SEARCH: Author Spotlight on Lillian Csernica

Author Spotlight on Lillian Csernica

Name: Lillian Csernica
Location: Santa Cruz, California

How has the last year dealing with COVID been for you?

On the one hand, it’s been business as usual because my older boy is medically fragile. We’re used to operating at a level just below hospital standards for an isolation room. On the other hand, I’m going a little crazy because I’m used to having a certain amount of alone time each day. Keeping both of my sons busy and entertained is a lot of work. It’s difficult to have enough energy left over for writing.

SEARCH Magazine is a little unusual, in that we always run a column on autism to raise awareness. How did you come to write about autism for SEARCH Magazine?

Through the wonderful and talented Emerian Rich (SEARCH Magazine’s original Editorial Director)…

Continue reading in the Summer 2021 magazine issue on Superheroes.

SEARCH: Author Spotlight on Emerian Rich

Author Spotlight on Emerian Rich

Name: Emerian Rich
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California

Give us a sense of what you do; what are some of
your creative endeavors? I am a writer, artist, and voice actress. I love writing fiction most of all, but I’ve recently been involved in the creation of a Spooky Writer’s Planner. I’ve also created a coloring book and am working on an ABC book for spooky kids!

If you’re creative in your work life, how does that influence being creative at home or on hobbies? I don’t think creativity (or at least mine) can be contained. I love crocheting, doing diamond paintings, and most recently working with resin crafts. I rarely do the same thing again, so whatever the next craft craze is, I’m up for trying it. What inspires you? So much! My imagination is always cranking out new ideas. It could be the way the light of a lamp reflects off the wall, the shape of the clouds on a morning walk, or a snippet of conversation I hear in line. When I’m studying a certain topic, I will watch movies and videos about the subject to near exhaustion!

What are you working on right now? An anthology of Gothic Romance stories coming out in May and a rewrite of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, also due out this year…

Read more in SEARCH Magazine‘s Enhancing Your Horizon issue.

SEARCH: Author Spotlight, Brian and Patricia Dake

Author Spotlight, Brian and Patricia Dake.

Name: Brian & Patricia Dake

Location: Napa Valley, California

You are both listed on the articles. Are you a team? How does that work?
Patricia and I write these recipe articles as a team. I usually have 5 to 10 recipes in development and pitch to Search Magazine based on their require-ments. Issue theme and the time of year influence our recipe choice.

I do the kitchen testing and rough draft of the reci-pe. Patricia does taste testing and offers feedback.

I often collect fun facts about the recipes, equip-ment and/or ingredients. Patricia writes the intro-duction and copyedits the recipe. Four times a year, we transform our home kitchen into a photo studio… To read more, click on the Winter Issue here.

SEARCH: Author Spotlight on Camellia Rains

Name: Camellia Rains

Location: San Francisco, California, United States

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How are you involved in Search Magazine? I started off as an author for the magazine a few years ago. I still contribute articles but I am also the packaging manager for the magazine. I’m the one that sends you your physical copy of the periodical. I’m happy to be involved with Search Magazine on multiple levels.

What else do you write? I mainly write emails and texts, lol. Seriously, aside from articles and journal entries, I write occasional horror book reviews. Tell us about yourself. I am a lifetime bay area native. I attended San Francisco State University and got my B.A. in Philosophy and Religion. I love… Continue reading in SEARCH Magazine’s Fall 2020 issue.

SEARCH: Spotlight on Larriane Barnard

As part of our Blast from the Past issue, we’re revisiting useful articles from past issues. This article first appeared in our Spring 2020 issue:

SEARCH Author Spotlight

Name: Larriane Barnard

Location: Prescott, Az

What made you interested in working for SEARCH? 

I work behind the scenes on each issue, nit-picking what the other authors write with what is called editing. We won’t go into what some authors call it. I got into editing by accident by ordering a book from a company that had accepted a submission from me. Before I signed, I wanted to see their quality level. I sent a letter asking if I could expect the kind of errors I found. I discovered they were a brand new company and volunteered to proof the finals… Continue reading in SEARCH’s Summer 2020 issue.

SEARCH: Spotlight on Larriane Barnard

SEARCH Author Spotlight

Name: Larriane Barnard

Location: Prescott, Az

What made you interested in working for SEARCH? 

