A.J. Hartley is the international bestselling and award-winning author of 28 novels including the YA fantasy series HIDEKI SMITH, DEMON QUELLER, the 2nd of which—HIDEKI SMITH AND THE OMUKADE—released in August 2025, as do the Japanese and bilingual editions of book 1. AJ also works with Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 on SEKRET MACHINES, CATHEDRALS OF GLASS and TRINITY. His latest book in this sci-fi collaboration is TIME RIDER. Other recent work includes BURNING SHAKESPEARE, a quirky time travel adventure, and COLD BATH STREET, a ghost story. With David Hewson he wrote adaptations of Macbeth and Hamlet (Audible’s 2014 Book of the Year). He is Professor Emeritus of Shakespeare at UNC Charlotte, where he specialized in performance theory and practice, and is the editor of the Arden 4th series edition of Julius Caesar. He hosts YouTube channels on writing and on Japanese rock music and culture. www.ajhartley.net

Alison Tracy is a sociologist and sci-fi/fantasy author. Her fiction stories include dystopias that challenge assumptions about free will and divine forces, fairy tale romances with a feminist twist, and more. As a Stanford University researcher, her academic research on organizational culture change has been published in peer-reviewed journals and has been featured in press outlets like BBC, Forbes, Wired, and Fast Company. Her debut fiction novel, The Guardian, won multiple awards and became the #1 best seller in multiple categories. The Guardian follows the journey of a young woman prophet living in a corporate-run dystopia.
https://alisontracyfiction.com/

Amber Hansford grew up moving up and down the coasts as a Navy brat, eventually landing in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the years, she carved out a tech career that spanned front-end development, design, and UX leadership—working on everything from supply chain systems to sports platforms. But through it all, she was writing.

In the early 2000s, after encouragement from IRC friends and a collective obsession with Methos, she posted her first Highlander (TV show, not the movie) fanfic to fanfiction.net. It’s probably still out there. She asks only for kindness. These days, Amber writes character-focused fantasy fiction and directs the Filk Music Track at Dragon Con.
When she’s not drafting or revising, she’s probably embroidering, troubleshooting a website, or exploring a new hobby in case it proves useful for the Apocalypse.
She lives in Atlanta with her husband, kid, and a very opinionated rescue pup named Belle.

https://amberhansford.com, https://linktr.ee/amberhansford

Ben grew up in Dahlonega, the largest small town in the North Georgia mountains. He spent his childhood appreciating nature and, as he grew older, benefited from a wide variety of unusual and exciting experiences. Ben traveled internationally, including Europe and India. He participated in, and won, a martial arts competition, was hit by a ricocheting bullet, and was in a high-speed car chase. He also received a late-night phone call from the secret service, who he hung up on.
Ben appreciates fantasy and sci-fi in all forms, with a particular fondness for shifters. He excels at creative, outside the box thinking combined with a drive toward realism that gives his work a unique feel.
You can connect with Ben on his website at www.chiselandquill.com or follow him on Instagram or Facebook, user authorbenmeeks.

Ben Wolf is an award-winning author of LitRPG, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, children’s books, and graphic novels. He is also notorious for his contributions to Soundbooth Theater’s Audio Immersion Tunnel version of Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series and his collaborative Rickshaw Erik Shaw LitRPG series with Luke Messa.

When not writing, he plays video games and chokes his friends in Brazilian jiu jitsu. He lives with his wife and fellow author, Charis Crowe, in the Midwest along with their kids and cats.

You can follow him on Facebook in the Ben Wolfpack or check out his books at www.benwolf.com.

Bill Bridges is a writer and game designer, most known for developing White Wolf’sWorld of Darkness horror RPG setting and the Fading Suns science-fiction universe (currently published by Ulisses Spiele). Bill lives near Atlanta, GA, where he currently serves on the board of the C.G. Jung Society of Atlanta.

As one of the original crew behind the landmark World of Darkness property, Bill helmed the Werewolf: the Apocalypse line of books and games. He was Senior Content Designer on CCP Games’ World of Darkness MMO and was the lead designer of the award-winning Storytelling system rules for White Wolf’s Chronicles of Darkness. He created the Mage: the Awakening and Promethean: the Created settings, and developed numerous books in the Mage: the Ascension game series.

His fiction works include My Time Among the Stars for Fading Suns, and The Silver Crown, The Last Battle, and The Song of Unmaking novels for Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Bill contributed to world design for Segasoft’s Emperor of the Fading Suns computer game and co-wrote the scripts for Viacom’s interactive horror movie Dracula Unleashed and Interplay’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Visit Bill at bill-bridges.com.

Bob McGough is an author, podcaster, and indie tabletop game designer from south Alabama. He is best known as the author of his ‘Rural’ Urban Fantasy series, the Jubal County Saga. Beyond self-publishing he is also signed with Falstaff Books. He teaches a number of classes and workshops on various aspects of the business of writing.

