Al Isaacs is a retired comedian who was twice named Long Island’s Best Comedian by the Long Island Press. With a career that spanned clubs, stages, and classrooms, Al not only made people laugh but also taught the art of improv comedy at schools, comedy clubs, corporate workshops, and at Hofstra University. He’s been married for over thirty years to his wife Theresa and is the proud father of their son, Nick.

James B. Agape is a reflective writer whose work explores the quiet complexities of the human mind from anxiety and emotional struggle to healing, self-discovery, and resilience. He is the author of Pent Up Thoughts, an award-winning poetry and short-story collection recognized as one of the best in its category in 2025 by Regal Summit.

Julia Jaxsun is the recipient of the Aspiring Authors scholarship from the Colorado Author’s Hall of Fame and a finalist for the Diverse Worlds Grant from the Speculative Literature Foundation. She grew up in the Southwest and played in an indie-punk band, achieving MILD success. She has a few college degrees, which ground her writing, while her sci-fi ideas keep it weird. She enjoys the great outdoors and lives in Colorado with her partner and their cat, Madame President.

Taylor Curtis was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. His childhood passion for science fiction and pop culture helped him navigate the world, fostering his love for the art of storytelling. He has been writing since a young age, concentrating on fiction that explores social, political, and existential issues—layered beneath epic sci-fi.

I am J.R. Elrod. Thirty-year heavy-haul trucker, army veteran, and president of BAR Transportation LLC out of Mount Pleasant, Texas. I was raised on a farm. Served as a tank gunner on the M60A3 and the M1 Abrams. Found trucking by mistake after the army and never looked back. I have done most every job in the industry, from dragging a van around to hauling cars to one infamous five-day reefer run that is a story for another day.

Despite the connection between his first name and that of Merlin, Myrddin has had to reluctantly accept that he is neither a wizard nor a magician. He does, however, harbour a deep love of fantastical tales, and if imbued with a twist of sinister, macabre darkness then so much the better.

Russ Gerney has published three novels through Atmosphere Press: Eighty Hours; To Sleep, Perchance to Dream; and his most recent, The Methuselah Project. He has also had his poem Dreams of the Beach in Scribeworth magazine.

Kenneth Thomas, a lawyer with an undergraduate degree in anthropology, has practiced in both disciplines over the years. He has traveled extensively in Africa and participated in archaeological digs, both on land and underwater as a certified PADI diver. In the 1980s, he represented South African political refugees (fleeing the apartheid regime) in asylum cases and testified before the United Nations on behalf of economic sanctions against the apartheid government. Soundscape, his first novel, speaks to many of these experiences. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Alicia. Their son, Andrew, is an immigration attorney in Philadelphia.

Tom McEachin earned an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and an MA in Rhetoric and Composition from Texas A&M International University. He also holds a BA in Journalism from Central Michigan University. After fifteen years as a newspaper sportswriter, he made a gradual transition into the world of fiction. He currently resides in Bandera, Texas, ‘The Cowboy Capital of the World.’

Nic Bettauer is a filmmaker who loves to witness, share, and advocate others’ stories, to photograph decisive moments, and to travel. She appreciates hearing tales as much as telling them, meeting characters as much as creating them. Nic seeks to be an experiential learner and a good conversationalist.