About Us
Who are we?
We are writers too. Maybe you don't know our names now, but you will. Here's a little info. to get you started.
Who is Irene Smith?
Irene is an only child with all of the over-achieving, nit-picking qualities that implies, compounded by the fact that she is also a Virgo. Her first non-fiction sale was an article on BASIC programming that appeared in a magazine called CodeWorks in January of 1989. That publication was the first of a long string of computer programming articles that led to a job as a programming writer at Microsoft.
After a lifetime of dreaming about it, Irene Smith has finally quit her day job and launched a freelance writing career that includes essays, fiction, and poetry. Irene lives in the northeastern United States with her husband and youngest son. When she is not writing or fulfilling her duties as editor-in-chief of the Grotto, she runs a web site that offers web design services to other writers.
Who is Michael Kechula
Michael is a published writer whose thirty-year career includes everything from flash fiction to computerized training courses. He is an accomplished technical and fiction writer with a flair for comedic flash fiction in a variety of genres.
With 28 non-fiction books already published, Michael’s first fiction book, Crazy Stories for Crazy People, will be available on April 10, 2005. This collection of 50 zany flash fiction and short stories can be ordered from us In April. (See the link below!) Michael's Flash Fiction has appeared in Alien Skin, Apollo’s Lyre, Long Story Short, Wicked Karnival, Flash Shot, Somewhat Magazine and others, including this magazine. In 2004, he won first prize for prose in Lotus Blooms Journal’s anniversary contest.
Michael divides his time between writing speculative fiction and editorial duties here at the Grotto and his work at Coffee Cramp Magazine where he is the submissions editor. He is also the moderator of the MuseItUpClub, and the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Group within that club. In addition, he hosts his own Yahoo writing group dedicated to creating works of flash fiction and micro-fiction for publication.
Why Nimue's Grotto?
It seems as though there are fewer and fewer publications that are open to beginners. We don't care how many articles you've published. If your work is good, we want it. You may not get rich writing for us but your work will be seen.