P.L. Stuart is a Canadian high fantasy author, of Ghanaian and Barbadian descent. He lives in picturesque Chatham, Ontario, with his beautiful wife Debbie, who is his business partner in authropreneurship. A Drowned Kingdom is the first novel in The Drowned Kingdom Saga. P.L. holds a Degree in English, with a specialization in Medieval Literature and a Minor in History from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Award-winning author, Saralyn Richard was born with a pen in her hand and ink in her veins. A former educator, she loves connecting with readers. Her humor- and romance-tinged mysteries and children's book pull back the curtain on people in settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools.

Bella Mahaya Carter is the author of Where Do You Hang Your Hammock?: Finding Peace of Mind While You Write, Publish, and Promote Your Book. She is a creative writing teacher, empowerment coach, and speaker, and author of an award-winning memoir, Raw: My Journey from Anxiety to Joy, and a collection of narrative poems, Secrets of My Sex. She has worked with hundreds of writers since 2008 and has degrees in literature, film, and spiritual psychology. Her poetry, essays, fiction, and interviews have appeared in Mind, Body, Green; The Sun; Lilith; Fearless Soul; Writer’s Bone; Women Writers, Women’s Books; Chic Vegan; Bad Yogi Magazine; Jane Friedman’s Blog; Pick the Brain; Spiritual Media blog; Literary Mama; several anthologies, and elsewhere.

Kirsten Mickelwait is a professional copywriter and editor by day and a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction by night. She's an alumna of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Napa Valley Writers' Conference, the Paris Writers' Conference, and the San Francisco Writers' Conference. Her short story, "Parting with Nina," won first prize in The Ledge's 2004 Fiction Awards competition. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she's at work on a new novel. The Ghost Marriage is Kirsten's first memoir. The book tells her story of spiritual connection and surviving divorce after 50.

Before turning her hand to novel writing, Jane Rosenthal was as a radio journalist, a bilingual reporter and finally as an English and creative writing teacher.

Marian Leah Knapp is a writer and community activist. Her previously published books include Aging in Places: Reflective Preparation for the Future, A Steadfast Spirit: The Essence of Caregiving, and, with Vivien Goldman, The Outermost Cape: Encountering Time. For more than ten years, she has written a regular column for the Newton TAB. When Marian was sixty-four years old, she went back to school to obtain a PhD. She passed her dissertation defense right before her seventieth birthday. Marian lives in Chestnut Hill, MA.

Jessica Barksdale Inclán is the author of fifteen novels, including the award-winning The Burning Hour as well as Her Daughter's Eyes, The Matter of Grace, and When You Believe. Her debut poetry collection, When We Almost Drowned, was published in March 2019; her second poetry book, Grim Honey, was published in April 2021. A Pushcart Prize, Million Writers Award, and Best-of-the-Net nominee, Barksdale Inclán was an English professor at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, for thirty-one years, and continues to teach novel writing for UCLA Extension and the MFA program for Southern New Hampshire University. She holds an MA in English Literature from San Francisco State University and an MFA from the Rainier Writers Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. A San Francisco Bay Area native, she now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.

Dr. Joan Steinau Lester is an award-winning commentator, columnist, and author of critically acclaimed books, including the novels Mama’s Child and Black, White, Other. Her writing has appeared in such publications as USA Today, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, Common Dreams, and Huffington Post. Her memoir, Loving Before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White, will be published on May 18, 2021.

X.H. Collins was born in Hechuan, Sichuan Province, China, grew up in Kangding, on the East Tibet Plateau, and now calls Iowa home. Although always wanting to be a writer, she chose a career path of science and earned a MS in cell biology and a PhD in nutrition, and has taught biology at a community college for the past fifteen years. When she's not teaching or writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, dancing (ballroom and Latin), and cooking. Her debut novel: FLOWING WATER, FALLING FLOWERS.

Elizabeth Marcus grew up in Manhattan, the only child of a dentist and a Macy’s dress buyer, the Zeus and Hera of Apartment 2B. After escaping to Boston, she ran a small architectural office for 20 years, when she wasn’t traveling to far-flung places with her psychiatrist husband and rambunctious children. Eventually, she decided to concentrate on writing, which allows her to pursue the many, quirky questions that fascinate her: Why are butterflies called ‘butterflies’? Why can’t she recall the taste of wines? Why are first-love memories so potent? Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and Boston Globe, on online sites like Cognoscenti, and in essay anthologies like Travelers’ Tales. “Don’t Say A Word!”: A Daughter’s Two Cents, in 90,571 Words is her first book. She lives in Boston.

