Kendra L. Saunders writes about rock stars and hangs out with rock stars. She is the author of DATING AN ALIEN POP STAR and the rest of the ALIEN POP STAR series, as well as THE UNLOVE SPELL, the magic realism novel INANIMATE OBJECTS, the dark comedy DEATH AND MR. RIGHT and the poetry collection GEMINIS AND PAST LIVES. Find her online at www.kendralsaunders.com, on Twitter at @kendrybird, on Instagram @kendralsaunders, and on Youtube as RelatableGirl, where she shares an insider view of her crazy life: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC\_Hg...

It's a funny thing we do, this writing business. Writers are creatures of contradiction. We're dying to show our work to others, but may crumble when someone offers an opinion that is either contradictory or critical of our expectations. It's excruciating, soul-wrenching work that can destroy your self-esteem and rob you of sleep. So, why do I write? Why put myself through this? The answer is simple. When I'm not writing, I'm not happy. It's something I have to do. Born in Littleton, New Hampshire as the third of five children to a hardworking mother and father, I have always had books in my life. I read every night and still remember the two bookshelves that stood in the children's room full of images and words that took us on fantastic adventures to far-off places. Growing up with only four television channels (ABC, CBS, VPT, and NHPTV) there really wasn't any alternative. We played outside and we read. Even as we grew up and technology slowly crept into the North Country, that influence held sway. During junior high, I devoured hundreds of books a year (mainly Star Trek novels) and after beginning my freshman year I wrote my first original story. Well, original might be a bit of stretch. I totally ripped off Babylon 5, but it was 33 type-written pages and featured a plethora of characters and some kick-ass space battles. I was damned proud. Come senior year, my ambition grew and a second, larger story took shape. It was based off the Warcraft II computer game (I openly acknowledged my inspiration this time around) and totaled 88 typed pages. The characters were a bit more complex and I started to address mature themes. Quite the challenge for a boy that had barely left the North Country and wasn't even old enough to vote. The experience of drafting and creating these two stories was life-changing. When asked why I spent so much of my time writing these stories, I couldn't give any other answer than, "I love it." My course was set and I graduated high school, bound for the University of New Hampshire and a Bachelor's in English. Here's the odd thing; after four years studying for an undergrad degree, I lost my drive. I lost my love. While the vast majority of my professors were encouraging and supportive there was one that seriously undermined my confidence, and not in a "I'm challenging you to be better" way but a "I really don't like what you write" sort of way. Quite suddenly my thoughts went from, "I love it" to, "Maybe I'm not that good at this." That doubt stayed with me for a long time. I graduated in 2003 and did not write again until 2005. During that time, I was miserable and didn't even realize it. Thanks to the prodding of my father,the steadfast support of my beautiful wife, and the seemingly simple gift of a leather-bound journal, the words came back. I filled the journal, and then another. Forty-three pages of manuscript were slowly wrung from hesitant fingers, but I had started. The final push came when I joined Southern New Hampshire University's MFA in Fiction Writing. The next two years (2007-2009) were spent honing my craft, finding my own voice, and realizing that I could in fact write. The end result is a book I'm proud of, characters I care about, and a story I'm dying to tell. It's written to the best of my ability and with a genuine care for quality. So, with that contradictory audacity we writers seem to possess, I present my words to the world. I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I'm writing. And I'm happy.

Cathryn is the author of over thirty psychological suspense novels including the ALEXANDRA MALLORY series, featuring a sociopath you can’t help but love. Readers have called the series “addictive”. The things that cause torment in real life—obsession and revenge, guilt and envy and longing—are endlessly fascinating in fiction and she never grows tired of writing stories about characters struggling to overcome the worst. Cathryn also writes ghost stories because who knows what lies beyond our senses—The Haunted Ship Trilogy and the Madison Keith series of novellas. When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading, walking on the beach, or playing golf, going way out of her way to avoid hitting her ball in the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California Coast with her husband and her cat, Cleopatra. You can get in touch with her by email, find her social media links, or sign up for her monthly newsletter at cathryngrant.com/contact. As a thank you for signing up, you’ll receive a free short story about Alexandra Mallory.

Like a magpie, Rhonda Parrish is constantly distracted by shiny things. She’s the editor of many anthologies and author of plenty of books, stories and poems. She lives with her husband and cats in Edmonton, Alberta, and she can often be found there playing Dungeons and Dragons, bingeing crime dramas. making blankets or cheering on the Oilers. Her website, updated regularly, is at http://www.rhondaparrish.com and her Patreon, updated even more regularly, is at https://www.patreon.com/RhondaParrish.

Shawna L. Bernard, better known as Sydney Leigh, is a writer, editor, and English teacher native to the North Shore of Massachusetts. Her short fiction, poetry, and reviews have been published in various anthologies and magazines, including Shock Totem, The Library of the Dead, Shroud, Darkness Ad Infinitum, Enter at Your Own Risk: The End is the Beginning, Demonic Visions 1-4, Widowmakers, and more. She currently works for Villipede Publications and as the Chief Editor of Eldritch Press’ Novel Division. She is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association. She recently edited Michael Bailey’s Inkblots and Blood Spots, a collection of short stories and poetry illustrated by British Fantasy Award-winning artist Daniele Serra and with an Introduction by the legendary Douglas E. Winter. Her short fiction has been appeared in audio format on The Wicked Library and is due to be podcast on Tales to Terrify as part of their annual Stoker Awards celebration. In 2015, “Baby’s Breath” was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction and won the Best Horror Short Story Award in the Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. The first two episodes of a show she co-hosts with her local writers group called “The Taco Society Presents” (a nod to Peter Straub’s Ghost Story) can be found online at the following links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnbyU... (Episode 1) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gje5Q... (Episode 2). Forthcoming work is due to appear in Chiral Mad 3, Our World of Horror, the HWA Poetry Showcase Volume II, and the third volume in the Quick Shivers series from the DailyNightmare.com. You can find a full bibliography of her work on her website at http://thespiderbox.shawnaleighbernar.... She is currently working on her first novel.