The Contributors, Issue NO. 3

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Christy Fidura is known in Pueblo County, Colorado as The Ruckus.  Simply stated, Christy gets things done.  Christy is a proud daughter of two Army Veterans.  She is a wife, a truck driver for more than two decades, a small business owner, and most importantly, she is the homeschool mom of her six-year-old daughter, Jasper.  Christy first became involved in Pueblo County as a founding member of the Pueblo County Patriots.  She now leads the group of 3000 members who are located across Pueblo, Colorado and outside the state.  Christy and the Patriots use the Constitution as their guide to protect the God given rights of all Americans.  As a Patriot, Christy organized everything from Community Clean-Ups to Statewide Candidate events, with a strong focus on local candidates and policy.  Christy has helped coordinate Republicans all across the 27 counties of the 3rd Congressional District and is now the Vice Chair of CD3.  She was a co-captain in Pueblo for the US Election Integrity Plan, collecting data that was used in the Colorado Canvassing Report, which showed that Colorado's election system is vulnerable to interference.  Christy was recently appointed as a non attorney member of the 10th Judicial Review Board.  She was honored to be endorsed by Veterans for America First, Veterans For Trump, as well as the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners PAC.  She is a member of the Pueblo County Republican Executive Committee, and is extremely proud of the role she played in helping to lay the foundation to flip Pueblo County RED in their last election cycle, after more than 80 years of democrat rule.  They won 9 out of 11 positions and just elected their first Republican Mayor.  As a native to Colorado, Christy attended high school at Aurora Central and went on to college at Fort Lewis in Durango.  Christy often says, " I know that we are no longer living in the Colorado I was proud to grow up in.  I will continue to fight to bring Colorado back to a state that my daughter, Jasper, can also be proud to grow up in."

 Read Christy's interview here.

Debora Black is a literary writer whose personal essays and poetry are often rooted in the forest  and other evocative places.  Prior to moving to Colorado, Debora trained horses and riders in hunt seat and dressage, and she taught English in the inner city school system.  Locally, Debora has taught at Colorado Northwestern Community College and Colorado Mountain College.  Many locals remember Debora as the curator of Mad Creek Gallery.  She has also worked as a marketing professional.  About living in the Colorado mountains she said, "I enjoy the solitude of snowboarding fresh powder and sweating out the slow, twisting climb of my favorite mountain bike trails.   Debora is the editor of Deep River Review.   Read about why she founded Deep River Review here.   

Jim Nichols, his wife Anne, and Jesse, the Flat-coated retriever, split their time between Maine and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Jim has published short fiction in many venues, including Change Seven, december, Esquire, Zoetrope ASE, Narrative, Night Train, River City, elimae, The Clackamas Review, American Fiction Vol.9 and Portland Monthly.  He is a past winner of the Curt Johnson Prose Award for Fiction (december magazine) and the Willamette Fiction Prize, a recipient of a Maine Arts Commission Independent Artists Fellowship and a prize winner in the River City Writing Awards.  His novel-in-stories Closer All The Time won the 2016 Maine Literary Award for Fiction, and his latest novel Blue Summer won the same award in 2021, making Jim the only two-time recipient of this award so far.  Jim told Deep River Review, "Past winners include Lily King, Richard Ford, Richard Russo, Christine Baker Kline, Roxana Robinson and Bill Roorbach, so chances are this distinction will be short-lived."  Jim is currently working on a prequel to Blue Summer.  Read an excerpt from Blue Summer here.

Pete Wood is a Colorado native, born and raised on the Front Range.  He now lives on the Western Slope.  Pete served 23 years in the U.S. Navy and currently works as a cybersecurity manager for a Fortune 500 company.  He is an avid history buff and loves the Colorado outdoors.  Pete believes in the American spirit and the hope and promise it brings humanity. This includes empowering people to be independent, educated, honest, and self-determined individuals.  Like the Founding Fathers, Pete believes the role of government is simply to protect the rights of individuals and families, and to defend America, our Constitution, and our way of life.  Pete's understanding of American history, his military experience, love for the beauty and spirit of the American West, and his concern about the current threats against America inspire his writing.  Read Pete's article on climate action policy here.

Meet Rachael, a devoted homeschool mom of four children.  Rachael and her loving husband, originally from North Texas, lived in Colorado for nine years, trading the city bustle for a life filled with thrilling outdoor adventures--including everything from water and snow sports to mountain biking, hiking, and fishing.  Driven by the burden of high living costs, the lack of representation, and the distance from family, Rachael and her husband recently made the decision to leave Colorado--a place they thought they would never depart from--and return to Texas.  In pursuit of self-sufficiency, Rachael and her family are on a mission to cultivate their own food, tending to egg-laying and meat chickens.  They dream of expanding to other livestock in the future.  Beyond her roles as an educator and homesteader, Rachael is also a fervent advocate for medical freedom and vaccine safety.  She believes in the importance of informed decision-making when it comes to health and wellness, and she uses her platform to share knowledge and spark conversations about these topics.  Rachael's passion for advocacy extends beyond healthcare.  She is a defender of the Constitution and holds a deep appreciation for the sacrifices made by the armed forces.  Her advocacy work also centers on the sanctity of all lives, including those in the womb.  Through her diverse roles and interests, Rachael exemplifies a commitment to family, freedom, and respect for life. Read Rachael's environment piece here.