LILIANA MARIA ISELLA ~ Founder
Hi, my name is Liliana and I’m LILA’s mom.
δ CONTACT: lilianamariaisella@gmail.com
BENEDETTA TAGLIAFERRI ~ Columnist (Dragonfly In The Night)
I was born as a fairy, grew up as an actress, become a musician.
Now, with wings, light and music inside I flow in this delicate imaginary world I create around me.
I can be whatever I want, and I want to be all the possible versions of myself.
Sono nata fata, cresciuta come attrice e diventata musicista.
Ora, con ali, luce e musica dentro, fluisco in questo delicato mondo immaginario che creo intorno a me.
Posso essere qualunque cosa io desideri, e voglio essere tutte le versioni possibili di me stessa.
δ CONTACT: djbenedetta@gmail.com
My column LA Date Me (Not) is to share my little experience… experience of dating in LA.
I’ve been modelling here for a few months and thinking all the time, “how does it come that in such a big city it’s so hard to find a good match?”
Still, we keep trying: we go to dates, register on JDate, hire a professional agency to set up appointments with potential Mr. Rights or, occasionally, we might even get hired ourselves to become someone else’s Mrs. Right.
I can say I tried. A lot, and enough to make you laugh.
δ CONTACT: iris191985@gmail.com
ALICE SIENNA ~ Writer, Photographer
Alice Sienna spent her last 32 years back and forth between Italy, where she was born, and France. Five years ago she put her roots down in Paris and from Paris she writes as smoking light cigarettes and pecking at croissants. “My home is where my cat lives,” someone said. But, Alice has not cat.
Alice ha passato gli ultimi 32 anni della sua vita in un continuo viavai tra l’Italia, dove è nata, e la Francia. Ha piantato radici stabili a Parigi 5 anni fa, e da Parigi scrive, fumando sigarette light e sgranocchiando croissants. “La mia casa è dove vive il mio gatto”, ha detto qualcuno. Ma Alice di gatto non ne ha.
δ CONTACT: alice.sienna@gmail.com
NIC KELMAN ~ Writer, Photographer
Nic Kelman was born in Manhattan, moved to the UK when he was 12, and then returned to the United States to attend university at MIT. There he majored in Brain and Cognitive Science.
girls, his first book, was published in hardcover in the U.S., 2003 and in paperback in 2005. It was named one of the Best Books of the Year by both the San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Journal and went on to become an international bestseller, now available in nearly a dozen languages.
Video Game Art, Nic’s second book, was published in early 2006 by Assouline Publishing. Distributed globally in both French and English, the lavishly illustrated Video Game Art attempts to the lay the foundations for placing the art and design of video games in an art history context.
Nic’s third book, the novel The Behavior of Light, was published in Italy by Fazi Editore in 2008 under the title, Il Comportamento Della Luce.
Among other places, his writing and photography have appeared in Elle, Glamour, The Village Voice, BlackBook, The Kenyon Review, and The New York Tyrant, as well as various anthologies. He also wrote an online biweekly column about media and culture for two years.
Over the past two years he has focused primarily on writing for screen and television. Recently, he sold his first spec screenplay to Steven Spielberg at Dreamworks Studios and his first television pilot was optioned by ABC Studios for Warren Littlefield.
δ CONTACT: www.nkelman.com
Jack Appleford grew up on a sailboat, travelling between Israel and Italy. He used to run contraband with his father until one night the pirates attacked his family’s ship and set it on fire. He is the only one to survive.
He came to America in the 90s, started working in the hospitality industry, won his green card and now he is a full time resident of California.
His novels 101 Dirty Hot Hotel Stories and The Lofty Riches are available at Amazon.com.
δ CONTACT: thetrashynovel@gmail.com
RAMONA CANDLE ~ Writer, Photographer, Actress
I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I love just about everything about this city including the blue Pacific Ocean, warm summer nights, the industrial beauty of the downtown empty warehouses, and even the dry, cracked concrete of the Los Angeles River before it rains. I think the only thing I don’t like about LA is the traffic, although I do love to watch rivers of cars at night on the 405 freeway, flowing from the Westside into the San Fernando Valley.
My two favorite writers are Raymond Chandler, who wrote of LA during the 1930’s and 40’s, and James Joyce, who wrote of Ireland around the turn of the last century.
δ CONTACT: ramonacandle@gmail.com
Just a solitary woman on the never-ending journey towards peace, beauty, and light! A lover of the arts: music, writing, painting en tandem with animal/human/environmental rights. I like to share personal experiences in the hopes to create a relatable connection and solace for the others. New to Los Angeles, originally from Boston, looking to pursue my passion for art and cultivating new relationships, experiences, and lessons!
δ CONTACT: sue.callender01@gmail.com
MAX FURIA ~ Writer, Photographer
Italian photographer and writer.
Author of many books and articles about narrative, photography and creative technology.
He’s the co-founder of the first Italian web community about digital imaging, www.total-photoshop.com.
Creative trainer about photography and post production techniques, he teaches worldwide in seminars and workshops for photographers and passionate digital imaging addicts.
