Contributors

Ashleigh Slater

Ashleigh Slater is the editor of Ungrind. As a wife and stay-at-home mom, she enjoys moonlighting as a freelance writer, proofreader, and editor. Her writing has appeared in print and online in publications including Marriage Partnership, Thriving Family, MOMSense, Brio, Brio & Beyond, Guideposts’ Angels on Earth, Focus on the Family Magazine, Radiant, Campus Life’s Ignite Your Faith, Focus on Your Child, Clubhouse, Jr., Small Group Exchange, and Sunday/Monday Woman. Her writing is included in the books Chicken Soup for the Teenage Christian Soul: Stories to Open the Hearts of Christian Teens, All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop, and All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul. She spent five years as a media critic for LinC (Living in Christ): Youth Connecting Faith and Culture and two years writing music reviews and artist bios for All Music Guide. She graduated from Regent University with a M.A. in Communication. She currently lives in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri with her husband Ted and four daughters. You can follow her on Twitter @ashslater.

Lynette Kittle

Lynette Kittle is the associate editor of Ungrind. She’s married and the mother of four daughters and has lived in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Texas, and a few other places in-between. Lynette has a weakness for anything made out of denim, shoes in a variety of styles and colors, and clearance sales. Her writing has been published in numerous publications including Focus on the Family Magazine, Spiritled Woman, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Reader’s Digest, Brio, CCM, FamilyFun, Small Group Trader, and more! She’s also featured in the books: Disney’s FamilyFun: My Great Idea, Parent’s Magazine: The Best Advice I Ever Got, Small Minds With Big Hearts: God’s World From a Child’s Point of View, and The New Woman’s Day Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Every Occasion. Lynette has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and has written for Dr. Robert Schuller, Dr. D. James Kennedy, and Joyce Meyer. She also produced Dr. Kennedy’s daily radio broadcast the Kennedy Commentary.

Danielle Ayers Jones

Danielle Ayers Jones is wife to an amazing husband and mother to three. She’s a writer and photographer, combining both loves on her blog, Dancing By the Light. A space where she seeks to find beauty in everyday places, joy in hardship, rest in the struggle, and encouragement in unexpected places. You can follow her on Twitter @daniajones.

Jessica Boling

Jessica spent the first 23 years of her life in Tennessee, and the next two serving as a resident assistant at a missionary boarding school in Germany. Now back in Tennessee, she lives in a little yellow house and works a plethora of part-time jobs. Her favorite is running a homeschool cooperative based on Charlotte Mason’s educational ideals. Learn more about Jessica by visiting her blog, I Wonder as I Wander.

Melanie N. Brasher

Melanie N. Brasher is a full-time mama of two boys and wife to an incredible husband who understands her bicultural background. She moonlights as a fiction and freelance writer, crafting stories and articles toward justice and change, and dreams of becoming a voice for the unheard. She’s a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and a contributing blogger for Hoosier Ink. She contemplates faith, family and writing at her personal blog. Though she’s an aspiring author, she’ll never quit her day job.

Melissa Brotherton

Melissa Brotherton is a Washington girl who’s been transplanted to Southern California; she loves the sun and misses the rain. She married her high school sweetheart, Josh, at the age of 20, and she is a full-time stay-at-home mom to their four children. After ten years of college, she graduated from Life Pacific College with a BA in Ministry and Leadership and is now researching Master’s programs. She loves cooking, writing, and photography and would enjoy making a career out of one of these hobbies, but for now they’re all just for fun. From a young age Melissa felt a call to ministry and is now discovering that this calling can take shape in many different ways. For now, her ministries involve caring for her husband, children and home, and sharing what God’s teaching her in her day-to-day life on her blog.

Sarah Forgrave

Sarah Forgrave is a freelance writer who feels blessed to follow God’s calling for her life. In addition to articles, Sarah writes contemporary romance novels for the Christian market and also blogs at her two homes in the blogosphere: Her group blog, The Writers Alley, and her personal blog, where she hosts monthly giveaways. When she’s not in front of the computer writing, she enjoys being a stay-at-home mom to her two young children and cheering on Colts football with her husband in their Midwest home.

Alison Frenzel

With a trunk full of journals, essays, and otherwise good story ideas, Alison Frenzel couldn’t deny the fact when she left every morning for a fast-paced job in marketing and advertising that she was missing one of her favorite pastimes: writing. But after a client offered her the opportunity to practice this hobby professionally, she took it, and since then, Alison has embraced writing as a life-long calling from God. Now a pastor’s wife to Brandon and stay-at-home mom, the time to write is not as available, but the inspiration to is abundant as she rediscovers God’s creation and joys along with her one-year-old daughter. She blogs at This is Not a Rough Draft.

Patrice Gopo

Patrice Gopo was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, however, God has brought her on an amazing journey with the most recent stop being Cape Town, South Africa. Patrice has previously worked as a chemical engineer and a business counselor, but these days she is thrilled to be a stay-at-home mom who takes joy in celebrating the big and small things of life. After nearly a decade of traveling the world, pursuing further studies, teaching business courses, and other random adventures, Patrice considers herself blessed to be on one of the best adventures of her life: being wife to Nyasha and mother to Sekai.

