Amelia Zachry was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After graduating from Curtin University in Kuala Lumpur with a degree in marketing, she worked in public relations and marketing until she met her American husband, Daniel, when he was traveling through Malaysia with friends on a short vacation from their job in Japan. Since then, they have lived together in Japan, Canada (where Amelia obtained a second degree in human ecology from the University of Western Ontario), and Kentucky, and had two daughters together. Now a full-time writer, Amelia is also an advocate for sexual assault survivors and those who suffer from mental illness. She was recently published on HuffPost and Moms Don’t Have Time to Write, and weekly blogs, where you can find a list of her recent appearances and more information about her and her work. Amelia lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Linda Moore: The first time I visited the Prado Museum in Madrid, I followed my Spanish art history professor around the hallowed but stuffy galleries. The actual masterpieces, El Greco, Zurbarán, Velázquez, Goya, became part of a tumultuous year I spent at the Complutense University of Madrid.

In those times, Franco, the Fascist dictator who controlled Spain fought anyone who wanted to end his tyranny. University days were spent running from police on horseback swinging clubs hitting anyone in their path, until the government closed the university -for four months. I learned that leadership matters, that society is not separate from politics and I pursued a major in political science. I went on to graduate school to study Latin American politics at Stanford University.

Patricia Grayhall is a medical doctor and author of Making the Rounds: Defying Norms in Love and Medicine as well as articles in Queer Forty and The Gay and Lesbian Review. After nearly forty years of medical practice, this is her debut, very personal, and frank memoir about coming out as a lesbian in the late 1960s and training to become a doctor when society disapproved of both for a woman. Patricia chose to write using a pen name to protect the privacy of some of her characters as well as her own. She lives with the love of her life on an island in the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys other people’s dogs, the occasional Orca and black bear, hiking, and wine with friends.

Isidra Mencos was born and raised in Barcelona. She spent her twenties experimenting with the new freedoms afforded by the end of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain, bouncing from man to man and job to job while immersing herself in books and dancing. She freelanced for prestigious publishing houses, traveled the world as a tour leader, and worked for the Olympic Committee. In 1992 she moved to the US to earn a PhD in Spanish and Latin American contemporary literature at UC Berkeley, where she taught for twelve years. She also developed her own business as a writer and editor for Spanish-speaking media. From 2006 to 2016 she worked as Editorial Director of the Americas for BabyCenter, the leading global digital resource for parents, and managed teams in several countries. In 2016 she quit her job to dedicate herself to writing. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Quarterly Review, Front Porch Journal, The Penmen Review, WIRED, The Huffington Post, and Better After Fifty among others. Her essay "My Books and I" was listed as Notable in The Best American Essays Anthology. Today Isidra lives in Northern California with her husband and son.

Alli Frank has worked in education for over twenty years, from an overcrowded, cacophonous public high school to a pristine private girl’s school. She has been a teacher, curriculum leader, college counselor, assistant head, co-founder, sometimes pastor, often mayor, and de facto parent therapist. A graduate of Cornell and Stanford University, Alli lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two daughters. She is the co-author of Tiny Imperfections and Never Meant to Meet You.

Asha Youmans: The daughter of an education pioneer and Children’s Hospital administrator, after attending UC Berkeley Asha spent the next twenty years teaching elementary school. Asha continues to work in schools in the Pacific Northwest believing children keep her youthful, as do her husband and two sons. She is the co-author of Tiny Imperfections and Never Meant to Meet You. 

Brennen Matthews is the editor of ROUTE Magazine, the leading Route 66 and classic Americana magazine, and the former Editor-in-Chief of Destination Magazine, East Africa’s premiere lifestyle publication. After obtaining his Master of Arts in International Development Studies with a minor in Creative Writing, and bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Community Development Studies with a minor in Literature, Brennen worked with some of the world's largest nonprofit humanitarian organizations, including World Vision, CARE, Red Cross, and Tearfund UK. Brennen’s first book is Miles to Go: An African Family in Search of America along Route 66, the unique story of a foreign family's great American road trip featuring vignettes of Americana — one-of-a-kind vintage roadside attractions and insightful encounters with locals and fellow travelers — culminating in a vision of America as a land defined by diversity, individuality, and possibility. Originally from Mombasa, Kenya, Brennen lives with his family in Toronto, Canada.

Barbara Rubin writes this story of joy and sorrow mixed with humor and rage as both mother and advocate for her daughter Jenn. In this role, she witnessed firsthand the battles that come when a person is the most vulnerable, but she also saw the gift of human kindness and the difference it can make in another person’s life. She hopes that her journey, lived through her daughter’s injury, will help others understand the lessons that can be learned from tolerance and will give hope to families whose paths have also been darkened by tragedy. This is her first book. Barbara resides in Washington Crossing, PA.

Jody Keisner’s (she/her/hers) memoir Under My Bed and Other Essays explores the fears that keep us up at night, their origin stories, and our struggle to keep them from reaching out and pulling us under. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Los Angeles Review of Books, Fourth Genre, The Normal School, Threepenny Review, AARP’s The Girlfriend, and many other literary journals and magazines. She lives in Omaha with her husband and two daughters.

