Freelance writer, novelist, award-winning screenwriter, editor, poker player, poet, biker, Travis Heermann is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, an Active member of SFWA and the HWA, and the author of the Tokyo Blood Magic, The Hammer Falls, The Ronin Trilogy, and other novels. His more than thirty short stories appear in Baen Books’ anthology Straight Outta Deadwood, plus Apex Magazine, Tales to Terrify, Fiction River, Cemetery Dance’s Shivers VII, and others. As a freelance writer, he has contributed a metric ton of work to such game properties as Firefly Roleplaying Game, Legend of Five Rings, EVE Online, and BattleTech, for which he’s been nominated for a Scribe Award.

He enjoys cycling, collecting martial arts styles and belts, torturing young minds with otherworldly ideas, and monsters of every flavor, especially those with a soft, creamy center.

THE PORTABLE NINE: The Kirkus Review

A reinvigorated gang of nine fearless yet curiously likable villains springs into action.

Mesling’s rousing thriller features a clever hit man named Davenport, known in underworld arenas as the “Mad Marksman of Malta.” Readers first meet Davenport in Florence, Italy, hard at work discreetly vanquishing international cargo negotiator Max Brindle. But this time, a rare mechanical malfunction occurs, and the hit on Brindle is botched, which sets in motion a series of deadly revenge plots. Meanwhile, crime syndicate figurehead Black Phantom, believing Brindle to be slaughtered, makes Davenport his target in a retaliation scheme that threatens the hit man’s family and ignites a vicious battle between the two men. In order to arm himself to the fullest extent, Davenport contacts a bevy of slick, vicious evildoers who are part of a group known as “The Portable Nine.” All of them exhibit unique monikers and lethal specialties. With the formation of this team of lawless underdogs, the author’s multifaceted story shifts into high gear. Chapter by chapter, Davenport’s deadly band is individually unveiled, each with distinctive details and personality quirks that keep the action popping and readers turning pages; there is nary a dull moment in this novel. These warriors, though most “likely to be out of shape and out of practice,” are urgently summoned after years apart and recruited back into action from the comfort of hiding places ranging from Los Angeles and the Midwest to the Australian Outback.

In this top-notch tale, Mesling takes great care to ensure the group is comprised of a formidable lot: not the average “workaday thug and cookie-cutter hit man” but a posse of “outcasts, criminals, egotists, and lunatics” sharing a unifying code of ethics. When gathered together, they form “a country unto themselves.” Alongside kingpin Davenport, the Nine include the hatchet-brandishing Butcher; fidgety Twitch Markham; the intimidating, business-minded Robin Varnesse; and brutal Chicagoan Miranda Gissing, a fierce fighter. They are joined by cunning former porn actress Lovinia Dulcet, who brandishes two Japanese steel skewers as her “Twin Delights” weapons of choice; Australian motorcyclist and macho man Abel Hazard, who surgically removed the fear center from his brain in order to become an audacious killer; and sightless Mr. Bonnet and his integral psychiatrist sidekick, Dr. Intaglio, who are sketchy spies for the Black Phantom and rejoin the others to infiltrate and leak intelligence. All fearless and mercilessly primed, the group is assembled by Davenport to help him put an end to the Black Phantom’s revenge plot to capture and exterminate the Nine (and a larger, associated terrorist scheme as well). Electronic trackers, blow darts, and a desert showdown provide the riveting conclusion while leaving the door ajar for further adventures now that the team has regrouped and dusted off its talents. The author keeps all his characters spinning, though some naturally dominate, right through the rather rushed but satisfying ending.

A creatively conceived, over-the-top thriller with plenty of room for more delicious treachery.

Pete Mesling has published two novels (The Portable Nine for adults and The Maker-Man of Merryville for children); two short-story collections (Jagged Edges & Moving Parts and The Wages of Crime); and a volume of poetry (Imperfect Lodgings). He has had fiction appear in such publications as Independent Legions Publishing’s All-American Horror of the 21st Century, the First Decade: 2000 - 2010 and Shallow Waters, Vol. 3, from Crystal Lake Publishing. He also had the pleasure of working directly with the late Richard Matheson on an online retrospective of his career in film and television.

