Janet Muirhead Hill grew up on a cattle ranch where she fell in love with horses and the great outdoors. She spent every hour possible riding horses and sharing adventures with her older brother. When she had to be indoors, she loved the stories her older sister told and the books she read. The love of children seemed to come naturally as she helped care for younger twin sisters and a younger brother. These favorite things have made their way into books for children and young adults. The author of a dozen published novels, Janet is best known for her Miranda and Starlight series about a lonely girl and a young black stallion.

Hill writes mostly, but not exclusively, for children in upper elementary through junior high school, exploring contemporary issues through fictional characters. She also has written novels and short stories from an adult perspective and will publish her first picture book for young children this spring. She conducts fiction "Writing True Fiction" workshops from time to time.

She lives with her husband in rural Montana. When she's not entertaining grandchildren, she divides her time between, writing, editing, and publishing as CEO of a small press. (www.ravenpublishing.net)

Raised in central Montana near the small town of Two Dot, Jim came from a home that encouraged reading. He has spent his life as a cattle rancher and a lawyer. Upon retiring, he began writing books and short stories. With five books published and more written, he now lives quietly with his wife, Kay on a farm near Bozeman where he continues to write legal murder mysteries.
Update, Jim passed away in 2017 at the age of 89. Read his life story at https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bozemandailychronicle/obituary.aspx?n=perry-j-moore&pid=185578143&fhid=7193

and

Gallatin Canyon, MT


Marcia Melton was born in Butte, Montana, grew up in Dillon, attended high school in Billings, and graduated from the University of Montana. Her family roots in Montana echo back to the late 1800’s from Butte, Dillon, and Philipsburg to Fort Benton, Big Sandy, and the Bears Paw Mountains.

For Marcia, as for many Montanans, the wider world beckoned and she became a teacher and librarian. She has worked with students of all ages from Head Start to college. Along the way, she attended the University of Arizona for Library School and also the University College of Wales (Great Britain), and worked in Montana, Arizona, and New Zealand.

Now retired, she currently lives and writes in Montana and Arizona. With Raven Publishing she has published three historical fiction books for middle-grade readers: The Boarding House; Joe Henry’s Journey; and Joe Henry’s Return. For very young readers, she has published MontAnimals ABC.

Marcia is a lifelong lover of books, libraries, and bookstores. She also likes outdoor activities in Montana and Arizona, and, of course, “Montana Road Trips.”

She writes, “As a child, books and libraries were magical places for me. In the best of times, they held adventures and friends, and in the hardest of times, they held solace. I hope that my writing for young readers might give them windows of courage, adventure, thoughtfulness, and friendship – so needed in our world.”

Florence Bell, born in British Columbia, Canada, moved with her parents to the windswept prairies of Alberta at age five. There they joined her Uncle Jack and his family and her maternal grandmother at Old Sun residential school on the Blackfool Reserve. The Missionary Society of England administered this school for the Siksika tribe, and Florence's Uncle Jack, and Anglican minister was the principal. Exposed to three very different cultures, Florence had to mold her own identity, choosing what fit her from each. The British manners, morals, and customs of her grandmother were carried on in the home. Florence worshiped with the Indian children and staff at the regular chapel and church services, and she walked the road to the town of Gleichen to go to school with Canadian children. Canadians had not yet gained their independence, but had developed their own customs and accents.

The dust bowl and the Great Depression, as well as World War II influenced Florence's emerging self. She studied at St. Hilda's School for Girls and Mount Royal College in Calgary. When her uncle Jack had taught her to shoot prairie dogs on Old Sun's farm, she learned that she not only liked target shooting, but had the eye and concentration to be very good at it. As a young woman, she joined a rifle club. At a national competition she met an American, Wesley Ore, later married him and moved across the border into Montana. They moved their growing family to Pony, MT. There, in the shadow of the Tobacco Root mountains, she enjoyed reading, writing, and family. She hosted a writers' group, served as editor for Raven Publishing for many years, and wrote her memoir, The Road Between. In it, she relates her many adventures as she sought to find her own identity among the three cultures that surrounded her.

Author Jan Young received a BA in Behavioral Science from Pacific University in Fresno, CA before going on to study writing with the Institute of Children’s Literature. Experience and knowledge for her books came in part by living with her husband and two sons in the ranching community in Humboldt County, Nevada for many years. She has many publishing credits for both fiction and nonfiction articles and short stories. Besides two middle-grade novels, she has published comprehensive curriculum units, aligned with Common Core Standards, for each book.

