Gem Isherwood is an award-winning writer of speculative fiction. Her work is often inspired by fairy tales, folklore and the Gothic. She lives on a small island in the middle of the Irish Sea populated by fairies, ghosts, and cats with no tails.
“Anne Ivy” is the pen name for twin sisters who collaborate when writing fiction. “Anne” has a law degree from William & Mary and practices law in Atlanta. She is a previous recipient of a Young Georgia Authors writing award. “Ivy” has a medical degree from Duke University and practices as a doctor in Atlanta.
Osahon Ize-Iyamu is a Nigerian writer of speculative fiction. A graduate of the Alpha Writers Workshop and the Clarion Writers Workshop, he has been published in magazines like Clarkesworld, Nightmare, The Rumpus, and Strange Horizons. You can find him online @osahon4545.
Craig Jackson, known on the forums as Ocicat, is usually found wandering the woods outside Seattle. He studied astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, and convinces people to give him money for breaking their computer programs. He is the founder and president of the Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO). He’s also a community organizer involved in Seattle’s Sex Positive and Polyamorous communities. In addition he has a passion for partner dancing, is a WA state forest steward, plays roleplaying and other games, and studies religion and folklore. Anything for a weird life.
Hugo is an author and streamer on the East Coast of the USA. Born in the UK, they moved to the US be with their partner and has since published the first three novels of a five-book young adult fantasy series, The Resonance Tetralogy, through Inspired Quill (https://www.inspired-quill.com/product/legacy). They also stream semi-regularly on Twitch (username pangolinfox), and run a yearly charity stream on World Pangolin Day to raise money for one of their favourite animals, the aforementioned pangolin.
Julian K. Jarboe is from Massachusetts. They are a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop and a fellow at the Writers’ Room of Boston, where they also sit on the board. Their writing can be found in The Atlantic, Strange Horizons, The Fairy Tale Review, and anthologized in the LAMBDA award-winning Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction series, among others. They also produce and co-host Mothers & Others, “the podcast about maternal figures and mommy issues,” and tweet @JulianKJarboe.
Michael J. Jasper’s most recently completed projects are Hunter’s Moon, a paranormal thriller in the Family Pack series, Finders, Inc., a mystery novel in the Finder Team series set in the North Carolina mountains, “Unassisted Living,” a screenplay about very early retirement.
He’s now working on the next books in the Finder Team and Family Pack series, plus a new Contagious Magic book as well!
Mike lives in the mountains of North Carolina with his family.
Nora K. Jemisin is a New York Times-bestselling author of speculative fiction short stories and novels, who lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY. In 2018, she became the first author to win three Best Novel Hugos in a row for her Broken Earth trilogy. She has also won a Nebula Award, two Locus Awards, and a number of other honors.