C. B. Adams lives and writes in St. Charles, MO, on the outskirts of St. Louis. In 1994, his controversial short story "Private Parts" (he claims he had the title before Howard Stern) was awarded first place in the Missouri Arts Council's Writers' Biennial Awards. Of the five awardees, Adams was the only fiction writer. His short story, "Mumbly Peg", will appear in the October 1998 issue of the literary journal River Styx. Other stories have been or will be published in The Distillery: Artistic Spirits of the South, Blue Penny Quarterly, Feedback and The Forest Park Review, among others. Adams is nearing completion of a novel, titled Higher Ground, from which "Mumbly Peg" was adapted, as well as his infamous "thong underwear" short story. He is on the editorial staff of the new Natural Bridge literary journal to be published by the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Spring 1999. He may be reached via email at cadams@ninenet.com   Robert Raven is a 1970s graduate of the University of Iowa Writers Workshop who evaded fiction writing for nearly two decades to pursue a career in industrial paleontology. He returned to writing about four years ago, and has completed a novel and several stories, "The Destroyer of Dreams" being the first to see publication. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where in addition to writing he spends time keeping snow off his driveway, moose out of his garden and bears out of his garage. He can be reached at rraven@alaska.net   Jonathan Rubinstein (Guest Editor) is the author of Talent, a novel based on his years of experience in the entertainment industry which is sure to be snapped up by a major publisher any day. He has studied writing at the New School, and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Amy and his dog Freddy. rubinstein@mci2000.com   Nicki Blake (Guest Editor) is a 32 years old African American poet, fiction writer, lawyer and essayist. She is a single mother and a former party girl living in Seattle, Washington. Last summer she dyed her hair pink and hid from her clients until she felt like growing up again. She still writes briefs to put food on the table. zazzyone@aol.com