Gerri Leen was born in Ohio, lived most of her younger life in and around Seattle and Belfair, Washington, and has spent the last twenty odd years in Northern Virginia. She dabbled with writing when younger, but started writing steadily in her forties, and her first publications came in the Star Trek Strange New World books (volumes seven, nine, and ten)—her story “The Smell of Dead Roses” took the grand prize in the tenth and final volume. She has since had stories appear in a diverse range of publications, both anthologies and magazines (print and web). She primarily focuses on science fiction and fantasy themes, but has occasionally moved over to literary and poetry. She points to Connie Willis, Kevin Smith, Doug Coupland, Ron Moore, and Quentin Tarantino as professional idols. Her favorite places in the world are Port Townsend, Washington; Vail, Colorado; Palm Desert, California; Venice, Italy; and just about anywhere in Guatemala. She is a horseracing fanatic and can often be found blogging about the weekend races at her LiveJournal. Keep up with Gerri at www.gerrileen.com or find her on Facebook at @GerriLeenAuthor.

Tansy Rayner Roberts is a fantasy and science fiction author who lives in southern Tasmania, somewhere between the tall mountain with snow on it, and the beach that points towards Antarctica. Tansy has a PhD in Classics (with a special interest in poisonous Roman ladies), and an obsession with Musketeers. You can hear Tansy talking about Doctor Who on the Verity! podcast. She also reads her own stories on the Sheep Might Fly podcast.

Nikoline Kaiser is the author of several poems and short stories, including “ode to an asexual” published with Strange Horizons and “Last Year’s Water” with Pole to Pole Publishing. Her work focuses on family, feminism and queer themes. She lives in Denmark and has a Masters degree in Comparative Literature from Aarhus University. When not writing she works on a project communicating knowledge about women authors around the world and haunts the halls of museums in the hope of getting to stay among the relics. Visit her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @ nikolinekaiser

I wanted to be a writer from a very young age, and wrote my first proper short story at 14. I also wrote a novel that year, called “Skin Deep”‘, which I really need to type up. I started sending stories out when I was about 23, and sold my first one, “White Bed”", in 1993. Since then I’ve sold about 70 short stories, two short story collections and three novels. I’m an avid and broad reader but I also like reality TV so don’t always expect intelligent conversation from me.

Helen Vivienne Fletcher wrote her first novel between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. It is, by several accounts, one of the funniest novels ever written. It’s just a shame it was supposed to be a psychological thriller. Helen has worked in many jobs, doing everything from theatre stage management to phone counselling. She discovered her passion for writing for children and young people while working as a youth support worker, and now helps children find their own passion for storytelling through her business Brain Bunny Workshops, which runs creative writing holiday programmes and afterschool classes. Helen is the author of four e-picture books for children. She has won and been shortlisted for several writing competitions, including making the shortlist for the 2008 Joy Cowley Award, and in 2012 she was the recipient of the Wellington Children’s Book Association New Pacific Studios residency. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in online and print publications, and she regularly performs her spoken word pieces around Wellington. Helen has recently turned her hand to writing for the stage with her first play How to Catch a Grim Reaper, for which she was named outstanding new playwright at the 2015 Wellington Theatre Awards. Overall Helen just loves telling stories, and is always excited when people want to hear or read them.

I’m Faith Mudge, a Queensland writer with a passion for fantasy, folk tales and mythology from all over the world – in fact, almost anything with a glimmer of the fantastical. I post regular reviews and articles on my blog at beyondthedreamline.wordpress.com, and also have unreliably updated presences on Tumblr and Goodreads. My stories have appeared in various anthologies, ranging from wronged sorceresses and wicked princesses to rebellious robots and cursed bookshops. Somewhere in the overcrowded menagerie of my brain, there are novels. I am even writing some of them.

Rivqa Rafael lives in Sydney, where she writes speculative fiction about queer women, Jewish women, cyborg futures, and hope in dystopias. Her short stories have been published in GlitterShip, Escape Pod, Resist Fascism (Crossed Genres), and elsewhere. She recently co-edited feminist robot anthology Mother of Invention, which won a Ditmar Award and a Norma K. Hemming Award. Several of her short stories have been shortlisted for Woollahra Digital Literary, Norma K. Hemming, and Ditmar awards; in 2016, she won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent.

Ephiny Gale was born in Victoria, Australia, and is still there, alongside her lovely wife and a small legion of bookcases. She is the author of more than fifty published short stories and novelettes, which have appeared in publications including PseudoPod, Constellary Tales, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Her stories have won the Best of the Net award for fiction and have been finalists for multiple Aurealis Awards. She has also written several produced stage plays and musicals, including the sold-out How to Direct from Inside at La Mama and Shining Armour at The 1812 Theatre. Her script Time Scraps was a finalist in St Martin’s National Playwriting Competition, and Hearts up Sleeves won the Five Minute Play award at Dante’s. When not writing, Ephiny currently works as a Senior Project Manager for a website development company. Her previous roles have included: Executive Assistant; coordinating a major arts festival; Association Secretary for the Green Room Awards (Melbourne’s premier performing arts awards); nine months as a professional wedding DJ; and working as an executive of a university student association. Ephiny has a Masters in Arts Management, a red belt in taekwondo, and a passion for psychology, gaming, and storytelling in all its forms. She also especially enjoys Italian greyhounds, playing board games with friends, and eating raspberries in the sunshine.