Special Guests

Brian C. Hailes

Brian C. Hailes, creator of the popular YouTube channel, Draw It with Me, is also the award-winning writer/illustrator of the soon-to-be-released illustrated novel Blink; two graphic novels, Dragon’s Gait and Devil’s Triangle; and the children’s picture book Skeleton Play. Other titles he has illustrated include Heroic: Tales of the Extraordinary, Passion & Spirit: The Dance Quote Book.

Charlie N. Holmberg

Charlie N. Holmberg is a WSJ and Amazon bestselling author, whose series, The Paper Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Her stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA for Best Young Adult Romance, and her novel The Fifth Doll won the 2018 Whitney for Speculative Fiction. She is a board member for Deep Magic Ezine. Visit her at www.charlienholmberg.com.

Matthew J. Kirby

Matthew J. Kirby is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of the Assassin’s Creed YA series, Last Descendants, as well as The Clockwork Three, Icefall (for which he won the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery), The Lost Kingdom, Infinity Ring Book 5: Cave of Wonders, The Quantum League series, the Dark Gravity Sequence, and A Taste for Monsters. He has also won the PEN Center USA award for Children’s Literature and the Judy Lopez Memorial Award. He is a school psychologist, and currently lives in Utah with his wife and three stepkids.

Dr. Nikhil Pillarisetti Rao

Dr. Nikhil Pillarisetti Rao is a child psychiatrist specializing in trauma, neurodevelopment, psychotherapy, and medical illness. He first trained as an evolutionary biologist, studying the origin of social systems and intelligence. Other expertise includes exercise science and eastern religions. He has also served as a consultant for multiple published authors and has the tuckerizations to prove it.

Brennan Smith

Brennan Smith supported himself through college producing ad-supported after-market Minecraft content and has been working in the games industry ever since. In addition to his day job creating immersive virtual reality training simulations for solar panel installation, he works on the side as a game designer. His current project is a time-attack rogue-like called “Final Winter,” coming out this year.

Eric D. Snider

Stacy Whitman

Stacy Whitman is the founder and publisher of Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books, that publishes diverse middle grade and young adult fiction. Books she has edited include American Indian Youth Literature YA Award and Top Ten Quick Picks title Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac, and Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, which received a starred review from School Library Journal and was listed on the Amelia Bloomer Project, School Library Journal’s Best of 2012 List, and the Lone Star Reading List. In 2013 Stacy founded the New Visions Award, which honors a new unpublished writer of color. Stacy is a founding member of the CBC Diversity Committee and currently serves as a Publisher Liaison to We Need Diverse Books. She holds a master’s degree in children’s literature from Simmons College.

Ammi-Joan Paquette

Ammi was unable to come at the last minute.

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Guests

Aaron Johnston

Aaron Johnston is a New York Times bestselling author, television writer, comic-book writer, playwright, and the co-creator and executive producer of Extinct, a science fiction adventure series from BYUtv. A longtime collaborator with Orson Scott Card, Aaron is the co-author of the Ender’s Game prequel novels. He was also an associate producer on the movie Ender’s Game.

Alicia McIntire

Alicia McIntire writes reasonably cool government reports that no one reads (though they maybe should).

Allison K. Hymas

Allison K. Hymas holds an MFA from Brigham Young University and currently lives and teaches writing in Utah. She is the author of middle grade crime/mystery novels Under Locker and Key and Arts and Thefts.

B. A. Simmons

B.A. Simmons is the author of the Archipelago Series, a seafaring science fiction adventure. He lives in Ogden, Utah, where he works full time teaching English and history to junior high students. He is also a collaborator on Planet Archipelago, a table-top RPG set in the same world as his series.

Benjamin K. Hewett

Benjamin K. Hewett is a NASA Program Analyst who lives in Houston and chases numbers for a living. In addition to writing short stories, blog posts, and novels, Ben enjoys spending time with his three kids, playing jazz piano, and juggling fire. He has a bachelor of arts in French, a minor in music, and a master’s of Public Administration.

Benjamin Kocher

I’m currently an editor with Immortal Works Press, as well as a board game reviewer and editor at Everything Board Games. I’ve worked at a corporate setting as a full-time copywriter and copyeditor for a number of years, but now my life is that of a freelancer.

Beth Buck

Beth Buck is the Acquisitions Director for Immortal Works Press and the author of Faith and Patience, a middle-grade serial published by Fiction Vortex. She has short stories published in several anthologies, including Monsters and Mormons (2011) and Trace the Stars (2019). Beth’s travels have taken her from Vienna to Egypt but now she resides in Utah with her large family and spinning wheels.

Bobbie Berendson W.

Bobbie Berendson W. is a student of art, culture, history, and is a live-long observer of the world. She strives to bring a sense of fun to everything she does, especially illustration and custom jewelry making. She specializes in pen & ink in the fantasy, horror, and Victorian steampunk genres with a lot of love put into illustrating bones, costumes and dresses. She lives in Utah with a house full of family, friends, felines, and one very crowded studio.

Brandon Ho

Winner of the College Television Award for best Children’s Program. Director of the award winning film Missed Connections. Nearly a decade of experience in narrative story telling both as a director and an editor.

Bree Moore

Bree Moore has been writing fantasy since the fourth grade. She lives in Utah, is wife to an amazing husband, and the mother of five children. Her first book was published in 2017. She is a contributing member and writer for the Writing Through Brambles blog for authors and readers.

Brenda Stanley

I wrote my first novel at age seventeen and most of the stories I tell involve some suspense and mystery. I’m a journalist and former television news anchor and investigative reporter for the NBC affiliate in Eastern Idaho. I covered crime and court stories for years and use that experience in many of my novels. I enjoy putting my characters in challenging situations and seeing how they react.

Brett Helquist

Brett Helquist is the illustrator of many books including The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. He is also the author of Grumpy Goat, Bedtime for Bear, and Roger the Jolly Pirate. He grew up in Utah and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. When Brett has a little free time, he loves to play guitar, ukulele, and banjo.

Brian Holcomb

Brian Holcomb is a bit of everything. He is a liver transplant recipient, fluently speaks 3 languages and is a mechanic equally at home in the engine bay of a classic car or a modern computer controlled one. He has been a sponsored competitive shooter, worked in nearly every construction trade, is an amateur gunsmith, and was formerly a nurse.