Christine Nolfi is the bestselling author of fifteen novels, including The Passing Storm, cited by Publishers Weekly as “Tautly plotted, expertly characterized, and genuinely riveting” and gold medal winner in general fiction, International Book Awards. A Brighter Flame is her September 2022 release. A native of Ohio, she now resides in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband and their crazy Wheaten terrier, Lucy.

John Cameron is an historian who writes about the American Civil War and 18th century France. Cameron’s nonfiction book, Tar Heels in Gray, was published in 2021. His first historical novel, The Roads of War, was published in 2022. Cameron grew up in the Sand Hills of North Carolina, where many generations of his Scottish-American ancestors lived. He spent every summer working in tobacco fields until he went away to college. At Davidson College, he studied history, and attended graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill, specializing in 18th century France and the Revolution. He is based in Norfolk, Virginia.

Colin Dodds has written several books, including Ms. Never and Windfall. He grew up in Massachusetts and lived in California briefly, before finishing his education in New York City. Since then, he’s made his living as a journalist, editor, copywriter and video producer. His work has appeared in Gothamist, The Washington Post and more than three hundred other publications, and been praised by luminaries such as David Berman and Norman Mailer. Colin’s poetry collection Spokes of an Uneven Wheel was published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in 2018. His short films have been selected by festivals around the world and he once built a twelve-foot-high pyramid out of PVC pipe, plywood and zip ties. Forget This Good Thing I Just Said, a first-of-its-kind literary and philosophical experience (the book form of which was named a finalist for the Big Other Book Prize for Nonfiction) is now available as an app for the iPhone. He lives in New York City, with his wife and children.

Suzanne Moyers, a former teacher, was an education editor and writer for over 20 years. A lifelong history geek, Suzanne spends her free time as a volunteer archeologist, mudlarker, and metal detectorist. Suzanne is the proud mom to two amazing young adults, Sara and Jassi, and resides in the greater New York City area with her husband, Edward, and spoiled fur baby, Tuxi.

A native New Yorker, Ashley E. Sweeney is the award-winning author of three novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek, and Hardland. She lives and writes in Tucson and the Pacific Northwest. 

Katie Keridan made her literary debut at ten years of age when she won a writing contest by crafting a tale about her favorite childhood hero, Hank the Cowdog. After that, Katie continued to write, through college and graduate school and during her career as a pediatric neuropsychologist. While Katie enjoyed being a doctor, scientific research didn’t bring her nearly as much joy as did creating her own characters and worlds, so she slowly left the medical world behind to focus exclusively on writing. In 2018 she self-published a poetry book, Once Upon a Girl, and her work has been featured in Highlights Hello Magazine, The Blue Nib, Youth Imagination Magazine, Red Fez, The Red Penguin Review, Sand Canyon Review, and Every Day Fiction, to name a few. She loves sharing her writing with others who feel different, misunderstood, or alone. Katie lives with her husband and two very demanding cats in San Jose, CA.

Kyomi O’Connor is actively working to address her past emotional abuse, she moved to the States in 1990 to work as a researcher. There she met her husband-to-be, Patrick, an English researcher with Irish heritage. Her life journey led to a career change when the couple moved to San Diego for his job, and when together they entered into Buddhist practice. As Patrick became ill in 2013, Kyomi took care of him for three years until his death. Writing her memoir has been part of her journey to find the wholeness of herself.

Stacy Nockowitz is a middle school librarian and former language arts teacher with more than 25 years of experience in middle school education. Stacy received her BA from Brandeis University and holds Master's Degrees from Columbia University Teachers College and Kent State University. She is also an MFA candidate in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Stacy received a PJ Library Writer’s Incentive Award in 2020 for her debut novel THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER, coming in September 2022 from Kar-Ben Publishing. An unrepentant Jersey Girl, Stacy still teases her hair and uses plenty of spray. When she’s not writing or matching great kids with great books, Stacy can most likely be found reading or rooting on her beloved Philadelphia Eagles. Her kids have flown the coop, so Stacy lives in central Ohio with her husband and their cat, Queen Esther.

May-lee Chai is the author of the American Book Award–winning story collection Useful Phrases for Immigrants and ten other books. Her prize-winning short prose has been published widely, including in the New England Review, Missouri Review, Seventeen, The Rumpus, ZYZZYVA, the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The recipient of an NEA fellowship in prose, Chai is an associate professor in the Creative Writing Department at San Francisco State University.

Brian Rush McDonald, a native of Mobile, Alabama resides in Alexandria, Virginia just outside of Washington, DC where he is psychotherapist in private practice. He treats individuals who are experiencing depression, anxiety, or life adjustment issues. He also provides couples counseling. He has served as an adjunct professor of counseling at area universities. He holds a Ph.D in counseling from the College of William and Mary. He enjoys playing trombone in several community groups and loves jigsaw puzzles and crosswords. He and his wife Kathy love sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.

Jonathan Woods is an award-winning author of absurdist pulp noir. He holds degrees from McGill University, New England School of Law and New York University School of Law and worked for many years for a multinational high-tech company. He studied writing at Bread Loaf, Sewanee, Zoetrope: All-Story and Sirenland writers conferences and at Southern Methodist University.

Roselle Lim is the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop and the upcoming Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club. She lives on the north shore of Lake Erie and always has an artistic project on the go.