Meet the Team!
![Sandra Miller Linhart Headshot](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SML_mugshot.jpg)
Sandra Miller Linhart
Author & Illustrator
Sandra Miller Linhart was born and raised in the somewhat isolated but beautiful mountainous town of Lander, Wyoming. Here she cultivated her love of the written word, as the nearest decent record store was a good two-hour drive away and the one local radio station played only country and classical music at that time. Were it not for that, Ms. Linhart might today be a rock star, or at the very least have better taste in music.
As it turned out, Lander provided a well-stocked and constantly updated library. Thus, the young Ms. Linhart often found herself taking long journeys into the wonderful worlds created by authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, Judy Blume, Madeleine L’Engle, Stephen King and of course Erma Bombeck in the dusty basement (which contained the children’s section) of the Fremont County Public Library. She writes in hopes of sharing her love of reading and writing with children of all ages.
![Jesse Franklin Headshot](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jesse.Bio_.Photo_.jpg)
Jesse Franklin
Author
Jesse Franklin was raised in the small, high-desert town of Green River, in southwest Wyoming. Growing up, he spent most of his free time exploring the beautiful expanses of his home state. Following high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California.
After reaching the rank of sergeant, he was selected for an enlisted-to-officer program in which he studied at the University of Utah. He was commissioned, became an infantry officer, and was subsequently stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He met his wife, Lauren, during a deployment to Okinawa, Japan, where she was serving as a Navy nurse.
Today, Jesse continues to serve as a Marine officer and he and Lauren have been blessed with three wonderful children. Jesse’s stories are inspired by his family, his experiences in the Marine Corps, and the wonderful people with whom he has served.
![Tahna Desmond Fox Headshot](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/tahna_illustrator_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
Tahna Desmond
Author & Illustrator
Tahna Desmond Fox is a formally trained artist who has studied illustration and graphic design for a major portion of her adult life. While typically a free-lance illustrator, My Daddy is a Sailor is her first self-authored and self-illustrated children’s book. However, Mrs. Fox has had the privilege of illustrating many children’s books for other amazing authors.
Tahna currently resides wherever the U.S. Navy sees fit, with her sailor husband and two children. Her family is her inspiration, as she continues on her colorful path of illustration and graphic design, as well as writing.
![Rustin K Miller Headshot](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FT9lUnQA-scaled.jpeg)
Rustin K. Miller
Author
Rustin K. Miller believes that 59-year-old neo-duffers without formal scientific schoolin’ ought not try to explain Dark Matter, or invent cosmologies…but he tried anyway. Nonetheless, if history, science, and several Giants in a few disciplines may [someday] forgive him, he might provide a chuckle or two–if not a usable concept or notion.
For the most part, he won’t disturb the standard model at all–squeezing his story between the Big Bang and condensation (or precipitation) of the Quark/gluon soup that filled the early universe. Rus resides in Colorado with his wife and a handful of doggies.
![Khristian Kurtz Headshot](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/KK_The-Gift-Author.jpg)
Khristian Kritz
Author
Khristian Kritz was born in Michigan. She moved to Tennessee as a small child, where she lived until returning to Michigan in 2014 with her husband of ten years, and six-year-old son. Khristian was a stay-at-home mom for four years while attending Rasmussen College where she received an Associates of Science in Human Services with Honors. She is currently a case manager at Salvation Army, working closely with families in both the Pathways of Hope and Electricity Assistance programs.
When Khristian is not in the office or with clients, she enjoys cooking, volunteering, and spending time with her family. Her six-year-old son keeps life in perspective and Khristian busy with Cub Scouts and after-school sports.
![](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rex-Forney.jpg)
Colonel (Retired) Rex Forney Jr
Author
Colonel (Retired) Rex Forney Jr was born in Gadsden, Alabama where he attended public school. He continued his education by attended Gadsden State Junior College and Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. In 1976, he began his Army career with a commission into the Military Police Corps from the Jacksonville State University Reserve Officer Training Corps program and retired in 2006.
He is a 1987 graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, and a 2001 graduate of the United States Air Force Air War College, Montgomery, Alabama. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Jacksonville State University, a Master of Arts degree from Webster University, Missouri, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Air War College.
![](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/author-photo-4web.jpg)
Clifford L. Carter USNV
Author
Clifford L. Carter is a US Navy submarine veteran and the founder of the nonprofit Inner Warrior Spirit.
Teaching meditation has been a big part of his trauma recovery plan. As he experienced beneficial mindfulness techniques, it became important for him to share the knowledge that saved his life.
Today, he teaches small groups and individuals interested in deepening their meditation practices, as well as beginning meditation. He currently lives in Colorado.
![Michael Dustin Youree Book Headshot](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Author-photo-used-in-book-scaled.jpg)
Michael Dustin Youree
Author
Michael Dustin Youree is an American artist originally from Dallas, Texas. Following graduation from the University of Colorado in Boulder, he moved to New York City where he worked in film and music production, taught private music students, and maintained an extensive schedule of performance and philanthropy.
While traveling and touring extensively throughout the Americas, Europe, Oceania, and Asia, he produced a significant portfolio of travel films, short stories, photography, and songs.
Ballads and Bedtime Stories is his first book. You can find his other volumes of work, get to know him, and contact him at www.mdy.world.
![](https://www.lionheartgrouppublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/MareeV.png)
Maree S. VanDerzee
Author
Maree Cottam VanDerzee has a great love for life, now. She is grateful for the experiences and people who have brought her to this point in her life. She has a tender and beautiful relationship with her Father in Heaven.
Maree is a wife to her soul mate, Dirk, for whom she waited a very long time, and he was so worth the wait.
She is a mother of three beautiful girls, one of those girls is in heaven as her guardian soul angel. Maree comes from a large family–seven brothers, four sisters, and a gazillion nieces and nephews and greats whom she loves and adores.
Maree and her hubby live in Texas. They love to travel sharing their passions and empowering others to find freedom in and from themselves.