Meet Our Authors

Creative, artistic and dedicated.
Volossal is proud of our unique, hand-selected family.

Catherine Gigante-Brown

Catherine Gigante-Brown has been a freelance writer of fiction, nonfiction and poetry for more than 30 years, since the ripe young age of fifteen. Her works have appeared in a variety of publications, including Time Out New York, Essence, Seventeen and The Italian Journal of Wine and Food. Along with Robert “The Harrad Experiment” Rimmer, she co-wrote two biographies for Prometheus Books.

Her short stories appear in several fiction anthologies and her essay, “When I was Young,” was included in Penguin Books’ Vietnam Voices. A number of her screenplays have been produced by small, independent companies. Her essay “Autumn of 9/11” was awarded first prize in The Brooklyn Public Library’s 2004 “My Brooklyn” contest. Her work, Weekender, was included in the Rosendale Theatre Collective’s first annual Short Play Festival.

Gigante-Brown was born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, where she still lives with her husband and son.

Jillian Henthorn

Jillian Henthorn is a writer and educator who has worked in education for over a decade in both informal and formal settings. Jillian received a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies and Business Management from Fordham University and a Master's Degree in Environmental Conservation Education from New York University.

Jillian is passionate about educating people of all ages and abilities and has found writing to be an outlet for her love for nature and education. In her free time, Jillian can be found exploring new hiking trails, exercising, or gardening. Jillian enjoys photographing wildlife and landscapes as inspiration for her work. To learn more about Jillian Henthorn, please visit Jillian Henthorn's Website.

Bob Buchanan

Bob is a retired Westchester County police officer. He currently lives in Yorktown, New York and works as a professional photographer and medium. He has created award-winning photographs for many small and fortune 500 clients.

Along with the three books Bob has published with Volossal, he also has two art photography volumes that focus on the special beauty of women over forty. "Real Woman: 40 and Beyond" won the 2011 NY Book Fest top award for the photography / art category. His other photography volume, "My Old Toy Box, Imagination Not Included", features photographs and commentary taking the reader to simpler happier days of childhood.

Jeffrey Veatch

Jeffrey Veatch is a retired newswriter-producer from ABC News Radio who took part in award-winning reporting and won a Writers’ Guild Award in 2007.

In 2008, Jeffrey’s life took a drastic turn when his 17-year old son, Justin, died from an accidental drug overdose. He then created the multi-media talk A Message from Justin which tells Justin’s story with the goal of changing the attitudes of teens on the dangers of drugs. He has served as a judge for The Writers’ Guild of America Awards in the radio competitions.

Jeffrey loves to cook and is a former competitive runner who is now an avid cyclist. He lives with his wife, Marina, and their cats Cali and Gray in Yorktown Heights, NY.

Serena Czarnecki

Serena Czarnecki is a creative soul at heart—artist, poet, actress, dancer, model and author. A proud, unapologetic bipolar woman, she uses the diverse knowledge she culled as a 1970s film icon to her advantage. A cornerstone in classic erotic cinema, Serena has been featured in more than 100 films including Sweet Cakes and The Ecstasy Girls. She has appeared in countless men’s magazines including Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler.Serena drew upon her modern dance prowess when she headlined theatres, stripping her way across the United States as an exotic dancer. Backstage Girls includes poetic reflections of her time as a feature at the O’Farrell Theatre in San Francisco.

She’s always considered herself a hippie and now lives as a happy hermit in a magical wood on a magical mountain with her soul mate. These days, Serena writes poetry and paints pictures.

A.R. Baumann

A.R. Baumann began writing as a child and became fascinated with the intricacies of people through her extensive world traveling. Her first award winning short film, Lorean, was screened at the Modern Museum of Art in NYC. Her second film, What’s Next, won the finalist award at the Houston International Film Festival.

Baumann’s first published novel, Under A Cloud of Rain, features her protagonist, Nick Noelle. Thicker Than Blood is the second published novel in the continuing saga of Nick Noelle.

