Wendy Heard
Wendy Heard is the author of acclaimed suspense and thriller novels for adults and teens. Wendy has spent most of her life in Los Angeles, California, which is on fire more than she would honestly prefer, and can often be found haunting local hiking trails and bookstores. She loves all things vintage and has a collection of thrillers and adventure books from the 80s. You can hear more from Wendy (and play some fun, murdery fiction games) through her newsletter at www.wendyheard.com.
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Emma Berquist
Emma Berquist grew up in Austin, TX and currently lives in New Zealand. She likes horror movies and dogs and dislikes brushing her hair and writing bios.
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Catherine McKenzie
Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill in History and Law, Catherine practiced law in Montreal for twenty years before retiring to write full time. An avid runner and skier, she's the author of numerous bestsellers including HIDDEN, FRACTURED, THE and the GOOD LIAR. I'LL NEVER TELL was a #1 Amazon Bestseller, a Globe & Mail and Toronto Star Bestseller, shortlisted for the Hugh McLennan Prize for Fiction.
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On April 30, 2024 Catherine will publish the first in a new funny mystery series named EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES as Catherine Mack. -
Ren DeStefano
Ren DeStefano lives in Connecticut, where she was born and raised. When she’s not writing thrillers, she’s listening to true crime podcasts and crocheting way too many blankets.
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Autumn Cornwell
Squat toilets, profuse sweating, jumbo centipedes, ear nibbling—these are just some of the delights I’ve encountered in my global adventures, which inspired my first YA comedic adventure, CARPE DIEM, published in the U.S. by Macmillan, followed by foreign editions in Germany (“Guten Tag!”), the Netherlands, and China. The novel follows the story of overachiever Vassar Spore who is forced to backpack through Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos with her wacky bohemian grandma—and experiences enough misadventures to last a lifetime. Most of which (fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be) really happened to me!
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My work with the refugees and persecuted minority groups of Southeast Asia inspired my latest YA comedic adventure, NEVER SORRY EVER -
Amy Suiter Clarke
Amy Suiter Clarke is an acclaimed author. Her debut psychological thriller Girl, 11 was an Amazon Editors pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense and received praise in The New York Times, Mystery and Suspense Magazine, CrimeReads, Book Riot and more. Her second novel Lay Your Body Down was a New York Times Book Review recommended thriller and People Magazine must-read thriller of the summer. Originally from a small town in Minnesota, she completed a BA in Theater in the Twin Cities then earned an MFA in Creative Writing with Publishing at Kingston University in London. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. Her fiction has been translated into twelve languages and published in fifteen territories around the world.
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Victoria Wlosok
Victoria Wlosok is the author of the young adult thrillers How to Find a Missing Girl and Six Must Die. A recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in English and Business Administration, she now spends her time researching methods of murder for future books, attempting to break out of escape rooms, and teaching language arts in the mountains of the Czech Republic. She invites you to follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and X @xvictoriawrites, or visit her website at victoriawlosok.com.
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Ash Parsons
Ash Parsons is a graduate of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Clown College as well as other, more traditional schools. She is a PEN America Literary Award Winner for the Phyllis Naylor Fellowship, and a Literary Arts Fellow for the Alabama State Council of the Arts. She previously taught English to middle and high school students, as well as teaching creative writing through Troy University’s ACCESS program and Media Studies at Auburn University. Ash has spent some time stumbling around as a zombie on The Walking Dead and lives in Alabama with her family.
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Lindsay Cameron
Lindsay Cameron worked as a corporate lawyer for many years in Vancouver and New York City before leaving the law behind to write books. She is the author of Biglaw and Just One Look. She lives in New York City where she is currently at work on her next book.
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Timothy S. Lane
Tim Lane’s words have appeared in The Los Angeles Review, Emerald City, X-R-A-Y, BULL, and Monkey Bicycle among others. He lives in Portland, Oregon where he has been a Writer in the Schools for Literary Arts. These days, he is a stay-at-home father for two boys. His novel, Rules for Becoming a Legend, is out now from Viking Press.
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Jill Churchill
A pseudonym used by Janice Young Brooks.
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Jill Churchill, winner of the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers Awards, and nominated for an Anthony for her best-selling Jane Jeffry series, lives as Jane does, in a midwestern suburb. On purpose! She says writing this series and the Grace and Favor series is the best treat she can have without a knife and fork.