Mesling is the official Clive Barker proofreader for Gauntlet Press.

Michael H. Hanson is the Creator of the Sha'Daa shared-world, horror/fantasy anthology series (currently consisting of "Sha'Daa: TALES OF THE APOCALYPSE," "Sha'Daa: LAST CALL," "Sha'Daa: PAWNS," "Sha'Daa: FACETS," "Sha'Daa: INKED," "Sha'Daa: TOYS," and "SHA'DAA: ZOMBIE PARK") all published by Moondream Press (an imprint of Copper Dog Publishing LLC). Two new Sha'Daa Novella Anthologies ("SHA'DAA" WAR" & "SHA'DAA: SALESMAN") and a new Novel (SHA'DAA: AERONAUTS") are all currently being written.

Michael has written and sold six collections of poetry to date: "Autumn Blush" and "Jubilant Whispers", both from Racket River Press, "DARK PARCHMENTS: Midnight Curses and Verses" and "WHEN THE NIGHT OWL SCREAMS", both from Moondream Press, and "ANDROID GIRL And Other Sentient Publications" and "QUARANTINE WORLD" from Three Ravens Publishing LLC.

In the upcoming year Michael will be finalizing and locking down the shared-world anthology he Created and is Editing, "NOT TO YIELD," an epic, multi-character science fiction adventure inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, and co-written by an incredibly imaginative and talented team of authors.

Michael is also one of the current authors appearing in Janet Morris's recently resurrected Heroes-in-Hell shared-world series, and has had short stories published in the anthologies: "Lawyers in Hell," "Dreamers in Hell," "Rogues in Hell," "Poets in Hell," "Doctors in Hell," "Pirates in Hell," "Lovers in Hell," and the soon to be published "Mystics in Hell."

Naching T. Kassa is a member of the Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, and a staff writer at Crystal Lake Publishing. She resides in Eastern Washington State with her husband Dan. They are the proud parents of three children and a dog.

Lee Murray is an author, editor, poet, and screenwriter of speculative fiction and horror from Aotearoa-New Zealand. A USA Today Bestselling author and four-time Bram Stoker Award winner, she is her country's only recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award for psychological horror. She lives in the sunny Bay of Plenty with her well-behaved family and a naughty dog.

Amanda Hard holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Murray State University. Her horror fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and print anthologies and her flash fiction has been featured in three graphic collections from The Daily Nightmare. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association and lives in the cornfields of southern Indiana with her husband and son.

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8, as well as many others.

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. She is a recipient of the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant and has received the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for non-fiction writing.

Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and most recently, The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press.

Follow Wytovich at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter and Instagram @SWytovich​ and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can also find her essays, nonfiction, and class offerings on LitReactor.

John Claude Smith has had three collections (The Dark is Light Enough for Me, Autumn in the Abyss, and Occasional Beasts: Tales), three limited edition chapbooks (Dandelions, Vox Terrae, The Anti-Everything), and one regular chapbook (The Wrath of Concrete and Steel) published. His debut novel, Riding the Centipede, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. His second novel, The Wilderness Within, was published by Trepidatio/JournalStone October 6, 2017. His latest collection, Occasional Beasts: Tales, was published by Omnium Gatherum in September of 2018.

He splits his time between the East Bay of northern California, across from San Francisco, and Rome, Italy, where his heart resides always.

Words Matter!

His blog, The Wilderness Within, deals with writing (of course), music, art--whatever strikes his fancy. http://thewildernesswithinbyjohnclaudesmith.blogspot.com/

Marty Young (www.martyyoung.com) is a Bram Stoker-nominated and Australian Shadows Award-winning writer and editor, and sometimes ghost hunter. He was the founding President of the Australian Horror Writers Association from 2005-2010, and one of the creative minds behind the internationally acclaimed Midnight Echo magazine, for which he also served as Executive Editor until mid-2013.

Marty’s first novel, 809 Jacob Street, was published in 2013 by Black Beacon Books, and won the Australian Shadows Award for Best Horror Novel. His novel was also given an Honorable Mention in Shelf Unbound's Page Turner competition.