Father of a 3 years old baby, he lives and works in a green city called Varese, between Milan and Switzerland.
His dream? Come back to the USA for work and meet new interesting people.
His mission? Learn, learn, learn.
His statement? “To be a better person you have to do what your inspiration calls you to do in your life.”
CONTACT: info@maxfuria.com
MARGARET ELISYA GARCIA ~ Writer
Margaret Elysia Garcia was born and raised in the belly of the beast of Los Angeles but has since escaped into exile in the remote mountains of northeastern California. Her piece on LILA, Elena, comes from a manuscript of short stories called 605 Freeway Stories which won 2nd place in the last Chicano/Latino Literary Award given by University of California.
δ CONTACT: writerchickmama@gmail.com
MIGUEL GARDEL ~ Writer
Miguel Gardel lives in New York where he attended the City College and has worked at many things from janitorial to journalism and back again.
His stories and essays have appeared in Bilingual Review, Brick Rhetoric, Red Fez, Pemmican, and others.
δ CONTACT: miguelgardel1@hotmail.com
MILTON IRVIN~ Writer, Photographer
Milt Irvin is a fat old man currently surviving his 32nd year of teaching middle school.
He keeps a grip on reality by pursuing creative interests, mostly involving photography and photo art.
δ CONTACT: mirvin1050@aol.com
LEAH C. STETSON ~ Writer
Leah C. Stetson is a poet from the coast of Maine who holds a master degree in human ecology from College of the Atlantic.
She has worn the Stetson as a park ranger at Acadia National Park as well as a hip coin belt when belly dancing.
She’s on the adjunct faculty at Southern Maine Community College warping firefighters into writers and is a member of the Lakes Region Writers Guild in Maine.
Her poetry has appeared in many magazines and her humor in Geek Monthly. She also writes about wetlands for a nonprofit organization.
δ CONTACT: swimfinny@gmail.com
Jon Dambacher is the author of Sour Candies and is currently completing a new novel. He lives in Los Angeles.
δ CONTACT: jondambacher@gmail.com
JONATHAN DOUGHTY ~ Writer
Jonathan is a graduate of UNC-Charlotte and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of Toronto. His dissertation project is a genealogy of whiteness as a phenomenological experience and discursive structure of modern China. His work in historical studies and literary criticism has appeared in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism and Asian American Literature: Discourses and Pedagogies. A selection of his poetry is forthcoming in the second volume of Contraposition.
δCONTACT: jonathan_doughty@yahoo.com
Maurizio Pedrini, giornalista e docente, dirige il portale quotidiano www.veronacomunica.it. e collabora col quotidiano L’Arena. Ha fondato e diretto diverse testate giornalistiche periodiche, curando saggi, libri e pubblicazioni. Ha alle spalle una significativa esperienza televisiva e radiofonica; in veste di presentatore ha condotto eventi, tavole rotonde e talk show in varie città italiane. Commendatore al merito della Repubblica italiana per il grande impegno in campo giornalistico e solidale, è stato insignito della medaglia d’argento dell’Ordine Nazionale dei Giornalisti. Ha fondato a Verona l’Associazione Culturale Amici di Romeo con l’intento di divulgare la cultura, la musica e la letteratura, valorizzando la creatività giovanile. Ha promosso lo spettacolo itinerante Suoni Di-Vini portato per tre anni nelle sale teatrali di Verona e provincia, con un format di successo dedicato ai più bei temi d’amore.
δ CONTACT: direttore@veronacomunica.it
JARED FORTUNATO ~ Writer and Photographer
Jared Fortunato is an educator and fine art photographer based in Los Angeles. Using both digital and film processes, his work explores memory, perception and the role of environment in shaping identity. His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in LA and San Francisco, and he is a represented artist at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art.
δ CONTACT: jared.fortunato@gmail.com
RK WALLACE ~ Writer
RK Wallace is a writer currently living in the west coast of Scotland, his native country. In the past, he spent a number of years living and working in Southern California (Long Beach). He is now co-organizer for a local literary open mic event, and co-editor of a local annual anthology called “Laldy.” He has an MA in Creative Writing, and is a father to one son. Previous poetry publications include; New York Quarterly and Glasgow Review of Books.
δ CONTACT: rkerr1980@gmail.com
CHANGMING YUAN ~ Writer
Changming Yuan, 9-time Pushcart nominee, started to learn English at age nineteen and published monographs on translation before moving out of China. Currently, Changming edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver, and has poetry appearing in Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Threepenny Review and 1239 others.
δ CONTACT: changmingyuan@gmail.com
S.A. GERBER ~ Writer
S.A. Gerber is a native and resident again of Los Angeles after having spent twenty-four years in a neighboring “city of sin” in the Silver State of Nevada. His work has appeared in several publication and he’s a member of the Los Angeles Poet’s Society. His two volumes of poetry, Under the Radar and Inventory can both be obtained on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com, as well as Beyond Baroque bookstore in Venice, CA. and The Amber Unicorn in Las Vegas, NV.
δ CONTACT: Stillrad@hotmail.com
LILA 
I love your site Liliana! Very inspiring!