Under her real name, Janice Young Brooks, and various pseudonyms, she's written historical novels, a gothic novel, and a history textbook as well as many articles for newspapers and magazines. When she's not writing, she's avidly doing genealogy which she says is a lot like mysteries with all the red herrings, clues, speculations, and surprises.
She gardens enthusiastically, needlepoints supe -
Julia Lynn Rubin
Julia Lynn Rubin lives the writer's life in Brooklyn. She earned an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults at The New School in 2017, and for three years, served as a writing mentor for Girls Write Now, New York City's premiere writing program for high school girls.
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Julia has been writing books, poems, and stories since first grade, and loves reading about everything from film analysis to psychology. Her short stories have appeared in publications such as the North American Review, Sierra Nevada Review, and The Lascaux Review, and she writes for a variety of online publications, including BuzzFeed, Penguin Random House (GetUnderlined.com), and Road2College.com, among others.
Julia is passionate about realism and diversity in teen literatu -
Jordan Sonnenblick
I am the author of seven books for children and young adults, including Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. So if youʼre looking for info about some other guy named Jordan Sonnenblick, youʼve got the wrong website.
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Anyway, I know a lot of people are looking for stuff they can use in reports for school, so Iʼll just get this out of the way right up front:
My favorite color is blue.
I have a wife and two kids.
The best pet I ever had was a garter snake I caught when I was eight by a lake in Pennsylvania. I named the snake Hector. Then it gave birth to 20 baby snakes, so I changed its name to Hectoria.
My all-time favorite band is the Beatles, although I like a ton of different music.
My hobbies are playing the drums, guitar, and bass; riding my bicycle a -
Andrea Contos
Andrea Contos is an award-winning writer of young adult mysteries and thrillers. She is the author of OUT OF THE FIRE (Scholastic, 10/19/21) and TELL ME NO LIES (Scholastic 2022.)
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Her debut, THROWAWAY GIRLS, was named Best Young Adult Novel by International Thriller Writers (ITW) for 2021, and was also a Kirkus Best Book of 2020.
Andrea is a Pitch Wars 2018-2020 Mentor, a 2017 Mentee, and a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Andrea is represented by Chelsea Eberly of The Greenhouse Literary Agency. -
Margot Harrison
Margot Harrison was raised in the wilds of New York by lovely, nonviolent parents who somehow never managed to prevent her from staying up late to read scary books. She now works at an alt-weekly newspaper in Vermont, where her favorite part of the job is, of course, reviewing scary books and movies.
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Katherine Lin
Katherine Lin is a writer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her debut novel is forthcoming from Harper in 2023. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Stanford Law School.
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Trinity Doyle
Trinity grew up in the suburbs of Lake Macquarie. The kind of kid who would rather write lines than play sport she found her home in books, writing and art. She’s worked as a music photographer, graphic designer; been one half of a diy record label and played bass terribly but enthusiastically in various girl bands.
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At 25 she took her vague emo poetry and wrote a novel. Then she spent five years rewriting it. The ASA called her work ‘edgy [and] convincing’ and she thinks that’s pretty neat.
Trinity lives in Newcastle NSW, with her husband, daughter and cat. Pieces of Sky is her first novel -
Joy Fielding
Joy Fielding (née Tepperman; born March 18, 1945) is a Canadian novelist and actress. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
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Born in Toronto, Ontario, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As Joy Tepperman, she had a brief acting career, appearing in the film Winter Kept Us Warm (1965) and in an episode of Gunsmoke. She later changed her last name to Fielding (after Henry Fielding) and began writing novels.
Fielding is also the screenwriter of the television film Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story.
At the age of 8, Joy Tepperman wrote her first story and sent it into a local magazine, and at age 12 sent in her first TV script, however both were rejected. She had a brief acting career, e -
April Henry
I write mysteries and thrillers. I live in Portland, Oregon with my family.
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If you've read one of my books, I would love to hear from you. Hearing from readers makes me eager to keep writing.
When I was 12, I sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine.