Brian Lee Durfee

Brian Lee Durfee is the author of The Forgetting Moon & The Blackest Heart, Volumes One & Two of The Five Warrior Angels, published by Simon & Schuster’s Saga Press. As an artist, he has done illustrations for Magic the Gathering, Tolkien Enterprises, Dungeons & Dragons, and many more. His art has been featured in SPECTRUM: Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art #3 and Writers of the Future Vol 9.

Brian McClellan

Brian McClellan is an American epic fantasy author from Cleveland, Ohio. He is known for his acclaimed Powder Mage Universe and essays on the life and business of being a writer.

C. R. Rowenson

Trained in the dark and mysterious arts of chemistry and chemical engineering, C.R. Rowenson has since added writing to his grimoire. His primary efforts center on helping budding authors design, build and refine their magic systems. When not working or writing, Clark spends his time blowing things up, spreading chaos, and killing people. Fortunately for everyone, it’s mostly in my head… mostly

C.V. Walter

C.V. Walter tried to major in reading and got a BA in Literature instead, which she mostly ignores while she writes Romance, Fantasy and a little Science Fiction. She lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.

Caitlin Sangster

Lit Service is a podcast that connects aspiring authors with professionals in the publishing industry. Hosts Caitlin Sangster, Kristen Evans, Camerion Harris, and Aliah Eberting chat about writing techniques and tools and do a first chapter critique for a listener. Every month we have publishing professionals–authors, agents, and editors–as guests to give feedback on listeners’ work.

Caitlyn McFarland

Originally from the Midwest, Caitlyn McFarland lives in Utah with her husband and three daughters. She has a BA in linguistics, is the author of the Dragonsworn trilogy (Carina Press 2015), and is represented by literary agent Marlene Stringer. When not writing or running around after her daughters, Caitlyn can be found hunched over a sewing machine making elaborate princess costumes.

Callie Stoker

For the past decade, Callie has honed her editing skills by studying the craft of writing and defining the elements that make a story work. She can read any story, any rocky first draft, and provide the first aid it needs to make your manuscript live off the page and resonate in the minds of your readers.

Candace J Thomas

Candace J Thomas is an award-winning of Fantasy and science fiction. She is the author of the Vivatera Series, winner of both the LUW Diamond and Silver Quill Award, and Vampire-ish: A Hypochondriac’s Tale, along with various short stories and poetry. Candace is a freelance editor and owner of Shadesilk Press Independent Books.

Carl Duzett

Carl Duzett was sent from the future to assassinate the mother of an eventual resistance leader. He married her instead, and now designs games and writes speculative fiction with an unfair advantage. Find his half-baked thoughts at carlduzett.net and his quarter-baked thoughts at twitter.com/cduzett.

Cedar Sanderson

Cedar Sanderson is a scientist, author, and artist. With seven novels in print, a career in the lab, and occasional forays into book cover art or coloring book publishing, she also finds time to lead Forage Walks and keep up with a photography hobby. She loves to read, but grew up in the Alaska Bush so TV references sometimes go over her head.

Christopher Baxter

Christopher Baxter is a writer, editor, and critic who has dipped his toes in fields ranging from editing novels and writing short fiction to blogging, scripting, podcasting, and video game writing. He offers tips on improving your writing skills at storypolisher.blogspot.com.

Christopher Husberg

Christopher Husberg is the author of the Chaos Queen Quintet, and mostly writes dark epic fantasy. He lives in Utah and spends his time writing, reading, hiking, gaming, and mostly hanging out with his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Buffy. He received an MFA in creative writing from BYU, and an honorary PhD in Buffy the Vampire Slayer from himself.

Crispin Sandford

Crispin Sandford is an Internationally award winning poet. You can read his work in the book Delicious. For the last five years he has worked as an Executive for a Marketing Firm. Before that he worked in the Film and TV Industry for producers, agents and talent managers, as well as working for film, TV and music executives.

Dan Jeffery

Dan is an archaeometallurgist, blacksmith, martial artist, historian, anthropologist, linguist, shooter and archer with accreditation or competitive success in all of those activities. He makes his living stopping hackers and encrypting your traffic on the web. LTUE is a remarkable place where essentially everything Dan enjoys is relevant.

Dan Wells

New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells is best known for his horror series I Am Not A Serial Killer. His other novels in-clude two young adult science fiction series. Dan has written for the television series Extinct. He cohosts the Hugo-winning pod-cast Writing Excuses. He also writes short fiction and game fiction and edited the anthology Altered Perceptions to help raise funds for and awareness of mental illness. Dan lives in northern Utah with his wife, six children, and more than four hundred board games.

Dan Willis

Dan wrote his first work of fiction at the tender age of ten and has been creating fantastic tales ever since. He’s used his talents working in the board game and video game industries, as well as advertising, and web design. He wrote for the long-running DragonLance series and under their young adult brand. His most recent work, Plain Sight is a fantasy noir set in 1930s New York.

Daniel C. Friend

Daniel C. Friend has worked as an SF/F editor in Utah for over six years, editing stories by authors such as Frank Herbert, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dave Butler, and Robison Wells.

Daniel Yocom

Daniel Yocom runs Guild Master Gaming which has supported table top gaming and other things geek. It includes reviews of games, books, and movies. Articles also appear on other websites. He has short stories published and is working on his first novel.

Darci Stone

Darci Stone graduated from BYU with a degree in Physics Teaching and a minor in Cultural Anthropology. She won the grand prize of Writers of the Future in 2018 and had her winning story published in Volume 34.

Dave Doering

Dave Doering is the founder of Life, the Universe, and Everything, a writer and creator conference based in Provo. He also started the Leading Edge magazine at his alma mater Brigham Young University. It is one of the oldest student-run publications in the US. His successful career as a business and technical writer stems from his work as editor on the Leading Edge.

David Farland

David Farland is an award-winning, international bestselling author with over 50 novels in print. He has won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award for “Best Novel in the English Language” for his science fiction novel On My Way to Paradise, the Whitney Award for “Best Novel of the Year” for his historical novel In the Company of Angels, and many more awards for his work. He is best known for his New York Times bestselling fantasy series The Runelords.

