Following the examples of independent comic creators such as Dave Sim and Jeff Smith, he decided to publish Strangers in Paradise himself through his own Houston-based "Abstract Studios" imprint, and has frequently mentioned a desire to do a syndicated cartoon strip in the authors notes at the back of the Strangers in Paradise collection books. He has also mentioned his greatest career influence is Peanuts' Charles Schulz.[1] Some of Moore's strip work can additionally be found in his Paradise, Too! publications. His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including receiving the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story in 1996 for Strangers in Paradise #1-8, which was collected in the trade paperback "I Dream of You". It was announced on June 15th, 2007 that Moore would be taking over for Sean McKeever as writer of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane series starting with a new issue #1. On July 27th, Marvel announced that Moore would also take over for Joss Whedon as writer of Marvel's Runaways.[2] On November 19th, 2007 Terry Moore announced in his blog that his new self-published series would be named Echo and its first issue would appear on March 5th, 2008.[3]

Once a professional juggler and fire eater, Tom Taylor is a #1 New York Times Bestselling, multi-award-winning comic book writer, playwright and screenwriter. Well known for his work with DC Comics and Marvel, Taylor is the co-creator of NEVERLANDERS from Penguin Random House, SEVEN SECRETS from Boom Studios and the Aurealis-Award-winning graphic novel series THE DEEP. Taylor is also the Head Writer and Executive Producer of The Deep animated series, four seasons of which is broadcast in over 140 countries. He is perhaps best known for the DC Comics series, DCEASED (Shadow Awards Winner), NIGHTWING (nominated for 5 Eisner Awards), SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL (GLAAD Award Nominee), INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US, SUICIDE SQUAD, EARTH 2 and BATMAN/SUPERMAN as well as Marvel's FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, ALL NEW WOLVERINE, X-MEN: RED, DARK AGES and SUPERIOR IRON MAN. Taylor is also the writer of many Star Wars series, which include STAR WARS: INVASION and STAR WARS: BLOOD TIES (Stan Lee Excelsior Award winner). Taylor has written for Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Boom Studios, Wildstorm, 2000 AD and Gestalt Comics. He can be followed on twitter @TomTaylorMade.

Sina Grace’s parents had big plans for their son: Ivy League schooling, professional credentials, a 6-figure income as a doctor– the works! Fortunately for us, he found the wonderful world of comics instead. It was in this world of contradictions that he “matured,” one foot teetering on the edge of academia, the other drawn to the inescapable grasp of an ink-bound fantasy underworld. At 14, Grace seemingly appeased his parents by interning at Top Cow Productions, under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Renae Geerlings (his single mother figured at least he was collecting college credit). However the only thing he was collecting (other than comics), was the compulsive habit of drawing unrealistically proportioned, scantily clad women. At 16, he got a perpetual summer-time job at the Santa Monica landmark: Hi De Ho Comics, where he would be inspired to create Books with Pictures. By 17 he wrote, drew, and self-published his first comic, The Roller-Derby Robo-Dykes versus the Cannibals. His knowledge of disproportionate harlots with weapons came in handy when depicting a story about Robo-Dykes bent on taking over the world. His mother was happy that he was taking interest in girls. The book went into a second printing, and received the praise of Lying in the Gutters critic, Rich Johnston. Weeks after graduating high school, he was asked by Rilo Kiley front-woman Jenny Lewis to illustrate a limited edition comic book adaptation of their 2004 record, More Adventurous. In the spring of 2006 he was asked to apprentice under comics genius, Howard Chaykin (even though it may not be apparent in Books with Pictures, Grace did learn the function of a ruler and the meaning of a vanishing point). Between the summers of 2005 and 06, Grace’s partially-biographical indie dramedy, Books with Pictures, went from hand-xeroxed zines to full-fledged, full-sized comic books. Shortly after its debut at San Diego Comic-Con, Diamond Distributors accepted the series into their ordering catalogue, Previews. Grace’s work on the series was met with admiration from bloggers and reviewers alike, and has since taken on several projects for multiple anthologies due in late 2008. To his parents’ delight, he graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, receiving an undergraduate degree in Literature, with an emphasis on Creative Writing. Sina Grace recently self-published an illustrated novel about a sorcerer sleuth in Orange County, aptly named Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Magic, his next project will be providing illustrations for Amber Benson’s novel, Among the Ghosts, through Aladdin Books.

Mat Groom is a writer from Sydney, Australia, where he works on branding and narrative development at the creative agency For The People and teaches open-to-the-public storytelling classes. Self/Made is Mat’s solo comics writing debut.