My dream of writing went dormant until I was in my 30s, working at a corporate job, and started writing books on the side. Those first few years are now thankfully a blur. Now I'm very lucky to make a living doing what I love. I have written 27 novels for adults and teens, with more on the way. My books have been o -
T. Greenwood
T. Greenwood is the author of sixteen novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council. She has won four San Diego Book Awards. Five of her novels have been IndieNext picks. BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award and KEEPING LUCY was a Target Book Club selection.
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She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer's Ink and The Writer's Center. She and her family split their time between San Diego and Vermont. She is also a photographer.
More information on T. Greenwood can be found at her websites: http://www.tgreenwood.com -
Behcet Kaya
Behcet Kaya is the author of nine novels. His first literary fiction novel, Voice of Conscience, follows, to some extent, his own life experiences. His second novel, Murder on the Naval Base is a fast-paced who-done-it, his recently published third novel, Road to Siran, Erin’s Story is the eagerly awaited sequel to Voice of Conscience and the fourth Treacherous Estate is a crime thriller and the fifth Body in the Woods, Appellant Judge. Murder in Buckhead, Uncanny Alliance, Deception.
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Born in northeastern Turkey, Behcet grew up in a very small village with long held traditions. His rebellious nature emerged at an early age and by time he was ten, he had read, in secret, all the Turkish translated stories of Mike Hammer. In addition, he read -
Gretchen McNeil
Gretchen McNeil is the author of the YA horror/suspense novels POSSESS, 3:59, RELIC, GET EVEN, GET DIRTY, and TEN (a YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, a Romantic Times Top Pick, and a Booklist Top Ten Horror Fiction for Youth) all with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins. Gretchen’s first YA contemporary I’M NOT YOUR MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL, also with Balzer + Bray, hit shelves in 2016, and her next novel will be the horror-comedy #MURDERTRENDING for Disney/Freeform in August 2018.
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Gretchen’s novels have been published internationally in Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, and Czech. The film adaptation of TEN starring China Anne McClain (Descendants 2, Black Lightning), Rome Flynn (The Bold and the Beautiful), and Callan McAulif -
Delilah S. Dawson
Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma, Black Spire: Galaxy's Edge, and The Perfect Weapon. With Kevin Hearne, she writes the Tales of Pell. As Lila Bowen, she writes the Shadow series, beginning with Wake of Vultures. Her other books include the Blud series, the Hit series, and Servants of the Storm.
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She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at www.whimsydark.com. -
Carter Wilson
Carter Wilson is the USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of ten psychological thrillers, known for their intense emotion, tight pacing, and haunting twists. His books have received starred reviews from every major trade publication, have been optioned for film and television, and his 2025 novel Tell Me What You Did was selected as a national monthly pick by Barnes & Noble.
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In addition to his fiction, Carter is the creator and host of Making It Up, a podcast featuring unscripted, revealing conversations with fellow writers about the creative process. He is also the founder of Unbound Writer, a company devoted to helping writers find their voice through coaching, immersive retreats, and online classes.
A seasoned public speaker a -
Sarah Glenn Marsh
Sarah Glenn Marsh has been an avid fantasy reader since the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life. She believes we all deserve happy endings and is an author of books for everyone, including many young adult, middle grade, and picture book titles.
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She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her family, including one sweet daughter, one slightly dull sword, and the chaos of many pets, like a turtle named Muffin who she definitely did not bring back from any haunted swamp. Our Rogue Fates is her first adult novel. -
Jessie Weaver
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Before writing about flawed, funny teens with big hearts, Jessie Weaver spent ten years teaching them English. She completed the Stanford University online novel writing program in 2019. Though she’s an East Coast girl at heart, she currently lives in Colorado with her husband and two daughters. Live Your Best Lie is her first novel. -
Charlie Donlea
Charlie Donlea is the USA TODAY, IndieBound, and #1 Internationally bestselling author of critically acclaimed, propulsive thrillers including THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, DON'T BELIEVE IT, TWENTY YEARS LATER, and THOSE EMPTY EYES. His ninth thriller, GUESS AGAIN, is out now.
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Published in 40 countries and translated into twenty-five languages, his books have sold nearly 3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane. These majestic trips to “God’s Country” inspired the settings for his novels Summit Lake and GUESS AGAIN, coming in August 2025.
