About the Writers

MICHAEL JENSEN
Editor 

I was born in Greeley, Colorado, a town known only for having been founded by Horace Greeley who famously said, "Go west, young man." I did just that heading all the way to Australia where I backpacked around there and in New Zealand, sleeping in church cemeteries, lice infested barns, and nearly getting myself killed by a calving glacier, a flash flood, and other assorted things foolish men in their twenties do. Upon returning to the states, I settled down in Seattle, WA to become a writer. To support myself, I became a flight attendant. (Little known fact: Jane Austen was also a flight attendant!) I published two historical novels-- Frontiers and Firelands. In 2005, I became editor of AfterElton.com and one of the contributing editors for The Big Gay Picture. I am most proud of never having paid a cent of interest to a credit card company. I live in Tacoma, WA with my partner of fourteen years, Brent Hartinger. Determined to not be outdone by Elton John, we plan to marry as soon as it becomes legal in Washington State.

 

DENNIS AYERS
Associate Editor

Dennis is a Virginia native and has a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Tech and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He has contributed to AfterElton.com as a freelance writer, but in September 2007 came aboard full time as associate editor. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Lexington, Virginia. You can visit him online at www.dennisayers.com.

 

ERIC ARVIN
Contributing Writer

Eric Arvin is writer of mostly magical realism who resides in the same sleepy Indiana river town where he grew up. He graduated from Hanover College with a Bachelors in History and a minor in Art History. He has lived, for brief periods, in Italy and Australia. His first published novel, The Rest is Illusion, is currently shocking the literary world out of its coma. www.myspace.com/ericthearvin

 

JOSH ATEROVIS
Contributing Writer

Josh Aterovis is the author of the Killian Kendall Mystery Series. While he currently lives in Baltimore, he was born and bred on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where his books are set. His first two award-winning books, Bleeding Hearts and Reap the Whirlwind, will soon be joined by the third in the series, All Lost Things, due out in the summer of 2009. Besides his popular mystery series, he also paints in watercolor, mostly on commission. He watches entirely too much TV and is a pop culture aficionado, constantly wowing friends and acquaintances with his knowledge of celebrity relationships and scandals. You can find him online at www.joshaterovis.com.

JOHN BROOKS
Contributing Writer

People reading this will recognize me as SNICKS (because of my worship of a certain Rock Goddess). Basically, everything I need to know in life I learned watching SOLID GOLD. I discovered how to harden my heart (and swallow my tears), that only the lonely can play, and how to lead the glamorous life. Most importantly, I learned that I AM the warrior. I joined the army the week after high school, and spent a year in Korea (the stories i could tell!) I spent almost three years in the military until a bunch of crap happened...and i left. I discovered AfterElton while searching the internet for middle-aged British singer porn, and it's been one of my favorite places since. When i was asked to start contributing (thanks, Brian and Michael!) , I found myself having to use parts of my brain that haven't been exercised since I took the SAT's.

JOEY GUERRA
Contributing Writer

Joey Guerra is a music/entertainment writer and a regular contributor to the Houston Chronicle, one of the country’s largest newspapers. He also writes regularly for Scene magazine, does CD reviews for amazon.com and covers a little of everything for TXT magazine, a Texas weekly serving the gay community. Over the years, he has interviewed Cher, Bette Midler, Faith Hill, Lynda Carter, Donna Summer, Enrique Iglesias, Kelly Clarkson, kd lang, Clay Aiken and Deborah Gibson—who Joey insists is ready for a huge comeback. He has also written about his quest to become an MTV VJ in New York, spent a day following the spiked heels of Latin superstar Paulina Rubio, and crafted an award-winning piece on slain Tejano goddess Selena, which included family interviews and on-location flavor from Corpus Christi. Joey lives in Houston, TX with his partner of 10-plus years, Scott, along with the adorable Brickman, a Corgi/wire hair mix; Tangi, a tempermental toy fox terrier; and adopted black lab Riley. Joey’s blog on the Houston music scene can be found here.

 

LOCKSLEY HALL
Contributing Writer

Locksley Hall is a confused, villainous bisexual who will probably be killed before the end of the movie. Favourite gay film: Top Gun. Favourite gay couple: Starsky and Hutch.

 

BRENT HARTINGER
Contributing Writer

Brent has written for such print publications as Boy's Life, Emmy, the Advocate, Genre, and the Los Angeles Times. He is also the author of a number of award-winning teen novels (including gay teen novels like Geography Club and its sequels The Order of the Poison Oak and Split Screen). Finally, Brent is a playwright and screenwriter, with a number of stage and screen projects in the works (including adaptations of Geography Club). He lives in Washington State with AfterElton editor Michael Jensen, his partner since 1992, but he'd much rather you visit him online at www.brenthartinger.com

 

JAMES HILLIS
Contributing Writer

James Hillis is an award-winning pianist, a free-lance journalist and screenwriter, temporarily braving the wilds of American suburbia. Visit James at his homepage www.jameshillis.com.

