W.G.: The Opium-addicted Pistol Toting Preacher Who Raised the First Federal African American Union Troops

William Burtch is a writer of fiction and essays. He was a finalist for the American Fiction Short Story Award, appearing in American Fiction Volume 17 (New Rivers Press). William's creative work spans magazine, journal, and anthology publications, including Great Lakes Review, Ruminate, Northwestern Indiana Literary Journal, BULL, Schuylkill Valley Literary Journal, and others. Following a childhood that spanned the Allegheny Mountains of northwestern Pennsylvania to the sprawl of Los Angeles County, he has lived in central Ohio since his teen years. After graduate school at Miami University of Ohio, he worked for many years in the investment business before he began writing. His work often gravitates toward the experiences and struggles of the rural characters he grew up around, as well as themes of survival in a culture of addiction. His cherished late wife, Kari, lived courageously with ovarian cancer for three and a half years. She was selfless and inspirational and taught him about living. She gifted him with perspective.William lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Donna Burtch is an American writer and poet. Her early life involved moves throughout and across the United States. Books and reading smoothed the transitions. She settled in central Ohio in 1976, where she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and completed graduate studies at The Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Donna worked for several decades in marketing and fund-raising for firms, not-for-profits, and universities.In 2011 she committed to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Ten years later she self-published her work as a biography of her late father's life, In the Key of Sea the Life & Times of William A. Burtch. She and her family live in Columbus, Ohio.