A born and bred New Yorker, F. M. Isaacs lives with her husband, two sons, and an ever-growing number of stray cats she has rescued. A graduate of Cornell University and New York University, she enjoys writing, music, nature, and spending time with her family (which, of course, includes the cats).

Vanessa Dunn has a true love for creating and reading stories. She especially loves the scary ones. She is an adult that has a preference for YA novels, but really just loves to read. She loves how her favorite authors are able to place words on a page, and have it play like a movie in her mind. She hopes to be able to do the same with her present and future novels. Vanessa is originally from Boston, MA, but now lives in San Antonio, TX with her husband and three children. She prays that you all will love this story more than she does.

Kara Barbieri is a writer living in the tiny town of Hayward, Wisconsin. An avid fantasy fan, she began writing White Stag at eighteen and posting it to Wattpad soon after under the name of ‘Pandean’. When she’s not writing, you can find her marathoning Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reviving gothic fashion, and jamming to synthpop.

Sheri Jacobs is a full-time middle school teacher, professional voiceover artist, and a commercial and theatre actress. She uses her gifts as a public speaker and comedic storyteller to help men and women feed themselves on a diet of fulfilling relationships. Her writing accolades include a published children’s book called Dream Write aimed at showing kids how to turn fear into empowerment. Sheri is also a two-time finalist in THEMA’s short story contest and received Honorable Mention for a short story at Glimmer Train Literary. Find out more at www.sheri-jacobs.com.

G. Sauvé had an unusual childhood. He grew up in a straw bale house. He was homeschooled. And he didn’t have a TV until he was a teenager. No wonder he fell in love with the written word at such a young age. He wrote his first book at fifteen (it sucked), and he now resides in Montréal, where he spends his days writing (much improved) novels and making bad puns. Pronunciation: G. So-vey

Jen Braaksma is a book coach, writer and teacher with more than 25 years’ experience. She has a Bachelor of Journalism degree and worked as a professional journalist before earning her MA in cultural studies and her Bachelor of Education degrees. She is also a graduate of Humber College Creative Writing program and a member of SCBWI. Her passion is supporting writers as their editor, project manager, emotional support and fervent cheerleader. She lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband, two daughters and way too many cats.

A. Kidd is the middle child in a family of three girls. She started making up her own stories at age four. Because she couldn't yet write, her mom wrote the stories down for her while she painted the pictures. Her first story was called Wagland and featured an island community with sea creatures that ate tuna fish sandwiches.

Annette Whipple celebrates curiosity and inspires a sense of wonder in young readers while exciting them about science and history. She’s the author of several fact-filled children’s books including topics like flowers, insects, and Africa. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide (Chicago Review Press), Whooo Knew? The Truth about Owls (Reycraft Books), and The Story of the Wright Brothers (Rockridge Press) release this year. Annette is a fact-loving, chocolate chip cookie-baking children’s nonfiction author from Pennsylvania. She loves to share her passion for writing with educators, students, and other writers.

Eileen Manes is a writer for kids, a seven-going-on-seventeen-year-old wrangler, a reader, a Lego aficionado and a fuzzy puppy lover. If she's not reading, writing or revising, you'll find her procrastinating by redesigning her blog (or living room), hiking or Zumba-ing. But definitely not doing laundry.