Editor-in-Chief and Publisher: Lorie Lewis Ham has been writing since age seven and publishing since age 13. She has published many poems, short stories and articles in various magazines including Traffic, worked off and on for the Reedley Exponent, and published five mystery novels set in the San Joaquin Valley. One of those novels, Deadly Discrimination, is being serialized here at Kings River Life. Lorie has lived in Reedley her entire life and recently became a member of the Reedley Historical Society Board. She is married to Larry Ham; they have two teenagers, Jessica and Joseph. Explore Lorie’s creative side at Mysteryrat’s Closet.

Webmaster: Dorian Rhodes has long since made the web her canvas as it combines her favorite hobbies; writing, design, organizing and editing (a trait she inherited from her Grandma, who helped raise Dorian in Reedley and Camp Nelson). She’s particularly qualified to set up this site having lived throughout the Valley with her husband of 20 years, Dave, though they finally call San Francisco home — it’s no longer just where their hearts live. A purveyor of prose and wanderer through wisdom, she also serves up “coffee for the soul” at her site, Drink Deeply.

Area Arts & Entertainment and editor: Christine Autrand Mitchell was raised in Europe and the United States, which profoundly influences her literary fiction, plays and screenplays. She’s not only written copy but edits and coaches writers, teaching acting as well. She is the owner of Entandem Productions, specializing in casting and production services.

Area Arts & Entertainment and Graphics: Chris Lang is a theatrical designer and theater technician for Kings Canyon Unified School District where he has been employed since 2000. Chris, along with his lovely wife, Claire, and his daughter, Mary, have been living in Reedley since 2005. He attended California State University Fresno as a Theater Arts Major.

Mysteryrat’s Maze and TV Talk: Deborah Harter Williams lives in Half Moon Bay, CA and works as a mystery scout, seeking novels that could be made into television. She blogs at Clue Sisters and was formerly a mystery bookstore owner.

Area Arts & Entertainment and Downtown Doings: James Garcia, Jr. was born in Hanford then moved to Kingsburg just before starting school when James Sr. began a career with the Kingsburg Police Department. After graduating from Kingsburg High School, he attended Reedley College where he met his wife. His first novel, Dance on Fire, was published in 2010. James is an Administrative Supervisor for Sun-Maid Growers of California.

Downtown Doings and Hometown History: Diana Bulls is a Central California native and has called Reedley home since 1977. She and husband, Jim, have two daughters, Rebecca who lives in Falls Church, VA and Amanda who is married and lives in Reedley. She is an administrative assistant at the Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, and spends her free time actively involved with her church and the Reedley Historical Society. Diana has always been active in community service, including Girl Scouts, Pirate band boosters, and as chairman of the Fiesta art show. Her hobbies include collecting red vintage kitchen utensils, scrapbooking, photography, reading and making a lap for one or more of her cats.

Everything Education column, Sports Spotlight: Larry Ham was born and raised in Southern California, and moved to the Central Valley in 1982. He has worked in radio in the Reedley/Dinuba area for 24 years, broadcasting local high school sports throughout that time and, for the past 15 years, Reedley College Football games as well — first for the KRDU radio station and now on the internet.

Helping Hands column, Spiritually Speaking: Christopher Lewis is an evangelist, pastor and the founder of Nothing is Impossible Ministries. Raised in Reedley, educated in Scotland, he is currently serving as a missionary with his wife Karen in Mexico where they are leading the planting of a new church in the town of Puerto Peñasco.

Rodent Ramblings, Mysteryrat’s Maze: Diana Hockley is an Australian mystery author who lives in a southeast Queensland country town. She is the devoted slave of five ratties and usually finds an excuse to mention them in her writing, including her recent novel, The Naked Room. Since retiring from running a traveling mouse circus for 10 years, she is now the mouse judge for the Queensland Rat & Mouse Club shows. To learn more, check out her website.

Hometown History: Jim Bulls is a long-time resident of Reedley. Now retired, he can be found at the Reedley Museum or having coffee with the “Spit and Whittle Club” at one of their downtown hangouts. He is married to Diana and they have two daughters, Rebecca and Amanda. Jim is a charter member of the Reedley Historical Society and serves on the board. He belongs to the First United Methodist Church and the Reedley Nomad’s Car Club. His hobbies include collecting and restoring vintage cars, and completing “Honey Do” projects for Diana.

Pet Perspective: Joyce Brandon is co-founder of Animal Compassion Team, has lived in Squaw Valley for 21 years and has always had lots of four legged friends sharing her mountain home along with her husband Jim, and five children. Joyce works part time for Mountain Valley Community Church and splits the rest of her time between family and animal rescue work. Joyce believes animal rescue is a mission field God has called her to and has given her a passion for.