He resides in Chicago with his wife and two children. -
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Kyra Leigh
Kyra Leigh grew up in Utah playing classical piano. She and her four sisters were homeschooled and spent most of their time reading. She works off and on at the annual Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR.com) workshop. She loves to travel, hike, and talk books with her friends. You can visit Kyra on Facebook, Instagram, and on the blog she shares with her Mom, ThrowingUpWords.Wordpress.com. Reaper is her first novel.
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S.E. Lynes
S. E. Lynes is the #1 Amazon best selling author of THE HOUSEWARMING, and 'intelligent and haunting' psychological thrillers, VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE, CAN YOU SEE HER? and HER SISTER'S SECRET
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Formerly a BBC producer, after gaining an MA in Creative Writing, she became a Creative Writing Tutor at Richmond Adult Community College and now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing. She has also published three children's books in Italy.
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Liv Constantine
Liv Constantine is the pen name of sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine. Lynne and Valerie are New York Times and international bestselling authors with over two million copies sold worldwide. Their books have been translated into 29 languages, are available in 34 countries, and are in development for both television and film. Their books have been praised by The Washington Post, USA Today, The Sunday Times, People Magazine, and Good Morning America, among many others. Their debut novel, THE LAST MRS. PARRISH, is a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection. Visit Liv at www.livconstantine.com
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Jennifer Dugan
Jennifer Dugan is a writer, geek, and romantic who writes the kinds of stories she wishes she had growing up. In addition to being a young adult novelist, she is also the writer/creator of two indie comics. She lives in New York with her family, dogs, and an evil cat that is no doubt planning to take over the world.
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Rachael Lippincott
Rachael Lippincott is the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart. She holds a BA in English writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she currently resides in Pittsburgh with her wife and their dog, Hank.
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Diana Urban
Diana Urban is a bestselling, award-winning author of dark, twisty thrillers, including All Your Twisted Secrets and Under the Surface, an Indie Next Pick and Junior Library Guild selection, and her novels have been published internationally. When she’s not torturing her fictional characters, she freelances in video game narrative writing and previously worked in digital marketing for startups. She lives with her husband and cat in Boston and enjoys reading, playing video games, fawning over cute animals, and looking at the beach from a safe distance. Connect with her on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok.
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(Diana doesn't use Goodreads, but you can contact her here.) -
Chelsea Ichaso
Chelsea Ichaso writes twisty thrillers for young adults and is also the author of the adult thriller, So I Lied. Her novel, The Summer She Went Missing, earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, a spot on Barnes & Noble’s Best of 2024 list, and was a 2025 TAYSHAS reading list selection. Her latest release, We Were Warned, is a Junior Library Guild Selection and has been featured on Marie Claire’s list of the 18 Most Anticipated Mystery Thrillers of 2025 as well as Goodreads Guide to 2025’s Biggest Mysteries & Thrillers. Chelsea currently resides in Southern California with her husband and children. When she’s not writing, she can be found cheering from the sidelines at her kids' soccer games or attempting to strum a tune on the guita
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Marie Hoy-Kenny
Marie Hoy-Kenny attended the University of Toronto, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Professional Writing and Communication. Her work has been published in several literary magazines, including trampset, Cosmonauts Avenue, and FlashBack Fiction. Her debut novel, THE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN, was published by Blackstone Publishing in 2023. Her short story INCARNATION will be published in Blackstone’s first SHADOW LAB anthology in November 2024, and her debut picture book, THIS PLANT IS NOT BORING, will be published in April 2025 by Orca Book Publishers.
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Olivia Worley
Olivia Worley is an author born and raised in New Orleans. A graduate of Northwestern University, she now lives in NYC, where she spends her time writing thrillers, over-analyzing episodes of The Bachelor, and hoping someone will romanticize her for reading on the subway.
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Victoria Wlosok
Victoria Wlosok is the author of the young adult thrillers How to Find a Missing Girl and Six Must Die. A recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in English and Business Administration, she now spends her time researching methods of murder for future books, attempting to break out of escape rooms, and teaching language arts in the mountains of the Czech Republic. She invites you to follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and X @xvictoriawrites, or visit her website at victoriawlosok.com.
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Adam Scott Huerta
Debuting with his four-part book series—MOTIVE BLACK—Adam Scott Huerta focuses on transgressive fiction designed to shock, entertain, and illuminate readers with provocative storytelling and unconventional themes. A free thinker, he resides in Pennsylvania, where he continues to write and explore challenging ideas.
