Michael Barakiva

Michael Barakiva is an Armenian-Israeli American theater director and writer who lives in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan with his husband, Rafael. He was born in Haifa, Israel and grew up in the suburbs of Central New Jersey, which were much scarier. He attended Vassar College, where he double majored in Drama and English, after which he attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Directing. He has been living in New York City since.

He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Upstart Creatures. a theatre company that creates community through theatre, food, and social justice. www.upstartcreatures.com

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Robin Reardon

I'm an inveterate observer of human nature, and my primary writing goal is to create stories about all kinds of people, some of whom happen to be gay or transgender—people whose destinies are not determined solely by their sexual orientation or identity. My secondary writing goal is to introduce readers to concepts or information they might not know very much about. On my website, robinreardon.com, see individual book pages for “Digging Deeper” sections that link to background information and research done for the novel.

My motto is this: The only thing wrong with being gay is how some people treat you when they find out.

Interests outside of writing include singing, nature photography, and the study of comparative religions. I write in a bu
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David Levithan

David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children's book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.

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Sina Grace

Sina Grace’s parents had big plans for their son: Ivy League schooling, professional credentials, a 6-figure income as a doctor– the works! Fortunately for us, he found the wonderful world of comics instead. It was in this world of contradictions that he “matured,” one foot teetering on the edge of academia, the other drawn to the inescapable grasp of an ink-bound fantasy underworld.

At 14, Grace seemingly appeased his parents by interning at Top Cow Productions, under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Renae Geerlings (his single mother figured at least he was collecting college credit). However the only thing he was collecting (other than comics), was the compulsive habit of drawing unrealistically proportioned, scantily clad women.

At 16, he
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Bill Konigsberg

Bill Konigsberg was born in 1970 in New York City. Expectations were high from birth - at least in terms of athletics. His parents figured he'd be a great soccer player, based on his spirited kicking from inside the womb. As it turned out, the highlight of his soccer career was at Camp Greylock in 1978, when he was chosen for the Camp's "D" team. There were only four levels. Bill played alongside the likes of the kid who always showered alone, the chronic nosebleeder and the guy with recurrent poison ivy.

Early in his life, Bill decided he wanted to be a disc jockey, a professional baseball player, or the Construction Worker from The Village People. None of these career paths worked out for him. Yet. He still holds out hope for a Village Peo
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Rachel Hawkins

Rachel Hawkins is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, Reckless Girls, The Villa, and The Heiress, as well as multiple books for young readers. Her work has been translated into over two dozen languages. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama.
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Amanda Woody

A. M. Woody is a queer nonbinary author based in metro-Detroit and represented by New Leaf Literary. Some of their book weaknesses include:

Uncontrollable magic
Boys who fall in love
Girls with swords
Snarky banter
Eyes that glow
Chaotic queers
Dorks to lovers
Pirates and thieves
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Molly Knox Ostertag

I grew up in the forests of upstate New York, where I spent the first half of my childhood reading about fantastical adventures and the second half acting them out with foam swords at a live action roleplaying camp . I graduated in 2014 from the School of Visual Arts, where I studied cartooning and illustration, and I currently live in Los Angeles. My artistic interests include women in fiction, fantasy and sci fi, superheroes, and history.

I illustrate a twice weekly webcomic called Strong Female Protagonist with co-creator Brennan Lee Mulligan, which was listed as one of io9's Best New and Short Webcomics when it launched in 2012. I ran a successful Kickstarter in the summer of 2014 to print the first volume, which was distributed by Top S
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Phil Stamper

Phil Stamper grew up in a rural village near Dayton, Ohio. While it could be seen as a boring lifestyle to some, he kept himself entertained by playing the piano and writing stories that stretched his imagination. He has a B.A. in Music from the University of Dayton and an M.A. in Publishing with Creative Writing from Kingston University.

When he first left his home state, he landed in Washington, DC with no job prospects, $800 in graduation money, and the promise of a walk-in closet to live in. Not long after—and he’s not totally sure how—he was jumping headfirst into a career in non-profit PR and sleeping in a real bed. He loved writing for a living, even if he was writing press releases and news stories... and hundreds of emails to annoye
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F.T. Lukens

F.T. Lukens is a New York Times bestselling author of YA speculative fiction including the novels Otherworldly, Spell Bound, So This Is Ever After (2023 ALA Rainbow Booklist; 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards nominee), In Deeper Waters (2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist; Junior Library Guild Selection), and the forthcoming Love at Second Sight (2025) as well as other science-fiction and fantasy works. F.T. resides in North Carolina with their spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.
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M.K. England

M. K. England grew up on the Space Coast of Florida watching shuttle launches from the backyard. These days, they live on a micro-farm in rural Virginia packed with video and board games, plants, D&D books, Star Wars memorabilia, and their preschooler's giant personality. They're probably covered in dirt right now. MK is the author of ten novels for kids, teens, and adults and a forthcoming interactive novel with Choice of Games. You can find them at mkengland.com.

For the latest news, you can subscribe to my irregular newsletter updates at mkengland.substack.com. I'm also on instagram (rarely, @mk_england) and on tumblr more informally (mkengland.tumblr.com)

(Just FYI, I don't accept friend requests because Amazon is weird about reviews but
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Derek Milman

Derek Milman was born in New York City, but grew up in Westchester, NY, where he wrote and published a successful underground humor magazine that caught the attention of the New York Times, who wrote a profile on him at the age of 14.

