CONTRIBUTORS
Elizabeth Gracen
Elizabeth Gracen arrived in NYC from a small town in Arkansas a year after traveling the world as Miss America 1982. She used her scholarship prize money to study acting at HB Studios and photography at the New School. She later moved to Los Angeles where she has worked as an actress and filmmaker for over twenty years, most notably as 'Amanda' on the long-running HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES and HIGHLANDER: THE RAVEN.
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Gracen is the owner of FLAPPER FILMS—a production company devoted to developing inspiring, informational content. Her films have met with great success on the international film festival circuit on streaming media platforms.
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In 2016, Gracen launched Flapper Press and published her first YA novel, Shalilly.
Derek May
Derek May, from San Antonio, Texas, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Philosophy from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. Derek returned home to Texas and has been working in and around film and television for the past twenty years.
Derek has written nearly 50 movie reviews for movieweb.com and completed 13 original feature film and television screenplays, many of which have been winners or finalists in such prestigious competitions as the Walt Disney and Nicholl Fellowships, the Austin Film Festival, and the Creative World Awards. He served as a judge for 10 years for the Austin Film Festival and Texas Film Institute screenplay competitions. His latest project has been the highly acclaimed stop-motion animation fan series Highlander: Veritas, which released its second season with original-series stars Elizabeth Gracen and Anthony De Longis in 2022.
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John. C. Alsedek
SUSPENSE writer, producer, and radio-drama aficionado John C. Alsedek shares the history of early radio and television and the impact it has made on the world of entertainment in his ongoing series for Flapper Press.
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Will Bellaimey
Will Bellaimey is the creator of HISTORICALLY SPEAKING on Flapper Press. Will teaches U.S. Government and Politics at Flintridge Prep School outside Los Angeles where he is also the director of the Los Angeles Museum of Geography, which is staffed entirely by seventh graders. His podcast, All the Presidents, Man, is available here.
Joe Florance
Joe Florance owns and operates Circle of 10 Talent. He encourages people to pursue their dreams, and helping them do that fulfills his own.
Jon Cohen
With his finger on the pulse of technology and consumer electronics, Jon Cohen has been breaking, fixing and enjoying technology since childhood. His father often recounts the story of how Jon loved to unplug and replug RCA cables from the back of the TV as a toddler. These days Jon contributes as a tech journalist and correspondent to SiriusXM and Rogers Media, and as a photographer. Jon uses his years of knowledge working in consumer electronics to write and inspire his “What the Tech?” column.
Paul Mitchnick
Paul Mitchnick is a cinematographer living and working out of Toronto, Canada. He has spent time with many gifted filmmakers in his career—Sean Penn, Lawrence Kasdan, and John Woo as Directors, as well as many Oscar-winning cinematographers. For the last decade, Paul has been Director of Photography on award-winning Canadian Independent Features and television Movies of the Week. He shot KEIF AL-HAL, the first feature film produced by a Saudi Arabian company. Whenever on assignment, Paul travels with his still camera and has taken photographs all over the globe. "I make my living looking at things, and when I have my still camera, opportunities kind of present themselves. Whether those things are looking for me or I am looking for them, I am not sure."
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Dr. Rob Carpenter
Dr. Rob is an author, filmmaker, and host of The Dr. Rob Show. He advises celebrities, pro athletes, and everyday people on how to live their best lives and has been published in The Oxford Business Review and The Harvard Journal for Public Health, among others. His book, The 48 Laws of Happiness: Secrets Revealed For Becoming the Happiest You, is available where books are sold.
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Ippolita Douglas Scotti
Contessa Ippolita Douglas Scotti di Vigileno is a true Italian—born in Florence, Italy, from a long line of eccentric Italian aristocrats, she has traveled the world in search of adventure, romance, and magical, mouth-watering recipes. "Ippo" loves Italian history, especially as it relates to food. Author of There's a Beatle in My Soup, Curcuma e Zenzero (Ginger & Tumeric), 101 Perche Sulla Storia di Firenze (101 questions on Florence History), The Grimore, The Magic of the Moon, and Magic Herbs (all published by Newton Compton Publishers).
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Brandon Alter
BRANDON ALTER is a spiritual healer, Tarot reader, Astrologer, mystic, and writer living in Los Angeles. He is passionate about sharing spiritual tools that have helped him reconnect to the wisdom of his heart. Brandon is a thoroughly trained healer and teacher who co-hosts The Spiritual Gayz with his husband, a twice-monthly podcast dedicated to exploring the wide reaches of spirituality, without pretending that it all makes sense. Brandon’s mom took him to his very first psychic when he was seven and gave him his first Tarot deck when he was eleven. Since then he has devoted himself to the study of Tarot, Yoga, Pilates, Reiki, Astrology, and the myriad ways one can work, heal, and grow with the help of the spirits.
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Visit www.thespiritualgayz.com to learn more. To sign up for The Spiritual Gayz newsletter and get these Tarotscopes delivered to your inbox, click here.