As a podcaster Bob is the man behind the Tales by Bob Podcast Network. His first show, Books, Beards, Booze, is a conversational style podcast that has run for over 170 episodes. The network hosts a variety of other podcasts in the book, gaming, and paranormal spaces.

A long-time freelance writer, he has worked on a number of published tabletop and video games. As a huge fan of one sheet and simple rpgs, he has released over 30 games in that space across a number of platforms. To this end he has formed Bearded Bard Inkworks, a micropress centered around publishing game content for indie authors.
www.talesbybob.com

Caitlin White is an independently published USA Today bestselling author who writes across multiple genres, most notably cozy mysteries, paranormal cozy mysteries, urban fantasy, and romance. After nine years of navigating and thriving in the indie publishing landscape, she is expanding into epic fantasy with her upcoming debut novel, Blood and Reckoning. This new work is an archetype-driven fantasy that explores power, resilience, and the hidden burdens women carry. Caitlin’s career reflects the modern indie author’s path: multifaceted, fast-moving, and self-directed. She has published numerous series under different pen names, each with its own voice and loyal readership. Her fiction is known for its character depth, immersive settings, and blend of charm and humor.
Beyond her writing, Caitlin is embedded in the business side of the publishing world. She works as an author consultant and ads manager, helping independent authors refine their strategy,
improve their marketing, and scale their readership. Her expertise spans advertising, branding, launch planning, and long-term career development. With a background rooted in both
storytelling and decision-making, she bridges the gap between art and business.
www.rosiepointbooks.com
www.authorcaitambrose.com

Colton Hehr is an author and historian from Norman, Oklahoma who writes fantasy and horror, drawing inspiration from the sword and sorcery, weird tale, and gothic traditions. He has been published previously in the Writers of the Future Volume 34.
https://bsky.app/profile/coltonhehr.bsky.social

Darin Kennedy, born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC, is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Bowman Gray School of Medicine. After completing family medicine residency in the mountains of Virginia, he served eight years as a United States Army physician and wrote his first novel in the sands of northern Iraq.

His novel, The Mussorgsky Riddle, was born from a fusion of two of his lifelong loves: classical music and world mythology. The Stravinsky Intrigue continues those same themes, and his Fugue & Fable trilogy culminates in The Tchaikovsky Finale. The Pawn Stratagem trilogy, including Pawn’s Gambit, Queen’s Peril, and King’s Crisis, combines contemporary fantasy, superheroics, and the ancient game of chess. His YA novel, Carol, is a modern-day retelling of A Christmas Carol billed as Scrooge meets Mean Girls. His new ongoing series, Songs of the Ascendant, is an 80s-pop-music-themed contemporary fantasy including Shadows of the Night, All Fired Up, and You Better Run. His short stories, particularly those about a certain Necromancer for Hire, can be found in numerous anthologies and magazines and are collected for your reading pleasure.

Doctor-by-day and novelist-by-night, he writes and practices medicine in Charlotte, NC. Find him online at darinkennedy.com.

Elizabeth is an ADHD mom and costuming enthusiast from Chattanooga, TN. Her passion is in creation, originality, and supporting neurospicy nerds.
https://www.instagram.com/ilikebigbustles?igsh=aWo0eHpoaHdmYnV5

Emily Krempholtz is the author of cozy fantasy romance VIOLET THISTLEWAITE IS NOT A VILLAIN ANYMORE and the upcoming PRUDENCE MARSH IS NOT A NOBODY ANYMORE. With a background that spans from ghostwriting to horse riding, and book coaching to bartending, Emily has worked with hundreds of writers as they hone and craft their stories, and is immensely thrilled to be publishing her own as well. Her reading interests are as varied and ever-changing as her hair color, and she’s never met a baked good she didn’t like.

Emily lives in sunny Colorado, and when she’s not writing, you can usually find her in the mountains—either hiking (and pretending to be a character in a novel) or curled up in a hammock with a good book (and also pretending to be a character in a novel). She’s on a lifelong quest to discover the magic in the world, and has a sneaking suspicion that the written word is where she’ll find it.
www.emilykrempholtz.com

Eric Ugland is the sort of man who, if you asked him for directions, would not only get you lost but have you laughing about it the whole way to perdition. He was born at some point after the invention of sarcasm and before the death of common sense, and he’s been trying to reconcile the two ever since. A student of bad ideas and worse timing, Mr. Ugland took up the pen when society gently suggested he stop talking quite so much.

He writes stories about unlikely heroes—men who find themselves neck-deep in trouble, usually of their own making—and then tries to see if wit and dumb luck can dig them out. His books, full of humor, heart, and more than a little mischief, have somehow convinced sensible folks to stay up far past their bedtimes.

