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Who We Are | How We Work | Get Help Now | Meet Our Staff | Contact Us |  |
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Meet Our Staff
David Taylor Behind the dorky sunglasses is David Taylor, founder and executive editor of Peak Writing, LLC and Peak Press.
Currently, David can be seen as the co-host of the Outdoor Life Network�s hit TV series, �Dive Today,� which he wrote and co-produced. David�s current TV and movie projects include a new series now in production for Scripps-Howard Broadcasting called �Kids Wanna Know.� One of his screenplays has been optioned and is scheduled as a movie-of-the-week. He also enjoys working with composition and rhetoric students as an adjunct professor at Savannah's local colleges and universities. David earned his Doctor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Mississippi, where he was an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. He taught for five years as an assistant professor of Rhetoric and Writing Center Director at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and 10 years as an associate professor of English and Journalism at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he directed the college's writing program and writing center. Taylor's non-fiction credits include over 50 academic articles and books in his speciality areas of dyslexia, peer tutoring, history of the English language, reading programs and modern literature. His coauthored book, Parent Programs in Reading (International Reading Association), has been translated into several languages. As a freelance non-fiction writer, Taylor's features have appeared in such leading magazines as Men's Health, Outside, Men's Journal and others. He has edited and written more than 1,200 travel articles on Caribbean, South Atlantic, Western Pacific, and South American destinations. His many instructional articles focus on health and fitness topics. Taylor's five novels of dark fantasy include Destiny's Carnival, coauthored with Warren Murphy, creator of The Destroyer series. David has published more than 30 works of short fiction, including one story ("Lessons for Life") that won Honorable Mention in 1988's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards. His stories have also appeared in the popular Masques, Pulphouse and Scare Care series anthologies. He is a former contributing editor of the Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review with poet Tom O'Grady. After wunderkind Blake Ellis graduated from the University of the South (Sewanee, Tenn.) in 1989, he wasted no time hitting the big time: His first job was as database creator and manager for the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Games, which resulted in that city�s successful bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Blake then landed at Rodale Press as webmaster for Rodale�s Scuba Diving for one year, before succumbing to the entrepreneurial bug and founding his own web design and consulting company, Color Maria, in 1996. Incorporated in January 2000, Color Maria has become one of Georgia�s top web development companies with a client list that includes Rodale Press, Mrs. Smith�s Food Service, International Expositions, and many others. Blake has written and edited numerous technical reports and how-to manuals, including the popular e-book: 15 E-Commerce Secrets. Stacey Kronquest is a writer, editor and proofreader who works on projects with a number of companies, including book publisher Abbeville Press. As a former Associate Editor for magazine and book giant Rodale Press, Inc. (publisher of Men's Health, Prevention, The Doctor's Book of Home Remedies and other popular titles), she has written and published dozens of magazine features as well as edited and proofread thousands manuscripts for fiction and nonfiction writers. On the web, Stacey has managed online databases and is proficient in HTML, PHP and other web publication formats; her online credits include several years work on critically acclaimed www.scubadiving.com and www.newdiver.com. Stacey received her B.A. in creative Writing from Ithaca College and currently resides in Savannah, GA. Mike Zimmerman is currently a senior writer for a major men�s magazine. His books include The Complete Idiot�s Guide to Fantasy Baseball and The Complete Idiot�s Guide to Surviving Anything (co-author). He�s written 11 young adult novels under various pseudonyms and genres: horror, romance, suspense, and international intrigue. In previous day jobs, Mike was a Senior Copywriter for Berkley/Signet and Copy Chief for Bantam Dell�s Advertising and Promotion Department. In his 8 years in the book biz, he wrote roughly 500 book jackets, 1000 catalog pages, and so many brochures, displays and ads that he could write a book about it (though he swears he won�t). In 1997, as writer and co-creator of Ace Books� online newsletter, "Plug," Mike interviewed authors as diverse as Elvira, Brian Jacques, Kevin J. Anderson, Laurell Hamilton, and an aspiring Elvis impersonator. His short fiction has appeared the Splatterpunks 2 anthology as well as numerous small press magazines, garnering Honorable Mentions in The Year�s Best Fantasy and Horror �95 and �96. Mike is a 1991 graduate of Moravian College, and was (and in many ways still is) a student of David Taylor�s writing curriculum. He owes much of his success to Dr. Taylor, but Mike respects him not so much for his devotion to the craft, his need to create, or his mastery of the written word, but because Dr. Taylor once spent an evening playing beer pong at Mike�s fraternity house.
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David is a former executive editor at Rodale Inc., where he directed the editorial staff of Rodale�s Scuba Diving magazine and www.scubadiving.com. During his nine years at Rodale, he trained 100s of freelance and staff writers for various magazines, including Prevention, Men�s Health, Runner�s World and others. He also conducted seminars on web programming and email marketing for his company and others.