Food Fun, Weekend Wanderer, Going Green: Margaret Mendel was born in San Jose and has a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of San Francisco & a Master’s of Fine Arts in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Currently residing in New York, she has had several short stories and articles published.

Local Literary: Marilyn Meredith is the author of nearly thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series; the latest is Dispel the Mist from Mundania Press. Under the name of F. M. Meredith, she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series; An Axe to Grind is the latest from Oak Tree Press. She is a member of EPIC, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Marilyn was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville, which is much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives. Visit her at fictionforyou.com

Ministry Musings: Karen Lewis was born in Scotland and worked as a dental assistant for several years. She is now married to Christopher Lewis from Reedley. Karen and her husband are currently serving as missionaries in Mexico where they are leading the planting of a new church in the town of Puerto Peñasco. Read about her ministry at her blog, Beyond The Horizon.

Pet Perspective: Sheryl Wall is married to Brian and they have a daughter, Kiana, who is 1½ years old. She has four dogs, two cats, a degree in Child Development and works part time with children along with doing Therapy work with her two Westies at T.L. Reed School and Palm Village Retirement Community. Sheryl’s favorite pastimes include Dog Agility, photography, and reading at Starbucks.

Mysteryrat’s Maze: Terell Byrd is a native Fresnan, who was born, raised, and educated locally. She graduated from Fresno Pacific with a B.A. in Classical Studies and Psychology. In the course of a mad gypsy life, she has taken classes in Electrical Engineering, broken into bank vaults at night & worked as a Tax Examiner for the IRS. She now lives quietly, with more cats than she admits to, spending her free time doing accounting.

Weekend Wanderer: Brian Wall lives in Reedley with his wife, Sheryl, and their daughter, Kiana. He is a professional software developer and has a B.S. degree in Ag Business from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Mysteryrat’s Maze & Pet Perspective: Sandra Murphy ives in the shadow of the arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes two mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble.

Kings River Reviewers: Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a California-born, Valley-raised librarian/entertainer/writer. He is currently writing a stage adaptation of Jack London’s The Call of the Wild for the Fresno County Public Library’s next The Big Read. He lives in Sanger, four blocks from the library, with his wife, his daughter, and a spinster cat.

Helping Hands: Tom Sims is a local pastor, writer, and blogger. His congregation, “The Fellowship of Joy,” is part of a larger collaborative called “4141 Ministries,” of which he is Executive Director & he is an active Toastmaster. You can also find him on Facebook.

Editing staff: Pat Browning A longtime resident of the San Joaquin Valley, Pat Browning’s writing credits go back to the 1960s, when she was a stringer for The Fresno Bee while working full-time in a Hanford law office. Later she was a reporter and columnist, first at The Selma Enterprise, then at The Hanford Sentinel. Her first mystery, Absinthe of Malice, was published by Krill Press in 2008. Her second book, Metaphor for Murder, is in progress. Pat now lives in Oklahoma. Her website is at Author’s Den. Her blog is Morning’s At Noon.

Regional Reviewers, Food: Zachariah Zendejas is 20 years old and attends Reedley College full-time working toward a degree in English. He is an aspiring writer who hopes to do some freelance work for magazines or newspapers.

Jacob Alvarado is 19 years old, was born in Reedley and has lived here all of his life. He attended St. La Salle Elementary School and graduated this year from Reedley High School. His hobbies include singing, acting and Irish Folk Dancing. Jacob will be attending Reedley College in the fall of 2010 and then hopes to transfer to CSU Long Beach to pursue a degree in psychology.

Jessica Ham is 18 years old and will be attending Reedley College in the fall, then going on to U.C. Santa Cruz to major in theatre in 2 years. While at Reedley High she was actively involved in Drama Club, Madrigals and concert choir, and competed in Forensics. Jessica dreams of being on Broadway someday and currently performs with the Reedley River City Theatre Co.. Her parents are Lorie and Larry Ham, and she has lived in Reedley her whole life.

Jesus Ibarra is an 19-year-old college student at UCLA from Parlier, currently living in Los Angeles. He loves to watch television and especially likes House, Bones, and Fringe. Jesus reads anything and everything. He also loves to listen to rock music and hang out with friends, new and old.

Kristalyn Patzkowski was born on December 23, 1993, in Russia and adopted by a local couple when she was three, starting kindergarten at Washington Elementary School when she was five. Kristalyn was in a speech program for about three years, learning to speak English, and has forgotten how to speak Russian after being in this country for 13 years. She attended T.L. Reed School, and is currently a junior at Reedley High School. While she loves Math and Chemistry, her least favorite classes are World History, P.E. and, surprisingly, English. Kristalyn doesn’t enjoy writing assignments, but loves to write poems in her own time, and on her own terms.