Duane Rygh

Duane Rygh is a retired Air Force MSgt with a 20-year military career. He completed a B.S. in Social Psychology and a M.S. in Psychology during this time. Deployments to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan—plus three years in Korea—have provided him breadth of experience to draw from for his writing. In 2016, Duane was named Utah Poet of the Year for his poetry collection, My Bright Red Scream.

Devon Dorrity

Devon Dorrity is a sculptor of fantastic beasts and beautiful creatures. His sculpture and design work has been included in the Spectrum Art Annual 4 times and his Queen of the Seas bronze sculpture has been on exhibit in NYC museums and won the 2014 Chesley for Dimensional Art. He has done graphic design for over 20 years, and has done numerous professional book cover designs.

Devon Stern

Devon Stern has been a hobby board game designer for years and has more recently worked in indie video game development. He loves it when a set of mechanics comes together. You can check out his team’s released and prototype video games at puddygum.itch.io.

Devri Walls

Devri Walls is a US and international bestselling author. Having released six novels to date, she specializes in all things fantasy and paranormal. Settled in Meridian, Idaho Devri lives with her husband, two kids and the cutest mutt you’ve ever seen. When not writing she can be found teaching voice lessons, reading, cooking or binge watching whatever show catches her fancy.

Dirk Elzinga

Dirk Elzinga is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Brigham Young University. His professional interests are the documentation, description, and analysis of the indigenous languages of Utah, and in the study of the design and use of constructed languages.

Eric G. Swedin

Dr. Eric G. Swedin is a professor of history at Weber State University. His publications include numerous articles, six history books, four science fiction novels, and a historical mystery novel. His book When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis won the 2010 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. www.swedin.org

Paul H. Smith

Paul H. Smith, a retired Army intelligence officer, was a psychic spy in the military’s Star Gate program. An expert in ESP and intuitive skills, Paul has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Texas, and an MS from the National Intelligence University and BA from BYU (both in Mid-East Studies). He is author of “Reading the Enemy’s Mind,” and “The Essential Guide to Remote Viewing.”

Travis Lee Clark

Travis Lee Clark received his BA in Art History from BYU in 1994 and his Masters and PhD in Art History from Temple University in 2008. He has presented on the survival of pre-Columbian imagery in 16th C. colonial Mexico and the impact of the occult on contemporary art. He currently is a lecturer at UVU where he specializes in Non-Western Art History.

Emily Martha Sorensen

Emily Martha Sorensen writes clean fantasy with clever characters and lots of humor. Her most popular book is Dragon’s Egg, about a baby dragon and the human parents struggling to raise him. She also writes a magical girl series from the point of view of the villains, and another series with a main character who’s incapable of shutting her mouth. No resemblance to the author . . . honest . . .

Emily R. King

Emily R. King is the author of The Hundredth Queen series and forthcoming Evermore Chronicles. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and an active participant in her local writers’ community. She lives in Northern Utah with her family and their cantankerous cat.

Emma Hoggan

Emma Hoggan is the managing editor with Future House Publishing. She specializes in science fiction and fantasy, but has experience with everything from romances to mysteries. When she’s not editing, she attends writer’s conferences to take pitches, give critiques, and talk to aspiring writers about the mysterious world of publishing.

Eric James Stone

A Nebula Award winner and Hugo nominee, Eric James Stone has been published in Year’s Best SF, Analog, and elsewhere. His debut novel, a science fiction thriller titled Unforgettable, was published by Baen.

Erin Palette

Erin Palette is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy and has multiple playtesting and publishing credits for role-playing games; she founded and administers a charity that teaches LGBTQ people firearm safety for self-defense, and is a frequent guest speaker on the subjects of gun rights and LGBTQ rights; she curates a disaster preparedness blog; and has been blogging for over a decade.

Erin Summerill

Erin Summerill became a professional photographer, which provided world-building inspirationand the vision to draft her debut YA fantasy, Ever the Hunted (2016). Erin assists Agent Laurie McLean at Fuse Literary. Erin’s other works include the nonfiction how-to photography book: Clickologie.

Gama Ray Martinez

Gama Ray Martinez is an SLC-based writer who mainly focuses on middle grade fantasy. His main series are Pharim War, a series about warrior angels, and The Nylean Chronicles, a series about unicorns.

Virginia Smith

VIRGINIA SMITH is the bestselling author of almost forty novels and many shorter works. Ginny writes in a variety of styles, from lighthearted relationship stories to breath-snatching suspense, though her first love remains spec fic. The recipient of numerous awards, Ginny has twice received the prestigious Holt Medallion Award of Merit. www.virginiasmith.org

Gordon Frye

Gordon Frye has been interested in historical weapons of all sorts from a very early age. A reenactor for years, he took his masters in western history with him into film work, assaulting the Alamo, commanding horse cavalry, and portraying soldiers, sailors, cowboys, and Afghan freedom-fighters. He currently teaches US, world, and naval history at Navy College at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington.

Graham Bradley

Graham Bradley has published and illustrated half a dozen books, and written many more besides. He has worked primarily as a commercial truck driver, doing everything from long haul to cranes, oil refineries, rental equipment, and industrial blasting. He has actually blown something up and walked away without looking back.

Greg Newbold

Greg Newbold began drawing at the age of three and never looked back. He has spent over twenty years creating artwork for such clients as Simon & Schuster, Random House, Heinz Foods, Sony Pictures, Fedex Office, Harper Collins, Smuckers, Kleenex, Boys’Life Magazine, Barnes & Noble and American Express. Recent picture books include If Picasso Painted a Snowman and If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur.

Heather Monson

Heather Monson is a technical writer, mom, and darn good cook by day and a semipro costumer, baker, game runner, and aspiring author in whatever waking hours she can scrounge.

Holli Anderson

Holli Anderson has a bachelor’s degree in nursing—which has nothing to do with writing, except for maybe adding some pretty descriptive injury and vomit scenes to her books.

Holly Kelly

Holly Kelly is a mom who writes books in her spare time. Translation: she hides in the bathroom with her laptop and locks the door while the kids destroy the house and smear peanut butter on the walls.

Howard Tayler

Howard Tayler is the writer and illustrator behind Schlock Mercenary, the Hugo-nominated science fiction comic strip. He also cohosts the Hugo and Parsec award-winning Writing Excuses podcast, the cast of which collaborated together to create the Shadows Beneath anthology. Howard has written tie-in fiction for Privateer Press and horror for the Space Eldrich anthologies. His most recent project is the Planet Mercenary RPG. Howard lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife, Sandra; their four children; and one ungrateful, archetypally imperious cat.