If there’s a frontier left in fiction, Ugland has likely set up a saloon there, trading quips for whiskey and taking bets on who survives the next chapter. He believes that life, like literature, is best when it’s a little absurd, a little dangerous, and entirely one’s own fault.

In short, Eric Ugland writes not because the world needs another book, but because it would be a shame to let the characters in his head go unsupervised.
www.ericugland.com

Erin Ampersand is the author of the acclaimed litRPG series Apocalypse Parenting. She has also written the standalone Engineer’s Odyssey in the same universe. Her books are praised for their excellent portrayal of children, her unusual choice of making a mother the protagonist, and loved by horror and cozy literature fans alike.

In addition to writing and reading, Erin loves games of all sorts, from tabletop RPGs to videogames, although she is rather bad at platformers and hopeless at first-person shooters. She and her husband own enough board games to capsize a standard canoe.
erinampersand.com

Frog Jones was born and raised in a small town in Whitman County. A child of the Palouse, the first thirty years of his life was lived within a one-mile radius of at least one grain bin.

He studied Literary Studies, History, and Philosophy at EWU, and received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Idaho.

In the evening, Frog is an avid WoW RPer. He loves board games and tabletop games as well as writing alongside his wife. He is the acquisitions editor for Impulsive Walrus Books, and responsible for editing their new and upcoming works.
http://www.impulsivewalrusbooks.com

Gabriella Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech author and chemical engineer based in Texas who likes to keep explosive pyrophoric materials safely contained in pressure vessels or between the covers of her books. She writes epic fantasy for bold, bi, brown women who deserve to see their stories centered. Her debut SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW, a Filipino-inspired epic fantasy, was shortlisted for the 2025 Aldiss Award for World Building in Speculative Fiction. The sequel DAUGHTERS OF FLOOD AND FURY was a top trending Spotify LGBTQ+ Audiobook title. Her work as part of the anthology Witchcraft: Folk Tales & Horror Short Stories edited by Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane was a #1 New Release on Amazon. She has a Gothic Novella set during the Japanese Occupation of Manila coming with Absinthe Books Fall of 2026.

She has a Filipino Fantasy short stories in the anthologies Strange Religion: Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, & Practice & Of Stardust: A Queer Fantastical Anthology volume 1 & 2, Short stories placed with the Sci Phi Journal and PodCastle Fiction and essays on Filipino Identity in Prairie Fire Press and With Love: What We Wish We Knew About Being Queer and Filipino in America
https://gabriellabuba.com/

Gary Furlong is a narrator and voice actor. He has narrated over 400 books across various genres, including young adult fiction, romance, and mystery.

He has also lent his voice to a multitude of projects, including commercials, video games, and animated series. Gary is known for his exceptional skill in accents and dialects, with fluency in Irish, British RP, and Standard American.

His ability to switch seamlessly between different accents and languages has made him a highly sought-after voice actor in the industry.

Gary’s outstanding work has been recognized by various prestigious organizations. He is the recipient of an Audie Award, which is given to exceptional audiobooks, and an ABR Audibook Listener Award.

His narrations have been praised for their engaging, captivating, and immersive qualities, with reviewers noting his ability to bring characters and stories to life through his voice acting.
https://soundbooththeater.com/team/gary-francis-furlong/

Gerald L. Coleman is a philosopher, theologian, poet, and Science Fiction & Fantasy author. He has a master’s in theology. His speculative fiction has appeared numerous anthologies including: The Cyberfunk Anthology: The City, the Roaring Lion Anthology: Rococoa, the Urban Fantasy Anthologies: Terminus 1, 2, and 3, the 2019 JordanCon Anthology: You Want Stories?, Dark Universe: Bright Empire, Cyberfunk!, Spacefunk!, the JordanCon 2022 Anthology: Neither Endings Nor Beginnings, and Whether Change: The Revolution Will Be Weird. His essays appear in the polish language Con-Magazine: KONwersacje, Apex Magazine 127, and the Hugo nominated Fanzine: Journey Planet. His poetry has appeared journals, magazines, and anthologies including: Drawn To Marvel: Poems From The Comic Books, the Locust Award nominated Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2022), Strange Horizons, and This is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets.
He has been a guest author at DragonCon, Boskone, Blacktasticon, JordanCon, Atlanta Science Fiction & Fantasy Expo, SOBSFCon, The Outer Dark Symposium, World Horror Con, Imaginarium, Multiverse, Weird Bites, NECON, the Atlanta Writers Club, Closer Look with Rose Scott on NPR, Dragonmount’s reWotch, Glitchy Pancakes Podcast, Blacklisted! Book Fair & Conference, and he’s been a Guest Author/Poet/and Lecturer at Berea College, University of Kentucky, Centre College (Governor’s School), Transylvania University, Western Carolina University, UNC Charlotte, Florissant College, Kenyon College, Randolph College, the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, Working Class Kitchen, Black & Lit Book Club, Singletary Center for the Arts (Martin & Malcolm), and the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center.
He’s a Co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets, a Rhysling Award Nominee, a Locust Award Nominee (as an anthology contributor), an Image Award Winner (anthology contributor) and a Fellow at the Black Earth Institute. You can find him at Geraldcoleman.com.

