Smoky Zeidel is the author of three novels: The Storyteller’s Bracelet (2012), The Cabin (2008; 2011), and On the Choptank Shores [(2011); formerly titled Redeeming Grace (2008)]. Her Short Story Collection, Vol. 1 (2011) contains two Pushcart Prize-nominated stories as well as her short bio, “In a Flash,” about her experiences being struck by lightning.

A former writing instructor, Smoky authored two books especially for writers which are now available in one book, Smoky’s Writer’s Workshop Combo Set (2010). She is the author of a photo/essay collection about the beauty of the natural world, Observations of an Earth Mage (2009), and co-author with her husband Scott of Trails (2013). Two more novels are in progress, The Madam of Bodie and The Storyteller’s Daughter.

Smoky has published short stories and poetry in literary journals such as CALYX and online e-zines such as The Foundling Review, She was the lead editor for Vanilla Heart Publishing’s Nature’s Gifts anthology (2010).

Smoky graduated cum laude from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, after 17 years as a professional student. She swears she majored in everything except physics, and argues it was good professional training for becoming a newspaper feature writer, which she did for several years before switching to fiction writing. A Midwesterner for the first 51 years of her life, Smoky finally succumbed to her bohemian spirit and need to live near the mountains and the ocean, and moved to Southern California in 2008, where she lives with her husband, three cats, and a Chihuahua in a ramshackle cottage in the woods overlooking the San Gabriel Valley and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond. An ardent outdoorswoman with a deep reverence for nature, when she isn’t writing, she spends her time hiking in the mountains, camping in the Sierras, splashing in tidepools, and fighting the urge to speak in haiku.
She taught fiction writing and creativity workshops at community colleges and other venues in the Midwest for many years before packing up her daughter, dog, two cats, and guinea pig and moving to California, where she swears the climate is much more conducive to creative work and the men are, too. (She met her husband and soul mate, Scott, shortly after her move.)

Smoky and Scott live with a menagerie of animals, both domestic and wild, in a ramshackle cottage in the woods overlooking the San Gabriel Valley and Mountains beyond. When she isn't writing, they spend their time hiking in the mountains and deserts, splashing in tide pools, and resisting the urge to speak in haiku.

Website: http://smokyzeidel.wordpress.com

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