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2025 Small Bites Winners
The Perfect Match and other Small Bites Stories will release May 7, 2025
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
The Perfect Match
Science Fiction
Robert Plant self-published his debut novel, Heartstrings, in 2023 and has a knack for stirring the soul in his fiction writing. After releasing this family drama to the world, Robert pivoted to writing in the Sci-Fi genre. He’s finalizing his next book, Dark Matter, to be released in the summer of 2025, which will be an anthology of short stories that will challenge our existence in this small sliver of the cosmos. These short stories are created with a likeness to The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror shows and will have you on the edge of your seat until the final twist. Learn more about Robert by visiting www.robertplantwrites.com
SECOND PLACE WINNER
Perennial Guardians
Historical Fiction | Science Fiction
Scott A. Meehan is a retired Army veteran, middle school history teacher, and award-winning author. He is a Bronze Star recipient from actions in Iraq and is known for his storytelling based on his worldwide experiences as a missionary kid and Army veteran. Meehan writes multi-cultural themes that focus on current events in the form of thrillers, suspense, romance, and military. He has a BA in Secondary Education-Social Sciences, MA in Computer Resource Information Management, and an MBA. In 2024, Scott won first place in the Orlando Veteran’s Creative Arts Awards contest with his creative short story, CH-47A Chinooks: Guardians of the Sky.
THIRD PLACE WINNER
Albert
Paranormal | Science Fiction
Donald Firesmith is a multi-award-winning author of speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, paranormal horror, and modern urban paranormal novels and collections of short stories. Because of his strong background in software/system engineering and science, his science fiction is well-researched, and he relies on numerous science, technology, and military technical advisors to ensure that the non-speculative aspects of his stories are realistic and believable.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Adventure
YA Narrative fiction
Michael Nelson is a former small-town physician, living in a small community among the deep hills and valleys of Southwestern Wisconsin. Retired now, he indulges in his many hobbies. Woodworking, and travel to various parts of the country but most of all; writing. Always being open to new things has kept him youthful and vital as he tries to keep up with his young daughter, Isabelle Drawing upon their adventures together, in this most recent endeavor, he and his daughter, Isabelle have taken a lighter approach to exciting adventure and magic.
The First Three Springsteen Albums
Coming-of-Age
D. Krauss resides in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He has been a cottonpicker, a sodbuster, a librarian, a surgical orderly, the guy who paints the little white line down the middle of the road, a weatherman, a door-kickin' shove-gun-in-face lawman, a hunter of terrorists, and a school bus driver. Currently, he's a layabout. He's been married over 45 years (yep, same woman), and has a wildman bass guitarist for a son.
From Darkness into Light: Thankful Tonight
Historical Fiction | Based on true evemts
Ed DeJesus (pronounced D Geezus) joined Indies United in January 2025. His thriller novel, The Vulnerable, debuted in April. His short story offers a glimpse into his forthcoming memoir collection, Simpler Times in The Spindle City. A technopreneur, he was President of Sightline Solar, CEO of JustZip.com, and VP of Engineering for MSL. Previously, his software work at Digital Equipment Corp was published in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Design Automation journals. He served in the US Army Reserves and opened a record store with his wife in the vinyl era. He resides in Florida and is a Gulf Coast Writers Association member. When Ed’s not immersed in his writing, he finds joy in reading, dancing, singing Karaoke, and traveling the world with his wife and children.
The Outside Clan
Historical Fiction
Lisa Towles is an award-winning crime novelist and a passionate speaker on the topics of fiction writing, creativity, and self care. She has thirteen crime thrillers in print with a new thriller, Switch, due for release in 2025. Her E&A Series titles Hot House and Salt Island were both Amazon Kindle #1 Bestsellers. Lisa is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Deeply committed to supporting other writers, she hosts a YouTube series called Story Impact, where she interviews authors about the meaning and impact of their books. Lisa has an MBA in IT Management and works full-time in the tech industry in the San Francisco Bay area.
Blood at the Window
Psychological Thriller
Timothy Baldwin grew up in Syracuse, New York. He currently resides in Maryland where he teaches English, Creative Writing, Film, and Theatre on the middle school level. At the insistence of his own students, he began writing seriously in 2014. He credits his love for story to his mother, who spent countless hours reading to him and his siblings when they were growing up. Growing up, he devoured the literary words of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Piers Anthony, and many others. Mysteries, thrillers, and fantasies are among the genre he most frequently reads. When he’s not writing, he’s reading, teaching, camping, or enjoying a live music concert.
There Was an Old Woman Who Thought She Was Dead
Magical Realism
Donna L. Doty, Ph.D. is a New York-based Sociologist, content creator, and 2D animator who writes and produces her own animations series, Coffee with Katrin. Most recently, Donna wrote a work of speculative fiction called The Rule of Thoughts: A Fictional Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge—which received a Certificate of Appreciation from the International Fiction Festival in 2024 for being ranked in the top 10% in the Novel category among 850 authors from 48 countries. Donna also wrote several short stories including There Was an Old Woman Who Thought She Was Dead, The Day We Saw a Giraffe in Our Yard, and The Red Spot. She is currently working on a short story series.