Hollis invites fantasy readers into new worlds with her empowering, wild stories. Readers of all kinds discover inspiring perspectives when they read her books that help enrich their dreams. She is the proud author of two different fantasy series: The Raashan Series and The Lost Beacon Chronicles. The Raashan Series is an epic dark fantasy series with inspired romantic subplots Two books in this series have won national awards so far: To Save a World has earned two awards and The Queen Witch has also won one.
The Lost Beacon Chronicles is a historical dark fantasy series that follows the unwilling immortal, Lucretia, as she wanders the earth in search of her purpose. The book Ignited from this series has also won a national award for historical fantasy.

Hollis has a happy life with her husband and sweet kitty. She holds a degree in history with specializations in the ancient Etruscans and medieval Britain, which she draws a lot of inspiration from for her writing. When she’s not writing fantastical adventures with inspired romantic subplots, she enjoys expressing herself through other creative mediums—including cosplay, drawing, cooking, and dancing. She loves animals and helping others, so when she isn’t working on her next creative project, she is swooning over animals, volunteering, or dancing her worries away. Stricken with a terrible case of wanderlust, traveling is her happy place, and she will not stop until she’s seen everything…twice. Having been raised a Navy brat and spent seven years as an immigration specialist in the world of higher education, much of the world has already been seen, but it’s never enough!
https://www.hollisjomccollumauthor.com/

Raised out of the 305, Hunter Mythos takes his pet gator out on walks and spends his weekends getting into Kung Fu matches with someone’s grandmother to get the best avocado from the stores. Outside of those accounts of being your everyday Florida Man, he likes to read, watch sitcoms, and spend his time writing into existence new universes.
https://www.patreon.com/c/HunterMythos

J. Bradford Engelsman is the science fiction and horror pen name of Jacob Engelsman. J. has published two short stories for Outsider Publishing’s “Christmas Chaos” and “Knights of the Round Table” anthologies. He is currently working on his first novel about a witch who befriends a sad vampire and accidentally destroys the world.

Jacob Engelsman is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, infant care specialist, speaker, and writer. His first book, Lactation for the Rest of Us: A Guide for Queer and Trans Parents and Helpers was released earlier this year by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Other writing has appeared in Trans Bodies, Trans Selves; Clinical Lactation; and Everyday Birth Magazine.

He has spoken for the National Midwifery Institute, the United States Lactation Consultant Association, and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses on topics including lactation support and supporting gender and sexual diversity in healthcare.

He also reviews horror novels for the online magazine, Malevolent Dark.
https://www.jacobengelsmanibclc.com/

James Hunter is a full-time ink slinger and the bestselling author of over 40 novels including Rogue Dungeon, Vigil Bound, Discount Dan, and the LitRPG epic Viridian Gate Online! He also owns and runs Shadow Alley Press, an industry leading publisher that specializes in LitRPG, Gamelit, and Progression Fantasy.
www.ShadowAlleyPress.com

Janci Patterson writes science fiction, fantasy, and romance. She has co-authored many books, including the sixth book in the Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarian series and the Skyward Flight collection with Brandon Sanderson. Janci and Brandon will be continuing the Skyward universe with a new co-authored trilogy beginning in 2026. She lives in Orem, Utah with her husband, two children, and her energetic border collie.
www.jancipatterson.com

Jay Krauss is an animal lover, software developer, traditional blacksmith, modern woodworker, terrible mechanic, avid reader, and- most importantly- an author.

Never content to settle in just one lane, Jay has spent his life as a consummate dabbler, pursuing craft, code, and creativity with equal passion. He has hammered steel at the forge, worked with wood in the workshop, turned wrenches under car hoods with mixed results, and spent countless hours deep in the worlds of books and storytelling.

That wide range of interests help to fuel his writing. Jay is the author of Will of the Immortals and its prequel series The Immortals’ Mask- stories that blend Western high fantasy with Eastern cultivation, rich with mythology, philosophy, and larger-than-life battles. His work has shocked him by building a loyal following of readers who are drawn to his mix of gritty adventure, heartfelt character work, and immersive world-building.
www.jaykrauss.com

Jay Peterson is an Author, Actor, and Movie Monster, having appeared in films like Red One, The Piano Lesson, and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it. His urban fantasy series The Grunt’s Grimoires, described as The Dresden Files meets Burn Notice, first appeared in 2023. Renfield Blues, first in the series, pitted wizards against vampires in an Atlanta summer, with a climactic battle atop Stone Mountain during the laser show. Ghost Light, latest in the series, has the Renfields Anonymous coven facing off against a theater ghost. Jay can be found between projects at Jaythebarbarian.com.

