Brett Barest is a freelance writer covering beer, music, food, and entertainment for a number of publications including USA Today, iOnGreenville, Fete Magazine, and Southern Brew News. He most enjoys writing self-deprecating (and hopefully humorous) personal essays on his website, brettbarest.com.
Lynn Seldon
After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, Lynn got his start while stationed in Germany as a young Army officer looking for some excitement and a creative outlet. During his weekend jaunts throughout Europe, he decided to start writing about his travel experiences. On a lark, he sent a few articles to Stars & Stripes, the daily newspaper for the Armed Forces. From that, a successful full-time career in travel writing and photography developed. Lynn has spent the past 25+ years covering all aspects of travel writing and photography. He focuses on travel within the Southeast US and the Caribbean, cruise ship travel, soft adventure (including scuba diving, hiking, mountain biking, and boating), spa travel and culinary travel. Whether an exotic cruise ship port in South America or a charming little cooking school in Tennessee, Lynn covers the world and his own backyard. Lynn’s work has appeared in more than 500 publications, including: Southern Living; Cruise Travel; Outside; Wine Enthusiast; Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel; Scuba Diving; Dayspa; Porthole; Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Charlotte Observer; USA Today; various in-flight publications; and many AAA magazines. Virginia’s Ring is his first novel.
Ruta Fox
Freelance writer/editor/PR professional. Seasoned professional with an extensive career in branding, advertising, copywriting, publishing, marketing and public relations in the fashion, beauty and luxury goods arena. Successful two time entrepreneur. Editor of the award winning book, “Happy Woman, Happy World” (NYC Big Book Award 2017 and National Indie Excellence Book Award 2016). Contributing Editor at award-winning TOWN magazine. Website: www.rutafox.com
M. Linda Lee
A Virginia native, M. Linda Lee moved to Greenville, South Carolina, to take a job as an editor for Michelin Travel Publications, a post she held for 17 years. She whetted her appetite for food writing when she worked on the acclaimed Michelin Guide. Now a freelance writer/editor, she enjoys keeping tabs on the local food scene and writing about food, travel and interesting people as a regular contributor to TOWN magazine. When she’s not chained to her PC, Linda indulges her passion by serving on the board of Slow Food Upstate and is a board member emeritus for Euphoria, Greenville’s premiere food, wine and music festival.
Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter is the author of the cocktail book Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum: and Other Cocktails for 90s Kids in addition to two collections of short fiction. He received his BA from Elon University and his MA from Stetson University. His work has been published in a variety of places, from The Bitter Southerner and Maxim to literary outlets such as McSweeney's Online Tendency and Midwestern Gothic.
Beth Brown Ables
Beth Brown Ables is a writer, a mother and a creative type. She freelances for local magazines, focusing on profiles and features as well as food styling and recipe development. She's the creator of an ongoing series of seasonal cookbook zines called A Place Here.
Ashley Warlick
Ashley Warlick is a novelist, food and freelance writer living in Greenville. She is the winner of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship, and an NEA Fellowship in Literature. She teaches fiction in the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, and works as the buyer at M. Judson Booksellers.