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Willa C. Richards
Willa C. Richards is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review and she is a recipient of a PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize for Emerging Writers. THE COMFORT OF MONSTERS is her first novel.
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Jessica Hamilton
Jessica Hamilton was born in Australia but grew up in Canada. She has lived and worked in the Czech Republic, Taiwan, India and Japan. She studied writing at the Humber School for Writers as well as George Brown College. She lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband, son, and daughter. Her debut novel is titled What You Never Knew, her second novel titled, Don’t You Dare, are both thrillers and published by Crooked Lane Books.
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Jen Wilde
Jen Wilde (she/they) is the queer, disabled author of QUEENS OF GEEK, THE BRIGHTSIDERS and GOING OFF SCRIPT.
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They write unapologetically queer stories about unlikely heroes, awkward romantics and chosen families. Jen’s books have been praised in Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Autostraddle, Vulture and Bustle. Their debut, QUEENS OF GEEK, made the 2018 Rainbow Book List and the Amelia Bloomer List.
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Jen lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her wife, where she collects books, candles and foster cats. When she isn’t writing, Jen spends her time shouting about queer books on TikTok.
Connect with her online @jenwildebooks or visit her website: jenwildebooks.com. -
Kyra Leigh
Kyra Leigh grew up in Utah playing classical piano. She and her four sisters were homeschooled and spent most of their time reading. She works off and on at the annual Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR.com) workshop. She loves to travel, hike, and talk books with her friends. You can visit Kyra on Facebook, Instagram, and on the blog she shares with her Mom, ThrowingUpWords.Wordpress.com. Reaper is her first novel.
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Marie Hoy-Kenny
Marie Hoy-Kenny attended the University of Toronto, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Professional Writing and Communication. Her work has been published in several literary magazines, including trampset, Cosmonauts Avenue, and FlashBack Fiction. Her debut novel, THE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN, was published by Blackstone Publishing in 2023. Her short story INCARNATION will be published in Blackstone’s first SHADOW LAB anthology in November 2024, and her debut picture book, THIS PLANT IS NOT BORING, will be published in April 2025 by Orca Book Publishers.
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Tara Austen Weaver
Tara Austen Weaver writes about the big, wide world: food, travel, culture, the environment, art, and adventure in its many guises. A Northern California native, she has lived in five countries on three continents and is happiest either exploring with a notebook and camera, or spending the day in a kitchen learning how people feed themselves (the best stories always get told in the kitchen). Tara loves to write about farmers, environmentalists, artists, and other passion-driven individuals. She has a hard time picking a favorite spot on earth, but it might just be at 7,000 ft. in the backcountry. Or on a small island. Or in a sailboat. And definitely at a dinner table, surrounded by friends or intriguing strangers.
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Abigail Haas
Abigail Haas has written two adult novels and four young adult contemporary novels under the name Abby McDonald. Dangerous Girls is her first young adult thriller. She grew up in Sussex, England, and studied Politics, Philosophy & Economics at Oxford University. She lives in Los Angeles.
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Nicole Hackett
Nicole lives with her husband and two kids in a very old house in the farmlands of northern Maryland, where she works as a biochemical patent agent. In addition to being an author, she is one of those annoying people who run on vacation.
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Judy Huddleston
Judy Huddleston is an author, artist, and teacher living on the West Coast. She received a BFA from California Institute of the Arts and MFA from Eastern Washington University. Her nonfiction, fiction and poetry has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, The Collagist, Wilderness Press, Mudlark, New South, Wordriot, Flashquake, the Penwood Review, NANOFiction and other journals. Her memoir, LOVE HIM MADLY will be published this June by Chicago Review Press. Her book, This is the End, My Only Friend, was published in 1991. She has recently completed another memoir in a flash-nonfiction, OUR OWN PRIVATE IDAHO. A native of California, she currently teaches writing and integrated arts at California State University at Monterey Bay.
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Amy Young
Amy Young is an author, comedian, and actor based in Cleveland. After spending a decade in Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry and writing her debut novel, The Water Tower, she returned to Ohio to be closer to family. Amy is working on her second book, a thriller, and in her free time she enjoys going to the theatre, bingeing reality TV, and spending time with her husband and many, many cats. She has a B.A. in English from Kenyon College.
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