J. David Baxter

J. David Baxter: Founder of July 20th Space Exploration Day Holiday concept. Interest in star travel possibilities research, and low cost space transportation. Been on National Space Society Board of Directors three times. President of the NSS Chapter, Utah Space Association. Interested in space environment manufacturing, and space mining. Having a vision for the future.

Jenn Johansson

J.R. JOHANSSON is the author of the Night Walkers Series as well as standalone thrillers CUT ME FREE and THE ROW. Her thriller/horror novels have been published in over a dozen languages and more than twenty countries worldwide. In her downtime, she’s an avid gamer and reader.

J. Scott Bronson

J. Scott Bronson is an actor (Touched By an Angel, A Town Has Turned to Dust, Stephen King’s The Stand, dozens of plays), an award winning playwright (2007 Association for Mormon Letters [AML] best drama award for Stones), and fictionist (WOTF vol. 12, Darkness on the Edge of Light, and AML best novel award runner-up for The Agitated Heart).

J. Scott Savage

J. Scott Savage is the author of eighteen published novels including the Farworld series, the Case File 13 series, and the Myster-ies of Cove series. His books have received a starred Kirkus review, a starred Publishers Weekly review, a Junior Library Guild selection, a Whitney Award, and Amazon and B&N book of the month. He lives in Utah with his amazing wife, Jennifer; four kids; and five grandkids.

Jaleta Clegg

Jaleta Clegg has twelve novels, three short story collections, and almost a hundred short stories in print. She writes multiple genres including space opera, steampunk fairies, fantasy of all flavors, and silly horror. She also creates mini creatures with yarn.

James A. Owen

James A. Owen has been working professionally as an illustrator and storyteller for more than two decades, which is notable mostly because he’s still comfortably in his thirties. In addition to numerous illustration and design projects, James has written and illustrated two dozen Starchild comics and books. Here, There Be Dragons, the first in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2006, followed by six more books in the series, finishing with The First Dragon last year. James is the founder and executive director of Coppervale International, an art and design studio that also published the periodicals International Studio and Argosy, develops television and film projects, and is redesigning an entire town, among other ventures. James lives in Arizona with his family.

James Eck

James Eck GMs at least 2 games a week and writes a blog (Mind Weave RPG) of both homebrew content and GMing advice from a game design perspective.

James Wymore

James Wymore grew up on a heavy diet of movies and books that morphed his real life adventures into imaginary worlds. His published works span the fiction spectrum, including many different genres in the bestselling Actuator series. He’s an acquisi-tions editor, running games with hundreds of players at conventions.

Janci Patterson

Janci Patterson writes contemporary and science fiction young adult novels. She lives in Orem, Utah, with her family.

Jared Garrett

Jared Garrett writes everybody’s newest favorite book. A combination of Phillip K. Dick, Clive Cussler, and Scott Westerfeld, his science fiction and fantasy stories have been read by thousands. He is the author of the bestselling BEAT series, as well as The Guide and the Sword series and THE SEER.

Jared Quan

Jared Quan President of the League of Utah Writers, chair of the West Jordan Arts Council, chair of Big World Network, recruiting chair of the AITP, author/narrator, husband of sixteen years, and father of five.

Jason King

Jason King is a published fantasy author with Curiosity Quills Press and hosts the Flash Fiction Friday podcast. He’s an editor, online Marketer, and the founder of Immortal Works Publishing. Born in Salt Lake City Utah, Jason grew up on a steady diet of anime, science fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, JRPG’s, and chocolate cake donuts.

Jay Barnson

By day, Jay Barnson develops 3D training simulators using traditional and virtual reality technology. By night, he’s an indie game developer and author. Previously, he has been a full-time video game developer working on such titles as The Tale of Desperaux and Twisted Metal. His latest novel, Blood Creek Witch, is a tale of monsters, magic, and mayhem in modern-day West Virginia.

Jemma Young

Jemma Young is a freelance illustrator as well as the creator and artist for the webcomic Children of Eldair. She has colored comics professionally and has done book covers, cartography, design work, and illustration.

Jennie Stevens

Jennie Stevens is a wife, mother, copyeditor, and connoisseur of all things nerdy. When she became an editor, she achieved her lifelong dream of being paid to read books. She has edited hundreds of manuscripts and currently works for two local editing companies: Precision Editing Group and Writer Therapy. Follow her on Twitter (@jennietheeditor).

JJenniffer Wardell

Jenniffer is the author of several YA fantasy novels, including “Fighting Sleep” and “Beast Charming.” She’s also dipped into the spy genre with “How to Win Over Your Arch-Nemesis (In Three Easy Steps)” and its sequel, “Dirty Deeds Done for Reasonable Prices” (released late 2018).

Jess Lindsay

Jess Lindsay has spent her entire life reading, and half of it practicing her writing. With interest in steampunk, anime and manga, crafting, horror, fantasy, romance, history, theater, and tabletop gaming, she likes to think of herself as a well-rounded fan.

Jess Smart Smiley

Jess Smart Smiley makes rad pictures with his bare hands and is the creator of 19 books for young readers, including “Let’s Make Comics”, which debuted as the #1 New Release on Amazon in 4 categories. Jess has helped more than 1,000 children, teens, and adults around the world to create their first comics. See more at jess-smiley.com

Jessica Day George

Jessica Day George is the bestselling author of over a dozen fantasy books for middle grade and teen readers. Additionally, she has collected dragons and books about dragons since she was four, eats at least 8 oz of dark chocolate a day, adores very small dogs and well-behaved children, and can read whilst walking the dog and doing household chores, and can knit her own socks. You’ll like her.

JL Curtis

JL Curtis is an old fart who grew up in the ARKLATEX area, and is a retired Naval Flight Officer, retired defense contractor who spent 12 years in research and development testing, and NRA instructor. He writes both current western fiction, The Grey Man series, and military science fiction, The Rimworld series. He’s also written short stories and novellas in a variety of genres.

JoSelle Vanderhooft

JoSelle Vanderhooft is an editor, author, poet, and found-objects artist from Salt Lake City. She has edited over 700 books, put together nine anthologies, and runs a small business selling rosaries and miniature shrines. Visit her online at www.joedits.com or www.numinousrosaries.com.

