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11 New Writer Bios
Let’s meet these inspiring writers by reading their stories revealed by themselves
Introduction
One of the best writing activities of ILLUMINATION is to encourage writers to introduce themselves in a story. I enjoy reading these “about me” stories, compiling, featuring, and sharing them with readers.
In this post, I want to introduce 11 new writer bios submitted to ILLUMINATION recently. I read these bios and enjoyed them very much. Each story provided me new perspectives.
After reading these bios, their stories made better sense to me. I felt more connected with them. My point is knowing a writer’s background can help the reader to consume their content better.
I extracted a small teaser for each bio to give you an idea about the story. You can easily connect with these authors by clicking on the follow button on their profiles after reading their unique and authentic stories.
Here they are…Enjoy!
Inspiring “About Me” Stories on ILLUMINATION
Esther George
I’m a writer. Not a writer-wannabe. Not a writer-in-the-making. I’m a writer now. That’s because I don’t believe in past lives or future lives. You see, I’m not completely out of, or in the picture at any time. I am present simultaneously in a multiverse of parallel universes. In any chosen alternate reality, I remain a writer. I’m made up of words. They reside at the core of who I am, though I may not have completely discovered the true essence of me yet. I erect fortresses with words and tear them down with words; binding ruthless hearts with words and bestow wings on mine with words.
JJ Sum
“Everything happens for a reason.” — This is my motto in life. And I believe that there is somehow a good reason.. No, a great reason why I write and why here on Medium. I am from the Philippines. If you know it so well, you may be wondering how I got myself into the Medium Partner Program when Stripe is not available in my country. Well, a very generous and intelligent friend of mine who is also a Medium member found a way to help me use Stripe even if I am living in one of Stripe’s unsupported countries.
Elvie
While working full-time, I studied part-time in mastering the computer skills and further my education in business and public relations. End up deciding to run what I love and passionate about. I ran my own business which is Photography. Mastering and focus on taking pictures of people. Those people who want to look good on themselves and in the public. Taken many public figure politicians and giant business owners in their portraits that make me known. Perhaps, not the best photographer but I was one of those who make a good income in photography.
Cat Stravino
Then the executive director asked if anyone who was interested would raise their hand. A dozen arms reached up. I nearly cried. The executive director met me at the door as I was leaving, and he was hopping up and down with excitement. I would like to say numerous published authors emerged from my workshops, but I cannot. What did happen was equally as amazing. Men told heartfelt and brutal stories, listened to poems that made them break out in goose-bumps and then shared each other’s burdens. It was beautiful.
Destiny S. Harris
I find writing magical. It’s not only a form of expression; it’s a state of being. There is a writing zone where I find myself completely lost; those are the best moments with writing (no, it’s not always like this, so I cherish the many moments I do experience this). Writing is a passion, a hobby, a job, an outlet, a form of expression, a dance, a creative activity, an escape, a craft, a savior, and a purpose. Writing is my way of giving back to the world. When I’m angry about something, I write. When I’m obsessed with something, I write. When I learn something, I write. When I hear a great story, I write. When I need to share knowledge, a lesson, or an experience, I write.
Melinda Blau
Through a series of serendipitous events, I became who I am now. A journalist and advice-giver who lives in multiple places; now, for a second time in Paris. I could never have imagined this — nor so much else since then. Twenty years ago, I was already writing books and articles. But I could never have imagined a best-seller about babies. I could never have imagined royalties that would keep me in groceries.
Ulf Wolf
I write because I love lying, and I love lying because I really believe (and have experienced) that: “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth.” Of late, it seems that Neil Gaiman, if not actually standing up to claim credit for this quote is often, and incorrectly, nonetheless given it. Me, I’d rather credit Albert Camus, who (before Neil Gaiman was even a twinkle in papa David’s eye) did in fact say, “Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” Counterintuitive, some say. Brilliantly put, say others. Amazingly true, says I.
Keri Mangis
My favorite label was given to me by my daughters when they were young. They called me a deep-thought translator. Yes, it made sense. I’ve always been that person who wants to get right to the deep end with people, and have very little patience for the superfluous (yet necessary) small talk. My husband used to say to me when I complained about how hard it was to make friends, “Keri, start with the weather.” My other favorite labels have been bestowed upon me by readers, and I claim them fully: A cultural provocateur, A hooligan, Mindbendingly baddass. Labels are hard for those of us who don’t easily fit in. I very much identify with the idea of a multipotentialite, as I wrote about here. Because everything I do is from a place of the “ing” — creating, connecting, building, thinking, imagining, growing, inspiring. How I do it doesn’t matter to me as much as where.
Meiko S. Patton
In 2008, while employed as a Letter Carrier for the United States Postal Service, my life was served a devastating blow when my 59-year-old mother was diagnosed with Stage IV colon and liver cancer with less than a year to survive. Mom died on November 17, 2008. Prior to her death, I was a very out-going, energetic and enthusiastic person. But after her death, the only thing that I could think about was suicide. I was in so much pain because not only was my mom my best friend, she was the one person who I knew for sure that really loved me.
Ryan M. Raiker, MBA
The world around us is always changing. As we get older it seems like technology only gets younger. Oftentimes, these changes give us our greatest challenges in trying to understand, learn, and sometimes simply talk the lingo. Please join me as I discuss all things digital and make what seem like complex topics, easy to digest, comprehend, and understand. As outsiders looking in on the technology space, some have described my articles and talks as “easy to understand,” “simple explainer to hard to learn topics,” and “passion and confidence in every sentence.” I am eager to meet you similarly.
Jay Toran
But, in my somewhat limited experience, if You can accept Yourself, warts and all, then You and those around You can live more joyously. If You’re comfortable with Your human foibles, those of other people won’t concern You so much. You can make great efforts to be a perfectionist, knowing in advance You’ll fall short. Perfectionism beats mindfulness hand’s down in all Ways. When trials and tribulations come Your way (even the bone-crushing ones)… Well, as long as You’ve done the best You can, then why would your opinion of Yourself change? As long as You’ve gone outta Your way not to harm others, even unintentionally, then You can hold Your head up high, right? What else would you want? If your opinion of yourself is rock-solid positive/negative, then you can survive, even in the turmoil. And when you get down to the fundamentals, the only success you need to try for is the one you always achieve: Just survive until a more balanced day can arrive.
Thank you for reading these beautiful bios.
I recommend all contributing writers to submit an “about me” story.
The six reasons are revealed in this story.
You can find many more bio stories from this collection and connect with these contributing writers of our publications.
About me
I am the founder and chief editor of ILLUMINATION Integrated publications (ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curated, ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR, ILLUMINATION Book Chapter, Technology Hits, and SYNERGY). I established these significant publications supporting 9,500+ writers and serving 135,000+ readers on Medium. Join my publications requesting access here. You are welcome to subscribe to my 100K+ mailing list, collaborate, enhance your network, and receive technology and leadership newsletters reflecting my industry experience. You can show your interest to support my publications as an editor. My free content strategy and marketing newsletter can be accessed from Substack. I also write for News Break and Vocal Media. My social media posts receive over three million views monthly.
Here is my belated writer bio. I finally did it so can you.
