Laurel Johnson is a retired Registered Nurse who believes that love, compassion, and the natural wonders around us enrich her existence. Her lifelong appreciation of poetry and prose took a natural progression after retirement when she began to write in earnest. Her published books include The Grass Dance, a book of poetry and prose; The Alley of Wishes, which she insists is a fictional allegory, and My Name is Esther Clara, a nonfiction retrospective of her maternal grandmother's life.  
     Laurel enjoys reviewing novels and poetry but has had to cut back on that activity due to a recent return to the work force. She currently reviews for New Works Review; Midwest Book Review; and Shadow Poetry's Quill Quarterly Review.  She has written commentaries on Books and Writing for Dandelion Books and MyShelf.com, and a dissertation on coping with grief and loss for The Bright Side.
      Her poetry can be found online at The HyperTexts, and Quill and Parchment. Her poetry and commentaries are often featured in Bellowing Ark, a hard copy journal. She's somewhat of a ham so relishes occasional stints as featured speaker at writing seminars. Laurel and her husband recently moved to a small acreage in Washington KS, but still consider Kerby Knob KY home because she loves the Appalachians and the plains in equal measure. 
      She maintains a blog at http://laureljohnsonblogs.blogspot.com.