Living Rooms
IRENA KOVALENKO
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laurie Tom has loved fantasy and science fiction since childhood. Nearly all her favorite cartoons took place in other worlds, so naturally she wanted to visit them. Eventually, other people’s worlds weren’t enough so she started to create her own.
When Laurie was in elementary school, her father bought the family an Apple IIc for Christmas. Eventually that computer migrated from the family den to Laurie’s room, where in high school she would get up in the morning and type in a few paragraphs of her stories before heading to class. Once in college, a professor pointed her to a few online resources to get published, and she’s been putting out submissions ever since.
Laurie has had about a dozen short stories published in the small press, but “Living Rooms” marks her first professional sale. Her day job is in the video game industry, which allows her to have a “fun” job in another creative environment. She has been lucky enough to purchase her childhood home, which is still very much a magical house. The living room (parlor) was always a special room for her as a child because she wasn’t allowed to go inside unless guests were over.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Irena Kovalenko was born and raised in Ukraine, but she has also lived in northern Russia and the south of France. She loves traveling, meeting new people and adapting to new cultures.
She has had a strong attraction to the arts since childhood, learning to play the piano in music school while enjoying painting.
She is a teacher by trade. About four years ago she discovered a talent for computer graphic design. To make up for her lack of professional training, she has been learning the basics of painting and graphic design from instruction books. She now has a very strong desire for her art and wishes to devote her life to it.