Vanessa was born and raised in the suburbs
of the Midwest until her entry into the Juvenile Justice system and her years spent
in the Troubled Teen industry.
After leaving the Troubled Teen Industry,
Vanessa went to college for Psychology, where she met her husband. Vanessa
worked in the Naval Reserves, got her Masters in English, and made her career
as a computer programmer, all while raising two daughters, both of whom are now
in their own undergraduate degree programs.
While Vanessa published a few articles and
short stories in college, and more recently published two technical papers in
her field of specialty, this is Vanessa’s first semi-fiction novel and the
first time Vanessa has written publicly about her life on the Island of Troubled
Teens.
Ericka Brown was born and raised in the Tri-State
area until her entry into the Juvenile Justice System and her years spent in
the Troubled Teen Industry.
Upon leaving her Troubled Teen program, Ericka joined
the Navy, where she met her wife and made her career as an NCO.
This is the first time Ericka has written about
her life on the Island of Troubled Teens and the first time she has ever
published anything.
Steven is a technical writer and ghost writer based out of the Boston area. He is the first co-author on both books. Steven and Vanessa have been friends for over 15 years.
Steven applied his ghost writing and technical writing skills to these projects, conducting the interviews, creating the style guides used in the books, kept track of all the fake names, did the work to hide the church and otherwise did the grit work that made these projects work.
For media relations or if you just need a good ghost or tech writer, you can reach Steven at Steven@FalloftheGuardians.com
Noah is a recent survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry, having been in wilderness therapy at Open Sky (now closed) and residential treatment at Solstice East (rebranded as Magnolia Mill School).
Noah was instermental in bringing out the emotions of the two books, something both Vanessa and Ericka struggle with, and something our first co-author couldn't do for us.
Noah has fiction writing experience, but has never had anything published before (unless you count a middle school poetry competition). Noah was also the one to work on most of the unpleasant details of the two books that our first co-author couldn't or wouldn't deal with.
Noah is currently an undergraduate student at University of Houstin, and is engaged to be married. He has two cats named Clyde and Misty.
For in-person interviews, social media inquiries, fiction writing inquiries, and anything related the current Troubled Teen Industry, Noah can be reached at Noah@FalloftheGuardians.com
Colleen Figg came on to the Fall of the Guardians project as
the editor for Pegasus Publishing, then ended up on the second project as
well. Colleen has been working as a professional editor for over 15 years
and is a true professional and an expert in her craft. She found and
fixed the countless typos, grammatical issues, and other mistakes we didn't
see.
Colleen was amazing to work with and taught all of us a lot
about the story writing process. If you need an editor for your book, we
highly recommend Colleen. You can reach her at colleenfigg@gmail.com
Amina Kotenko is a Native of Ukraine and a recent graduate of the University of Central Florida, where she majored in English Literature and Minored in Technical Communications. Amina joined the project as a Junior Editor on Fall of the Guardians II: The Book of Ericka, where she quickly proved her skills by doing a line-by-line edit of the book.
Amina is a dedicated young editor with a bright future ahead of her in the publishing world. If you are looking for an editor, she can be reached at aminakotenko29@gmail.com
Shannamay is the owner of Kitterin Kreations. She came on to the Fall of the Guardians II: The Book of Ericka project as a sketch artist to do the "simple" drawing of the picture of the yoke. To say this project spun in a whole other direction than expected would be an understatment. Shannamay worked with Steven and a group of survivors to figure out what the yokes were made of and how to sketch something that only exists in the memories of the women that went.
Shannaray spent far more time and energy on this project than the contract called for, determined to get it as close to perfect as anyone could. If you are looking for an artist for your book or other project, email her at shaysand04@gmail.com
For general questions and feedback, you can email us at Feedback@falloftheguardians.com
While we can't give you a direct email address for Vanessa or Ericka for reasons of author safety, you can send us a message by emailing us at:
Authors@falloftheguardians.com.
These emails are checked and then if apropreate, forwarded to us to read. Responces will come via a member of our team.
While we took great steps to hide the real identiy of the church and the program, if you attended, you know.
If you attended this program, email us with your name, the years you went, and the real name of the Chow Hall building. If we can verify your attendance, a member of the alumni commette will get back to you.
We have an active alumni group, including a free weekly online zoom therapy group, online support groups, several group text lists, our cousins fund, and we hold regular reunions.