Jeffrey “Falcon” Logue is a man of many talents: being an author, woodworker, and game designer. He is the originator of the dungeon core genre.

He first began writing his stories online while in college, an escape from the stresses of lab work. His first success, The Slime Dungeon, came about from a NaNoWriMo challenge with high praise and popularity, pushing him to continue writing. Since then, he has written 20 novels in 7 years and graduated college, with plans to write more novels and finish a video game based around his slime monsters. He is proud of his contribution to the dungeon core genre and Gamelit/Litrpg genre.
https://slime-verse.com/

Jennifer Blackstream is a USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and fantasy romance. She is amazed and grateful to have made a writing career out of a Master’s degree in Psychology, hours of couch-detecting watching Murder She Wrote, and endless research into mythology and fairy tales. She firmly believes that whether it’s a village witch deciding she wants to be a private investigator, or a single mother having a go at being a full time writer, it’s never too late for a new adventure.

A passionate rock hounder, Jennifer can often be found wandering the foothills of Colorado looking for more geologic treasures. When she’s not looking for rocks, Jennifer can be found watching cozy mysteries or shark movies with her husband, fellow author Jim Butcher, or building another Post-it filled, efficiency-improving binder for life or writing.

Jennifer loves to talk about shark movies and Post-its, and she can ramble a bit. You’ve been warned.
https://www.jenniferblackstream.com

Jesse James Fain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy Author, Editor, and retired powerlifting champion. Jesse’s extensive experience in martial arts and weapons training leads to vibrant martial tales of revenge and combat that bring a taste of reality to fictional battles, along with a humorous southern twist from growing up with the kind of family polite towns pretend don’t exist.
Jesse began his life in Metro Atlanta, torn between the worlds of nerddom and athletics. Traveling between the sands of Arrakis and the grassy fields of The South’s most holy game, Football. He found his true loves in Powerlifting and MMA, winning two WABDL world championships. Jesse would go on to instruct in martial arts and get a degree in Political Science with a minor in History from Berry College. Outside of writing, he would do absolutely nothing with it.
Inspired by classic authors like Lovecraft and Howard; he decided some D&D campaigns might make decent stories. This began a lifelong passion for crafting heroic stories and dark worlds. He now resides in North Georgia, penning great tales of battle and revenge for you to read while still bouncing back and forth between fantasy and real-world fighting.
You can find more about Jesse and his tales at Outlawauthor.com

Jessica Threet is a narrator/voice actor who has been working in the industry for six years. With over 600 titles to her name across the various platforms, she works in many genres ranging from LitRPG to Fantasy to Science Fiction and beyond! Some of her well known titles include the Tomes and Tea series by Rebecca Thorne, The Arise Series by Jez Cajiao, Riftside by Cassius Lange and Henrik Saetre with Soundbooth Theater, and Pestilence: Book 01 of The Four Horsemen Series by Laura Thalassa with Graphic Audio. She also has provided voices for the Fourth Wing Series, Crescent City series, Red Rising series, Calamitous Bob series, and many more well known properties. Jessica’s true passion in life is to be a storyteller and bring worlds to life! When she isn’t in her booth, you can find her at DisneyWorld, traveling the globe, performing in a show in NYC, or binge watching true crime or period dramas.
www.jessicadthreet.com

Jez Cajiao is the best-selling author of more than twenty books, with both his UnderVerse and Rise of Mankind series being regular amazon top 100’s.
As well as his career as an author, Jez is a director of the Legion Publishers publishing house, and splits his time between creating diverse stories filled with colorful characters, and helping to support others to do the same.
Living with his wife in the North of England, with two pet humans, two dogs, two cats and a Gecko named Gary, he sometimes longs for the simple life, such as taming lions while wearing a raw meatsuit.
You can find Jez on Facebook and Instagram on his author accounts, and interact on Discord, if you can find him, as he hides there most days, pretending to write.
https://www.jezcajiao.com/

Joe Compton is an Independent Author of Crime Thriller The Duality of Truth Trilogy, and various horror short stories and future novella, “The Crying on The Inside Kind”. Joe also is a Independent filmmaker that joined a production team in Hollywood for 18 months that worked specifically on TV Pilots and Made for TV Movies, as an associate producer and Script doctor and supervisor. This worked allowed Joe the opportunity to work in 5 different countries. SInce he left he cultivated and created the online network Go Indie Now, a full fledged TV like network that runs programming seasonal, weekly, and monthly that covers Indie artists of all art forms. Joe is the Executive Producer of his network and host of several of the programs. Joe is currently working on producing and directing his 1st feature film in nearly 25 years.

