From hiking Mount Vesuvius and Arenal Volcano to walking Hadrian’s Wall and the black sand shores of the Venezuelan coast, to earning a Masters in Screenwriting from the National Film School of Ireland, her experiences trekking the world have been a vital muse for Naomi’s creative writing endeavors. Consequently, her stories are infused with the exotic and often otherworldly. Her characters tend to be outsiders who must navigate these other cultural environments. A fish out of water—if the fish could time travel or shape shift…

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naomiartemi.com

naomiartemi@gmail.com

Christine’s writing has been included in the Best American Mystery and Suspense anthology (Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022) and the Best American Essays anthology (Notable Essays of 2020).  Her debut novel, “Black Maria” was published in 2024.

She lives in Massachusetts and can be found at www.christine-boyer.com.

Andrea is the author of several cookbooks. Her fiction has appeared online in Green Mountains Review, Blue Lake Review, The Offbeat, and Touchstone Literary Magazine, among others. Her short story, "The Rooster," featured in the Medusa’s Laugh Press anthology Twisted, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Vermont with her husband, singer-songwriter Richard Ruane, whose song “I Know Stories,” about Jack and the Beanstalk told from the Giant’s perspective inspired her story, “It’s Not Really about Jack.” 

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https://www.andreachesman.com/new-fiction

Photo credit: Beth Duquette

Leah is the author of the novels "The Brambles," (2017) "Blythe of the Gates,"(2018) "The Gilded Lynx," (2019) and “The Vesper Bell.” (2022) She is the recipient of the Independent Press Award and the Independent Book Award, as well as a silver medal from the Reader's Favorite Awards, and a Gold Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. She is a 2025 Pushcart Prize nominee. Her short fiction has appeared in many magazines and journals in print and online, including The Brussels Review, The Fabulist, Pantheon Magazine, The Saint Ann’s Review, Eclectica, The KGB Bar Literary Journal, The Coachella Review, and many more. She lives in Newport, Rhode Island with her husband and daughter.

Anthony is a writer and English major born and raised in northern Virginia. His writing has appeared (or will appear) in: Dark Horses, Lovecraftiana, and Mobius Blvd. His first novel, Enthroned Above All, released September 1, 2024 on Amazon and Kindle.

For more information, more stories, and sign-up options for his newsletter, visit https://anthermi.com or find him on Twitter/X as @anthermi.

Augusto is a Brazilian-American writer residing in Ithaca, NY. He has a PhD in Fiction from SUNY Binghamton, and has taught creative writing at Ithaca College. His work has also been previously published in the Rio Grande Review.

Michael Heyman is a scholar, writer, and performer of literary nonsense, poetry, music, and children’s literature. He is a Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His poems and stories can be found in various journals and in The Puffin Book of Bedtime Stories, The Moustache Maharishi, and This Book Makes No Sense: Nonsense

Poems and Worse, which he edited. He is the head editor of The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense.

Jennifer is a horror/dark fantasy writer in Woodinville, Washington (yes, in the dark of the woods, where she puts out a bowl of milk and a box of Oreos to keep the pixies at bay) with her black cat, many horses and wild deer. She has eight publications, her latest in, I Know What the Moon Looks Like, by Amazing Stories. She participated in the 2024 Cascade Writer's workshop and earned an Honorary Mention in the Hugo House’s Quattro Spec Fiction contest, and in international Screenplay competition, Scriptapalooza, for spec script, Supernatural: Green-eyed Monster. She has a long running blog called “Comments on Things I’m Reading.”

https://marlowmayfield.wixsite.com/jshopkins

What began as self-care grew into a habit, then a hobby, and now a passion, writing for Devin has grown from a childhood dread to a adulthood pleasure.

Author and Illustrator, David Kirk, is the creator of the Miss Spider books, including Miss Spider’s Tea Party, Miss Spider’s Wedding, Miss Spider’s New Car, Miss Spider’s ABC, Little Miss Spider, and many more. David’s other books include Nova’s Ark, Twinkle Twinkle Little Hedgehog, Little Bird Biddle Bird, and Oh So Brave Dragon, among many others.