His short horror fiction has been nominated for both the Australian Shadows and Ditmar awards, reprinted in Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror (‘the best of 2008’), and repeatedly included in year’s best recommended reading lists. Marty’s essays on horror literature have been published in journals and university textbooks in Australia and India, and he was also co-editor of the award winning Macabre; A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears, a landmark anthology showcasing the best Australian horror stories from 1836 to the present.

When not writing, he spends his time in the deep dark jungles of Papua New Guinea as a palynologist, whatever the heck that is.

Michael Arnzen (http://gorelets.com) is an award-winning author of horror and dark suspense fiction, a poet, and an English professor. His trophy case includes four Bram Stoker Awards and an International Horror Guild Award for his often funny, always disturbing stories. The best of these appear in the Bram Stoker Award-winning career-length retrospective, Proverbs for Monsters, which Dread Central called "a guided tour of insanity and the macabre, with a few moments of touching grace combined with repulsive terror...[which] serves to document the evolution of a great writer."

Arnzen holds a PhD in English from the University of Oregon (where he researched his non-fiction book, The Popular Uncanny) and he is presently a Professor at Seton Hill University, where he teaches horror and suspense fiction in the country's only graduate program in Writing Popular Fiction (http://fiction.setonhill.edu).

Arnzen resides near Pittsburgh, PA.

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"In a little over a decade, Michael A. Arnzen has achieved what few writers manage in a lifetime. He has become the master of a brand of literature that is uniquely his own, and I do not doubt that his approach to horror will soon (if it has not already) be referred to as 'Arnzenian.' When you begin an Arnzen story, you embark on a journey where the old maps do not apply. Soon you find yourself deep in new territory, barreling through landscapes more fascinating and twisted than any previously encountered. Be assured, you will be amazed, startled, amused, and creeped out along the way, but whatever the road has in store, you will not be able to stop reading until the story ends. Horrifying, captivating, ironic -- Arnzenian! -- the works of Michael A. Arnzen are in a class all their own. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride!" -- Lawrence C. Connolly, author of Veins

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G. O. Clark was born in Norfolk, MA in 1945. His writing has been published in Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog, Talebones Magazine, Strange Horizons, Retro Spec: Tales of Fantasy and Nostalgia, A Sea Of Alone: Poems For Alfred Hitchcock, Tales Of The Talisman, Space & Time, Daily SF, and many other publications. He's the author of 15 poetry collections, including, "White Shift", 2012, from Sam's Dot Publishing. A fiction collection, "The Saucer Under My Bed & Other Stories", was also published by Sam's Dot Publishing in 2011.

He won the Asimov's Readers Award for poetry in 2001, and was a Stoker Award finalist for poetry in 2012. He retired from the University of California, Davis in 2008, where he worked in the library for many years. He currently lives in Davis, CA in a not-so-mobile home with lots of books, cds, and collectable clutter.

His latest speculative poetry collection is titled, "Easy Travel To The Stars", 2020, from Alban Lake Publshing, and latest fiction collection, "Twists & Turns", 2016, also from Alban Lake Publishing. Review of the later;

TWISTS & TURNS by G. O. Clark

"Always delightful and surprising, author G. O. Clark’s newest short fiction collection is aptly named. In seventeen clever, strange, and utterly enjoyable tales, the author writes of attractive young zombies, space creatures, a shape changer, a most oddly haunted house, a real Tom Thumb, a grieving widow, a space abductees, and so much more. Mr. Clark turns the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres on their respective heads, producing stories that make you wonder whether to laugh or shriek—or both! TWISTS & TURNS is a serpentine adventure into weirdness most grand. Enjoy!"

Reviewed by J. Comeau online at Creature Features Tomb Of Horror, 5/20/18

For photos and more details about G. O. Clark's life and work, go to -

http://goclarkpoet.weebly.com/

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including What Remains, Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous Tales, Arterial Bloom, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Weird Dream Society, Hath No Fury, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, VI, and VIII. She has also written stories set in shared worlds for RPGs at Green Ronin Publishing and Onyx Path Publishing. In addition to writing, she has edited several projects; the most recent is in the role as co-editor for the award-winning anthology Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas.