https://youtube.com/goindienow

Joshua Essoe is a full-time editor who has edited for New York Times bestsellers including Piers Anthony, David Farland, Kevin J. Anderson, Todd McCaffrey, Dean Lorey, and James Artimus Owen. He has edited for USA Today bestsellers including Lydia Sherrer and Kate Sparkes, Writers of the Future winners, and hundreds of independents. He was lead editor at Urban Fantasy Magazine and founded the weekly writing podcast Hide and Create with Michael J. Sullivan, Diana Rowland, Jay Wells, and Debbie Viguie. In 2020 he launched his successful series of books on writing, Essoe’s Guides to Writing, tackling the subjects he’s seen writers struggling with the most from his perspective as an editor. You can find Joshua teaching at Superstars Writing Seminar every February in Colorado.
https://www.joshuaessoe.com/

Judy Black is an Ennie nominated and best-selling writer of tabletop roleplaying games. An excellent source of stories cute and spooky, her two most recent pieces are Passel O’Possoms and Beach Days. Find her on DMs Guild or judyblackcloud on Instagram.
judyblackcloud.com

Julia Benson-Slaughter has so many (figurative) hats that it’s hard for her to remember which she’s wearing at any given time. Maker, writer, tech geek, storyteller, pyromaniac, drummer, research guru, and cat slave are the ones she wears most frequently since retiring from teaching computer science at the local community college.

Julia became interested in arts & crafts at age seven, while spending the summer with her grandparents. She made the mistake of telling her grandmother that she was bored, so her grandmother showed her some basic embroidery stitches before sitting her down with a stamped piece of embroidery fabric, some colorful floss, and a needle. Over the decades, she ventured out into other needlecrafts and a failed stint at pottery before discovering handweaving. Handweaving led to spinning, crochet, basketry, and bookbinding. Eventually she discovered flameworked glass, which set her on her current jewelry-making path as the purple-haired creator of Noctua Designs’ eclectic chainmaille, metal, and glass jewelry.

She met her fellow author Michael Aurelius, of St. Cloud, MN, in the online flameworking forums somewhere around 2007. They began writing together in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown, when they were both starting to go stir-crazy. A handful of story snippets that Mike originated has grown into the nine-book (as of April, 2025), three-part meta-series, Chronicles of the Multiverse. The original series, Chronicles of the Covenant, became a full-blown collaboration between the two of them, while Julia spun off a separate parallel universe with the Littleton Chronicles and Mike ventured off into the Chronicles of the Republic. Most of their work together is done online, though since 2022 they have met up each October at Multiverse Con for three days of collaborative shenanigans.

Julia lives in suburban Atlanta, GA, along with her black-belt martial artist husband and five cats.
https://chroniclesofthemultiverse.com
https://noctuadesigns.com

Kaylee Makes Crafts is a professional costume maker focused on sci-fi and fantasy characters. Kaylee lives in Dallas, Texas and specializes in sewing, leatherwork, jewelry making, resin casting, and LEDs. She brings excellence into all of her work, whether that be for book character depictions, or completely original designs.
kayleemakes.com

Keith R.A. DeCandido has been writing professionally since the latter days of the twentieth century. He’s written more than 60 novels, more than 125 short stories, more than 75 comic books, and more nonfiction than he’s comfortable counting. He’s written both in worlds of his own creation and in those of other people. The latter ranges from TV shows (Star Trek, Supernatural) to movies (Alien, Cars) to comic books (Spider-Man, Thor) to games (World of Warcraft, Resident Evil) to literary characters (Sherlock Holmes, Joe Ledger). Recent work includes the debut of his series Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD, his short story collections Ragnarok and a Hard Place: More Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet and Dragon Precinct: Origins, the comic book miniseries Animal and Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness: The Beginning, and short stories in several issues of the magazines Weird Tales and Star Trek Explorer as well as in tons of anthologies, among them The Green Hornet & Kato: Detroit Noir City and Sherlock Holmes: Eliminate the Impossible. He’ll be debuting his latest novel series, The Inflictors, about a team of superheroes in 1970s New York City, at JordanCon 2026. Keith also writes about pop culture for a variety of sources, most prominently for the award-winning web site Reactor Magazine. When he’s not writing, Keith trains and teaches in martial arts (he’s a fourth-degree black belt in karate), plays percussion (with the bands Boogie Knights and the Chris Abbott Band), edits (for clients both personal and corporate), and follows his beloved New York Yankees. Find out less at DeCandido.net

