Victor Luis Benavides was born in Harlingen, Texas, and raised in Olmito, Texas, where much of his sense of place and storytelling first took shape. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2017, followed by a Master of Business Administration in 2019, and a Master of English Studies in 2025. His writing has appeared in Boundless: The Anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival (2025, 2026) and Tales from the Vault, Volume 3 by Story Sanctum Publishing. He is a Professor of English in the Rio Grande Valley, where his work with students continues to shape his approach to language, storytelling, and expression. He has been dedicated to helping students discover the transformative power of language. He believes that words are more than a means of communication—they are tools for growth, empowerment, and the pursuit of one’s dreams. In the classroom, he encourages students to find their own voices and embrace the art of expression.
Mis Mentiras, Poemas, y Memorias: A Collection of Stories, Poems, and Memories is his first book, just released by Second Shore. Click on the image to download a free PDF copy. If you prefer eBook or paperback, it will soon be available on Amazon.
Ralph Bland is the author of seventeen novels and four collections of stories. His work includes Stars Rain Sun Moon, Lockhart, and Lamb White Days. Ralph is a graduate of Belmont University, married with a daughter and three very spoiled dogs, and on numerous occasions likes disguising himself as a normal person. When not coercing himself to write he spends his time suffering over the heartbreaks of the Vanderbilt Commodores basketball team, lounging in his backyard with his adorable dogs, or tinkering with his 1949 Wurlitzer jukebox, trying to determine why one day it works and the next day it doesn’t, knowing full well that because he is a mechanical idiot he will never know the answer. A lover of Universal monster movies and British sports cars that don’t run, he is the proud owner of perhaps the South’s largest Frank Sinatra audio collection, as if that has anything to do with the price of tea in China. Visit his website here.
Click on the image for a free PDF download of his most recent novel Pretty Boy, just released by Second Shore Publishing. It is also available in paperback, hardcover, or eBook on Amazon here.
Barney Warren is a native Brooklynite whose urge to write poetry grew out of an abiding love for the New York Yankees of the era in which he was raised. Barney has outgrown neither his urge to write nor his love for the Yankees of that bygone era. However, his subject matter now includes everything that reaches his very city-honed sense receptors. His mind is a fully actuated urban development master plan, and he doesn’t expect to be nominated for Cowboy Poet of the Year. Here are links to his three volumes of selected poems: Meditations for the Night Shift, Wick to Wick and Zero Mass.
Second Shore Publishing 