Hilary Hauck is the author of From Ashes to Song, her debut novel. A writer and translator, her work has appeared in the Mindful Writers Retreat Series anthologies, the Ekphrastic Review, Balloons Lit. Journal, and the Telepoem Booth. She moved to Italy from her native UK as a young adult, where she mastered the language, learned how to cook food she can no longer eat, and won a karate championship. After meeting her husband, Hilary came to the US and drew inspiration from Pennsylvania coal history, which soon became the setting for her debut novel. Hilary is Chair of the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies, past president of Pennwriters, and a graduate of RULE. She lives on a small patch of woods in rural Pennsylvania with her husband, one of their three adult children, a cat with a passion for laundry, and an oversized German Shepherd called Hobbes—of the Calvin variety.

Saul A. Lelchuk holds a B.A. in English from Amherst College and a master's degree from Dartmouth College. He lives in Berkeley, CA. Lelchuk’s debut, Save Me From Dangerous Men, is the start of a series, which has been optioned for film and television and the foreign rights have sold in multiple countries around the world. Save Me From Dangerous Men was named a USA Today Best Book of 2019, a Booklist Top 10 Crime Debut of 2019, a Kirkus Best Mystery/Thriller of 2019, a Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year, and also has been short-listed for a Barry Award to be named at Bouchercon 2020. The sequel, One Got Away, will release in April 2021. Lelchuk is a member of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) and International Thriller Writers (ITW). He is represented by the LGR Literary Agency and his film/television rights by the Gersh Agency.

Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau has published 17 books with French publisher, Fleurus Éditions. Her YA series, Journal de Los Angeles(paperback, 2018), has sold tens of thousands of copies. Her nonfiction books about fashion, beauty, and wellness for teens have been translated into Russian, Czech, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, and Spanish to name a few. Her writing career began as a freelance journalist and now includes articles in Women’s Health Mag, Refinery 29, Yahoo Style, Yahoo Travel, and several other print and digital publications in both French and English. She also works as a copywriter and content creator in the lifestyle, beauty, fashion, and travel industries. Kisses and Croissants is her US debut.

Kris Clink is the author of Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy (Book 1, The Enchanted Rock Series) and writes about relatable characters who rely on humor and tenderness to navigate their complicated relationships. Set in middle America, her novels are laced with love, heartbreak, and just enough snarky humor to rock the boat.

Leslie A. Rasmussen was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated with a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA and went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, and Ralph Macchio, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. Later, she earned a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Most recently, Leslie has written personal essays for online magazines such as Huffington Post, Maria Shriver, and SheKnows. She loves dogs and besides having two adorable Labradors, she volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter in Burbank, California. Leslie lives in Los Angeles and has two sons, and a husband she’s been with since college. This is her debut novel. She lives in Los Angeles.

Jamie Beck: My childhood writing dreams featured a Hollywood career in the television or film industries. I’d finish watching a dramatic family saga or love story and think, “I want to write something like this!” But a creative writing career seemed like a pipedream, so I went to Tulane University assuming I’d figure out what to do with the rest of my life by graduation day. I fell in love with psychology coursework, but psychiatrists go to medical school, and subjects such as biology and chemistry weren’t my forte. Alas, another career eliminated.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Shelley Nolden is an entrepreneur and writer, now residing in Wisconsin. Previously, she lived in the New York City area, where she first learned of North Brother Island. At the age of 31, Shelley was diagnosed with leukemia and completed treatment three years later. The sense of isolation and fear she experienced during her cancer ordeal influenced her debut novel, THE VINES.

Drēma Drudge suffers from Stendhal’s Syndrome, the condition in which one becomes overwhelmed in the presence of great art. She attended Spalding University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program where she learned to transform that intensity into fiction. Her debut novel, Victorine, is now available.

Dr. Matt Luckett studies and writes about the American West, World War II, and American History in general. Originally from the Midwest, Luckett received his B.A. in history from Southeast Missouri State University in 2003 and an M.A. in history from Marquette University in 2005. After taking a few years off he relocated to California, where he completed his Ph.D. in American history at UCLA in 2014. His first book, Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing and Culture in Western Nebraska, 1850 - 1890, will be released by the University of Nebraska Press in fall 2020. He is also working on a documentary about earthquake prediction scares in the Mississippi Valley and a book about his grandfather's experiences during World War II. In his spare time, Luckett enjoys woodworking, traveling, and spending time with his family.