Kritter XD is a content creator and cosplayer who can be found on most social media platforms (including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and X). She primarily does fantasy content, with an emphasis on The Wheel of Time, The Lord of the Rings, and The Cosmere. She was a panelist on Inside The Wheel of Time, the official after-show of The Wheel of Time Season 1. She is also a co-host of The Wheel & Chill Show, a fantasy and pop culture stream, and she is a co-host on But Are There Dragons, a first-time reader podcast that has completed The Lord of the Rings and Fourth Wing series thus far.
https://linktr.ee/KritterXD

Kyoko M is a USA Today bestselling author and a fangirl. She is the author of The Black Parade urban fantasy series, the Of Cinder and Bone science-fiction series, and the Starlight Contingency space opera series with Falstaff Books. The Black Parade has been positively reviewed by Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews. Of Cinder and Bone placed in the Top 30 Books in Hugh Howey’s 2021 Self Published Science Fiction Contest. Kyoko M has appeared as a guest and panelist at such conventions as Geek Girl Con, DragonCon, Blacktasticon, Momocon, JordanCon, ConCarolinas, and MultiverseCon. She is also a contributor to Marvel Comics’ Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (2021) anthology as well as the Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson (2025) anthology. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Lit degree from the University of Georgia, which gave her every valid excuse to devour book after book with a concentration in Greek mythology and Christian mythology. She is currently working on a science fiction trilogy with Falstaff Books and her debut novel, The Starlight Contingency, released October 29th, 2024.
http://www.shewhowritesmonsters.com

Award-winning and USA Today-bestselling author of snark-filled adventures, Lydia Sherrer thrives on creating stories you love to love, and hate to leave. She is the author of the bestselling Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus universe featuring several series, which have sold close to a million copies world-wide. Most recently she has published a Gamelit series with NYT bestselling author John Ringo. Her work also appears in several anthologies, including the two latest Black Tide Rising anthologies and the newest “Chicks in” anthology Chicks in Tank Tops.

Her first novel, Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Beginnings won the 2017 Imadjin award for best in Urban Fantasy, while her short stories have garnered multiple accolades. Her award-winning short story Ashes of Hope, a post-apocalyptic tale of survival, won a place in Almond Press’ 2015 short story contest, received the 2017 Imadjin best Short Story award, and was selected for Honorable Mention in the 2019 Writers of the Future 4th quarter contest. Her short story Eye for an Eye also received an Honorable Mention in the 3rd quarter contest of the same year.

Lydia has traveled in nine countries and studied five different languages. She graduated with a dual BA in Chinese and Arabic, but after seeing the world she finally came home to Kentucky and decided to stay. Lydia subsists on liberal amounts of dark chocolate and tea, and hates sleep because it keeps her from writing (though she needs it because she has kids to wrangle). In her non-existent spare time, she enjoys puzzles, archery, and collecting insects. Due to the tireless efforts of her game-designer husband and her three overlords, er cats, she remains sane and even occasionally remembers to leave the house.
www.lydiasherrer.com

Lyndsey Luther is a speculative fiction author and also writes non-fiction articles for Reactormag.com. She lives in Connecticut and is a professional actress, costumer, and stage combatant at several New England based Renaissance Faires and haunted attractions. When she’s not writing fantasy, she can usually be found creating costumes, fire dancing, or playing with her son and rescue dogs. She has also been a beta reader for Brandon Sanderson for over ten years.

www.lyndseyluther.com

I grew up making up stories along the stream in my back yard. Rocks became countries, poplar pods became pirate ships, and water skimmers and tiny fish became sea monsters. My friends, my twin, and I would explored miles of creek and woods, past beaver damns and privet palaces. My stories evolved with mythologies of various places in the woods, and a kinship to the land. Things haven’t changed much since then.

My characters are misfits. Reluctant heroines, semi-outcasts, with self doubt and imposter syndrome. They’re human, and not. There’s something special inside each of them: the very thing that makes them unique—that save the day, their people, or reveal their inner divinity.
www.mabmorris.com

Marc Alan Edelheit is an avid reader and accomplished author who spends his days – and nights – dreaming and writing about all things fantasy and sci-fi. In 2015, he decided to make his dream a reality and published his first fantasy novel… the rest is history!

Marc has traveled the world, from Asia to Europe. He is the ultimate history fan and incorporates much of that passion into his work to bring greater realism to his fantasy and sci-fi books.