Joe Monson

Joe Monson loves reading and books. He translates and edits Engineer into English by day and expands the accessible knowledge of the world by night. He has gotten back into collecting amazing short works and sharing them with the world. He collects sf/f art, but not as much as Paul (as if that was even possible). He lives in the mountains with his wife, two children, and their pet library.

Joe Vasicek

Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction and fantasy books, including The Sword Keeper and the Star Wanderers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus Mountains. He claims Utah as his home.

John K. Lundwall

Dr. John K. Lundwall received his MA and PhD in mythological studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpenteria, California. He specializes in the connections between oral cosmology, myth, and cults. His book Mythos and Cosmos: Mind and Meaning in the Oral Age reexamines ancient myth through the template of oral thinking and oral cosmology.

John M. Olsen

John M. Olsen reads and writes fantasy, science-fiction, steampunk, and horror as the mood strikes. His short fiction is part of several anthologies. He loves to create things, whether writing novels or short stories or working in his secret lair equipped with dangerous power tools. In either case, he applies engineering principles and processes to the task at hand, often in unpredictable ways.

Johnny Worthen

JOHNNY WORTHEN is an award-winning, best-selling author, voyager, and damn fine human being! Trained in stand-up comedy, modern literary criticism and cultural studies, Johnny writes upmarket fiction in multiple genres. He teaches writing at the University of Utah and serves as President of the League of Utah Writers, the state’s oldest and largest writing guild.

Jonna Hayden

As a professional costume designer and clothing historian for over twenty-five years, Jonna Hayden has designed and built over two hundred shows for opera, ballet, and theater. She has been a resident artist for school districts, a regular panelist at sf conventions, and a private consultant on clothing history for many authors. She loves discussing how clothing can visually inform an audience and enrich the experience.

Joshua Robertson

Joshua Robertson is an award-winning author in epic, dark fantasy. You may recognize him as the dude whose dragons were said to destroy George R.R. Martin’s and Christopher Paolini’s dragons in a very biased Twitter poll. Known most for his Thrice Nine Legends Saga, Robertson enjoys an ever-expanding and extremely loyal following of readers. He currently lives in North Carolina.

Julia H. West

Julia H. West has published more than a dozen short stories across a broad spectrum of genres since winning the grand prize in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest in 1994. She sings with the Utah Filk Organization and was a founding member of the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Kaitlund Zupanic

Shortly after graduation, Kaitlund discovered that her love for animation and 3D modeling hadn’t been as strong as her love for painting. In Fall of 2015, she took a fine art illustration course with Howard Lyon. She honed her skills and branched out into oil painting. Using past and present masterwork painters as her new inspiration, she now hopes to make her fantastical ideas come to life in dig

Kal Spriggs

Kal Spriggs is an Amazon bestselling science fiction and fantasy author with over twenty published novels. Kal started reading science fiction and fantasy in the second grade and took it into his head to start writing soon after. Twenty years, many drafts, and lots of experience later he published his first novel. A military veteran, Kal loves his family, the mountains, cats, and good stories.

Kari Christensen

Kari received a BFA in illustration from BYU in 1999, and then studied at the Art Students League of New York while doing mentorships with several top artists in the field. He has done illustration and concept art for Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40k, Everquest, Lord of the Rings Online, and The Elder Scrolls.

Kathryn Purdie

Kathryn Purdie is the #1 NYT bestselling author of the BURNING GLASS series (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins) and the forthcoming YA fantasy, BONE GRACE. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama and has taught writing classes at Sundance Workshops, Storymakers Conference, Teen Author Boot Camp, and was a keynote speaker for Writing for Charity.

Katie Carolyna

Katie is the quirky neighbor you always worry about. With a flare of crazy or quite possibly insane, she writes into the night after her four gremlins are asleep, or if one is currently biting her raw, in the middle of the night. She worked with UVU’s speculative fiction journal, Warp & Weave, as an underling for two years, then as Royal taskmaster in 2016. She writes female heroes with male sidekicks.

Katie Jarvis

Katie Jarvis has a Masters Degree in Critical Studies and History of Theatre. She researches and writes about the dramatic nature of plants and environments in entertainment across all platforms. She has presented at conferences across the US and in the UK and is currently teaching as adjunct faculty for the BYU Theater and Media Arts Department.

Keary Taylor

Keary Taylor is the USA TODAY bestselling author of over twenty novels. She grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now splits her time between a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest and Utah, dragging along her husband and their two children.

Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill is an author, teacher and mom. She is the author of the novels The Girl Who Drank the Moon, The Witch’s Boy, Iron Hearted Violet, and The Mostly True Story of Jack, and many, many short stories. She won the World Fantasy Award for her novella, The Unlicensed Magician, a Parents Choice Gold Award for Iron Hearted Violet, the Newbery Medal for The Girl Who Drank the Moon. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her three brilliant children, architect husband, and emotionally-unstable dog. She is a fast runner, a good hiker, and a terrible gardener.

K.A. Parkinson

K.A. Parkinson is a YA author, presenter, and motivational speaker. She lives in Utah with her family, and some dogs, cats, chickens, and goats. She is the author of four novels, the fifth and sixth to be released in 2019. Her novel, A Chosen Life, won the 2017 Rone Award for Novel Excellence.

Kelsy Thompson

Kelsy Thompson is an acquisition editor with young adult imprint Flux and middle grade imprint Jolly Fish Press. She has served as an editorial intern for YA author Robison Wells, copy desk chief at The Signpost, and managing editor at distinguished literary journal Weber—The Contemporary West. She lives in Ogden, Utah, with her husband and clowder of cats.

Kjirstin Youngberg

Kjirstin Youngberg is a photojournalist and nonfiction author with a great many friends in the fields of physics, astronomy, ufology, and screenwriting. She has worked in the film industry since the early 70’s and is a costume designer. Her latest book is a memoir about her childhood encounter with extraterrestrials near two air force bases in the Mojave Desert.