Derek studied English, Creative Writing, and Theater at Northwestern University. He began his career as a playwright (his first play was staged in New York City when he was just out of college), and earned an MFA in acting at the Yale School of Drama.

Derek has performed on stages across the country, and appeared in numerous TV shows and films, working with two Academy Award winning film directors.

Scream All Night was Derek's debut YA novel. Swipe Right for Murder is his second novel for young adults. It was re
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K. Ancrum

K. Ancrum, is an author of award winning speculative contemporary YA notably THE WICKER KING, DARLING and most recently the critically acclaimed ICARUS. K. is a Chicago native passionate about diversity and representation in young adult fiction. She currently writes most of her work in the lush gardens of the Chicago Art Institute.
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Nora Phoenix

Would you like the long or the short version of my bio?

The short? You got it.

I write steamy gay romance books and I love it. I also love reading books. Books are everything.

How was that?

A little more detail? Gotcha.

I started writing my first stories when I was a teen…on a freaking typewriter. I still have these, and they’re adorably romantic. And bad, haha. Fear of failing kept me from following my dream to become a romance author, so you can imagine how proud and ecstatic I am that I finally overcame my fears and self doubt and did it. I adore my genre because I love writing and reading about flawed, strong men who are just a tad broken..but find their happy ever after anyway.

My favorite books to read are pretty much all MM/gay romances as
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Aiden Thomas

Aiden Thomas is a New York Times Bestselling author with an MFA in Creative Writing. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, Oregon. As a queer, trans, Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden’s special talents include: quoting The Office, finishing sentences with “is my FAVORITE”, and killing spiders. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color.

Their debut novel, CEMETERY BOYS, was published on September 1st, 2020.
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Rob Osler

Rob Osler is the USA Today Bestselling author of THE CASE OF THE MISSING MAID, book one in the new historical Harriet Morrow Investigates series. Praise for the novel: a Publisher's Weekly STARRED REVIEW, a New York Times "Standout Historical Release," The Washington Post's "Best Novels to Cozy Up With," a Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice, and an Amazon Editor's Pick.

CIRQUE DU SLAY, the follow-up to acclaimed DEVIL'S CHEW TOY is the 2025 Winner of the Anthony and Left Coast Crime Awards for Best Humorous Novel.

Rob's short story, MISS DIRECTION (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2023), was a finalist for the 2024 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award, and his short story, ANALOGUE (also EQMM), won the Mystery Writers of Ameri
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Sonora Reyes

Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes writes fiction full of queer and Latine characters in a variety of genres, with current projects in both kidlit and adult categories.

Outside of writing, Sonora loves breaking their body and vocal chords by playing with their baby niblings, and dancing/singing karaoke at the same time.
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Page Powars

Page Powars is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Indie bestselling author of And They Were Roommates, The Borrow a Boyfriend Club, and more coming down the line. He was raised by video game lore that requires stringboard analyses to understand. Now, he writes books for teenagers and adults. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner.
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E.L. Massey

E. L. Massey is a human. Probably. She lives in Colorado with her partner, the best dog in the world (an unbiased assessment), and a frankly excessive collection of books. She spends her holidays climbing mountains and writing fan fiction, occasionally at the same time.

5% of royalties from her first book, LRPD, go to a queer organization each month. So far, readers have helped support organizations like Out Youth, Austin LGBT Coalition on Aging, The Dru Project, and Magic City Acceptance Center. If you want to suggest a beneficiary for future donations, you can do so via:
IG: El_massey
Email: elmasseywrites@gmail.com
Tumblr/AO3 (if you know, you know)
or commenting on a Substack post: https://elmassey.substack.com/
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Matthew Hubbard

Matthew Hubbard writes the kind of stories he wished he’d had as a teen in rural Alabama. He grew up on a mountaintop farm and knows more than he is willing to admit about small towns. He studied English, marketing, and psychology in college and has spent a majority of his life speaking up to make a difference.

Armed with a TARDIS tattoo, Matthew can be found on adventures when he isn't writing. He enjoys traveling to different countries, hiking in search of breathtaking views, reading as many books as he can get his hands on, and cheering for his favorite hockey team.

He lives in Tennessee with his husband, their dogs, Layla and Phillip, and Jay Gatsby the cat.
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CL Montblanc

CL Montblanc is a writer, producer, and escape room enthusiast. Despite hailing from Texas, CL is intimidated by both horses and very large hats. Their debut novel PRIDE OR DIE will release in early 2025, with another book to follow in 2026.
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Alex Sanchez

Alex Sanchez is the author of the Rainbow Boys trilogy of teen novels, along with The God Box, Getting It, and the Lambda Award-winning middle-grade novel So Hard to Say. His novel, Bait, won the Florida Book Award Gold Medal for YA fiction. Alex received his master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Old Dominion University and for many years worked as a youth and family counselor. His newest book is a graphic novel from DC Comics, You Brought Me the Ocean. Find out more about Alex at www.AlexSanchez.com
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Sarah Tregay

Raised without television, I started writing my own middle grade novels after I had read all of the ones in the library. I later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When I'm not jotting down poems at stoplights, I can be found hanging out with my "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters or stressing over performance classes at a model horse show.

I have both a Bachelors and Masters of Fine Art in graphic design, and my obsession with typography and layout naturally translates into formatting poetry on the page.

I live in Eagle, Idaho with my husband, two Boston Terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots.
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