Marc has published twenty-four books across six series. Twenty-one of them in his historically accurate fantasy series, two in his space marines series, and one nonfiction book. He has won four prestigious Independent Publisher Book Awards and was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for best fantasy series. Find more info at http://www.maenovels.com

Marshall J. Moore is the award-winning author of the Rites of Resurrection trilogy of high fantasy novels (Shadow Alley Press 2022-2023), the pirate cozy fantasy novel Son of a Sailor (Atoll Press 2023) and its sequels Prisoners of a Pirate Queen and Enemy of the Empire (Atoll Press 2023 and 2024), and the children’s book Postcards from a Lake Monster (Improbable Press, 2024). He has also written over thirty short stories appearing in publications such as CatsCast, Mysterion, Flame Tree, and many others. His short story “Red Lanterns” won Second Place in the 2022 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Short Story Contest.
Marshall posts book-related videos on his TikTok under the handle @MarshallJMooreAuthor for his 64,000+ followers, and has spoken as a guest on panels for conventions including WorldCon, the Nebula Conference, DragonCon, and Apollycon. He has also been interviewed on podcasts including The Greatest Podcast in the Multiverse, Baen Free Radio Hour, Blasters and Blades, The Casual Author, and The BookTok Book Club.
When not writing or talking about writing, you can find Marshall teaching Muay Thai at his gym or reading at his home in Atlanta with his wife Megan and their two cats, Delilah and Furiosa.
He is represented by Brent Taylor at Triada US.
www.marshalljmoore.com

Matt Herrmann is a Midwest-based LitRPG/fantasy author. He started seriously pursuing authorship in 2019 after realizing that he enjoyed working with letters much more than numbers (he has a business degree), and that he wasn’t getting any younger. After dabbling in the thriller and urban fantasy genres, he ghostwrote 16+ books and performed developmental editing for other authors, until deciding to write in the LitRPG genre. He’s currently best known for co-authoring the Monster Tamer Academy series, which will be completed in 2026. In his free time, he enjoys walking outside, gardening, and preparing nutritious and tasty homemade food.
https://mattherrmannbooks.com/

Tired of stories that didn’t fill her needs, Mel Todd decided to share the weird worlds that occupy her mind. Action, magic, sci-fi, and more, her stories have it all. You can follow her on Facebook at – https://www.facebook.com/badashbooks/ You can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her blog at https://www.badashpublishing.com
Author of over 44 stories, her newest epic fantasy Exiles’ Refrain is catching fire. Find her at panels or at the bar to talk story.

Melissa Olthoff is a science fiction and fantasy author who delights in sneaking in romance wherever she can. She is a lifelong geek of all things scifi and fantasy as well as a veteran of the United States Air Force, both of which are incredibly useful when writing. Her degrees in meteorology and accounting are slightly less applicable to writing, but absolutely useful when it comes to supporting her family. In 2023, she took second place in the annual Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest and won the Imadjinn Award Best Short Story. She is published by Baen Books and Chris Kennedy Publishing and is best known for her Griffin Corps series, Bronze Legion novels, Salvage Title Universe, Four Horsemen Universe, Hit World Valkyries, and numerous short stories.
www.melissaolthoff.com

Mia Tsai is a Taiwanese American author of speculative fiction. Her debut novel, a xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy titled Bitter Medicine, was published by Tachyon Publications on March 14, 2023. Her sophomore novel, an adult science fantasy titled The Memory Hunters, was published on July 29, 2025, by Erewhon Books.

Mia lives in Atlanta with her family, and, when not writing, is a hype woman for her orchids and a born-again Knicks fan. Her favorite things include music of all kinds and taking long trips with nothing but the open road and a saucy rhythm section.

In her other lives, she is a musician, teacher, erstwhile photographer, and an editor. She was a 2024 Hugo Award finalist for Best Semiprozine with Giganotosaurus.
miatsai.com

Milton J. Davis is an acclaimed Black speculative fiction author and the founder of MVmedia, LLC, an independent publishing company based in Atlanta, Georgia. MVmedia specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and sword-and-soul narratives that draw inspiration from African and African Diaspora cultures, histories, and traditions. Davis has penned over 30 novels and short story collections, including Changa’s Safari, Woman of the Woods, Amber and the Hidden City, and Muscadine Wine. His work spans genres such as sword-and-soul, science fiction, and fantasy. He has co-edited several influential anthologies, such as Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology and Griots: Sisters of the Spear, alongside Charles R. Saunders. He has also worked on Steamfunk!, Dieselfunk!, and The Ki Khanga Anthology with Balogun Ojetade. These collections have played a pivotal role in shaping the sword-and-soul subgenre. Davis’s short stories have been featured in prestigious publications, including Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda, Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire, and Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora. His story “The Swarm” was nominated for the 2017 British Science Fiction Association Award for Short Fiction, and “Carnival” received a nomination in 2020. In 2022, Davis was honored with the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his significant contributions to Black speculative fiction. In 2024, he received the ConCarolinas Polaris Award, and the DeepSouth Con Phoenix Award for his contributions to Southern fandom. Davis cites James Baldwin for his precise and descriptive writing style and Frank Herbert for his meticulous world-building techniques. These influences are evident in Davis’s own works, which blend rich cultural narratives with imaginative storytelling.
www.mvmediaatl.com