Marie DesJardin published her first story in college and turned out the rest around day jobs. She writes novels, screenplays, and short speculative fiction ranging from humorous to dramatic, encompassing science fiction, fantasy, and alternative history. Marie is a sucker for animals -- even literally sucky ones -- travels extensively, and enjoys hiking in the mountains when they're not on fire.

Terri Bruce is the author of the paranormal/contemporary fantasy “Afterlife” series, which includes Hereafter (Afterlife #1) and Thereafter (Afterlife #2), and numerous short stories in various anthologies. She has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces hard-to-classify fantasy and science fiction stories that explore the supernatural side of everyday things from beautiful Downeast ME, where she lives with her husband and various cats. Visit her on the web at www.terribruce.net.

Past Bram Stoker Award(R) nominee James Dorr combines the charm of a gentleman born in the US South with the wiles of a near-New York City upbringing, the canniness of a one-time New England resident, and the guile of an outwardly stolid Midwesterner, or so he says. It is known that he was born in Florida, grew up in New Jersey, went to college in Massachusetts, and currently lives in Indiana where he harbors a Goth cat named Triana. He is a short story writer and poet working mainly in dark fantasy and horror with forays into science fiction and mystery, an active member of HWA and SFWA, and has previously worked as a technical writer for an academic computing center, associate editor on a city magazine, a nonfiction freelance writer, and a semi-professional Renaissance musician.

See http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com for more information on James's doings, past, present, and possible future. Feel free to drop a note as the spirit moves -- he's always happy to hear readers' comments, and often will answer, so let your friends know too.

Yorkshireman Philip Brian Hall is a graduate of Oxford University. A former diplomat and teacher, at one time or another he's stood for parliament, sung solos in amateur operettas, rowed at Henley Royal Regatta, completed a 40 mile cross-country walk in under 12 hours and ridden in over one hundred steeplechase horse races.

He's had short stories published in the USA and Canada as well as the UK and some of them are freely available on line.

Philip's novel, The Prophets of Baal, is available both in paperback and as an e-book. The exciting occult story is set in rural England, Jersey and the treacherous sea in between them.

Philip lives on a small farm in Scotland.

Lisa Timpf spent her early years living next to a farm on the outskirts of Simcoe, Ontario. Though the family moved into town when Timpf was nine years old, this early experience sparked a life-long interest in nature, especially birds and butterflies.

Timpf received a Bachelor of Physical Education degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, then went on to study Sport History at the Master's level at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During that time, she worked part-time as a sports writer at the Halifax Daily News.

After returning to her home province of Ontario, Timpf secured a job at Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ontario, where she worked in a variety of roles including Human Resources and Communications, before retiring in February of 2014.

Timpf's writing credits include several columns written for the Creemore Echo, in an independent newspaper in Creemore, Ontario, as well as appearances in six Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, and pieces written for Small Farm Canada. She has also self-published a collection of creative non-fiction and poetry entitled A Trail that Twines: Reflections on Life and Nature, and a non-fiction book, St. George's Lawn Tennis Club: The First Hundred Years.

Star Trek (The Original Series) and authors such as Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton sparked an interest in science fiction in Timpf's teenage years. After her retirement, Timpf tried her hand at writing sci-fi short stories, poetry, and book reviews. Her sci-fi writing has appeared in anthologies such as Dogs of War, From a Cat's View, Enter the Rebirth, and Mother's Revenge, and magazines and online zines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, New Myths, Star*Line, Liminality, and Apparition Lit.

In her younger years, Timpf was an avid athlete, participating in softball, field hockey, ball hockey, ice hockey, basketball, broomball, volleyball, badminton and track and field at various points in her life. Now confined to less strenuous pursuits, she enjoys organic gardening, cycling, and bird-watching.

As a scientist, Arthur has authored 100+ publications, and shares the 2008 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award for the discovery of Sprycel, a new anti-cancer drug. He writes hard science fiction, fantasy and horror. His debut novel, Algorithm, which is a story about DNA and the purpose of humanity, garnered a 2010 Royal Palm Literary Award (RPLA) and was published by E-Lit Books October 2014. He has published a number of short stories, many of which were finalists in RPLA competitions. A number of his short stories have garnered awards, which include Honorable Mentions in the international L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest and First Place in P&E Readers Polls. His recently completed Angela's Apple, a novel about angels who are not angels, won 1st place as Best SciFi Novel at the 2014 RPLA and will be published by Red Adept Publishing. His current project, Henry The Last, is about the last human being, a Lakota Indian cyborg. He lives in Florida with his wife Lidia, happily wandering the beaches and jousting with aliens.

You can find more about him, read his edgy science blogs, or enjoy his art work at www.ArthurMDoweyko.com

Wendy Nikel is a speculative fiction author with a degree in elementary education, a fondness for road trips, and a terrible habit of forgetting where she's left her cup of tea. Her short fiction has been published by Analog, Nature, Daily Science Fiction, and elsewhere. Her series of time travel novellas, beginning with THE CONTINUUM, was published by World Weaver Press. For more info, visit wendynikel.com