Melanie (cut to the chase) Boulding finds peace in her role as WordStorm's "Meeter and Greeter" after tangling with the downtown disenfranchised population. A former Yukon Bush-rat, she appreciates her friend/neighbour, Cindy, dragging her into the fun/thespian/literary/cultural sphere of Nanaimo.

David Fraser lives in Nanoose Bay, on Vancouver Island. He is the founder and editor of Ascent Aspirations Magazine, http:// www.ascentaspirations.ca, since 1997. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in over 40 journals including Three Candles, Regina Weese, Ardent, Quills and Ygdrasil. He has published a collection of his poetry, Going to the Well (2004), a collection of short fiction, The Dark Side of the Billboard (2006 )and edited and published the print issues of Ascent Aspirations Magazine Anthology One (2005) , Anthology Two - Windfire (2006), and Anthology Three, AguaTerra (2007) http://www.ascentaspirations .ca/aapublishing.htm A second collection of poetry, Running Down the Wind will appear in 2007. David is currently the Federation of BC Writers Regional Director for The Islands Region. His latest passion is developing Nanaimo's newest spoken word series, WordStorm.

Lori Hall grew up in Shawnigan Lake and now lives in the Cowichan Valley. A couple of years ago she decided to turn her passion for photography into her profession and hasn't looked back! When she isn't taking photos of her other passion, her son, she loves to assist people in capturing their own special moments. Available for weddings, family photos, and pet portraits, Lori believes in working with her clients as a team. She's also very excited to be part of WordStorm and looks forward to all the upcoming events.

Mary Ann Moore Mary Ann Moore is a poet and a writer of fiction, personal essays and book reviews. She is currently working on a non-fiction book called Writing Home. Mary Ann has taught creative writing classes; creativity and poem making workshops; and lead workshops for the mental health community, adult literacy programmes, a First Nations reserve and conferences and retreats. Mary Ann's poem "Unpacking" won third place in the Federation of B.C. Writers poetry contest in the fall and she has recently returned from a master poets retreat with acclaimed Vancouver Island poet, Patrick Lane.

Cindy Shantz has been published in several newspapers including The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, and The Times Colonist. Her stories have won awards at The Santa Barbara Writer's Conference. In Switzerland her works have appeared in newspapers and magazines and in an anthology of short stories, essays and poetry.

Pat Smekal is a Canadian-born teacher/educator who returned to B.C. in 1989, after twenty-nine years in Australia. Her two micro-mini books, Grief ...Feeling Your Way Through, and Some Reflections on Being There, published in 1996 and 1997, together have sold over 12,000 copies. In 2001, Pat joined two local writers’ groups and began to devote more time to poetry. She has attended three summer sessions of the Victoria School of Writing, as a student of Kate Braid, Sue Wheeler and George Bowering. Ms Smekal has won several minor prizes for poetry and prose, and was shortlisted for the Ray Burrell Award for Poetry in 2004.

Fran Thiessen has emceed WordStorm since its inception. No stranger to speaking in public, she has been a Toastmaster for over 20 years and has achieved the highest designation of Distinguished Toastmaster. She has given a workshop on Storytelling at the BC Toastmasters Conference. Fran also has a love of theatre and has been in two local productions in Port Alberni. Storytelling within Toastmasters as well as Creative Magic and WordStorm has whetted her appetite to do some writing. Her stories are inspired by everyday occurrences - perhaps with a touch of whimsy?

Rene Unischewski grew up in Shawnigan Lake, and lived in Campbell River and Parksville before settling in Nanaimo--the harbour city! A former realtor with Coast Realty Group, Rene has put her license on hold to work full time on her novel. She is very excited and proud to be a part of WordStorm as this gives her something else to talk about when people ask her how her book is coming along!