Kohl Glass

As an Emmy award-winning Sundance alumnus, Kohl Glass is a passionate and experienced filmmaker. His film Der Ostwind was chosen to be an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival. He has since directed two feature films: Orc Wars (aka Dragonfyre), which had over 14 million views on YouTube, and You May Now Kill the Bride (MarVista), which aired on Lifetime. https://vimeo.com/184959601

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 70 novels, including the Saga of Recluce and the Imager Portfolio. His first story was published in Analog in 1973, and his most recent book is Endgames, just released from Tor. Along the way, he has also been a U.S. Navy pilot, Congressional staff director, and Director of Congressional Affairs for the U.S. EPA.

L. Palmer

L. Palmer has spent many years traveling fictional worlds and building tales of grand, epic adventures. She is the author of The Pippington Tales, where motorcars bump down old city lanes and fairy godmothers are disguised as high-society gossips. In between exploring fantasy worlds, L. Palmer works in public service and lives in South Texas. She is an award-winning speaker and has lunch with drag

Lani Woodland

Lani Woodland is the author (and co-author) of ten young adult novels with genres ranging from paranormal and science fiction to fantasy and contemporary. She was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Debut Author in 2010 for her first novel Intrinsical which was translated and released in Turkey in 2018.

Larry Correia

Larry Correia is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning, author of the Monster Hunter International series, the Grimnoir Chronicles trilogy, the Saga of the Forgotten Warrior epic fantasy series, the Dead Six thrillers, all from Baen Books. He also writes novels set in the Warmachine game universe. A former accountant, military contractor, firearms instructor, and machine gun dealer, Larry has been a full-time author for several years. His first novel, Monster Hunter International was originally self-published. He’s now published in seven countries. Larry lives in northern Utah with his very patient wife and four children.

Laura Henriksen

Laura Henriksen is published in the UAA Anthology: Obvious Things. She was the Vice President of the Utah Valley Writers and was selected for Pitch Madness 2017. She grew up in the U.S. Air Force, dabbled in martial arts, and studied psychology. So she can imitate several American accents, put you in a headlock, and diagnose your personality disorders…all at once.

Lisa Bishop

Lisa Bishop, M.S., LMFT is a therapist who has a private practice in Pleasant Grove, UT. She works with couples and parents and children to help them heal their negative relationship patterns. She has an excellent understanding of how relationships work and how to heal relationships that are broken.

Luke Peterson

Luke Peterson uses fiction to build real world cities, and real-world expertise to build great fiction. A graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Luke has trained hundreds of government executives, survived nasty run-ins with the mob on both sides of the Atlantic, and consulted Congress on renewal of the Voting Rights Act. He directs the Futurescapes Writing Workshops.

Lynette White

Since her first story was published seven years ago Lynette has published 18 stories in 11 different anthologies, a progressive fantasy written with 4 other authors, and her own series. She has also created over 100 flash fiction stories for the Goodreads online group Writers 750. She has also achieved 2 honorable mentions for stories submitted to Writer’s of the Future.

M. A. Nichols

By day, M. A. Nichols works as an urban planner for the Alaska Department of Transportation, but by night she writes young adult novels, urban fantasies, and fairy tale retellings. She is the author of the Tréaltha series and Geoffrey P. Ward’s Guide to Villainy.

M. Todd Gallowglas

M. Todd Gallowglas is a professional storyteller and the bestselling author of the Tears of Rage, Halloween Jack, and Dead Weight series. Embracing the changes sweeping through the publishing industry, Todd used his storytelling show to launch his self-published writing career. He now plays both sides of the publishing industry as a hybrid author. He lives with his wife, three children, and more pets than they need. He is currently corrupting his children with a rich education of geek culture.

Mari Murdock

Mari Murdock is a writer, editor, and educator, specializing in gaming and academia. She has worked with various game companies since 2014, including Alderac Entertainment Group, Fantasy Flight Games, and Gallant Knight Games, writing fiction and content for projects such as The Legend of the Five Rings brand. Her L5R novella Whispers of Shadow and Steel is available at www.fantasyflightgames.com.

Marion G. Harmon

Marion G. Harmon is the author of the Wearing the Cape series (seven books, the first four soon to be available in audiobook through Tantor Media), and the writer of Wearing the Cape: The Roleplaying Game and the Barlow’s Guide to Superhumans sourcebook.

Marlena Money

Marlena Money is a devoted artist and author. She has won two comic contests that have spanned over 2 years each and has years of experience teaching all ages. She is full of energy and always has a smile.

Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Ghost Talkers, The Glamourist Histories series, and the Lady Astronaut duology. She is a cast member of the award-wining podcast Writing Excuses and also a three-time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary, a professional puppeteer, lives in Chicago. Visit her online at maryrobinettekowal.com.

Maxwell Alexander Drake

Drake is an award-winning novelist, was the Lead Fiction Writer for Sony’s EverQuest Next MMO, has written for other game properties such as Shadow Run, teaches writing all over the world, and is currently working in film and TV, having sold 2 movie scripts this year and working as the story creator for 2 TV shows.

McKelle George

McKelle George is a reader, editor, perpetual doodler, and associate librarian at the best library in the world. She mentors with Salt Lake Teen Writes and her debut young adult novel Speak Easy, Speak Love came out from Greenwillow/HarperCollins in 2017. She currently lives in Salt Lake City.

M.K. Hutchins

M.K. Hutchins often draws on her background in archaeology when writing fiction. She’s the author of the YA fantasy novel Drift, and her short fiction has appeared in Podcastle, IGMS, Fireside, and elsewhere.A longtime Idahoan, she now lives in Utah with her husband and four children. Find her at mkhutchins.com.

Megan Lloyd

Megan Lloyd is a story artist and screenwriter for animation (DreamWorks, Skydance Animation). Story artists are the first wizards on-call when it comes to movie magic, transforming scenes from page to screen. In addition to her story work on films in production (Luck, Split) she also contributes to the Development department, adapting original ideas and pre-existing IP into full movie pitches.

Michael Young

Michael is the author of the novels in The Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, the Chess Quest Series and The Hunger. He has also had work featured in various online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights, Meridian, The New Era, Allegory, and Ensign. He has also won honorable mention three times in the Writers of the Future contest.

Michaelbrent Collings

Michaelbrent Collings is an internationally-bestselling author, Bram Stoker Award and Whitney Award Finalist, and a produced screenwriter and member of the Writers Guild of America. Find him at his website, WrittenInsomnia.com – “Books That Keep You Up All Night.”

