On July 17, 1955, Richelle Lee Slota (formerly known as Richard) was one of 200 3rd Graders selected to open Disneyland by running across the drawbridge into Fantasyland. She’s been running into Fantasyland ever since. She has published a poetry collection, Letters to my Dead Name, Famous Michael, a chapbook, Stray Son, a novel, and, with co-author, Yaw Boateng, the non-fiction book, Captive Market: Commercial Kidnapping Stories From Nigeria. She earned a MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State. She is a Meter Mentor to women learning meter on Annie Finch’s online community, Poetry Witchery Community. She is an Army vet and had 3 adult children.