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Annie Newcomer
Annie Newcomer teaches poetry classes at the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Turning Point, a place for hope and healing for people suffering with chronic health problems. She also started a Sweet Kara Lines devotional for her niece, Kara, who suffers with severe Autism. Annie also initiated “Prayer Walkers Without Borders” with members from South Africa, Uruguay and the United States. He ongoing series,North Stars, shares interviews with poets and writers and her own experiences through my writing.
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Jillian McWhirter
Raised in Mississippi, Jillian McWhirter moved to Paris and New York to pursue modeling before moving to Los Angeles to start her film and television career. She has written numerous feature film scripts and has published over thirty educational books that are used by health and safety organizations all over the United States.
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Resa McConaghy
An established costume designer in film, television and digital media, Resa McConaghy has worked on productions for Showtime, ABC, Disney, CBS, CBC, Hallmark, and more.
Her mission: to enable the articulation of character through wardrobe.
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Angel Lopez
Angel Lopez is a film producer, writer, astrologer, and co-host of the podcast, THE SPIRITUAL GAYZ. Angel has been studying and working with both tarot and astrology for twenty years. He hosted the AOL.com astrology web-series ASTRO TALK WITH ANGEL and writes the blog ASTROLOGY REALNESS. He has also had pieces published on Upworthy.com and The Huffington Post. On the film side, Angel produced the Sundance Film Festival award-winning film DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, as well as the features THE DINNER and STATE LIKE SLEEP. He also wrote and directed his own short film I CAN’T WITH YOU, which had its premiere at the 2016 HollyShorts Film Festival, and he recently finished producing filmmaker Justin Simien’s second feature BAD HAIR.
Amy Carlson
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Meet Amy Carlson
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Ken Gord
Ken Gord has been producing international film and television for over forty years. Among his features are CRIMINAL LAW, starring Gary Oldman, and STUCK, starring Stephen Rea. He has produced over twenty television movies, mini-series, and series, including the syndicated cult hit HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES.
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Kim Carr
Kim Carr is a small farmer, photographer, and aspiring writer. After obtaining a degree in Animal Science, Kim settled onto twenty acres where she is living out her dream life every day. Currently Kim is combining her passion for writing and photography in a photo series featuring heritage breed farm animals for a future book. She also enjoys writing a regular feature about her everyday life, called “Around the Farm”.
Stay updated on Kim’s projects at www.kimcarrphotography.com
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Lauren Maher
Lauren Maher (LMFT, C-IAYT) is a licensed psychotherapist and certified yoga therapist who is passionate about helping people heal, transform, and thrive. To find out more about her practice, please visit these websites:
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Therapy: www.laurenmaher.com
Yoga: www.breathedeepyoga.com
Retreats: www.volareretreats.com
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Shanaya Daughtrey
Generation Z - The Sleeping Giant Awakens . . . We Have the Power
Follow Shanaya on her socials:
Instagram: @genzwehavethepower, @nyaaalatrice
Twitter: @nyaaalatrice
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Maria Beale Fletcher
Maria Beale Fletcher is a professional Chaldean numerologist and was crowned Miss America 1962. If you would like a private reading with Maria for your own personal numerological chart, please contact info@flapperpress.com.
Gillian Kessler
Gillian Kessler can be found dancing to loud music, teaching exuberant teens to appreciate language, writing in the early morning when everyone is asleep and exploring the wilds of Montana with her beautiful family. Gillian studied poetry at Santa Clara University with Edward Kleinschmidt, at UCLA with Suzanne Lummis and, more recently, in Missoula under the exceptional guidance of Chris Dombrowski, Mark Gibbons and Phillip Schaffer. Her poems and essays have been published in Mamalode Magazine and she writes frequently for Flapper Press. Her poetry was featured in the anthology, Poems Across the Big Sky Volume II. She has written two collections of poems, Lemons and Cement and the forthcoming, Ash in the Tree.
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Hilary Thomas
Hilary Thomas is the artistic directory of the Lineage Dance, a contemporary dance company dedicated to raising awareness for nonprofit organizations and to making the arts accessible to all. In 2010, the company opened the Lineage Performing Arts Center (LPAC) in Old Pasadena as a community hub designed to encourage community awareness through the arts. LPAC created the DANCE FOR JOY free classes for those affected by Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimers, Stroke Recovery, Cancer, and Autism. Hilary has also been on faculty at Flintridge Preparatory School, teaching science and dance since 2001.
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Anne Trominski
Anne Trominski was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, but now resides in San Antonio. She graduated from Trinity University after majoring in English and Communication. She spends her dull working hours as an editor for a major publishing company, and her personal time as an oft-frustrated writer. She has written two yet-to-be published novels, countless reams of heartfelt poetry, and has tried her hand at blogging a few times. Anne is also a gastronomist and amateur chef who likes to obsessively read articles on health and wellness. She is a constant learner and explorer, and likes to drop knowledge on others like it’s hot.
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Jane E. Drichta
Jane Elizabeth Drichta is a writer who works through her organization, Global Motherhood Initiative, to help the Yezidi women in Iraq recover and thrive.
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