves any written work that opens her mind and uplifts her spirit.

Steven Mayfield is the author of five novels and one collection of short fiction. After a short stint as a sketch writer in 1970s Los Angeles, a twenty-year hiatus from creative writing began, during which he attended medical school at the University of Nebraska followed by post-doctoral training and teaching/research appointments at the University of Iowa, Brown University Program in Medicine, and the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. In those years, he published forty-two scientific articles, abstracts, chapters, and reviews, then once again began to write fiction in 1993 with short stories appearing in literary journals and anthologies over the next decade. A collection of short fiction, Howling at the Moon (Mount Parnassus Press), was released in 2010 and Regal House became his publishing home in 2020 for four novels: Treasure of the Blue Whale (2020), Delphic Oracle, U.S.A. (2022), The Penny Mansions (2023), and Sixty Seconds (2025). A fifth RHP book, The Bank House, will launch in 2027. Steven's books have been honored with numerous awards, including an IBPA Silver Medal, a CIBA Mark Twain Award Grand Prize ribbon, an IPG Gold Medal, and a CIBA Ernest Hemingway Award First Place ribbon. He currently lives and writes in Oregon.  

Jonah Meyer is a poet, writer, and editor based in North Carolina. He holds a Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology and Masters in Library and Information Systems. His creative work has appeared in more than fifty publications. Jonah serves as poetry editor for Mud Season Review, Twin Bird Review, Random Sample, and Voicemail Poems; copy editor for Under the Gum Tree; poetry reader with Okay Donkey and The Maine Review; and feature writer for Heavy Feather. Other interests include playing guitar, banjo, piano, shooting street photography, and studying Buddhist philosophy.

Michael Radon started his professional writing career in 2010, and has been reviewing books with The U.S. Review of Books nearly the entire time in addition to reviewing electronics, crowdfunding projects, and music. He has participated in community writing events such as NaNoWriMo both individually and by helping out other local writers.

Kate Robinson promises to always dance with absurdity and paradox. She began her literary career writing bad poetry at age ten. After working as a grocery clerk, nursing assistant and home health aide, city bus driver, museum aide, a variety of office assistant positions, and K-12 substitute teacher, all while studying (BA 1999, MA 2010) and raising a family, scribbling looked like a suitable diversion. Now she whacks words amidst the mystical saguaro forests of the Sonoran Desert.

Barbara Bamberger Scott is a freelance writer, editor, book reviewer, and author/co-author of several nonfiction books. She has lived, worked, and traveled in Botswana, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, India, England, and Spain. She has won several writing prizes, is a songwriter/musician, and writes articles for Homestead.org. Since 2005, she has hosted an international writing competition, A Woman's Write, to highlight and reward the work of creative women.

Mihir Shah has been a freelance writer since 2006, producing articles and book reviews for various publications on topics ranging from sports, world literature, and art history to cinema, fiction, and poetry. He holds a Master's in Educational Counseling and has experience in web development, but in his free time, he is drawn to the written word and his novelist aspirations.

Jennifer Soper is a published writer, editor, and book reviewer. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and recently wrote for a small business blog geared toward human resources. Jennifer is currently focusing on her freelance writing and spending time on her farm in rural North Carolina.

Joslyn A. Vann, D.D.S. is a retired General Dentist and Dental Hygiene Program Director. She earned her BA in African and Afro-American Studies from the University of Virginia where she also studied world religion and pre-medical sciences. She then completed a post-baccalaureate program in education before earning her doctorate from the University of Tennessee. She is the author of Struggling to Breathe: My Triumph Over Depression, an autobiography intermingled with Joslyn's powerful poetry. She is also a ghostwriter, editor, avid reader, and a zealous tennis and basketball fan.

Dylan Ward holds a BA in Film and is a fiction writer and screenwriter. His writing includes short stories, screenplays, essays and reviews. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Nicole Yurcaba is a Ukrainian-American poet and essayist. Her poems and essays have appeared in The Atlanta Review, The Lindenwood Review, Whiskey Island, Raven Chronicles, Appalachian Heritage, North of Oxford, and many other online and print journals. Nicole holds an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University. Her poetry collection Triskaidekaphobia is forthcoming from the UK press Black Spring Group in 2022. She teaches poetry workshops for Southern New Hampshire University and works as a high school career counselor for Blue Ridge Community College.

Philip Zozarro is a great lover of books, reading between 10-15 a month. Books are a journey worth undertaking whether to the past in history or to worlds unknown in fiction. He reads history, biographies/memoirs, true crime, humor, mystery/thrillers, and historical fiction.

Deb Mavin (Managing Editor) has multiple degrees, including one in fine arts writing. Her many freelance publishing credits include several ghostwritten books. She is a diver, space enthusiast (how she first met the US Review's Senior Editor), and public activist. As the Managing Editor of The US Review of Books, she works to maintain both a broadening readership and the publication's consistently high standards.

John E. Roper (Editor) first started writing professionally in the 1980s while earning his degree in English Literature. Although his work appeared mainly in newspapers such as The Sedona Times and The Arizona Republic, he also wrote for a pioneering digital platform called Infoview. He then took a twenty-year sabbatical to live, teach, and travel in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 2008, he returned to the U.S. and freelancing, with his articles and reviews being published on USAToday.com, Hotels.com, Salon.com, Breakpoint.org, and many other websites, including The US Review of Books. His play, When I Was Five, has been produced in three countries.

Max Durant (Web Editor) is an IT professional with fifteen years experience on various platforms. He can build a decent website faster than you can bake soufflé. He harasses the staff by saying that the proper pronunciation of WiFi is "We-Fee." An avid reader, he thinks creative writing is worthwhile at all costs. He joined The US Review of Books to "keep us writers grounded in reality." No one is immune to Max's scrutinous humor, which will eventually reach your doorstep. Among his favorite quotes is Flaubert's "To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost."

Christopher Klim (Senior Editor) is the author of the story collection, True Surrealism, the novel Idiot!, and several other books. He was the Executive Editor of Best New Writing from 2007 to 2014. He currently serves as the Chair of the Eric Hoffer Book Award and led the effort to restore Hoffer's books to print. At The US Review of Books, he hopes to expose readers to great new books, see that freelance writers get paid for their work, and provide all authors with access to professional reviews and cost-effective promotion.