Cindy Eastman
Cindy Eastman is an award-winning author whose work is informed by her ability to be an observer as well as a participant in her life. Cindy’s first book, Flip-Flops After 50: And Other Thoughts On Aging I Remembered To Write Down, was published in 2014. She has essays in several other anthologies and in online magazines and writes a weekly essay called Silver Linings. She is the creator of the “Writual” writing program, has presented nationally at the Story Circle Network Women's Writing Conference, and has been a featured speaker on a number of panels and programs. An educator for over twenty-five years, she has a master’s degree in education and is an adjunct at Naugatuck Valley Community College teaching English. Cindy lives with her husband, Angelo, in Watertown, Connecticut.
Susan Greenway
Susan R. Greenway is a former elementary school teacher and reading specialist. She is a longtime member of SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators) and a graduate of the University of Washington Writing for Children Program. Elephant Touch is her debut novel, inspired by an extraordinary experience she had with an elephant in Thailand.
Terena Elizabeth Bell
Terena Elizabeth Bell is a fiction writer. Her debut short story collection, Tell Me What You See (Whiskey Tit), was a Ms Magazine pick of the month. Other writing has published in more than 100 places including The Atlantic, Playboy, MysteryTribune, Santa Monica Review, and Saturday Evening Post. Short fiction has won grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
LLH Harms
For years, LLH Harms has written books, stories, and poems and simply placed them on a shelf. With encouragement from one of her children, she has finally decided to share her writing with all of us. The Aftertime is her debut novel. A second project, a picture book, is forthcoming. She lives in Virginia with her family.
James R. Gregory
Hailing from Bradenton, Florida, Dr. James R. Gregory is an expert in corporate branding and its effect on Wall Street. The author of six influential business books, Zephyr’s War (Morgan James Publishing, August 13, 2024) marks his debut novel. Melding his real-life business background as the leader of an unconventional consultancy with the freedom the fiction genre affords, James is thrilled to present this fast-paced thriller which contains all the elements of business realism along with plenty of thrills to captivate and entertain.
Del Blackwater
Del Blackwater is a novelist and travel writer based in Wisconsin. Her life vacillates wildly between a quiet existence in the country and a feverish, risk-centric existence when on the road. Her travels have taken her to four continents, and she makes questionable decisions in all of them. While Egypt is inevitably the high-water mark of both her travels and her writing, she tries to spend time in other places as well. Del is published many times over as a board game and tarot deck designer, notably as the creator of Playlist Wars, a music game. When not keeping busy, she unwinds by taking care of a menagerie of critters and enjoying something she calls porch time.
Kate Brandes
Kate Brandes lives in the small river town of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two sons. She writes about and paints rural places and small-town dynamics with underlying environmental themes. Kate has worked as a geologist and environmental scientist for more than twenty years. She currently teaches geology, creative writing and a course on Landscape, Culture and Story of Place at Moravian University, where she also co-directs the Moravian Writers’ Conference. Kate’s first novel, The Promise of Pierson Orchard, was published in 2017. Her second novel, Stone Creek, comes out in August 2024.
Annie M. Wyatt
Annie M. Wyatt is the author of two children’s books: ALL KINDS OF CASTLES and A HORSE IN THE CASTLE. She fell in love with books as a child and writes to inspire the same love of reading in the next generation. Annie is a graduate of Parsons School of Design and New York University. She lives in North Carolina with her family.
Susan Sisko Carter
Susan Sisko Carter has written for some of the major producers in television, and her teleplays have been included on the Writers Guild of America’s list of 101 best-written TV series. She has published essays in Shondaland, LA Weekly, and HuffPost. She is an internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter. Susan’s recordings include albums for Verve and Epic. She has recently completed a new composition, “Sipping Wine in Paris,” as a companion piece to The Lyric Hotel, her debut novel. Susan lives in Los Angeles – but spends as much time as possible in Paris.
Sarah Lariviere
Sarah Lariviere is an award-winning novelist who lives in Los Angeles. In her forthcoming YA duology, Riot Act (Knopf, July 2024), an alternate history set in 1991, theater kids fight for freedom of expression.