Marian Green

Marian Green resides with her husband and four children. She is an adoptive mom, a pastor’s wife, and (once again) a student. She is currently working on a non-fiction project for “bad girls” — helping women who have lived lives of promiscuity to redefine marital intimacy. In between it all she takes a deep breath and realizes, none of this was what she had planned in life … and she loves it. Marian blogs at Uprooted and Undone.

Sharon Hodde Miller

Sharon loves to write, loves women’s ministry, and especially loves combining the two! After majoring in Religion at Duke University, she worked for Proverbs 31 Ministries where she learned the ropes of women’s ministry. Following her time there, she returned to Duke where she not only earned a Master of Divinity, but snatched up a smokin’ smart husband in the process! She and her husband now live in the Chicago area where they are both pursuing their Ph.D.’s at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Sharon has a particular passion for discipling women with Scripture and theology, which is the heart behind her blog, She Worships.

Sarah Jaggard

Simply put, “Sarah Jaggard is a force of nature wrapped in a small package.” A native to Southern California, she’s been born, raised, and educated in Los Angeles. Dramatic communication has been a passion of hers since she was five years old and her father told her she would make a great lawyer or award-winning actress. While Sarah never pursued either of those options, she does hold degrees in Communication and Theology. Her journey has led her through working at Disney, serving on the pastoral ministry team at Mosaic, and teaching public speaking at Biola University and Pepperdine University. Additionally, she has consulted for the Style Network, World Vision, and the Gallup Organization in various capacities. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, baking, writing, traveling, and doing public speaking of her own. She has a mostly joking obsession with Phil Collins. (But really, she loves Phil Collins.)

Samantha Krieger

Samantha Krieger is a writer and editor in Dallas, Texas. Through story, personal reflection, and biblical insight she is passionate about helping others live out their faith in everyday life. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom, she wrote Bible study curriculum for Bluefish TV — one of the largest Christian video publishing companies. She’s written for LifeWay’s Collegiate Magazine, Focus on the Family Magazine, StartMarriageRight.com, and has contributed to books on Christian living. She holds a B.A. in English from Liberty University and a M.A. in Religion with an emphasis in Church Ministries from Liberty Theological Seminary. Samantha and her husband, Jeremiah, have two children: John (3) and Rebekah (1), and their third child will be arriving late June. She blogs weekly at: samanthakrieger.com and tweets at: @samanthakrieger.

Jennifer Napier

Jennifernapierbio Jennifer Napier is a full-time home and life manager (cook, dish-washer, diaper changer, personal assistant, launderer, maid, amateur medical professional, pharmacist, taxi driver, gardener, planner and organizer, nanny, boo-boo kisser, baker, barista, and home decorator). Her passion is Jesus Christ: knowing Him and making Him known. Married to her best friend, Mike, they live in Virginia with their four children, ages four and under. In her spare time she enjoys freelance writing, posting on her blog, Musings by Jennifer and embraces life through photography, writing, reading, knitting and mommying.

Arlene Pellicane

Arlene Pellicane is the author of 31 Days to a Younger You: No Surgery. No Diets. No Kidding (Harvest House Publishers). Before becoming a stay home mom and author, Arlene worked as a features reporter for The 700 Club and an associate television producer for Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. As fun as those jobs were, nothing compares to parenting her three young children. Visit Arlene’s website for tips on looking and feeling younger (without botox or diet pills!).

Kelly Sauer

Kelly Sauer is a writer, wedding photographer, restless heart, wife, and mama to two. She makes fine art out of real life, revealing beauty where it wasn’t. She shares her art and her real life at www.kellysauer.com. You can find her on Twitter as @kellysauer.

Amy Storms

Amy Storms lives in Santa Clarita, California, with her pastor-husband Andy, their kids Nathan, Anne, and Molly, and a terribly unmotivated basset hound named Belle. Along with guacamole and Dr. Pepper, words are some of Amy’s very favorite things. She loves to read words, craft them on the page, and say them. Too many of them. Read more of Amy’s words at www.amystorms.com.

Anne Swanson

One day, Anne Swanson approached Ashleigh Slater about starting a blog to encourage women. The result: the webzine Ungrind was born. In addition to regularly contributing to Ungrind, Anne’s writing can also be found on Radiant. Originally from Illinois, Anne is passionate about the church, family, and relationships. She’s had more jobs than she can remember, but her favorite (after being a mom) was at Starbucks where she developed her coffee addiction. In her free time she enjoys having a cup of coffee (or four), cooking, laughing, reading, decorating, having a good glass of red wine, and spending time with her family. Her husband Justin and she were married in July of 2002 and they currently live in Kentucky where she is at home with their three young boys.

Christin Taylor

Christin Taylor lives in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, Dwayne, her daughter, Noelle, and her son, Nathan. She runs The Blank Page Writing Workshops online, and her first book, Shipwrecked in Los Angeles, is forthcoming from Wesleyan Publishing House early 2012. To learn more about Christin, her workshops, and her writing go to www.christintaylor.com.

Abigail Waldron

Abigail Waldron lives in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC with her husband CJ and her brand new baby girl. While the transition to motherhood is currently taking up most of her time, she also enjoys teaching college writing courses and pursuing her own writing projects, including her blog, Redeeming Themes.