Apex Book Company

With the new year comes fresh blood. We have three new editors and I’d like to introduce them to you! Join me in welcoming them to the Apex team!

Poetry Editor – Lester Smith – lester@apexbookcompany.com:
In 1984, a layoff ended Lester Smith’s eight-year career as a sheet-metal worker–he’d been looking for something else to do anyway. A stint in the Illinois National Guard led to Licensed Practical Nurse school―which in turn led to college, a degree in English, a minor in Spanish, and an undying love for British Romantic period poetry, especially the darker bits. In 1987, a professional-practice gig turned to a full-time position at Game Designers’ Workshop, where he wrote the Dark Conspiracy horror role-playing game. In 1991, he moved to Wisconsin to work for TSR, where he designed the Origins-award-winning Dragon Dice. Since 1998, Les has been employed as a writer and technologist for Sebranek Inc., an educational design house. In his spare time, he is president of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets and sporadic publisher of Popcorn Press. Les describes his personal blog (www.LesterSmith.com) as a “convergence of poetry, game design, and Web tech,” believing that all three produce magic through formalism.

Submissions Editor – Zakarya Anwar – zakarya@apexbookcompany.com:
A purveyor of fantasy and science fiction, Zakarya somehow still finds to juggle two teaching jobs, study English Literature and Creative Writing full time, and be everybody’s favorite person.

Zakarya has been published in several small press venues in both the short prose and comic book formats, and is currently helping to create the not-for-profit Seven Earths e-journal for black and ethnic minority writers.

His very few and far between thoughts and musings can be found at zanwar.livejournal.com.

Submissions Editor – McKenzie Johnston – mckenzie@apexbookcompany.com:
Weened on horror films and bred to grammatical obsession, McKenzie frequently finds herself more than slightly frustrated with the stupidity of the world. She is fascinated by the worlds that exist on paper and in minds only. Latin, medieval studies, and English are her favorite subjects. She enjoys listening to Celtic music, oldies, and symphonic metal (her musical tastes are more unusual than that though) and her favorite authors are Mercedes Lackey and Lynn Flewelling. She is currently working on writing two fantasy novels set in a world of her own design. She also writes poetry, paints, and debates philosophy and logic with friends and family. She hopes to publish a novel before gray hair and wrinkles take over her body and begin deleting information from her brain.