Michael Boudreaux

Michael Boudreaux received his bachelor’s degree in biblical studies (Roman focus) and has almost completed his master’s in medieval history.

Michelle Witte

Michelle Witte is an author and literary agent with Mansion Street Literary Management, specializing in children’s fiction and nonfiction. She represents authors across the spectrum of children’s literature, from illustrated board and picture books to middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction. She began her career as a journalist for the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City. From there, she transitioned to a position as associate editor with nonfiction publisher Gibbs Smith. Her published work includes the nonfiction humor books The Craptastic Guide to Pseudo-Swearing and The Faker’s Guide to the Classics, though her great love is writing young adult fiction.

Mike Lovins

Mike Lovins graduated from Utah State University abc has been wotking since 1993 in storyboards, concept design and creative-owned comics.

Mike Thayer

Mike Thayer is the author of the Epic Adventures of the Techno Wizard series.

Mikki Helmer

Mikki Helmer is a writer, rider, podcaster combo unit. Her interests in fantasy, science fiction, and the paranormal developed from a childhood of imaginary exploits and continue to influence her professional career. She resides in central Utah and is a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and equal representation of minorities in stories with triumphant endings.

Nancy Fulda

Nancy Fulda is a Hugo and Nebula nominee who has been honored by Baen Books and the National Space Society for her writing.

Natalie Whipple

Natalie Whipple is the author of the TRANSPARENT series, HOUSE OF IVY & SORROW, the I’M A NINJA series, FISH OUT OF WATER, SIDEKICK, MY LITTLE BRONY (under K.M. Hayes), THE VENGEANCE CODE (under Nat McKenzie), and the TRAPPED IN BATTLE ROYALE series (under Devin Hunter). In addition to that, she was on the writing team for the cRPG Torment: Tides of Numenera, out now from InXile.

Natasha Ence

Natasha Ence has been playing Table-top RPGs since she was seven years old. She cut her teeth on Dungeons & Dragons before moving to other rules systems like Mutants & Masterminds. Table-top gaming and a voracious love of stories lead her to study literature, teaching, and creative writing at university; this gave her the solid foundation she needed to become a full-time professional Game Master.

Nathan Kingsley

Nathan Kingsley can often be found experimenting with tofu coagulants or sauerkraut recipes. He is one of the top 10 answerers on the cooking Q&A site, cooking.stackexchange.com. He is the proud owner of over a dozen books on food chemistry and history but sometimes he just likes to watch milk spoil… carefully.

Paul Genesse

Paul Genesse is the bestselling author of the Iron Dragon series, almost twenty short stories, and is the writer/producer/director of The Star Wars Rock Opera. He’s also the co-author of the science fiction novel, Sakura: Intellectual Property, the posthumously published and final creative project of his great friend, Zachary Hill. Explore paulgenesse.com and send him pictures of dragons.

Peter Grant

Peter Grant may be a living definition of the saying that “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment!” He’s been in the military, serving in combat zones for over 18 years; worked in the computer industry; served as a pastor; and been a full-time writer for the past decade. Having survived it all (so far), he uses what he’s learned and experienced in his writing.

Peter Orullian

Peter Orullian is the author of the epic fantasy series The Vault of Heaven from Tor Books. He is also the author of The Astonishing, a novelization of the band Dream Theater’s latest album. He has dozens of short stories published. Is a professional musician and vocalist, most recently with his band Symphony North. And he has an unannounced forthcoming collaboration with a bestselling writer.

Randy Tayler

Randy Tayler has been in over a thousand comedy performances on stages across Utah and Idaho, and has published multiple novellas and short stories. He’s been a computer programmer for decades, and continues to write fiction and screenplays in his spare time.

Richard Teasdale

Richard Teasdale is a filmmaker with over a decade of working experience in the industry. His editing credits include award-winning horror shorts “Evening With My Comatose Mother,” “Creatures of White Chapel” and “Kiss the Devil in the Dark.” He also directed the comedy web series “Unsung Heroes.” He is the Deputy Director of the genre film festival FilmQuest here in Provo, Utah.

Richie Franklin

Richie Franklin has worked for over 20 years in the film and theater industry alongside a career in corporate education and entertainment. He started writing when he was in high school and has since published poems, short stories, and a MG novel. Additionally, he has written interactive fiction and tabletop RPGs for popular RPG publishers. Richie will be releasing 2 more novels in 2019.

Rita Beeman

Rita Beeman is currently completing her MA in creative writing at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls., Texas. She has made a study of textiles and jewelry from around the world, and uses many of these elements in the composition of clothing and jewelry that shecreates. She enjoys watching obscure cinematic treasures with her three small dogs while surrounded by her extensive perfume and shoe collections.

Robert Starling

Robert Starling is a veteran media professional with over 40 years in film and television production as a writer, producer, and director. He is also the author of “Really Inside Mormonism: Confessions of a Mere Latter-day Christian”. He was the founder of the Associated Latter-day Media Artists (ALMA), a fellowship of LDS media professionals. (1977-1992)

Robin Glassey

Robin graduated with a degree in Psychology and is the author of The Azetha Series. She now spends her time analyzing her four teenage boys and writing clean YA fantasy. She enjoys appearing as a presenter and panelist at conventions and conferences such as FanX, Salt Lake Comic Convention, and LTUE. She’s addicted to science fiction and fantasy, french fries, and Doctor Who.

Robison Wells

Robison Wells is the author of fourteen novels, published in nine languages. His work spans everything from LDS romantic comedy to science fiction thriller to diesel-punk, old west King Arthur. He has an MBA in marketing, and got his undergrad in International Relations, emphasizing in terrorism. He has schizophrenia, and he believes in you.

Rosalyn Eves

Rosalyn Eves is both an educator and a writer: with a PhD in English from Penn State, she teaches writing at Southern Utah University; she is also the author of BLOOD ROSE REBELLION and LOST CROW CONSPIRACY, the first two books in a YA historical fantasy trilogy with Knopf/Random House.

Ryan Decaria

Ryan is the author of Devil in the Microscope, a YA story of girls fighting mad scientists. He is a blogger, podcaster, editor, and technical writer. He believes writing is a mad science, where imagination and skill fuse together to create the impossible. Read his ramblings at madsciencefiction.com and listen to him talk about the board game world at meeplenation.com.

