About the Authors
Journey to the West is a collaboration between Barbara Fisher and Zak Kramer. The titles of "writer" and "artist" are only rough approximations, and describe what each of us does only at the most basic, technical level. In fact, we hatch a lot of the ideas together, and, on more than one occasion, Barbara has insisted that Zak do the art THIS way. Or at least not THAT way. In other words, our art is just like our marriage: a creation of love and hard work that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Barbara Fisher (writer) is from Charleston, West Virginia, and first attended college at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. After running out of funds for school before obtaining her degree, she worked various jobs and ended up transferring to Ohio University, where she earned a degree in Professional Writing in 1994. She returned to college in 1997, and graduated from Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Program summa cum laude in 1999. In addition to writing on various subjects and cooking continually, she devotes herself to seeking esoteric knowledge. Currently, she is working as a personal chef in Columbia, MD, as well as teaching a highly successful series of cooking classes through the Howard County Department of Parks and Recreation. As a writer, she has just had her first story accepted for national publication, and is a contributor to WitchVox.
Zak Kramer (artist) grew up in Miami, Florida, then fled to Oberlin College, graduating in 1990 with an English degree. After ten years, he went back to school at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, where he pursued a Master's Degree in Digital Arts. During this time, Journey to the West was on hiatus, although his master's thesis, entitled Crazyquilt, tells the story of Jack's arrival in the desert using images, poetry, and music. Now that school is over, he's returned to working on JttW as well as pursuing his love of music. Having played guitar for fifteen years, Native flute for seven, and a smattering of various other instruments, he felt it time to produce something. So, after creating a site at MP3.com, he has been feverishly recording, resulting in the release of three CDs in under six months under the name Crazyquilt.