Before earning her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, M. Rickert worked as a kindergarten teacher, coffee shop barista, Disneyland balloon vendor, and personnel assistant in Sequoia National Park…
Marion Deeds was born in Santa Barbara, California, and moved to northern California when she was five. She loves the redwoods, the ocean, dogs, and crows. She's fascinated by the unexplained and…
Gillian McAllister has been writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time…
Lamar Giles writes for teens and adults across multiple genres, with work appearing on numerous Best Of lists each and every year. He is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and resides in…
Lee Geum-yi was born in 1962, in her grandmother's house in the small, mountainous village of Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea. She became enthralled with the charms of storytelling early on, having spent her…
Alan Moore is an English writer widely regarded as the best and most influential writer in the history of comics. His seminal works included From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He is…
Margarita Montimore is the author of Asleep From Day, and Oona Out of Order, a USA Today bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club pick. After receiving a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson…
Originally from London, James T. Bartlett has written for the Los Angeles Times, BBC, ALTA California, Hemispheres, Westways, Atlas Obscura,Crime Reads, Real Crimes and others, and is author of the…
Sunyi Dean is an autistic SFF writer, and mother of two. Originally born in the States and raised in Hong Kong, she now lives in Yorkshire. When not reading, running, falling over in yoga, or rolling…
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and the author of the #1 bestselling Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, among other books. He is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum…
After graduation, prom night is often the penultimate event in the life of a high school senior. Students may save, plan and dream about the night for months or even years prior to going. So what happens when the prom doesn’t go the way you planned? What if something truly...
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...
