This list is under construction as speakers provide bios prior to the conference.
Diana Gunn
Dianna Gunn is an author of fantasy and science fiction with strong horror elements. Her first full-length novel, Moonshadow’s Guardian, was released in 2018, with the sequel set to arrive in spring 2023.
She also runs the Weeknight Writers Group, a social enterprise dedicated to creating accessible educational and community supports for writers, including the #WeeknightWriters Twitter chat on Thursdays at 7PM EST.
Website:
https://authordiannagunn.com/
Dick Margulis
Dick Margulis been putting squiggly black marks on paper for a long time. When he was nine or ten he got a toy printing press as a present and started reading everything he could about type and printing, subjects he still finds endlessly fascinating. In ninth grade, he was made the chief copy editor of his junior high newspaper, and he has been editing one thing or another ever since, throughout a varied career (copywriter, computer programmer, bread baker, organic farmer, printer, among other things). He started Dick Margulis Creative Services in 2004 and has been helping individuals, businesses, and institutions publish their own books ever since.
Website:
https://dmargulis.com/
E. Prybylski
E. is a long-time fantasy enthusiast who decided to try their hand at writing fantasy after decades of reading it. The first chapter book they remember, read to them by their mother, was J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit followed swiftly by Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series (starting with Dragonsong). They knew from a young age that they wanted to be a writer and has worked toward that end with a slow, steady pace their entire life.
Beginning the trip into the publishing world in 2009, E. joined Divertir Publishing as an acquisitions editor. Fast forward to now, they’ve been working as an editor for over a decade while learning the many skills needed to forge their own writing career. Currently, they serve as Insomnia Publishing’s creative director. After publishing a number of short story fiction pieces over the years, they began writing Fallen during lockdown in 2020, inspired by their husband and a shared love of text-based roleplay (which is how the two met).
When they’re not writing, E. is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (OSR fencer in the East Kingdom), a violinist, and a great lover of the fiber arts from spinning to weaving to crochet and embroidery. They always have a project in their hands. It helps their ADHD and allows her to focus while also producing usable or pretty art.
Finally, E. is physically disabled and struggles with severe chronic migraines and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and its many comorbidities. They try to write characters who are authentic to this experience and don’t shy away from writing about disability, mental health, gender, and other challenging topics.
Website:
http://www.thirteencentsshort.com
Heather Dewey Pettet
Heather Dewey Pettet lives in Tampa Bay, Florida, and has been working as a writer and editor for about 25 years. Her editorial services run from line editing to sensitivity reading. As a freelance editor, she has worked for an international nonprofit organization, copyediting and proofreading their membership magazine for three years, as well as worked with independent authors and a local independent book publisher. As a writer, Heather is working on a novel and some short stories. And as an artist, she loves both photography and physical media, mostly working with watercolors, stamps, and ink, which she uses to create art cards, mixed media pieces, and other art for sale at local cons and her Etsy shop. What ties everything together is her love of fantasy and science fiction! All of her links, including her YouTube channel where she hosts live creative sprints and creates occasional filmed and edited content, can be found on her
Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/heatherdeweypettet
Jayce Carter
Jayce Carter lives in Southern California with her husband and two spawns. She originally wanted to take over the world but realized that would require wearing pants. This led her to choosing writing, a completely pants-free occupation. She has a fear of heights yet rock climbs for fun and enjoys making up excuses for not going out and socializing.
Dr. Joe Weinberg
Joe Weinberg lives in Minneapolis with his wife, who inspires all his female characters—especially Stacy. They live with their cats, and hopefully someday a dog. He loves gaming, Doctor Who, and all things nerdy. He writes whenever he can—probably more than is healthy.
Leslie E. Heath
Leslie E. Heath is a mother, runner, animal lover, nurse and writer. She resides with her family and a number of rescued pets in a quaint North Carolina town, near the Outer Banks. When Leslie is not cozied up at home writing, she finds inspiration for her work by spending time basking or running at the nearby beach or trails. Her love of writing began when she was ten years old, when she first read The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, and has grown with every passing year. Her affinity with fantasy allows creativity when it comes to character development, settings, and a little magic.
Malorie Cooper
NYT Bestselling Author of over 100 Science Fiction novels (written under the pen name M. D. Cooper), Malorie is striking out into the world of thrillers with her gripping Sonja Peirce series.