 

DAVID KENNERLEY
Contributing Writer

David Kennerley recently ditched his lucrative advertising career as Associate Creative Director in a mega-agency to focus on writing full time (what was he thinking?!). With a BA in Art History from Vassar, he is well equipped to cover the Arts and Entertainment scene from any angle. Based in the West Village of New York City, he is a regular contributor to Genre magazine, Metro newspapers, and Gay City News.

 

KARMAN KREGLOE
Contributing Writer

Karman Kregloe is a writer from Blacksburg, Virginia. Now living in Los Angeles, she has written and acted in several short films, including House of Squirts, and was once known as Jack Thrasher in The Sugar Daddy Show.

 

TABBY LAVALAMP
Contributing Writer

Tabby Lavalamp, a single and lonely native of Canada, combines a longtime enjoyment of competitive reality shows with a lifelong love of comedy to recap Big Brother for AfterElton.com in a way some might find fairly amusing. Tabby is the creator and currently sole contributor to Realivision where reality gameshows are a way of life.

 

MALINDA LO
Contributing Writer

Malinda Lo is a San Francisco-based freelance writer who has contributed to The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Curve Magazine, Girlfriends, the Lesbian News, and Wellesley Magazine. She earned her B.A. at Wellesley College, her M.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard, and her M.A. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford. She enjoys freaky crime dramas, elaborate Chinese dinners, and her friends. She can be found online at malindalo.com.

 

AUTUMN MICHELSON
Contributing Writer

An avid reader and creative writer, Autumn has spent most of her life traveling throughout the United States and various other countries. She currently resides in Washington State.

 

JESSE MONTEAGUDO
Contributing Writer

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and unabashed lefty (in both senses of the word) who lives and writes in South Florida. Send him a note at jessemonteagudo@aol.com.

 

MICHAEL PORTANTIERE
Contributing Writer

Michael Portantiere is Editor in Chief of TimesSquare.com and a regular columnist for BroadwayStars.com. From 2000 through 2006 he was Editor in Chief of TheaterMania.com, having previously worked as an editor and writer for InTheater magazine and Back Stage. He has contributed articles to Playbill and Stagebill, and has written notes for several major cast recordings. Michael is also a professional photographer; visit www.followspotphoto.com for more information.

 

MARCELLAS REYNOLDS
Contributing Writer

Marcellas Reynolds may be best known to television audiences as the quick-witted, opinionated and hilariously outspoken house guest on the successful CBS TV series, Big Brother. Marcellas' one-liners and surprising comments won the hearts of viewers from many age groups, which gained him remarkably high viewer ratings and a lasting fan base. Since Big Brother, Marcellas has made numerous television appearances on Late Night With David Letterman, Yes, Dear, Style Network's How Do I Look, E! News Daily, is host of the new BET TV series Remixed, and portrays Micah Okwu on the CBS Daytime soap, The Bold And The Beautiful. Before his television career, Marcellas was no stranger to being on film. For 10 years, he has been represented by such prestigious model agencies as Ford (worldwide), Beatrice (Milan) and Goodfellas (London), relocating him to the top fashion capitals of the world. Marcellas has worked for designers Jhane Barnes, BCBG, Brioni, Tommy Hilfiger, Guy Larouche, Ralph Lauren and Nautica. Marcellas has been shot by some of the world's most famous photographers including Patrick MacMullan, Michael Roberts, Norman Jean Roy, Carter Smith and Bruce Weber. An accomplished fashion stylist and art director, Marcellas has worked with some of Hollywood's hottest stars including Eddie Cibrian, Shannon Elizabeth, Emmy Award winner Jennifer Finnigan, Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret supermodel-turned-actress Shakara Ledard and David Schwimmer. His work has appeared in the publications Angeleno Magazine, British Vogue, Chicago Tribune Magazine, High Roller, Self, Teen Prom and YM. Marcellas currently works with several charity foundations, including Animal Avengers, the National AIDS Fund and Project Angel.

 

MICHAEL RICCI
Contributing Writer

An award winning playwright, Michael Ricci began writing in journalism in the fall of '05. His bi-monthly column, Qosmos, explored the genre of science fiction and its impact on the gay community. The column's content was widely received and acknowledged by many creative names. Of them, Joss Whedon (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel), Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns), and several others. Aside from journalism, Ricci has written a number of plays. Vigor, Limits of Love, and Others Take a Different View.

