R.J. Howell is a writer, an artist, and a library nerd. A Chicago native, she earned her BA in Fiction Writing at Columbia College Chicago and her MFA in Creative Writing: Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines such as GigaNotoSaurus and Translunar Travelers Lounge and in anthologies such as Beyond the Stars: Infinite Expanse, Wicked West, Neon Hemlock’s Luminescent Machinations, Flame Tree Publishing’s Shadows on the Water, and Space Cat Press’ Bark & Bone. In addition to being a writer and a digital painter, she is also a librarian, a volunteer video game writer, and a hobbyist baker. She’s a firm believer in living a life well-read, in all its various permutations.