Get to know the Members of the Moorhead Friends Writing Group.
Alexander Vayle
Alexander Vayle grew up on the quiet shores of Long Lake in Western Minnesota. He now resides in North Dakota where he works in the medical field alongside his wife. Together they raise three rambunctious sons and a beautiful daughter.
Barbara Bustamante
Barbara Bustamante is retired from the food service and education industries. She contributed a poem and three stories in the Moorhead Friends Writing Group anthology, TALES FROM THE FROZEN NORTH. She lives in Moorhead, MN with her cat.
Charles Edwin
His entire life, Charles has been fascinated by captivating an audience through storytelling. When he was growing up folks would often say, “Charles exaggerates a lot of details”, but he’d simply insist that “I only changed the mundane part of the story. Look how invested and excited everyone was with a few little tweaks!” Ever since, he has continued to expand his horizons in order to captivate others.
Chris Stenson
At a young age, Chris had success winning young author contests, and his love for writing continued throughout high school and into adulthood. He is the founder and leader of the Moorhead Friends Writing Group which has hosted nationally known authors as guest speakers. His short story “Two Bobbies” was selected for inclusion in the Horror Writers Network Anthology, The Gates of Chaos, and was published in March 2021. “Roadkill Surprise”, a werewolf short story, was included in the summer print edition of the 2021 Horror ZineMagazine. His newest short story “Planted” will be published in 2023 Fear Forges Anthology Spring Edition.
Dan McKay
Dan McKay has had several short stories published in anthologies every year since 2016, including the FARK FICTION ANTHOLOGY, the TALKING STICK, and the Fargo Library’s NORTHERN NARRATIVES. Dan is the winner of the 2005 Bulwer-Lytton contest and his winning entry was featured on Car Talk. Dan is active in local writers groups and lives with his family in Fargo, ND.
Daniel Haynes
Daniel is an Army Vet who has served as both a Helicopter (Huey) Mechanic/Crew Chief, then later as a Civil Affairs Specialist. Daniel’s passion for classic horror films/monsters began when his father would buy, build, and paint monster models for him. The Wolf Man was his favorite and continues to serve as inspiration for the unique and frightening characters he creates today.
Donna R. Wood
Donna R Wood began her career as an author in 2011, when she published her first full-length novel, Sticks and Bones. Since then, she has gone on to write three novels and several short stories. Donna is a certified wellbeing coach and is the owner of Butterfly Phoenix and Butterfly Phoenix Publishing. Donna is a supporter of women’s rights, an LGBTQIA2S+ ally, an interfaith minister, and coffee connoisseur. She makes her home in Fargo, North Dakota, where she enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren.
Eileen Tronnes Nelson
Eileen lives in Grand Forks. Graduate of the University of North Dakota and Moorhead State University. Certified Paralegal National Association of Legal Assistants, retired after serving nearly forty years at Central Legal Research, School of Lay, UND, Grand Forks, ND. She enjoys spending time with her two sons, two daughters, six grandchildren, three bonus grandchildren, three great grandsons, and in-laws: daughter-,son-, three grandsons-, two granddaughters-.
Jason Bursack
Jason Bursack is a writer living in Fargo, North Dakota. His work has appeared in Embark Literary Journal and multiple anthologies.
Jason Bursack
Justine Cadwell is the author of The ABCs of My Neuroses: Tales from an Anxious Life, coming soon from Library Tales Publishing. She blogged at TheHungryGuineaPig@wordpress.com and ParentalAdvisorySite@wordpress.com. Her work has appeared in The Collapsar, Adelaide, Fine Lines, and Braided Way Magazine. When she’s not writing, she’s working as a clinical dietitian at a long-term care facility, playing music as “Channeling Merlyn” on her YouTube channel, or
volunteering at the food pantry or hospice with her best friend. Justine lives in Minnesota with her husband, daughter, and feline friend.
Matt Clark
Matt is from South Carolina where he resides with his wife and daughter. After reading THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy in middle school, he dabbled in writing fan fiction of his favorite series. This love of fantasy and writing has followed him since. He is currently working on publishing his debut novel and hopes to have it released by 2024.
Michele Willman
Michele R. Willman is an instructor of English, a writer, and a mother of four girls. Current writing projects include a series of short stories and a novel about the lives and relationships of mothers and daughters. Her work has been published in MidAmerica, the North Dakota Quarterly, Humanities ND Magazine, and elsewhere. When not reading and writing, Michele enjoys crocheting, knitting, gardening, spending time with her family and dogs, and enjoying the outdoors.
