The Semi-Official Bio
James K Bowers, an obsessed but infrequent writer of science fiction and fantasy, has written several things longer than his own name, usually at the insistence of friends wielding cattle prods. He has never failed to include an adverb or two for the express purpose of inciting the ire of Stephen King’s Disciples of Adverbicide. He is the founder of The Herscher Project, and is a member of both Elfwood and Wyvernsmiths. Jim is an active member of the River Valley Voices writers group and does occasional book reviews for The Journal, the newspaper serving Kankakee County, Illinois. Those curious or indecisive enough can read and comment on his book reviews at his page at Freewebs.
And the Rest of the Tale
In the late autumn of 2000, I embarked on what I thought would be a short-lived adventure in creativity, inviting some dozen writers from Elfwood to participate in a little writing exercise. From that humble beginning, our group has grown and transformed into The Herscher Project (tHP) that exists today. Between Project#5 and Project#6, nearly two years passed with no activity, but since then there have been no other spans of inactivity. When it became evident that I may, from time to time, need some assistance, I asked three members to become moderators: Inger Marie Hognestad, Jamie A Hughes, and Deborah Cullins Smith. Matt Summers was added shortly thereafter as a fourth moderator, then, more recently, Malin Larsson and Marijke Mahieu, to bring the number of moderators for our group to six. The period of 2007 through 2008 became a period of administrative retooling. Lisa Eshkenazi accepted responsibilities as our group’s Art Director, and has been integral in a surge of artistic interest and endeavor. Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth Fitzgerald became our first Australian moderator. Fluctuations in the needs of our group and the demands of real life have been the cause for several changes in our group of tHP Moderators. By the autumn of 2008 tHP had seen a great deal of change in its moderator ranks, and finally settled in with these six (alphabetically): Steve Doyle, Lisa Eshkenazi, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Inger Marie Hognestad, Jamie A. Hughes, and Deborah Cullins Smith. In the spring of 2006, I asked Saana Tykkä, one of the participants in the first edition of The Project, to assist me in managing our group. This decision was based on a number of factors, not the least of which being her writing talents and her long-time familiarity with and much appreciated participation in tHP – oh, and perhaps the long-distance bonds of friendship that have grown between us over the years had a little to do with my decision. In August of 2007, Malin Larsson was asked to become Saana’s assistant in her Co-Owner duties. Anyone who has met Malin will have no difficulty in understanding or agreeing with us in this decision. Since its modest inception, our group has evolved from a purely email-based group, to a functional but limited Yahoo!Groups page, to this multi-faceted site hosted by Chuck Gregory. Along with Chuck, our site is wonderfully maintained by the often shy and always humble Louise Hughes. Shortly after we moved tHP to its private site hosted by CWG Services, I formed “The Council of the Wise” – essentially, these are all tHP members who have participated in at least five separate editions of the Project, and we use some restricted forum threads and the old Yahoo!Group site as communication tools. Other groups function outside of The Herscher Project; some are natural outgrowths of tHP and others are simply great allies in our war on literary and artistic atrophy. tHP Showcase is only one example of this phenomenon. Before her involvement with tHP, Inger Marie Hognestad created Wyvernsmiths to serve as a tool for writing, reviewing, and critiquing. Young Artisans (managed by Emma-Jane Smith) was created for those with a desire to participate in the various editions of tHP, but who do not yet meet the “18-years-of-age” minimum requirement that exists at tHP. tHP Threshold (managed by Malin Larsson) was created for those 18 or older who have a desire to eventually join tHP and also for those tHP members who, due to whatever reasons, expect to be inactive for an extended time. Steve Doyle Audio, now known as Storytellers Online, is a small group founded by Steve to serve as a means of converting stories and poems into audio files using multiple voices rather than the standard single reader/narrator. More recently, tHP has forged ties with such notable groups as The Lost Genre Guild and Sky-tribe (luckily before Sky-tribe faded into obscurity). Many great things have happened as a result of tHP – hundreds of submissions to the various editions, lasting friendships born, international cooperation that has become second-nature, creative inspiration – the list goes on. I can lay so very little claim to accomplishing most of these things, but I can take great pride in the fact that I am surrounded by all the talented, driven, and visionary individuals that comprise the membership of The Herscher Project, and from time to time have been a catalyst… a spark compared to their flames. So, anyway, a little about me… I graduated from Herscher H.S. (Illinois), served in the U.S. Marines from 1975 to 1986, received my A.S. from Kankakee Community College, and spent a good deal of my remaining time as a computer programmer. I was married in 1976, and Lisa and I have one son, Andy (who can also be found here in the Herscher Project), and two daughters, Kristie & Stephanie. We have one granddaughter, Hailey Dawn Bowers, born June 8, 2001. Maybe she’ll join tHP someday… or maybe she’ll eventually become the group’s owner…
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