Sandra Tayler

Sandra Tayler is a writer of essays, children’s books, picture books, speculative fiction, and blog entries. She has two picture books in print, two essay books, ten years of blog entries, and a novel in progress. When she is not working, Sandra spends time with her house, her four kids, and her cartoonist husband, Howard Tayler.

Scott Bascom

Scott Bascom is a regular contributor to Blue Collar Prepping with a weekly column. He has a background in Sales and Marketing for small companies and has worked everywhere from a film studio to teaching self defense.

Scott R. Parkin

Scott R. Parkin is a literary omnivore who’s won prizes for short fiction (mainstream, sf, and fantasy), technical communication, and interactive media. He is also a critic, teacher, essayist, and small press publisher. His short fiction has appeared in a wide variety of genres and venues, including Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, the Fiction River anthology series, and Writers of the Future volume 31. After a career spanning three decades in the enterprise computing industry, Scott is now focusing on writing science fiction and fantasy novels.

Scott William Taylor

Scott William Taylor is an award-winning short-story writer/novelist/screenwriter living in the Intermountain West. He’s middle-grade novel “Chaser” was released in 2018 through Immortal Works. His short film “Wrinkles” won Best of Utah at the Foursite Film Festival as well as a First-Place in the LDS Film Festival Screenwriting competition. He writes Steampunk, Horror, science fiction, and Paranormal.

Shannen Crane Camp

Shannen has been writing & gaming since she was old enough to hold a controller. With 13 published books as of 2018 under the pen name Shannen Crane Camp and endless hours logged playing video games, Shannen lives writing and gaming (often at the same time). She has a bachelor’s degree in film, is a writer for SVG.com, and posts gaming-related content on YouTube under the name Persephone Plasmids.

Shannon Babb

Shannon Babb is your average historical fiction writing, polar exploring, earth scientist. As the lead curriculum writer for Thalweg Education, she works on translating difficult scientific concepts into language everyone can understand. In her spare time, she writes disability fiction, volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol, and trains for an upcoming Antartic expedition.

Shelly Brown

Shelly Brown is the author of the middle grade stories SQUINT, MUSTACHES FOR MADDIE, and GHOSTSITTER. She is trained as an actor, a historian, and a comedian.

Stan Crowe

Stan Crowe began writing at the age of five and has since let life carry him on a wild journey involving marriage and nine chil-dren, life in several different states, jobs ranging from teaching to engineering, and a pair of cats. He doesn’t ever write about the cats. Nonetheless, he’s put his signature on sf/f, romance, and even mysteries, and games with his kids in his spare time.

Stephanie Ollerton

Stephanie Ollerton is a producer, cinematographer, and story consultant. She has worked in the film and television industries since 2001. Stephanie is trained in anthropology, film theory, and criticism, and film creation.

Stephen Gashler

National award-winning storyteller Stephen Gashler is an author, playwright, filmmaker, composer, songwriter, professional cage fighter, and compulsive liar. His works include the YA novels The Bent Sword, Prisoner of the Molepeople, Gideon Versus the Gods of Cool, and the musicals Valhalla—a Nordic Rock Opera, Take My Death Away, and Bums!

Steve Diamond

Steve Diamond is the author of the YA Supernatural Thiller RESIDUE. He writes for Baen, Wordfire Press, Gallant Knight Games, and numerous other small publications. Steve lives in Utah with his wife and children. He works for the Department of Defense, and religiously follows the Oakland A’s and New Orleans Saints.

Steven Peck

Steven Peck is an biologist at BYU and writes literary speculative fiction. He is the two-time winner of best novel from the Association of Mormon Letters, and has published award-winning short stories, essays, and poetry. In scholarly review of his work, Mike Austin said, “<he> is one of Mormonism’s best living writers, but he is also one of our most formidable and comprehensive intellects.”

Suzanne Vincent

Suzanne Vincent has worked on staff at Flash Fiction Online (now the second-most-read flash fiction magazine on the web, with thirty-five thousand monthly visitors) since nearly its beginnings in 2006 and has headed the editorial staff as editor-in-chief since 2010. Managing more than eight thousand submissions per year, she has seen everything in the slush pile.

Teyla Rachel Branton

Teyla Rachel Branton is the pen name for Rachel Ann Nunes. She grew up avidly reading science fiction and fantasy, watching Star Trek reruns, and dreaming about creating her own worlds. She released the first of 60+ books in 1996. Teyla writes urban fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels. She also writes contemporary romance as Rachel Branton. For more information, visit TeylaBranton.com.

Tom Carr

Tom Carr is an author and movie producer and runs Bag of Holding media, a production company that looks forward to making family friendly films. He is the founder of Wasatch Paranormal, a ghost hunting team based in Salt Lake City, and host of the popular paranormal podcast Residual Haunting Revived.

Tom Durham

Tom is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and media producer. He creates stories in many mediums—including books, TV, film, and live theatrical experiences for audiences in the thousands. His ambitious indie feature 95ers has earned fans in many countries, including a few time travelers. Tom is also involved in teaching creative approaches to creative empowerment, productivity, and philanthropy.

V.J.O. Gardner

V.J.O. Gardner is an award winning author of several books including ‘Servant Queen’,‘Dracona’s Rebirth’ published by Ink Smith Publishing and award winning ‘Blood of Ancient Kings’. Valerie is a formatting intern for Ink Smith and has been an invited speaker at events as an expert in world building and character development.

Wendy Knight

Wendy Knight is an award-winning, USA Today Bestselling Author. She was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, no phone calls, no touching the knives…you get the idea), and if she’s lucky, she’ll also be writing.

Wendy Nikel

Wendy Nikel is a speculative fiction author whose short stories have appeared or are forthcoming from Analog, Deep Magic, Nature: Futures, and various anthologies and e-zines. She is a member of SFWA and is a managing editor at Flash Fiction Online. The first book in her time travel novella series, THE CONTINUUM, was published by World Weaver Press in 2018.

William Munn

William Munn is a writer and tabletop gamer. Will has written for gaming companies like Gallant Knight Games where he contributed to Tiny Frontiers: Revised and Cold Shadows. Currently, he’s working on Zorro the RPG as a writer and producer. Will has a deep passion for storytelling, gaming, and writing. In his free time, you’ll find him playing and running tabletop games with family and friends.