As an educator, Carina has taught at Pikes Peak Community College, Glendale Community College, and Arizona State University. She also participated in the Colorado Writing Project and works with educators to develop writing instruction in college and secondary school classrooms. She currently offers workshops focused on story generation at The Storied Imaginarium. Her fiction has been nominated for the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and was a finalist for the Ron L. Hubbard Writers of the Future Awards. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award. In her editorial capacity, she’s received recognition as a Winner at the Colorado Book Awards 2022 (Anthology) and as a Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2022 International Book Awards.

Lori R. Lopez wears many hats as an award-winning author and poet of Horror, Speculative and Literary Fiction, Fantasy and more. She is also an artist, musician, songwriter, actress, filmmaker, tree-hugger, activist, vegan, and animal-lover. Lori roamed graveyards as a kid and conducted funerals for dead birds, squirrels, insects and spiders. Her offbeat books include The Dark Mister Snark, Leery Lane, An Ill Wind Blows, Darkverse:  The Shadow Hours, Odds & Ends, The Strange Tail Of Oddzilla, The Fairy Fly, the Poetic Reflections Book Series, and The Witchhunt.

A member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA), and Lewis Carroll Society Of North America (LCSNA), Lori has been nominated for an Elgin Award, a Finalist in the Kindle Book Awards, and received multiple top honors from other competitions including the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards and San Diego Book Awards for prose, poetry, and artwork. Her poems "Crop Circles" and "Nocturnal Embers" were nominated for the Rhysling Award in 2020, "Social Graces" and "The Whistle Stop" in 2021, "Biting Sarcasm" in 2022, "The Whippoorwill" and "If Houses Could Talk" in 2023.

Stories and verse have appeared in The Sirens Call, The Horror Zine, Space & Time Magazine, Spectral Realms, JOURN-E, Weirdbook, Bewildering Stories (with an Editor's Choice for "creatures of the macabre"), Impspired, Altered Reality, Aphelion, Oddball Magazine, Terror Tract, Hellnotes, Servante Of Darkness, and anthologies such as California Screamin' (the Foreword Poem), HWA Poetry Showcase Volumes (II, III, V, VI, and IX), Journals Of Horror, Grey Matter Monsters, Dead Harvest, Fearful Fathoms I, Terror Train I and II, Cellar Door III: Animals (Editor's Choice Award winner), Trickster's Treats #3, Speculations III (Weird Poets Society), Undead Legacy, Bones II, Ghosts: Revenge, Mirages: Tales From Authors Of The Macabre, Darlings Of Decay, Masters Of Horror: Damned If You Don't, and In Darkness We Play.

Visit fairyflyentertainment.com, a website Lori shares with her two talented sons. They have a Folk Band called The Fairyflies. You can view Author Readings, Music Videos and more at the Fairy Fly Entertainment YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@FairyFly

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Hi! I write science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror short stories and poetry.

My poetry has been published in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. 6, The Wayfarer: A Journal of Contemplative Literature, Eternal Haunted Summer, Illumen, and FrostFire Worlds. Other poems have appeared in the anthologies Beneath Strange Stars and Wicked Witches. My short fiction has been published by Luna Station Quarterly, the anthologies The Deep Dark Woods, Killing It Softly (Vol.1), The Final Summons, and Wicked Women. My first chapbook of poetry, Interview with the Faerie (Part One): and Other Poems of Darkness and Light was published in 2013.

I’m working on a collection of short stories and poetry, several new short stories, and some paintings. I have a novel on the back shelf, collecting dust. And probably spiders.

You can find me paneling at some New England-area scifi conferences. You can also find me online at http://suzannereynoldsalpert.com/. You’ll always find me drinking coffee.

Querus Abuttu (Dr. Q.) is a retired Navy Veteran, Forensic Nurse, Certified Nurse Midwife and Qualitative Researcher. She earned a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University, and a Ph.D. in Public Health focusing on military interpersonal violence. Dr. Q. enjoys interviewing experts in their field and learning from local people about the areas they are from. She lives in the wilds of Virginia and hunts untamed spectres in the back-country by the James River. She knows what a BeJezzus really is and invites you to the strange town of Iron Shores where events are beyond normal and so are the people!