Jan Walker taught parenting and family relationships classes to adult felons for eighteen years, and used her background and success with incarcerated dads to create a middle-grade novel, An Inmate's Daughter. The book gives readers a realistic look at what children experience when a parent is in prison. It shows what inmate parents can accomplish when they choose to spend their time inside prison learning about themselves and their children.

Jan is the author of Parenting From a Distance, Your Rights and Responsibilities, in use with incarcerated parents since 1987 and reissued in December 2005. Another of her books, Dancing to the Concertina’s Tune: A prison teacher’s memoir, offers readers an honest look at the rhythms of living and working inside both female and male prisons. Through Jan’s eyes, readers see her students as human beings struggling to survive behind bars. Another young adult novel featuring a teenage boy with an incarcerated mother titled, Romar Jones takes a Hike, and other book have been published at Plicata Press. Jan lives in Gig Harbor, Washington.

Author Juliana Hutchings has had horses all her life, and her wonderful experiences as a rider, trainer and instructor, inspired her to write A Horse to Remember, her first novel, at age fourteen. She has lived with her family in Landenberg, Pennsylvania where she managed a horse farm before going away to college and earning a degree in graphic design. She continues to care for horses and competes in eventing.

Dan and his wife, Birdeen, reside in Sandy, Utah. Their children have married and “left the nest,” but the cats, Milo and Rajah, still perform daily inspections of the house, while the lab, Jake, guards the deck and back yard. A palomino, a paint, and a POA mare and her young colt rule the pasture. Who knows what games Dan will teach this new foal to play.

For over 30 years Dan A. Peterson has been bringing people and books together. Dan is a children’s book author, representative for various educational publishers and co-owner of the Alphabet Station, a parent-teacher center. Holding degrees in both Journalism and English from BrighamYoung University, he has served as curricula evaluator for Behavioral Research Laboratories and the Dallas Independent School District, curricula developer for Thiokol Chemical Corporation, and editor for Harbrace Publications. Dan is the author of various freelance articles, with names such as “Reflections of a Suburban Cowboy” and also dabbles in writing narrative poetry.

Dan gained valuable insights into the special characteristics of horses during his childhood in rural Utah, where he rode calves for real silver dollars at the annual Cedar Fort rodeo. He sat on the rail fence for hours studying the wild horses, and many of his mounts were mustangs that had been captured and trained by his uncles. He learned never to underestimate a horse’s intelligence and unique personality.

Through a combination of his diversified background, fascination with horses, and the ability to see the world through the eyes of children, a story began to bounce around in his head about “a very unusual colt … who could dance like sunlight on water.” He gave the colt something exciting to do – play soccer with a couple of boys. After that the characters of the story took the reins, and his debut novel, Fergus,The Soccer Playing Colt, came to life.

Angela Janacaro, a Montana native, grew up in a noisy, Italian family and is the youngest of eight children. She now spends most of her time attending to her own noisy family of four, but in the hours when the children are in school or asleep she likes writing stories. Most of her inspiration comes from the everyday occurrences that shape the story of a life. As her friends and family know all too well, a shared story might very well make an appearance in part of Angela’s writings. She enjoys the great outdoor opportunities Montana has to offer, spending time with her family and friends, reading and bullwhipping. She is a graduate of the University of Montana. Before her attention was diverted to the care and feeding of small children, Angela was a registered lobbyist. She is writing her second novel at her home in Townsend, Montana.

1946 to 2021
Wayne was born and raised in a small logging town in the Pacific Northwest In his latest book, Up River, he records memories of that character-forming time. For most of his adult life, he served as a pastor to Alaskan churches. Besides serving the people he loved, he enjoyed fishing and being out in nature. He land his wife, Marveen, ived in Nikiski, Alaska, where he offered a counseling service, Cornerstone Family Ministries, and was Senior Pastor of the North Kenai Chapel from 1971 until he lost his hard-fought battle with cancer.

Newspaper columnist, humorist, and author, Art Kehler lives in Harrison, Montana, in full view of the majestic Hollowtop Peak in the Tobacco Route Mountains.

Author, Stephen Ore, was born on Montana's Hi Line but spent his formative years farther south, in the foothills of the Tobacco Root Mountains. He worked and played on the surrounding farms and ranches before and after obtaining a Bachelors of Science degree from Montana State University. After dabbling in chain-saw art, horse shoeing, logging and other interests, Steve now runs his own small construction business. He still spends any free time immersed in Montana's backcountry with family and friends.

Laura Ingram is a tiny girl with big glasses and bigger ideas. Currently a second-year college student, her poetry and prose have been published in over fifty literary magazines, among them Gravel, Glass Kite Anthology, Blue Marble Review, and Juked. Laura was featured as Moledro Magazine’s first “Teen Poet” in January 2017. Laura’s debut poetry collection, Junior Citizen’s Discount was published by Desert Willow Press.
Laura loves Harry Potter and Harry Styles and hopes to be some sort of bird when she grows up. She wrote Stand Up when she was in fifth grade.

