Behind Closed Doors

Doors can be safe havens. They can be protective of us, shielding eyes from the intimate moments we don't want anyone else to see by intention. Alone time and seclusion are often treated with such disdain, usually by people who feel entitled to our time and space, and the very act of being intentionally alone is revolutionary in a society that encourages us to share every shred of our humanity with the many names and icons on our screens.
Our society tells us that everything we want to do should also be monetized or it's a waste of time, but not everyone creates everything for consumption. Sometimes we just want to sit in a quiet room and write a letter to ourselves, and just because we can't get a publishing deal out of it doesn't make it any less valuable. Wanting our doors closed by our own choice is a valid decision.
Marissa Alexa McCool and Evelyn Louise May produced compilations of different and diverse voices before, and we are honored to bring this experience to Other Worldly Women Press. We hope you'll find these words as captivating, empathetic, and intimate. For what could be more intimate than what takes place when no one else is watching?
This anthology was brought to life with funding from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Other Worldly Women Press.

About our editors:

Marissa Alexa McCool is an author, athlete, speaker, performer, photographer, activist, and in podcasting as a host, editor, and producer. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Augsburg University. Also known as The Purple Amazon, she's worked within a wide range of cross-sections and communities in order to form a unique, assertive, and neon style that involves blending the academic and the theatrical. She has written 11 books in various genres, hosted over 500 podcast episodes since 2016 while also guesting on countless others, and has helped a dozen shows get started from an editor and producer role. She's spoken and performed around the country at everything from conferences to plays to standup performances. She also plays women's tackle football in Minnesota. In addition to her books, she has an academic co-writing credit, published three full-length audio plays, has been featured in the Daily Pennsylvanian, HuffPo, and Psychology Today among others, and has worked to help raise marginalized voices in writing and other media since she became involved. Her favorite project to date was an audio play she wrote and performed in called Dinner with the Binaries. She co-starred with one of the leads of Amazon Prime's Dyke Central, Giovannie Espiritu. She's originally from northeast Ohio, grew up in central Pennsylvania, and now lives in the Twin Cities with her family, where if she's not on a stage or microphone somewhere, she's probably out looking for birds with her camera or up at the North Shore along Lake Superior.

Evelyn Louise May, M.F.A is a writer/editor/educator based out of Minneapolis, MN. She has been published in Swimming with Elephants, Wingless Dreamer, Brew Your Own, Rain Taxi, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Molly House Magazine, her writing can be spotted across the internet and on T.V. Evelyn is the founder of Other Worldly Women Press. She is currently working a nonfiction book about endometriosis throughout history, and a memoir about three generations of women enduring heart wrenching Caesarean section births. In addition to her ongoing projects based around skepticism about cults, hauntings, and other things that go bump in the night. She graduated from Augsburg University with a focus in nonfiction creative writing.