Ex Machina Press :x: Staff

Peter A. Balaskas - Chief Editor/Co-Founder - email
A man of many professions — including a microfilm clerk, an environmental and pharmaceutical chemist, a theatre actor, a freelance news camera operator and a camera technician for NBC/Universal Studios, Peter A. Balaskas has finally discovered his niche: speculative fiction writer and editor/founder of Ex Machina Press, the proud parent of Silent Voices: a creative mosaic of fiction. Peter received his BS in Chemistry (minor in English) and his MA in English with a double emphasis in Creative Writing and Literature from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His fiction and poetry have been published in The Aroostook Review, Pale Skies, Sage of Consciousness, Rogue Worlds, and his critical essay on Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" was published in Criterion. His supernatural novellas, "The Chameleon's Addiction" and “The Grandmaster” have been published by Bards and Sages Publishing — the latter making its appearance in the Summer of 2007. After finishing his first book — titled In Our House — Peter is beginning his second short story collection, Out Through the Exit Door, which he hopes to finish by Winter of 2007.

Mark D'Anna – Associate Editor/Co-Founder - email
Mark D’Anna’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications both in print and on-line. Some of his more recent credits include the literary journals News of the Brave New World, Silent Voices, Margin, Pale Skies, and the short story anthologies A Flash of Red and Vera Icon. His work has been heavily influenced by many writers, most notably Kurt Vonnegut, George Saunders, Ray Carver and Haruki Murakami. Mark's short story ‘Big Brown Bag’ was awarded the grand prize in the 2004 LMU Graduate Writing Contest, while his stories ‘She Wanted to Talk about Her Cat’ and 'The Elephant Factory' were selected as winners in the 2005 and 2006 Spider Thief Publishing Short Story Search contests respectively. He studied Literature and Creative Writing at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA, receiving his B.A. in 1999 and his M.A. in 2004. Mark’s first book is a collection of short stories entitled Big Brown Bag, and will be published later this year.

Susan Briggs – Associate Editor
Susan Briggs began writing stories as a child and got more involved in it through college and graduate school. She received her B.A. in English from U.C. Santa Cruz and her M.A. in English with a creative writing emphasis from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She has written numerous short stories and poems and has had stories published in WestWord and Silent Voices. Her story, "Going Under," which appeared in Silent Voices, Volume 2, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has also written a fabulist novel titled, "I Can See Heaven." Susan currently works as Donor Relations Writer at Loyola Marymount University.

David Booher – Marketing Manager
David earned his BBA in business law from the University of Miami in 2001. He went on to earn his J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 2004. As a law student, he served as a legal writing fellow, teaching new law students the ins and outs of the unique world of legal writing. He currently works as an employment attorney in a large law firm in downtown Los Angeles. When he isn't working, he is slowly finishing a horror novel and working on several short stories.