Juli Min is a writer and editor based in Shanghai. She studied Russian and comparative literature at Harvard University, and she holds an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson. She was the founding editor…
Sara Nisha Adams is a writer and editor. She lives in London and was born in Hertfordshire to Indian-Kenyan and English parents. Her first novel was The Reading List. Her latest novel is The Twilight…
John Shen Yen Nee is a half-Chinese, half Scottish American media executive, producer and entrepreneur who was born in Knoxville, grew up in San Diego and is now based in Los Angeles, with a penchant…
Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the US. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award…
Christina Estes is an award-winning reporter who has spent more than 20 years covering crime, public policy, and business in Phoenix, Arizona. Her reporting has been heard on National Public Radio…
After setting out to study astrophysics, graduating in law and then abandoning her legal career to write books, Sulari Gentill now grows French black truffles on her farm in the foothills of the Snowy…
Born to immigrants in Monterey Park, California, Justinian Huang studied English at Pomona College and screenwriting at the University of Oxford. He is now based in Los Angeles with Swagger, a…
Sophie Wan is a Bay Area native who is now battling the winters in Philadelphia. She graduated from UC Berkeley and spends far too much time drafting emails and drinking tea. Women of Good Fortune is…
Shubnum Khan is a South African author and artist. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times; McSweeney’s Quarterly; HuffPost; O, The Oprah Magazine; The Sunday Times (London); Marie Claire; and…
Izzy Wasserstein is a queer, trans woman who teaches writing and literature. She was born and raised in Kansas and received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico. She is the…
A young noblewoman is betrothed by her parents into an unwanted, arranged marriage. A young pirate struggles to survive and protect his brother from the dangers inherent in the life they have been forced to live. A mermaid is captured and threatened with death because her blood, when drunk, allows...
A common theme in novels, motion pictures and television is the fine line between love and hate. One only has to look at William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (or it’s modern reincarnation 1999’s Ten Things I Hate About You) for an example of supposed loathing turning to love...
In a recent survey, the small town of Big Burr, Kansas has earned the title of “most homophobic town in the U.S.” The non-profit that conducted the survey, Acceptance Across America (AAA), determines that the appropriate response to their findings is to send a task force to Big Burr. They...
Esther just watched her best friend die. Beatriz was found to be in possession of “inappropriate” materials, and for that she was hanged in the town square. Esther’s father spoke from the podium about the dangers of “deviance” all the while keeping his eyes locked on Esther. Beatriz’s death was a...
Imagine it is New Year’s Eve, 1982. Oona is 18 years old and will be 19 at midnight as the year changes to 1983. She has her whole life ahead of her, including the type of life altering “big decisions” that face everyone at that age. But, when Oona opens...
Hmm, what could the following all have in common: an aging antique mall in Wichita, Kansas, where well established and novice sellers are struggling to keep the doors open in the age of online shopping; a child beauty pageant queen who has mysteriously vanished; and the hosts of a phenomenally...
The owner of a Boston bookshop specializing in mysteries posts a list of books on the store’s blog. It is entitled “Eight Perfect Murders” and it lists the novels he feels have described unsolvable murders. These are murders in which the killers cannot be connected with their crimes. Years later...
It is often stated that “The meek will inherit the earth.” While that is a nice sentiment, it is not affirmed by history. More often than not, those who hold their tongues and think before speaking, as well as those who avoid confrontation and violence to resolve conflict are the...
Ella has what she refers to as her Thing. It allows her to see things that have not yet happened. As a young girl growing up in Compton, California, this is more of a curse than a blessing. Ella is rarely happy by the future she sees. And, as she...
Coppelia is not quite a thief and not quite a con-artist. What she is, or could be if she were living a different life, is an artist. A builder who could create function and beauty from raw materials, but only in a different life. A life where her parents hadn’t...
