Kat Smutz grew up in the Southern Appalachian Mountain, in a small North Georgia town. A love of history grew out of listening to her parents’ stories of growing up in an isolated region of the Smoky Mountains. She began writing in high school, an obsession that eventually led to a career in journalism with detours into engineering, law enforcement and teaching.

In 2009, Smutz retired to work on publishing some of the sixty-plus manuscripts she had written over the years. Her first three books were non-fiction works on the American Civil War, a subject she knows well after more than forty years as a civil war researcher.

Her first historical fiction, Silent Tears, is the story of an abused wife learning to stand on her own in a Victorian society that allowed women few rights.

Her next book, as yet untitled, is about a young woman who becomes separated from her family when the American Civil War erupts. She takes on the guise of a boy and earns her way by spying while she tries to find her way home. “As unlikely as the story sounds, hundreds of women dressed as men and joined the army during the civil war,”  Smutz points out. “Spies who were female weren’t at all uncommon.”

Frequent travel is part of life for Smutz, thanks to her husband’s career as a federal law enforcement officer. Home is wherever the job lands them, and it does provide opportunities to visit new places and meet new people, which inspire Smutz’s work.

Works by Kat Smutz

Non-Fiction
American Slavery In An Hour
American Civil War In An Hour
Abraham Lincoln In An Hour

Historical Fiction
Silent Tears

Contributed works
Clay County Heritage Book, recollections by descendants of Clay County, NC, pioneers

Water’s Edge, an anthology by the Evergreen Writers Group

Sandrella Mohanna is an actor, improviser, and aspiring screenwriter from Halifax, NS.
Sandrella has also spent several years competing with the Canadian Bodybuilding Federation
both at the provincial and national levels. Her last competitive year was in 2016, where she took
home two second-place trophies and one third-place trophy. She has also spent time on the
other side of the stage as a bodybuilding judge.

Sandrella is a first-generation Lebanese-Canadian whose mother tongue is Arabic. A lover of
languages and culture, she holds a BA in French and Spanish from Dalhousie University, and
has lived and travelled abroad extensively.

Between cuddling with her cats and fielding questions about the authenticity of her curly hair,
Sandrella can be found lifting heavy things at the gym and spending time with her husband and
daughter.

Sandrella can also be found working on her craft through various workshops and classes
offered locally through Neptune Theatre and AFCOOP. She is also a full member of ACTRA,
WIFT, and AFCOOP, and enjoys attending various conferences and industry events throughout
the year.

Check her out at @sandrella_mohanna