 

MARCY RODENBORN
Contributing Writer

Marcy Rodenborn was born in the culturally dead Bay Area, so she decided to relocate to Tacoma, Washington so she could breathe the same air that bred Dale Chihuly. She has been a columnist for Tacoma's daily newspaper, The Tacoma News Tribune, and is a playwright whose plays have been produced in San Francisco, Seattle, and New York. Her first piece was a play for children written for the Tony award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe, and her most recent plays, WEEKEND AT THE BANGKOK CHRISTIAN GUESTHOUSE and THE VESTAL VIRGINS, were selected by a juried panel for staged readings at ACT Theater in Seattle for the first two years of the FringeACT Festival of New, Original Work. She tried her hand at producing a live musical radio program for children starring children called BOOMERANG, but realized it was not the best career choice when she found herself banging her head against a brick wall backstage. She has a deep, abiding, and, some would say, deranged love of condiments, which you can also experience via her blog, www.condimentgrrl.com.

 

GREGG SHAPIRO
Contributing Writer

A 1999 inductee into Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame and a recipient of the 2003 Outstanding Support award from Outmusic, pop culture journalist Gregg Shapiro's

interviews and reviews are published regularly in a number of regional LGBT publications including Chicago Free Press, Baltimore Outloud, Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco), Between The Lines (Detroit), Gay & Lesbian Times (San Diego), In Newsweekly (Boston), HX (NYC), Out Front Colorado, Outsmart Magazine (Houston), Philadelphia Gay News, Q-Notes (the Carolinas), Watermark (Orlando/Tampa) and others, as well as the mainstream monthly Illinois Entertainer. His poetry and fiction can also be found in a multitude of literary journals, anthologies and textbooks. Shapiro and his life partner Rick Karlin (also a Chicago Free Press contributor) live with their dogs in Chicago.

 

CHRISTOPHER STONE
Contributing Writer

Born in the Bronx, and raised in Fresno, California, Christopher Stone is the author of the international best seller Re-Creating Your Self. With Mary Sheldon, he co-authored three highly successful hardcover books of guided meditations. As an entertainment and lifestyle journalist, Christopher has contributed hundreds of features and reviews to some of this country's most popular print and online publications. He's a member of the Writers Guild of America, West, and a former member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. With David, his spouse of eleven years, their dogs, and a tortoise-shell Calico cat, Christopher lives in the Los Angeles South Bay.

 

JAKE SURETTE
Contributing Writer

Jake Surette was born in Summerside, PEI, Canada. Having had his bout as a military brat, he studied fine arts for a year at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, leading him to study art history at Concordia University in Montreal. Having had enough of that, he travelled throughout Europe, landing in Amsterdam, Paris, Perpignon, Barcelona, Sitges and Lisbon. He moved to New York City to perform, joining the Blacklips Performance Cult (created by Antony of musicians Antony and the Johnsons) and the infamous Jackie 60. Moving to Vancouver, he became a makeup artist, worked in TV and Film, instructing and writing curricula all the way. Jake now resides in Toronto and has a weekly column at www.gkfa.com. He hopes to have his first novel, Home Off The Range, available for purchase July of 2006. You can visit his website at www.jakesurette.tk.

 

SHAUNA SWARTZ
Contributing Writer

Shauna Swartz spent her first 32 years in Los Angeles—minus a two-year stint in Atlanta resulting in an M.A. in anthropology and a one-year turn in India resulting in a protozoal infection that, while highly unpleasant, wasn’t too high a price to pay for the experience abroad. Something non-pathogenic recently possessed her to move to Philadelphia, where her So Cal-bred appreciation for meteorological subtelty is now facing the Northeast’s more garish seasonal changes. She has written for eclectic outlets (from corporate training manuals to gay men’s porn) on sundry topics (from electronic bill presentment to, well, gay men’s porn), but she is consistent in her inability to keep her snarkiness in check. She dreams of starting a gourmet/knitting/motorcycle club and resuming competitive rowing.

 

ROBERT URBAN
Contributing Writer

Born and raised in Fairfield County, CT, this award-winning singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and published literary writer is also owner/operator of the Manhattan-based URBAN PRODUCTIONS Recording Studio. Robert performs everywhere, either solo or with his own progressive rock group The Robert Urban Band. He has composed music scores for numerous professional dance, theater, and film productions. In addition to his own 4 CDs, Robert's work (especially as guitarist) can be heard on the recordings of many other musical artists. Robert is also an accompanist, session-musician, arranger/sound engineer and private music teacher. He supports the GLBT music community through producing/hosting Urban Productions BOLDLY Presents, the all-GLBT multi-artist live-in-concert music series (now in its 6th year). Robert is the author of a poetry collection Abominations and founder of Gay Guitarists Worldwide. More info and contact at: www.roberturban.com.

 

SARAH WARN
Contributing Writer

Sarah grew in a small rural town in Washington State, where she assuaged her boredom by reading everything she could get her hands on, shining shoes for a nickel a pair at her grandfather's tuxedo store, and making up games with her sister like the soon-to-be-patented "Pan Ball" (which requires only a tennis ball, a skillet and the roof of your house). She received a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Master's in Theological Studies from Harvard University, and worked for several years in marketing and business development before founding AfterEllen.com in 2002, and AfterElton.com in 2005.