Renée Carlino
Renée Carlino is a screenwriter and the bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers, Swear On THIS Life, Wish You Were Here, Sweet Thing, Nowhere But Here, Sweet Little Thing, Lucian Divine, After the Rain, The Last Post, Shopping For Love, Blind Kiss, and - coming soon - THIS USED TO BE US.
Darrin Doyle
Darrin Doyle was born in Saginaw, Michigan. He has worked as a paperboy, a janitor, a mover, a telemarketer, a door-to-door salesman, a Kinko's Copy Consultant, a porn store clerk, a pizza delivery guy, a prep cook, a magazine store clerk, a technical writer, a freelance newspaper writer, an English teacher in Japan, and finally, a professor and an author.
Matthew Arnold Stern
Matthew Arnold Stern is an award-winning public speaker and author of four novels, including Amiga and The Remainders. He earned awards for his writing and public speaking, including Distinguished Toastmaster and an Award of Excellence from the International Online Communications Competition. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from California State University, Northridge. His hometown of Reseda, California plays a prominent role in many of his works. He lives in Lake Forest, California with his wife of nearly 30 years. He has two children, a granddaughter, and lots of cats.
Nina Schuyler
Nina Schuyler’ s novel, Afterword, was published in 2023. Her novel, The Translator, won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for General Fiction and was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Writing Prize. Her novel, The Painting, was shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award. Her nonfiction book, How to Write Stunning Sentences, is a bestseller. She teaches creative writing for Stanford Continuing Studies and the University of San Francisco. She lives in California.
Shane Svorec
Shane Svorec is a lifelong writer who loves tenderly stringing words together to capture real emotions and create genuine connections. Her expressive writing touches hearts of all ages, provoking wonder, igniting empathy, and fostering understanding. Shane aims to rekindle the joys of appreciating the simple things in life and believes everyone can make a difference in this world and the life of another. She frequently delivers inspirational talks and keynote speeches and enjoys working with children and animal advocacy groups. Shane lives in Northern New Jersey but spends much of her time in the Adirondacks with her husband, three children, rescue dog, and chicken. Svorec's works include the award-winning Broken Little Believer and The Busy Bridge That Got Its Break.
C. J. Spataro
C.J. Spataro is an award-winning short fiction writer, and her work has appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies including Taboos & Transgressions, Iron Horse Literary Review, december, Sequestrum, and Exacting Clam. She directs the MFA in Creative Writing and the MA in Publishing programs at Rosemont College in suburban Philadelphia and was a founding partner of Philadelphia Stories. Her debut novel, More Strange Than True, is forthcoming from Sagging Meniscus Press in June of 2024.
P.D. Blackwell
P.D. Blackwell is an accomplished author in the field of Science Fiction. With years of experience crafting compelling stories that challenge the imagination, P.D. Blackwell is a name that is synonymous with excellence. P.D. Blackwell's fiction writing is characterized by a deep understanding of human nature and an ability to weave complex themes into captivating plots. Readers are sure to be engrossed in P.D. Blackwell's works and will come away with a new appreciation for the power of storytelling.
Catherine Bybee
Catherine Bybee is a #1 Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and Indie Reader bestselling author. In addition, her books have also graced The New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. In total, she has written thirty-nine beloved books that have collectively sold more than 11 million copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor
Before moving to the rural West at age forty-two, Lynne Spriggs curated exhibitions of folk and self-taught art at the High Museum in Atlanta. She spent ten summers on northern Montana’s Blackfeet Indian Reservation while pursuing fieldwork for her PhD in Native American Art History at Columbia University. She also worked in the film industry as Production Coordinator for Spalding Gray and Jonathan Demme on the iconic Swimming to Cambodia. After landing in Montana, she curated Bison: American Icon, a major permanent exhibit for the C. M. Russell Museum on bison in the Northern Plains. For the past fifteen years, she and her husband have lived on a cattle ranch in an isolated Montana mountain valley east of the Rockies, where her life centers on writing, animals, and family. Elk Love is her first memoir.