J. Claire, known as the ‘Poet of the Wild,’ is a multi-award-winning author and poet whose debut collection Revelry earned numerous honors between 2025 and 2026, including two American Fiction Awards in Narrative and Nature Poetry, finalist recognition in Contemporary and General Poetry, finalist in Contemporary and Nature Poetry from the 2025 American BookFest Best Book Awards, the International Impact Book Award in Poetry: Personal and Confessional Poetry, the NYC Big Book Award for Distinguished Favorite in Poetry: Journeys, Memory, and the Self, finalist recognition in the 2025 Positive Impact Book Awards, finalist placements in Contemporary, General, and Narrative Poetry from the American Writing Awards, and the 2026 Independent Press Award for Distinguished Favorite in Poetry: Human Identity & Connection.

I wrote my first full book when I was eleven. My mum had been to parents’ night, and after six months of being in his class, my year six teacher didn’t know who I was. Realising being shy made me invisible in the system, I filled eighty-four pages of A4 while sitting at the back of the class. Then I wrote a script of the same book while imagining it on TV. Since then, writing has always been my escape and a way to indirectly explore topics that are on my mind. When I was assaulted as a teenager, I turned to writing about a girl communicating through art and sign language, focusing on something different was the best medicine for me.

Born in Geneseo, IL, Wayne’s life is a living testament to the quiet, courageous work of healing from childhood abuse. His Journey began not with clarity, but with silence – a private reckoning in the shadows of his memory. Over time, through therapy, creative expression, and emotional excavation, he transformed trauma from a buried wound into a source of insight and connection.

In She Stood Up and Walked, Jasmine was the girl who smiled on cue, clapped for herself when no one else did, and gave until there was nothing left. From whispered prayers in the mirror to long silences in crowded rooms, she learned how to shrink herself to keep the peace – until peace became a performance.

Heather Dailey-Mezzacappa is an artist, author, beekeeper, and curious tinkerer. She enjoys combining traditional art media with technology in much of her work, using one to enhance the other. Her skill for bringing ideas from the digital world into the tactile world and vice versa is something she prides herself on greatly.

Warren Bobrow, the Cocktail Whisperer, is the multi-published author of six books: Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today; Whiskey Cocktails: Rediscovered Classics and Contemporary Craft Drinks; Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails and Elixirs; Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations; and his celebrated 2017 release The Craft Cocktail Compendium. He also has an edition of Apothecary Cocktails translated into French for the European market. Bobrow led a panel on cannabis cocktails for Park Street University at the Berlin Bar Convent in Germany. Bobrow attended the B2B event named Hall of Flowers in Santa Rosa, California in 2019.

As a child, L.L. Madrid wasn’t allowed to watch R-rated movies. However, her library visits were unsupervised, so she spent her summers reading Anne Rice and Stephen King.

Timothy grew up in Houston, within NASA’s pious penumbra. At seven, he endured mundane family trauma when his parents divorced, and he was forced to live with his mother against his will. By his twenties, when his brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Tim learned to appreciate the poetic humor in his own ‘tortured’ life.

Hello there! My name is Mitchell Lecoultre, but you can call me Mitch. I am, most proudly, a dad to three wonderful daughters, aged ten, eight, and eight. Yes, that means I have twins! My daughters, my wife, and I reside in Oklahoma where I work as a clinical laboratory scientist, helping physicians treat those who are burdened with diseases such as leukemia. I was born and raised in a small town in northern Idaho where I was brought up by a loving family. I learned to love nature and respect the simpler joys of life and thus am more at home with campfire wisdom than cocktail etiquette. When I turned eighteen, I was unsure of what to do in life and, although I was enrolled in college, I joined the US Army instead.

Aaron Nolan is a single father, entrepreneur, and writer focused on one overlooked subject: single dad burnout.