AnneMarie was born and raised in California. She has a vivid imagination and loves writing magical adventure stories that take place in strange lands. She is passionate about reading, art, and family; she is the youngest of seven children, the mother of four children, and a grandmother.

Worked as a manual labourer, music teacher, peace activist, and computer programmer before moving to China at the age of fifty to study Mandarin. Drawn into the world of Chinese television and film acting, I stayed for over ten years and played foreign devils in more than seventy television series and films, most notably the 8th Lord Elgin in the CCTV drama-documentary Yuanmingyuan.

Deborah S. Holman is an award-winning author, genealogist, and educator whose passion for uncovering forgotten lives inspires her writing. Her books combine original historical research with compelling storytelling, inviting readers to discover the people behind the records.

Erin Hinson (MA, PhD) is a researcher, educator, author, and tea enthusiast with almost two decades of experience in cultivating curiosity and understanding in herself and others. She believes empathy is a skill, not a superpower, that burnout is a cultural condition and not an individual failing, and that technology has fundamentally shifted our sense of belonging across and between generations.

Kenneth Dwayne Thompson Sr., the second oldest of his mother’s seven children and the eldest biological son in his father’s clan of nine, has devoted his life to transforming responsibility into purpose. Married at nineteen to his high school sweetheart, Alisha, he discovered the profound meaning of fatherhood through their son, Kenneth Jr.—a relationship that would influence every step of his journey.

Basil Creese is a former musician and culture writer whose work includes several albums and a cover feature for Tribune magazine examining the legacy of slavery in Britain. He is a recipient of the Curtis Brown Literary Agency’s Black Breakthrough Writers’ Award. Dark Red Traces is his debut novel.

Paul Locander is a multi-genre novelist and an award-winning spec screenwriter whose work explores emotional inheritance, family fracture, consequence, and redemption. His storytelling bridges literary drama and cinematic momentum, focusing on people forced to confront what they have buried, avoided, or struggle to overcome. He is drawn to strong character arcs and stories that explore imagination and the unexplored.

As a children’s author, I believe in the power of stories to help kids explore and navigate life’s challenging moments. My stories touch on important themes of friendship, loss, resilience, and finding strength within. I believe that even the toughest topics can be approached with sensitivity, warmth, hope, and courage to empower children as they grow.

Crista Reid is a somatic therapist, artist, and permission-giver. She weaves the art of communication, creative expression, sensuality, archetype, and movement as pathways to aliveness. A lifelong Coloradoan, she is often found meandering in the mountains with her beloved hound dog, flowing on the dance floor, or moonlighting as a typewriter poet.

Rami Al Tobgy is a writer, entrepreneur, and creator of Project RT, a body of work exploring identity, relationships, responsibility, belief, and the experiences that quietly shape who we become. His perspective has been shaped by living across different countries, years spent building businesses, parenthood, loss, and reinvention.