 Jim Reese is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Great Plains Writers’ Tour at Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota. Reese’s poetry and prose have been widely published, and he has performed readings at venues throughout the country, including the Library of Congress and San Quentin Prison. Reese’s awards include a First Place Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, a Distinguished Achievement Award from Mount Marty University, and a Distinguished Public Service Award in recognition of his exemplary dedication and contributions to the Education Department at Federal Prison Camp Yankton. His books include These Trespasses (The Backwaters Press, 2005), ghost on 3rd (New York Quarterly Books, 2010), and Really Happy! (New York Quarterly Books, 2014). A fourth collection, Dancing Room Only, is forthcoming by New York Quarterly Books in 2021. His first book of nonfiction, Bone Chalk, was published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press in December of 2019.

Nebraska native Melissa Amateis grew up on a farm near Bridgeport, Nebraska. She holds a BA in history from Chadron State College and an MA in history from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). She is the author of two history books, Nebraska POW Camps and WWII Nebraska. Her debut historical fiction novel, The Stranger from Berlin, is forthcoming in August 2021 from Simon and Schuster UK. An amateur photographer, voracious Snoopy lover, and avid book collector, Amateis lives with her daughter in eastern Nebraska along with a rambunctious lab/border collie mix appropriately named Blitz and two kitties.

Steven Wingate is the author of the novels The Leave-Takers (2021) and Of Fathers and Fire (2019), both part of the Flyover Fiction Series from the University of Nebraska Press, and the short story collection Wifeshopping (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008). He is associate editor at Fiction Writers Review and associate professor of creative writing at South Dakota State University.

Tammy Euliano, MD, is a practicing anesthesiologist and tenured professor of anesthesiology at the University of Florida. In addition to a prolific list of academic publications, YouTube teaching videos, and numerous teaching awards, she has also written award-winning short fiction. Fatal Intent is her debut novel. Tammy lives in Gainesville, FL, with her husband.

Margot Bloomstein is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap (March 2, 2021, from Page Two Books) and Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project (2012, Morgan Kaufmann). She is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust.

Matt Wallace is the Hugo–winning author of Rencor: Life in Grudge City, the Sin du Jour series, the Savage Rebellion series, and BUMP. He’s also penned over one hundred short stories in addition to writing for film and television. In his youth he traveled the world as a professional wrestler, unarmed combat, and self-defense instructor before retiring to write full-time. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Nikki.

Steve Kosareff wears multiple creative hats due to many interests.  He is an author, graphic designer, historian, screenwriter, film director, editor and producer. His first book, WINDOW TO THE FUTURE: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION MARKETING AND ADVERTISING, was published by Chronicle Books in 2005. The book fondly looks back at the culture of marketing and advertising television sets during the golden age of American manufacturing in the 1950s and 60s. Kosareff next wrote, produced and directed a related documentary, TV MAN: THE SEARCH FOR THE LAST INDEPENDENT DEALER about the few remaining mom-and-pop stores which sold and repaired television sets in the United States.

Jones Deady lives in northern Vermont with his wife. He is a dog lover and thinks they are windows to the soul. He grew up in the South and his first book, The Steep Side of the Marble has its basis there. He has other books and novellas in the works and makes that his life’s ambition. He loves the idiosyncrasies of humanity and writes of the goodness but also of the vagrancies and complexities wired into this life. In Vermont, Jones loves to garden, to cook, and to walk or ski in the beautiful hills and valleys around his home.

Janet Stilson lives in two worlds. On the one hand, she is a journalist. On the other, she writes scripts, novels and short stories that largely fall in the grounded sci-fi and fantasy genres and illuminate the human condition in provocative ways.

Patrick Hicks is the author of The Commandant of Lubizec, Adoptable, Library of the Mind, and The Collector of Names, among others. His work has appeared on NPR, The PBS NewsHour, American Life in Poetry, and his first novel was selected for National Reading Group Month. He is the Writer-in-Residence at Augustana University as well as a faculty member in the MFA Program at Sierra Nevada University. He lives in the Midwest and hosts the popular radio show, Poetry from Studio 47. His latest novel is In the Shadow of Dora.

Tim Grove writes about American history,  striving to show the complexity of the past and making history accessible to all ages. His most recent book, Star-Spangled, was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2020. His book First Flight Around the World was a 2016 YALSA excellence in nonfiction finalist. His fourth nonfiction book for ages 10-14 will be published in 2022. His career memoir, A Grizzly in the Mail and Other Adventures in American History, highlights some of the fun projects he worked on as a public historian, educator, and exhibition developer at three Smithsonian museums. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area.