Helene Kiser is the author of Topography (Linear Arts Books, 1998). Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in dozens of literary magazines and anthologies (Clockhouse, Hawaii Review, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Borderlands, Connecticut River Review, Sycamore Review, Paterson Literary Review, Soundings East, The Cape Rock, etc) and been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.
My writing reflects my upbringing on a rural island in NC, a place often visited but seldom understood. I’ve recently returned to this area to research the impact climate change and overdevelopment has had on the region. I’ve also conducted interviews that support this memoir project. In essence, these works address how geography contributes to the shaping of an artist and give some voice to an underclass culture that is seldom heard in the fields of literature and visual arts.
Jordan Merlino is a nonbinary poet and watercolor painter. Jordan writes poetry and paints as outlets for their mental health. They currently live in Santa Fe, NM, USA.
I grew up in New England, but moved to Arizona in 2007. I’ve loved Sci-fi and fantasy my whole life, and started playing Dungeons and Dragons shortly after I moved to AZ, when a friend invited me. When I decided to run a game, I created the world of Talloxxis, which I then set my series in.
Michael Barrington, MA., M.Ed., Ph.D., has written ten books, typically historical fiction: Let the Peacock Sing, The Ethiopian Affair, Becoming Anya, The Baron of Bengal Street, No Room for Heroes. The Bishop Wears No Drawers recounts ten years as a missionary in Africa. Passage to Murder is a mystery novel set in San Francisco. Magic at Stonehenge is a collection of 42 short stories. His memoir, Grandma’s Priest, will be published in April 2024.
Rebecca Faulkner is a London-born poet based in Brooklyn. The author of Permit Me to Write My Own Ending (Write Bloody Publishing, 2023), her work appears in New York Quarterly, The Maine Review, The Poetry Society of New York, CALYX Press, Berkeley Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She is a 2023 poetry recipient of the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund for Women, the winner of Black Fox Literary Magazine’s 2023 Writing Contest, and the 2022 winner of Sand Hills Literary Magazine’s National Poetry Contest.
Hugo and Nebula Finalist Marie Vibbert has sold over 90 short stories to top magazines like Analog, F&SF, and Amazing Stories. She has won readers’ choice awards from Clarkesworld and Apex Magazines and has been translated into Chinese, Vietnamese, and Czech. By day she is a computer programmer in Cleveland, Ohio.
Although Georgina Day works full-time in business, she spends every spare moment contributing what she can to animal welfare or reading books. When she’s not being an ‘Animal-Mum’ to rescue animals and a pony, she volunteers as a Veterinary Auxiliary for animal charities. She lives in Surrey with her (very understanding) partner and their menagerie!
As a kid, Elizabeth Carroll always loved stories and spent as much time daydreaming as she did playing Barbie with her sister. Because her imaginary friends hung around even when there was nothing more to say, she decided to try her hand at writing and has found great delight and purpose for all the little people in her head. She has published a young adult fantasy series, a historical women’s fiction novel, and several short stories. Currently, she has a children’s novel in the works as well as a historical mystery series.
A professional storyteller, Rebecca Benison’s weekdays are spent connecting with audiences on behalf of brands, while her nights and weekends are devoted to fiction. Her work has been published in the Workers Write! literary journal, Empyrean Literary Magazine, Newsday, the Long Island Herald, and a host of other publications. Harvest Cruise is her debut novel.
I live in Colchester, Vermont, with my husband Brian. I am starting a teen program and nonprofit called Vermont Youth Challenge and we enjoy being in a car group.
I grew up around St. Louis, Missouri, and now live in Denver with my wife and young son. I have a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences.
Michaela is the author of heartwarming contemporary romance novels featuring diverse characters with strong emotional development. Don’t worry—there’s always a HEA (and plenty of spice). When she’s not reading or writing, she’s usually with her family and dogs, enjoying the desert in Arizona.
Following a well-rounded education at an East coast boarding school, Ms. Groover graduated cum laude with a B.A. in psychology and English and secured her M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, all of which help her skillfully reside in the heads of the hero and heroine. With drawers full of stories, both finished and “cooking” she has been writing as long as she can remember. She has been published in numerous papers and periodicals, grounding her in the real world, while researching and wandering through the nineteenth century to create the vivid roles and splendid, complex individuals who inhabit the worlds of her romances.
As a devoted father with a professional culinary background and a recent rekindled passion for cooking and desire utilize my, until recent, dormant culinary arts degree. I find immense joy in sharing the kitchen with my children as we adventure with food across the world. Witnessing the delight on their faces as they proudly announce, “Mom! Dad and I made this!” after a long day for my wife, who works tirelessly as a hospital nurse, is truly rewarding. Introducing worldly flavors and culinary experiences into their lives we embark on adventures right in the comfort of our own kitchen.
I’m a poet, artist, philosopher, and musician whose ability to blend imagination, engineering, art, and technology epitomizes the modern day Renaissance Man. My appetite for knowledge and adventure, combined with a decades-long battle with depression, mental illness, and the feeling of not belonging, have shaped my ideas on the value of life, the need for friendship and love, the torture of hope and inevitability of loss, and the balance between life and death.
Christopher Michael Link, a now-fifty-year-old male, was born in Gary, Indiana to Italian-American parents. In his early years, he enjoyed reading and writing and excelled in the sport of wrestling for four years. Graduation came in 1992 and he attended college at the University of Vincennes in Vincennes, IN, for a two-year associate degree until 1994. He studied Tool and Die as a major with courses in creative writing and business.
An Italian American born in New York and living in Milan, Italy. As a sci-fi fan, I enjoy interesting stories that fire the imagination. I love the genres of science fiction, action/adventure, and thrillers. I lose myself reading compelling novels and have taken inspiration to create characters and expound my stories from being captivated by reading.
Mary Camarillo is the author of the award-winning novels Those People Behind Us and The Lockhart Women. Her awards include the 2022 Indie Author Project Award for California Adult Fiction, the 2022 Willa Literary Award Finalist in Multiform Fiction, and the 2021 First Place Award in the Next Generation Indies for First Fiction.
Kelly Daugherty, a seasoned social worker with over two decades in the clinical field, is a Fellow in Thanatology: the study of death, dying, and bereavement. Anchored in Malta, NY, she owns Greater Life Grief Counseling and the Center for Informed Grief, LLC. Her commitment to the domain of grief stems from her personal journey, which began with her mother’s death from breast cancer during her teenage years. This significant loss led Kelly to volunteer with a Hospice Children’s Bereavement program and set the foundation for her career.