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https://www.davidkirktreehouse.com/

Odin is a neurodivergent and queer author of weird horror, surreal fiction, and strange poetry. A slow fashion enthusiast, phylogeny nerd, and possible cryptid, he received a BA in English from Yale University as a first generation graduate and now lives in the midwest with his husband and two dogs, not too far from the small town where he grew up.

You can find more of his work at odinmeadows.com or follow him on Bluesky at @odinmeadows.bsky.social

Tom is a native of Knoxville and a graduate of the University of Tennessee.  After two years in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Vietnam, he entered government service as a civilian. Retiring to Knoxville after thirty-five years in the Washington area, he devotes his time to writing fiction. His stories have been published in numerous journals and anthologies, and one has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

The author lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five golden pothos plants. An overarching theme her life has been that things are not as they seem. Driven by a desire for clarity in an existence full of riddles, Ross writes stories that lead readers into the shadows where they must discern for themselves what’s truly there. “Gorse 206” is her first foray into off-world fiction.

Ross can be found on Bluesky @bendixross.bsky.social

Charlie is a science fiction writer living in Ithaca NY.

Cheyenne Shaffer became enamored with all things weird and fantastical at a young age, and she herself is becoming weirder and more fantastical every year. She is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop and The Never-Ending Odyssey, and she currently attends Northeastern Ohio's MFA program in creative writing. Her work has been published in English and Spanish, appearing in places such as Factor Four Magazine, Colectivero, and several anthologies, including Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic: An Anthology of Hysteria Fiction, which won a Shirley Jackson Award. When not writing, she works as an emergency veterinarian to fund her addictions to books, cats, and fancy coffee.

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cheyenneshaffer.com

Xinyuan (pronounced “sin-you-wan”) has always loved stories, food, and nature. A native of upstate New York, she currently lives and works in Indianapolis, which she was pleasantly surprised to find is the home of many writers and creatives.  She is taking a break from her job as a tree nerd to write this short story, The Adventures of Wayfarer’s Dock and In-Between.

Leora is a queer Jewish bibliophile and SFF author. She lives in upstate New York with her spouse, cat, and snake. Her short story, "This Excessive Use of Pickled Foods," published in khoreo magazine, won the 2023 Subjective Chaos Kind of Award for Short Fiction. "Dandelion Wishes" first appeared in Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth edited by Isabela Oliveria and Jed Sabin.

Growing up as a military brat all over the world, Eric currently lives and writes in Corning, NY. Perpetually reinventing himself, Eric has worked as a stage manager, actor, photographer, professor, software engineer, and stay-at-home dad—although not all at the same time. He has written plays, screenplays, a YA Novel and is currently researching a TV series set in Paris during WW2.

J.J. Stewart is the pen name of an Oakland, CA writer. Under this name, they have been published in Christmas Spirits Magazine, the Port Crow Press, the Abergavenny Small Press, and a number of others. Under different pen names, they have been published in Blink Ink, Mockery Press, and in Calm.com's Sleep Story series. In previous careers, they were a featured artist for the Ramshackle Farm art gallery, a founding member of an improv troupe in Bern, Switzerland, and they have directed live theater in four different countries. They live on a hill with their partner, their pets, an overgrown garden, and the constant hope of rain.

Kyle is a writer, crafter, and miniature painter daylighting as a software developer from Corning, NY. He lives on a hill with his wife, Kim, three hyperactive herding dogs, and a grumpy black cat. He goes on adventures whenever possible.

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ckthomp2@gmail.com

E.N. Welsh is a bizarre writer of bizarre fantasy who believes in letting the work speak for itself and whose talents do not extend to author bios.

Keegan is a systems-impacted fiction writer/poet who earned two degrees while incarcerated, he works with systems-impacted people in the community, and he performs poetry at local open mic nights in Ithaca, NY.

T. J. is a writer living in Seattle, Wa. After years as an environmental attorney, he nowpursues the far more lucrative profession of creative writing. He occasionally travels to theAndromeda galaxy in search of material, but otherwise spends most of his time reading. He is married with three superhero children.

Sandra is the author of two historical fantasy novels, Spellhaven and Ghosts and Exiles. She has had short stories published in Swords and Sorcery Magazine, the anthology Never Cheat a Witch and elsewhere. She lives in London, UK, and is a retired Government lawyer. She is currently researching London folk legends for a PhD at the University of Hertfordshire and she is a member of Clockhouse London Writers.