Jackie A. Castro, LMFT

Jackie A. Castro is a licensed marriage family therapist practicing in Los Angeles, California. She has written numerous articles for dozens of print magazines and online media including Ravishly, VICE and Bello.

Jackie has been a long time advocate of people who have sexual preferences or fetishes out of the norm. Much of her therapy practice is dedicated to those who suffer from deep seated shame attached to being different from societal norms. She helps others develop healthy self esteem and acceptance of who they are.

Jackie is currently very interested in the newer, more evolved ways of working somatically with developmental trauma. To that end, she is currently researching the link between early attachment and sexual fetishes.

Jane Aguilar Murphy

Jane Aguilar Murphy is a native of Rockland County, New York. Her life-long love of photography was inspired by her father who enjoyed taking family photos and was member of a local camera club. Her journey officially began when she was given her first camera by her Aunt Marie at the age of ten.

She began photographing raptors after seeing the PBS special Pale Male by Frederic Lilien. When she heard bald eagle's nest in West Nyack, Rockland County, she dedicated the next eight months taking thousands of photos of a family of bald eagles raising their new baby, which Jane named Skye. This book tells the story of Skye and features some of the amazing photos Jane was able to capture.

Yael Adler

First-time author Yael Adler wrote From Gypsy to Jersey to share her uplifting personal story, in the hopes of inspiring and helping other adoptees who want to learn more about their past. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arizona and is currently director of marketing for Sage Thrive, a company that implements mental health support services for public school districts. Married, the mother of two girls and currently expecting their third child, Yael and her family live in New Jersey.

Joe Bartnick

Joe Bartnick was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh is where he learned to eat, drink and be funny. Joe moved to San Francisco and began his career as a standup comic in 1997. He worked his way up from performing in coffee shops and laundry mats to play prestigious venues such as The Warfield and The Palace of Fine Arts. During that time, Joe became a regular at the world famous Punchline and shared the stage with numerous comedy legends including Dave Attell, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Lisa Lampanelli and Robin Williams.

In 2006, Joe moved to Los Angeles and jumped into writing and acting. He has since written for many television projects including ESPYS, Snoop After Dark and Eddie Griffin Going For Broke. As an actor, Joe starred in Dirty Jokes: The Movie. He has created and starred (fully clothed) in the Playboy TV series, King of Clubs.

Don Jamieson

Donald Jamieson is best known as a co-host of VH1 Classic's hit heavy metal talk show series That Metal Show, where legends of rock hang out to discuss their past and current projects in front of a live studio audience. Rolling Stone dubbed the program (which saw Jamieson teamed with radio personality Eddie Trunk and comedian Jim Florentine) one of the "50 Best Reasons to Watch TV".

Dr. Otiz Porter, Ph.D

Dr. Otiz “O.T.” Porter holds a Doctorate in International Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He uses his talents internationally and domestically in multiple capacities. He is a life and relationship coach, a private consultant specializing in mental and behavioral health program development and analysis, team building and effectiveness, and he facilitates mental and behavioral health informational courses. He is a lecturer for multiple colleges and universities, privately coaches dissertation students, and still finds time to be involved with the local community, giving inspirational lectures to high school students.

Growing up on the rough and tumble streets of Newark (New Jersey), Dr. Porter learned, as a child, how effective communication skills can help navigate difficult circumstances. His desire to understand the way people communicate and help them better learn to communicate fueled his passion for psychology.

Leticia Orozco

Leticia Orozco has been cooking for more than twenty-five years. To this day, she still gets excited about cooking. While never having any formal culinary training, she spent every summer and winter vacation of her youth working in her aunt's restaurant in Mexico. Those years of hands on experience provided her with a real appreciation and insight for authentic Mexican cooking.

She enjoys entertaining guests in her home and delighting them with her mouth-watering tamales. She is often asked by her non-hispanic friends how to make her tamales. After years of sharing her secrets with friends, she decided to create a book of these recipes for everyone to enjoy.

Leticia currently resides in Huntington Beach, California with her husband and two children.