Loren Stephens is a widely published essayist and fiction and nonfiction storyteller. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, MacGuffin, The Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, Forge, Crack the Spine, Amuse Bouche, The Writer’s Launch, the Summerset Review, the Montreal Literary Review, and Tablet Travel Magazine to name a few. She is a two-time nominee of the Pushcart Prize and the book Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Review, by Cliff Simon with Loren Stephens was named one of the best titles from an independent press by Kirkus. She is president and founder of the ghostwriting companies, Write Wisdom and Bright Star Memoirs. Prior to establishing her company Loren was a documentary filmmaker.

Keith McWalter is the author of When We Were All Still Alive (on sale 5/4/21, SparkPress), writes the essay blog Mortal Coil, and his narrative nonfiction and opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle. A collection of his essays, No One Else Will Tell You: Letters from a Bi-Coastal Father, won the Writer’s Digest Award for Nonfiction, and his family memoir, Befriending Ending, was anthologized in the online literary magazine Feathered Flounder. McWalter grew up in Mexico and Pennsylvania, is a graduate of Denison University and Columbia Law School, and spent much of his first career in the legal and investment banking worlds of New York and San Francisco. He and his wife live in Granville, Ohio, and Sanibel, Florida.

Matthew Kerns is a historian, author, and digital archivist from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He grew up traveling in the western United States while listening to Steely Dan, pastimes that over the years have turned into writing about western history and following Steely Dan on their 2000 tour. His most recent public project is the Walter Becker Media Project, as reported in Rolling Stone. He has won no prestigious awards but was twice the recipient of Media Play #8171's Employee of the Month (May 1998 and August 2001). He manages the popular western podcast Dime Library and the Texas Jack Facebook page. He has had multiple articles about Texas Jack published in The Texas Jack Scout, the triannual publication of the Texas Jack Association. His forthcoming book Texas Jack: America's First Cowboy Star will be available May 1, 2021, from Two Dot Books.

Judith Ruskay Rabinor, PhD, is a clinician, author, writing coach, speaker, and workshop leader. In addition to her New York City private psychotherapy practice, she offers remote consultations for writers, clinicians and families. She has published dozens of articles for both the public and professionals and has authored three books, The Girl in the Red Boots: Making Peace with My Mother (She Writes Press, 2021),  A Starving Madness: Tales of Hunger, Hope and Healing in Psychotherapy (Gurze Books, 2002) and Befriending Your Ex After Divorce: Making Life Better for You, Your Kids and Yes, Your Ex (New Harbinger Publications, 2012). A sought-after speaker and workshop leader, Judy speaks at national and international mental health conferences and runs workshops at spas, colleges and universities and retreat centers.

David Hirshberg specializes in writing literary fiction concerning the American Jewish experience. His first novel—My Mother’s Son—was published in 2018 and won nine awards. His second novel—Jacobo’s Rainbow—will be published in May 2021. Reviewers have compared Hirshberg’s writing to Michael Chabon’s and Saul Bellow’s, among others. Hirshberg received an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Laurie Buchanan: I write the Sean McPherson novels—fast-paced thrillers set in the Pacific Northwest that feature a trifecta of malice and the pursuit and cost of justice. As a photographer and avid reader, I carry a laptop, book, and a camera with me wherever I go. Growing up, I wanted to be a magician, international spy, and mad scientist. There’s still time! I live in the Pacific Northwest with my pilot-husband, Len, where I enjoy yoga, bicycling, and camping. I love to travel and take walks—long walks! I walked across Scotland, a 211-mile journey from the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. At the mid-point, I climbed Ben Nevis, the highest point in the British Isles. My Achilles’ heel? Red licorice. I adore it!

Rachel Zolotov was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri as a first generation American born into a Belarusian family. Rachel has a passion for antique jewelry, art, reading, cooking and history. She started her career as a Gemologist and Jewelry Designer, and studied Hand Engraving in Austria.

Barbara Linn Probst: I’ve embraced many sides of life. I’ve been a teacher, therapist, qualitative researcher, educational advocate, "serious amateur" pianist, and full-time mom. I’ve run a not-for-profit organization, mentored PhD students, counseled families, done webinars and radio interviews on how to nurture out-of-the-box children, and much more!

Richard Alther was born and raised in suburban New Jersey. He graduated as an English major from Cornell University and pursued twin careers as a writer and painter. He is the author of five novels: THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES (2008), SIEGFRIED FOLLIES (2010), THE SCAR LETTERS (2013), ROXIE & FRED (2017), and BEDSIDE MATTERS, published by Rare Bird Books on March 23, 2021.

Susan Devan Harness is a member of the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes and award-winning author of Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption, as well as an American Indian transracial adoptee. She has written and presented nationally and internationally about American Indian assimilation policies, including adoption. Ms. Harness holds MAs in Cultural Anthropology as well as Creative Nonfiction, both from Colorado State University, where she is an affiliate of the Department of Anthropology and Geography.