Kate Baer is a writer and poet based on the East Coast. Her work has regularly been featured on Joanna Goddard’s Cup of Jo and Huffington Post. What Kind of Woman is her first book.
Richard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and multiple editions of The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of Stephen King Revisited, and his third short story collection, A Long December, was published in 2016 by Subterranean Press. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into many languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
Lynette Noni is currently the #1 YA fiction author in Australia. After studying journalism, academic writing and human behaviour at university, she finally ventured into the world of fiction. She is now a full-time writer and the bestselling author of the six-book young adult fantasy series, The Medoran Chronicles, as well as a second series called Whisper, which was released globally in 2018.
Lynette won the 2019 ABIA Award for Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year and the 2019 Gold Inky teen choice award, and she is currently collaborating on a project with #1New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas.
Swati Teerdhala is a storyteller, first and foremost. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Finance and History, she tumbled into the marketing side of the technology industry. She’s passionate about many things, including how to make a proper cup of chai, the right ratio of curd-to-crust in a lemon tart, and diverse representation in the stories we tell. Her debut novel is The Tiger At Midnight.
Kathleen West is a veteran middle and high-school teacher and semi-professional minivan driver. She graduated with a degree in English from Macalester College and holds a Master’s degree in literacy education from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Minneapolis with her hilarious husband, two sporty sons, and very bad goldendoodle. An experienced marathoner, Kathleen is excited to have recently graduated to the 40-60 year-old division of her local running club. You can find her online at WordSavvyBlog.Com and on Twitter @52BooksPlus.
Alison Hammer has been spinning words to tell stories since she learned how to talk. A graduate of the University of Florida and the Creative Circus in Atlanta, she lived in 9 cities before settling down in Chicago. During the day, Alison is a VP Creative Director at FCB Chicago, but on nights and weekends you can find her writing upmarket women’s fiction. Her claims to fame include starring in an :08 clip on America’s Funniest People, sailing on all 18 Rock Boats and winning 2nd place in a Fantasy Football league.
Brittney Morris is the founder and former president of the Boston University Creative Writing Club, and her work has been published in The Boston University Chimaerid Literary Magazine. She was chosen as a Novel-In-A-Day participant 2016, a four-time NaNoWriMo winner, and an active informal mentor in #PitMad and #DVPit. She will be a 2018 Pitch Wars mentor. You can find her on twitter @BMichelleMorris.
Roseanne A. Brown is an immigrant from the West African nation of Ghana and a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she completed the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program. She was an editorial intern at Entangled Publishing, and her work has been featured by Voice of America among other outlets. She currently teaches in Japan, where in her free time she can usually be found exploring the local mountains or thinking about Star Wars. In 2018, Rosie was a Pitch Wars Mentor. You can find her on Twitter @rosiesrambles.
John Galligan’s debut novel, Red Sky, Red Dragonfly (2000), set in Japan, impressed critics as “one of the best first novels and one of the most authentic fictional evocations of this country and its people [this reviewer has] ever read” (The Daily Yomiuri) and a “humorous and original tale spanning two continents…a winner” (Japan Times). His series of mysteries includes The Nail Knot (2003), “a real treat” (Library Journal); The Blood Knot, a “superbly told tale” (Kirkus) and a Crime Spree Magazine 2005 Book of the Year; The Clinch Knot (2008), a “stunning excursion into the wilds of human frailty” (Starred Review, Publisher’s Weekly); and The Wind Knot(2011) “Galligan’s anti-hero – and this novel – is easy to love” (Wisconsin State Journal). He lives and teaches college writing in Madison, Wisconsin.