Kayo Fraser was born in Orlando, Florida, and left as a teenager to travel and study photography and life. She now lives with her husband in the mountains of Montana.

Kedric H. Cecil, is a retired family therapist who specialized in working with at-risk children and their families. He is currently active in speaking engagements and consulting.

Mahlon Kriebel was born and raised in Garfield, Washington and returned to the family farm on retirement. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in zoology and general physiology, and studied and taught neuroscience for thirty-four years at the State University Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. A recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Prize, he studied at the Max Planck Institute in Germany and held visiting professorships here and abroad. With an avid interest in Indian culture and beliefs, Mahlon has friends in many tribes and serves as tour guide and lecturer. He wrote and published a short history of The Battle of To-Hots-Nim-Me between the U.S. Army and the Coeur d'Alene Indians. Mahlon is a lifelong devotee of fishing, hiking and hunting, and now writing for a general audience.

Dixie Myhre lives just outside of the little town of Pony, Montana in the shadow of the Tobacco Root Mountain Range with her husband Mike, an ex-marine, who was her high school sweetheart. Together they realized their dream of owning a ranch. In fact they've owned many over the years, and raised their three sons in the ranching culture with a love for the great outdoors and a strong work ethic. Now retired, Dixie and Mike are active in their church and community and love having children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and their families visit them often.
Dixie has written about their lives including interesting and humorous anecdotes about friends and neighbors.

Gary R. Forney is a historian, focused mainly on early Montana history. His most recent book, Rascals, Ruffians, and Rebels gives the life stories of a dozen individuals whose influence contributed to the molding of Montana as we know it today. Other titles Gary has published include Discovery Men and Dawn in ElDorado. He lives and writes from his home in Ennis, Montana.

Born in the Spring of 1946, ‘Mike’ was the third child of John and Alice Tripp. Childhood evolved in many places before the family found roots at the edge of the prairie on a dairy farm in west central Minnesota. Hard work became the way of life.
Inspired by a favorite uncle, Mike pursued a career in medicine, training in Minnesota, Washington and Arizona ultimately settling to practice in Eugene/Springfield, Oregon.
In 2002, the children grown, thoughts turned to another life long love, fly fishing. Encouraged by his life partner, Freya, the choice was made to relocate to Bend on the High Desert of Oregon. Here, the fast, mountain-fed rivers in deep canyons challenged the skills. Awareness of the need to protect and preserve this treasure led to environmental activism, which also challenged. But the rivers and mountain waters also provided solace and inspiration.

Joan Marilyn Bochmann, age 78, died at her home near Berthoud, Colorado, Thursday evening, September 26, 2013, after a long, bravely-fought battle with cancer. Born on November 21, 1934, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to Allen T. and Dorothy Muirhead, she attended school in the Yampa Valley and graduated from Steamboat Springs High School in 1952 as valedictorian of her class. Joan entered the work force when she was fourteen, first doing childcare and then working as a clerk in a grocery store. Not long after high school, Joan married John Zimmerman, who was serving in the US Navy at the time. Two children were born to this union. Joan lived in San Diego, California; Craig, Colorado; and Riverton, Wyoming before moving to Boulder Colorado where she first worked for City of Boulder and finally as a paralegal for law offices in Boulder and Longmont for thirty some years until her retirement. While working, Joan took night classes at the University of Colorado, Boulder, studying psychology and English Writing. Joan has always loved books, reading and writing, with a large collection of short stories, essays, articles, and a novel, Absaroka, which earned an IPPY award Honorable Mention for Best Regional Fiction in the Mountain West from the Independent Publishers Group. This book has been published in trade paperback and as an ebook (called Wild Horses of Absaroka) and an audio book, Absaroka: From War to Wyoming. She also narrated Miranda and Starlight, a book her sister wrote which was recently released on CDs. Joan took lessons and got her pilots license in 1967. She loved to fly and never missed a chance to climb into a private airplane and soar above the clouds. Besides flying, riding horses, reading, and writing, Joan enjoyed skiing, playing golf, hiking, and camping. She especially liked holidays and times when her large extended family celebrated together. Her favorites were Thanksgiving and the annual family camping trip in the Colorado Rocky Mountains each summer. Joan married Carl Bochmann in 1978 and they made their home near Berthoud, CO where she raised and rode Arabian horses. Joan loved her horses and her dogs, a series of Shelties, the last one passing away shortly after Joan was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was a member of the Grace Place Church, in Berthoud, Colorado.