Belle is a children’s picture book author and teacher who loves creating warm, funny, picture books filled with heart. Inspired by her own shy beginnings, she writes stories that help children find their courage and celebrate who they are. Her tales often feature adorable animals and life lessons, discovering that even the smallest voices can make a difference.

Forever bored of my Midwest upbringing, I read voraciously as a child, falling asleep to the sound of my grandparents reading me Rudyard Kipling as a child. My parents fed the storyteller in me at every book fair; they knew that they were forming my brain to create tales of my own. I wrote stories from the time I could hold a pencil — always romances. Romance remains my homeland.

Sneha Villalva served as the executive speechwriter for the UCLA chancellor and two Pomona College presidents. She previously worked as a journalist with The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.

Growing up in Southern California, I’ve always had a wild imagination, thanks to my love for history and storytelling. Some of my favorite authors, such as Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, and Brian Jacques, have greatly inspired my writing. This passion for history and knack for spinning myths and fantasies pushed me to write my first novel, The Gathering, while I was chasing my MA in history. Since then, I’ve rolled out two more books, and there’s a fourth one on the way!

Marí is a debut author from West Virginia. Her poetry is inspired by her own experiences with love, loss, motherhood, identity, and family. As a lover of the outdoors and the mountains that she calls home, much of her work is heavily rooted in nature imagery. The Line Between is her first published collection of poetry that began as an emotional outlet and diary of sorts, before morphing into words that she wanted to share with the world. When Marí isn’t writing (or reading), you can find her on a nature trail or at her favorite beer garden with her husband, son, and their two dogs.

Makayla Ghazal is a fifteen-year-old author who published her debut novel, The Ungoblin Brother, at fourteen. She loves her family, chocolate, and Jesus, everything a girl needs! She has lots of pets and enjoys writing stories and watching movies with her dad.

Cisco Gonzalez is an American author who writes fictional stories with a comedic twist under the name Matt Peterson. As a military brat, he grew up all over the place. He enjoys any well written and funny fiction and is influenced by authors such as Christoper Moore, John Scalzi, and Martha Wells. He currently resides in Tucson.

Blake Anderson spent more than three decades in the technology industry, including over twenty years at Microsoft, before retiring to pursue new passions as a certified life coach and author.

Chester is a young trans man from Hertfordshire, England. With an overactive imagination, he has always used writing to bring the worlds and ideas in his head alive, even when he was still small and just learning to write! To have his words printed in books is a massive achievement that he’s entirely honoured by.

I am James Abbot, ‘Jim’ to my family and friends, and the author of The Burdens of Aeneas: A Son’s Memoir of Duty and Love, which was a finalist for a 2018 Georgia Author of the Year Award. I have a doctorate in classics and have written and taught courses on Latin poetry and Roman history. Born and raised in rural Georgia, I now live with my family in Brooklyn, where I dream about wild rivers and deep forests.