GorgeTalk.com is currently seeking team members who live, work, and play in Hood River County. We are looking for smart, motivated individuals who love to share positive stories about the communities within Hood River County. To apply to be a freelance writer, send your resume along with a 200-word writing sample about why you love your community to submit@gorgetalk.com.
Dan Jones, Founder
Dan has been running his own businesses in the technology realm for the last 13 years. He currently has around 50 team members working between his six organizations. After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Western Washington University and Master of Science degree from City University, he focused on building products that create long-term impacts in the marketplace. When not working long hours as an entrepreneur, Dan enjoys skiing, windsurfing, and spending time with his wife and twins in Olympia.
Krysta Carper, Publisher
Krysta Carper has lived in beautiful Washington since the age of three, currently residing in the tiny town of Adna. She and her husband have four amazing sons. She enjoys spending time with her family in the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, hiking and camping. She is currently the editor and publisher for NorthAmericaTalk and loves to share stories of positivity with the community. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Applied Management from Centralia College.
Stephen Backholm, VP of Technology
Stephen is passionate about using technology to help businesses succeed. He has 12+ years of experience architecting and managing large, enterprise systems, and has held a variety of senior technology leadership positions. He enjoys spending time cooking, drinking well-made wines, and traversing the mountains and valleys of North America. Stephen is happily married to a beautiful girl named Paige and together they have four amazing children. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Western Washington University. Stephen has cried three times in his life: at the birth of his first child, when Spain won the World Cup in 2010, and during the final scene of Rudy.
Douglas Scott
Douglas Scott is a nationally recognized outdoors writer, with works appearing in publications all over the country. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, his passion for the wilderness of the region spills into everything he does. He is a trail runner, avid hiker and guidebook author, focusing on the Public Lands of America’s West. Douglas strives to share his experiences with like-minded modern adventurers hoping to get to know their own backyards a little better. If there is a question about nature, chances are that Doug will know the answer and a few other quirky and important facts about the region.
Alia Stearns
Alia Stearns is a freelance writer in Vancouver. She became a paid writer at 16 when she was hired to write for The Fresno Bee, a job she parlayed into a position as a movie reviewer for an ABC affiliate while still in high school. For a sizable period of time, she opted to enter academia and teach college writing classes at CSU, Fresno, Portland State University, Ashford University, ITT Tech, and Clark College. Now, she spends part of everyday writing. Though much of her work is anonymous web content, she contributes regularly to Uproxx, where she is turning into quite the food writer. She is the sort of single, middle-aged lady who isn’t above spooning with a cat.
Gregory Zschomler
Gregory Zschomler ditched “the man,” and became a full-time writer in 2012. Since then he’s written/published more than a dozen books, written many freelance pieces for half a dozen PNW newspapers and a magazine, as well as online content/media. (And he’s an award-winning playwright.) He loves Jesus; enjoys travel, cooking (and eating), good coffee, theater, cinema and all things Disney. He and his wife, Ruth, run a writing center where they train writers and help them get published.