See the Interview-- Nine Questions With Querus Abuttu. http://theflipsideofjulianne.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/nine-questions-with-querus-abuttu/

Publications:

"Red Run" (anthology) in The Monstrous Feminine

"What Crawls Beneath" as Sin Fergus (anthology) in Terror Politico

"Last Natural Woman" (anthology) in Mother's Revenge

"Sapient Farm" (novel) First in the Sapient File trilogy. Spec-Fic/Dark Sci-Fi 2014

"Black Widow" (poem) in online magazine, "69 Flavors of Paranoia."

"Scraggles" (short story) in online magazine, "69 Flavors of Paranoia."

"Center Mass" (short story) in Hazard Yet Forward Anthology 2013

"Pitter Patter" (short story) in Pantheon Magazine, Spring 2013

"Green Waters" (short story) in Pantheon Magazine, Spring 2014

"Flesh Trap" (short story) in Forever Vacancy: Colors in Darkness Anthology, January 2017

"Last Natural Woman) Short Story in Mother's Revenge, 2017

"Beginding" (poem) HWA Poetry Showcase Volume V 2018

“Rad Bodies” and “What Crawls Beneath”(as Sin Fergus) in Terror Politico Anthology January 2019.

"Red Run" (short story) in The Monstrous Feminine: Dark Tales of Dangerous Women 2019

"Crone" (poem) HWA Poetry Showcase Volume VI 2019

Literary Achievements/Awards:

KillerCon 4, September 2012: 2nd place winner in the "Gross Out" contest.

KillerCon 5, September 2013: 1st place winner in the "Gross Out" contest.

World Horror Con/ Horror Writer's Association (WHC/HWA) May 2014: 3rd place winner in the "Gross Out" contest.

Anna Taborska was born in London, England. She is a filmmaker and writer of horror stories, screenplays and poetry. Anna has written and directed two short fiction films, two documentaries and award-winning TV drama 'The Rain Has Stopped'. She also worked on eighteen other films and was involved in the making of two major BBC television series: 'Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution' and 'World War Two behind Closed Doors - Stalin, the Nazis and the West'. Her stories have appeared in a number of Year's Best anthologies, including 'The Best Horror of the Year Volume Four' and 'Best British Horror 2014'. Anna's short story 'Bagpuss' was an Eric Hoffer Award Honouree, and the screenplay adaptation of her story 'Little Pig' was a finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival Screenplay Competition, 2009. Anna's debut short story collection, 'For Those who Dream Monsters', released by Mortbury Press in 2013, won The Children of the Night Award. Anna is a two-time Bram Stoker Award nominee and a three-time British Fantasy Award nominee. You can view Anna's full resume here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1245940/, watch her films and book trailers here: http://www.youtube.com/annataborska and learn more about her short stories and screenplays here: http://annataborska.wix.com/horror.

Gerri Leen spent her childhood and early adult years in the Seattle area but moved to Northern Virginia in the late eighties and has stayed there ever since. She began writing in her forties and credits fanfic over the public school system for teaching her how to punctuate and plot. She prefers writing speculative prose and non-speculative poetry, but can go the other way when needed. She's recently begun editing and has developed a passion for it. She also writes romances under the pen name Kim Strattford.

Gerri is a big supporter of animal rescue and currently has two rescue cats, siblings named Simon and River. She follows horse racing with a fervid passion not shared by most of the world and someday will get to go to The Breeders' Cup.

Favorite authors include (in no particular order): Connie Willis, Max Barry, Matt Ruff, Douglas Coupland, Stewart O'Nan, Robert A. Heinlein, Alice Hoffman, Armistead Maupin, Gillian Flynn, and Laurie Halse Anderson.

Visit her website at www.gerrileen.com.

Sara Tantlinger is the author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes, and the Stoker-nominated works To Be Devoured, Cradleland of Parasites, and Not All Monsters. Along with being a mentor for the HWA Mentorship Program, she is also a co-organizer for the HWA Pittsburgh Chapter. She embraces all things macabre and can be found lurking in graveyards or on Twitter @SaraTantlinger, at saratantlinger.com and on Instagram @inkychaotics