The Writing Wives website:
https://www.thewritingwives.com/
Malorie Cooper’s Website:
https://www.maloriecooper.com/
Aeon 14:
https://www.aeon14.com/
Megan Harris
It is my professional goal to improve content on every level. Grammar can be difficult to master, and learning to write well is a skill that takes years to achieve. Hiring a professional editor with experience on a variety of projects will help you meet your goals and learn how to create better content of all types, whether you focus on improving written articles or manuscripts you wish to publish.
Visit my blog for ideas about writing and tips for hiring a professional editor or writer for your needs. If you’re considering hiring me to write for your blog, this is a great place to start understanding how I write and the quality of my work. If you just want to hire me as an editor, the blog serves as a free resource you can visit as often as you want in order to understand my stance on important issues writers face.
Jade
Jade is a Canadian writer and Development Editor who is fiercely in love with language, story structure, and magical worlds.
M.M. Ward
M.M. Ward is an indie author who started writing as part of her stroke recovery because she lost most of her ability to use language. She writes in a variety of genres from contemporary stories that focus on realistic-feeling characters dealing with their own internal issues as they navigate the difficulties of life to fantasy and sci-fi series where her characters face as much struggle within as they do in the world around them. Her whole writer’s journey is to show characters overcoming versus succumbing because that is the way of the world. She wants her readers to feel like they know her characters better than their neighbors, that her characters could be their neighbors. Why? Because Life always offers everyone the choice; be bitter or Become Better.
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07NTYTVP2/about
Oana Arsenoi
Oana Arsenoi is a neurodivergent creator, researcher and emerging cyberphilosopher who uses investigative practices from auto-ethnomethodology in order to teach neurominorities how to navigate in various work groups. Oana works at the intersection of neuroscience, art and technology to prove that what we consider to be a disability can be used as an ability for enhancing discovery, creativity and innovation. Her projects are mostly transdisciplinary and guided by a philosophical approach over the interaction that companies and society have with neurodivergent employees and citizens. She believes that our digital society can do more for safeguarding the human rights of neurominorities. Oana has background studies in industrial design, theater direction, cultural marketing and management and due to her struggles as a bipolar to find a workplace that is neuro-inclusive, Oana aims to develop several tools to help companies to embrace neurodiversity in the workplace. Oana has finished an Intercultural Management MA at UNESCO Chair in Interculturality, Good Governance and Sustainable Development with her thesis Creatives to Creators: Migration of Neurominorities through Art and Technology.
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.instagram.com/no.north.exe/
Quinn Ward
Quinn Ward is the six-figure author of over two dozen contemporary gay romance novels, including the best-selling Homeruns Series. They’re the senior adviser at Author Ad School and founder of Indie Author Helper, a venture launching in 2023 to help neurodivergent authors develop successful publishing systems.
Website:
https://quinnwardwrites.com/
Rosanna Ienco
Rosanna Ienco is a Writer, Soul Mentor, and Shamanic Practitioner and has been in the Spiritual and Shamanic Healing Arts for over thirty years. She is a wife, mother of three incredible souls and an award-winning author of Awakening the Divine Soul-Finding Your Life Purpose and the upcoming book Enter the Journey to be released in 2023. Rosanna has a healing practice in both Vancouver Island, Canada and the UK. She guides others to find a life of deeper meaning, purpose and passion. She continues to be of service to her students and clients while fulfilling her passion to write books that ignite the soul.
Website:
www.themysticoracle.com
info@themysticoracle.com
Instagram:
Rosanna Ienco Wildflower
Facebook:
Rosanna Ienco Wildflower
Books on Amazon:
Awakening the Divine Soul: Finding Your Life Purpose
Enter the Journey
S.D. Houston
Told that she was a weird child because she spent summers in the backrooms of libraries reading and drawing everything she researched, S.D. Huston embraced her eccentric passions for writing. She’s traveled a lot, spent time as a soldier in the U.S. Army, then gained an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University, before going on to teach for numerous years. She particularly loves Irish mythology with its Celtic roots, which finds its way center stage in her series, Clash of Goddesses. She continues to embrace all the quirkiness in her life, especially her neurodivergent son who sees life as one grand adventure filled with beasts and monsters that need to be conquered or revered!
Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/sdhuston
Steven Puri
Centered App the #1 Flow State App for Productivity. Anglophone. Author of Not All Chips Are Chocolate: A Lifetime of Surveillance Capitalism
Website:
https://www.centered.app/
Virginia McClain
Virginia McClain writes fantasy that aims to kick the patriarchy in the balls–both literally and metaphorically; she lives in a place cold enough to freeze her eyelashes together sometimes.
Website:
https://www.virginiamcclain.ca/