I work behind the scenes on each issue, nit-picking what the other authors write with what is called editing. We won’t go into what some authors call it. I got into editing by accident by ordering a book from a company that had accepted a submission from me. Before I signed, I wanted to see their quality level. I sent a letter asking if I could expect the kind of errors I found. I discovered they were a brand new company and volunteered to proof the finals… Continue reading in SEARCH’s Spring 2020 issue.

SEARCH: Author Spotlight on Loren Rhoads

Author Spotlight on Loren Rhoads

Location: San Francisco, CA

What made you interested in writing for SEARCH? 

SEARCH’s previous editor, Emerian Rich, knew I was working on a book called 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, so I offered to show her some of the remnants of the old graveyards in San Francisco. Most people don’t know that the cemeteries here were evicted in the early 20th century.

After San Francisco’s most elaborate cemetery finally gave up the ghost in the 1940s, some of its lovely stonework was collected by an artist who worked with the Exploratorium (our science museum) to build the Wave Organ. It’s a huge, beautiful creation at the end of the Marina yacht harbor, where you can listen to the ocean gurgle and splash. There’s nothing else like it in the world.

I took Emerian there and she asked me to write about it for SEARCH.

What else do you write?

In addition to 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, I’ve written a memoir about my cemetery travels called Wish You Were Here. I’ve also written a space opera trilogy called In the Wake of the Templars and … continue reading in the Winter 2019 issue of SEARCH Magazine.

SEARCH: Author Spotlight on Jim Keller

Author Spotlight on Jim Keller

Location: Los Angeles County

What made you interested in writing for this issue of SEARCH magazine?  A friend of mine used to be on the SEARCH staff. She introduced me to the magazine, and I enjoyed the all-ages format. When she told me about the spacethemed issue, I was like, “Wait! Space science is what I write. I think I’m morally obligated to pitch something…”

What was your favorite thing to do as a child?  Harassing my siblings. Isn’t that the favorite pastime of every child with siblings?  🙂

Do you have a hot tip for us?  You won’t believe this,  … continue reading in the Fall 2019 issue of SEARCH.

 

 

SEARCH: Author Spotlight Sumiko Saulson

Author Spotlight on Sumiko Saulson

Location: Oakland, CA

What’s an article you’ve written for SEARCH that you enjoyed? And why did you enjoy it?

I really enjoyed writing a Black History Month article about Marian Anderson. She was my great grandfather’s first cousin, and my mom always talked about wanting to meet her as a child. Marian Anderson used to invite my grandmother and other relatives to her ranch. I am very proud of being related to her and was thrilled to highlight such an important historical figure for African American History Month.

What was your favorite thing to do as a child?

I loved roller skating and drawing, probably drawing more, though. My mom said I used to throw temper tantrums at the grocery store if she didn’t buy me new crayons and paints every time we walked past the toy aisle, so I guess I was a prima donna artist at a very young age. I still paint and draw quite a bit and even have acrylic paintings in art galleries. I write a comic book called Mauskaveli.

Do you have a hot tip for us? (What is a product/ app/food/store/website that you use right now that you can’t do without or that you like right now? And why?) I just finished reading the last of  … continue reading in the Spring 2019 issue of SEARCH.

 

 

SEARCH: Brian and Patricia Dake

SEARCH Author Spotlight
Brian and Patricia Dake

What’s an article you’ve written for SEARCH that you enjoyed?
The Angel Hair with Garlic, Ricotta and Fava Beans recipe is my absolute favorite because I grew those favas in my garden. Brian is the inspiration behind all the recipes. They are primarily his creations so being part of the process in its earliest stages was immensely satisfying for me.

What was your favorite thing to do as a child?
Brian enjoyed doing projects with his father, some of his favorites being woodwork, metalwork, artistic welding, and of course, cooking. I was, and still am, a voracious bookworm. Now I read mainly romance, but growing up, I delighted in historical fiction and learning how people did everything for themselves from building their own homes to growing and preparing their own food.

Do you have a hot tip for us?
Brian owns many knives. Some are expensive and many are “high-end culinary brands.” In cooking for himself, he finds the knife he uses most is a Victorinox 8 Inch Swiss Classic Chef’s Knife. It handles well, is not too heavy, and rarely needs sharpening. At $40-$45 dollars, it is quite affordable … continue reading in the Winter 2018 issue of SEARCH.