Neal Romriell
Neal was born and raised in Idaho where he honed his storytelling skills while spending evenings around the campfire with his family. After graduating high school, Neal moved to the east coast, where he still lives with his wife and 3 daughters. Neal’s debut novel SITE ALPHA was published in June of 2022. He is currently working on a sequel to SITE ALPHA as well as a fantasy series. He hopes to release the first book of the fantasy series in 2024.
Robin Cain
Robin began her writing career as a child, penning plays for friends to perform in neighborhood garages. Since then, her publishing credits include articles for online publications, stories in various anthologies, and two novels, the latest of which is entitled, The Secret Miss Rabbit Kept. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ, and you can often find her hiking in the great outdoors. That’s where all her best ideas come from. Follow iamrobincain on Twitter or Instagram, or Robin Pope Cain on Facebook. Her is email is robin@robincain.com
Sadie Mendenhall-Cariveau
Since she was a child, Sadie Mendenhall-Cariveau has had a passion for writing and remembers telling teachers and family members that she wanted to be a writer. She has won awards, certificates and scholarships for her essays, short stories and poetry since sixth grade. Sadie became more inspired and determined to see her dreams come to fruition while serving in the United States Air Force and began participating in workshops and pursuing degrees in Creative Writing. Drawing inspiration from her own life and everything she feels affected by, her writing has been published in both online and in-print journals as well as the anthology Tales from the Frozen North. Sadie’s goal is to complete her poetry collection and her book and to never stop writing.
Sarah Nour
Sarah Nour is a Lebanese-American freelance journalist. She has written for the High Plains Reader, Area Woman, and other local Fargo-Moorhead publications. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared in Northern Narratives, Red Weather, Wild Musette, Crow Toes Quarterly, Parakeet Magazine, and other publications. She currently writes articles about film history on HubPages.
Scott Dyson
By day, Scott Dyson works as a healthcare professional, and is a husband and a father to two boys. In his spare time, he writes and self-publishes his tales of horror, mystery and science fiction/fantasy. He has been writing since grade school but it wasn’t until the mid-1990′s, when he was helping to host a book and writing forum on Delphi Internet Services called The Book And Candle Pub, that he got more serious about creating works of fiction.
Silvia Villalobos
Silvia Villalobos lives immersed in the laid-back vibe of Southern California. She writes mystery novels and short stories. Her debut novel, STRANGER OR FRIEND, was published by Solstice Publishing in 2015. Her stories have appeared in The Riding Light Review and Red Fez, among other publications.
Sue Quinn
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Sue Quinn transplanted to North Dakota in the late 80’s. She raised her two girls in Fargo and is proud to see them take wing on their own. She is a full time bookkeeper and part time bookseller. When not busy with friends or traveling, she can be found writing or editing. She has her first, official, published short story in TALES FROM THE FROZEN NORTH but has more in the works.
Suzi Wieland
Suzi writes in a variety of genres and has self-published horror and suspense stories and some fairy tale retellings. She has also published contemporary young adult novels under the name Suzi Drew. When she’s not writing, she spends time with her family and friends and her sweet and fluffy dog, and she works as a freelance editor and gets to edit fantastic stories for her job.
Tina Holland
Tina studied journalism at University and then went to work for a fortune 500 company, working in Logistics for over twenty years. She now writes full-time and helps her husband run his crop dusting business in the summer months. When she’s not writing, she likes to travel, read and spend time with family and friends.
T.J. Fier
Theatre professor by day and writer by night, T.J. Fier’s other works include the short story Kelpie in NOTHING SHORT OF TERROR, The Hunt in TALES FROM THE FROZEN NORTH, Reindeer Games in THE COLOUR OUT OF DEATHLEHEM, and the EVP Session #454 in the September 2021 issue of Brilliant Flash Fiction. Her debut novel, THE BRIGHT ONE, will be released by Three Little Sisters Publishing November 2022.
William R. Bartlett
William R. Bartlett has been writing the Word from Dad feature in KC Parent magazine since April, 2009. He also has two short stories published in the Moorhead Friends Writing Group anthology, TALES FROM THE FROZEN NORTH, with another short story coming out in a soon-to-be-named anthology to be put out by the same group in spring of 2023. NUDE, LIGHT HOUSEKEEPING, the story of a May/December relationship and the rather unconventional way it develops, is Bill’s first adventure in writing a novel. A retired youngster of threescore and ten, Bill lives in the southern fringes of the Kansas City area, about six miles north of the oddly-named city of Peculiar, Missouri with his Fayre and Gracious Wyffe, two sons, and an exceedingly pompous cat.
Moorhead Friends Writing Group 