Amy Trueblood grew up in Southern California only ten minutes from Disneyland which sparked an early interest in storytelling. Her debut, Nothing But Sky was a Spring 2018 Junior Library Guild selection. Her second novel, Across a Broken Shore, also a JLG selection, was recently selected by ALA as a 2020 Best Feminist Book in Children’s Literature and won the Gold Medal for Historical Fiction in the Independent Publisher Book Awards and the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards. Fueled by iced tea and a good Spotify playlist, you can often find Amy settled in a quiet corner at her local coffee shop plotting her next book.

Robert Mellette has written, directed, designed and acted in theatre, film and television for over 30 years. His credits in various jobs include XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS, BLUE CRUSH, and his own JACKS OR BETTER, which won Dances With Films Best Screenplay award in 2000. He worked with the festival until 2020. He is a board member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators for the Los Angeles Region and a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. Robert's novels include, Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand, Billy Bobble And The Witch Hunt, and Kiya And The Morian Treasure. Look for Kiya And The Planet of Fates coming soon!

Judy Croome lives and writes in Johannesburg, South Africa. Judy loves cats, exploring the meaning of life, chocolate, cats, rainy days, ancient churches with their ancient graveyards, cats, meditation and solitude. Oh, and cats. Judy loves cats (who already appear to have discovered the meaning of life.) Croome's fiction and poetry books "the dust of hope (rune poems)" (Aztar Press, 2021); "Drop by Drop (poems of loss) (Aztar Press, 2020); "a stranger in a strange land" (Aztar Press, 2015); “The Weight of a Feather & Other Stories” (Aztar Press, 2013), “a Lamp at Midday” (Aztar Press, 2012) and “Dancing in the Shadows of Love” (Aztar Press, 2018, 2012, 2011) are available. Croome co-authored "Street Smart Taxpayers (Juta Law, 2017) with her late husband Dr. Beric Croome. Shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, Judy’s short stories, poems and articles have appeared in various magazines, anthologies and newspapers, such as The Sunday Times, The Huffington Post (USA) and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Itch Magazine. In 2021 and 2016, Judy was the poetry judge for the Writers2000 (South Africa) annual poetry competition and, in 2021, presented "The Gift of Poetry" to Writers2000 (South Africa). Join her on Instagram @judy_croome or visit her on www.judycroome.com Influences are Louise Erdrich, Witi Ihimaera, Rose Tremain, Osho,Toni Morrison, sundry poets such as WB Yeats, Walt Whitman, Rumi, Kabir, Robert Frost, John Keats, John Milton, William Wordsworth and others.