Second Mile Press
The Dark Mile winners are here. Read them →

Writers

Who we've published.

The writers whose stories won or were selected in our contests. Every story is free to read.

  • Vanessa Leonardo

    Vanessa Leonardo is a horror writer from Staten Island, New York with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the New School. She currently lives with her wife in New Jersey. The writers that have most influenced her were those she read as a young teen such as R.L. Stine, Stephen King, V.C. Andrews and more. When she’s not writing, she loves playing music, spending time with her dog, rock climbing with her wife, or watching anything spooky, scary, or paranormal.

  • Inka Larson

    Inka Larson was born & raised in the quiet, rain-soaked corners of Oregon. She grew up in the outdoors. Instead of movies & tv shows, books & trees were her friends. She learned to read at the age of 5 & loved to read before bedtime - even if that meant reading under the covers with a flashlight late into the night. Writing went hand in hand with that. Stories & characters begged for her to put them on paper so she did – in her diary, for her younger siblings, & for friends. She has self-published 3 poetry collections, & will soon be releasing her debut novel “The Ink Between Us”.

  • Nicholas Waller

    Born in North Carolina, Nicholas Waller spent nearly two decades in Scotland and a brief stint in Canada before landing in Portland, Oregon. As a lifelong fan of horror and punk rock, Nicholas applies a DIY ethos to his prose; with a raw, fiercely self-driven approach to the craft, he has managed to forge his own path forward independently. His work has previously appeared in Macabre Magazine, the Creepy Podcast, and Emerald City Ghosts. When not writing fiction, Nicholas can usually be found tearing it up in bars and basements as the bass player of the band Girls in Cages.

  • Cybil Rose

    Cybil Rose grew up in Northwest Indiana and currently resides in Capital Region New York with their two cats. They specialize in experimental horror that often crosses the line into transgressive territories.

    • Overdose · Selected story, The Dark Mile 2026

  • Jon Ryan

    Jon Ryan is a writer from upstate New York who believes every problem can be solved with the right movie quote, delivered at exactly the wrong moment. He enjoys films, TV shows, and music, and is the proud author of several writing projects that have been listed as 'coming soon' for longer than some film franchises. He has no idea what else to write here, which, given the whole writing thing, is a little embarrassing.

    • Silence · Selected story, The Dark Mile 2026