Fantasy/Magical realism

Eileen moved to the Colorado Springs area with her family when she was 8 years old. Although she had lived in three different homes before then, Colorado Springs is where she grew up and has her most fondest memories. After becoming an Army wife she has lived on the west coast, the east, and on the Gulf Coast as well. But now he is back in Colorado, raising her own family in her hometown. She is inspired every day by her children and various friendly faces that help her to imagine a world of stories. She has a newfound love of writing to help bring these stories to life for her young readers in age and in heart.

Liz has followed her heart through a wide variety of careers, including farming with a team of draft horses and working as a field paramedic, Outward Bound instructor, athletic trainer, and roller-skating waitress, among other curious choices. She also knows more about concrete than you might suspect. Her novels written under the name L. D. Colter explore contemporary and dark fantasy, and ones written as L. Deni Colter venture into epic fantasy realms. Following a long interlude in Southern and Northern California, she returned some years ago to her home state of Colorado, where she spends her time with her husband, dogs, horses, and writing (according to her husband, not always in that order of priority).

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR D. L. ORTON lives in the Rocky Mountains where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops. In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous Tales, Arterial Bloom, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Weird Dream Society, Hath No Fury, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, VI, and VIII. She has also written stories set in shared worlds for RPGs at Green Ronin Publishing and Onyx Path Publishing. In addition to writing, she has edited several projects; the most recent is in the role as co-editor for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas.

As an educator, Carina has taught at Pikes Peak Community College, Glendale Community College, and Arizona State University. She also participated in the Colorado Writing Project and works with educators to develop writing instruction in college and secondary school classrooms. She currently offers workshops focused on story generation at The Storied Imaginarium. Her fiction has been nominated for the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and was a finalist for the Ron L. Hubbard Writers of the Future Awards. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award. In her editorial capacity, she’s received recognition as the Winner at the Colorado Book Awards 2022 (Anthology) and as a Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2022 International Book Award.

Tai Manivong is a fantasy author. Her first middle grade fantasy novel, Crimson, was published in 2018. She attributes her writing to reading lots of fantasy novels growing up. Some of her favorite authors are R.A. Salvatore, Anne McCaffrey, and Melanie Rawn. She is currently working on “The Dragon Keeper Chronicles” series and several other books. She teaches elementary school in Colorado and dreams of one day becoming a best-selling author. Visit her website at www.taimanivong.com or visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/taimanivongbooks.

Born in Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, I have been a resident of southern Colorado since November 2011. I have written over 100 original stories (short stories, poems, indie screenplays, stage plays, and audiobook short stories (radio) plays & skits) of several genres: Twilight Zone-type stories, science fiction, horror, comedy, satire, and drama. I am currently working on a sci-fi novel that is a cross between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.  I am a former homeless veteran (U.S. Army).

Jodi Cox is an American dieselpunk author born on April 10, 1979 in Union City, Indiana. She graduated from Simon Kenton High School in 1997. Later she went on to graduate with a BFA from the College of Mount Saint Joseph, now known as the University of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. After college, Jodi started writing for Citybeat magazine. Later she went on to become a pioneer in internet graphics and website development. After spending nearly ten years writing for everything from tax websites to poetry, Jodi began developing the world of the Nether After, unbeknownst to her that steampunk and dieselpunk was turning into a literary genre. Jodi enjoys all things speculative fiction, but has a pension for the weird and unusual. She describes herself as a comic book snob. She is often found with a stack of Japanese and American graphic novels in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She enjoys drawing and painting, as well as writing. Her hours not spent on writing are devoted to geeking out over new computer hardware, or the latest video games. She loves ripping into electronics to see how they work, as well as cooking and developing new recipes. As a writer Jodi has been writing steampunk, dieselpunk, and fantasy of all types. She has even dipped her toe into science fiction.

Laura Ander grew up in Palmer Lake, CO and participated in numerous summer reading programs through the Pikes Peak Library District during her adolescent years. As she grew older, she developed an interest in writing short stories and dreamed of one day becoming an author. Laura Ander currently resides in Colorado Springs and spends her days working on her series The Alchemist Saga.

Peter E. Boroch is a former Marine, husband, and proud father. He is the author of the science fiction/military series Gothic Opera and the hard-boiled/mystery book The Man in the Leather Jacket: Predator Games. Peter studied art at Calhoun College and writing at American Military University. Peter is always eager to speak with fans and interact with fellow authors. In his free time, Peter enjoys spending time with his family, reading comics, drawing, writing, killing aliens on his Xbox, and working on the next great American novel!

Nicholas S. Casale grew up in Palmer Lake, which is a small town in Colorado. Shortly thereafter, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and began working as a paralegal.

From a young age he was attracted to history, myth, religion, and spent several years searching for the religion that best matched his personal beliefs; he is now a practicing Messianic Jew and is happily married to the woman who taught him Hebrew.

He first started writing stories when he was 6 years old. He invented a simple character named "Mousey," who was a mouse and a wizard. While his stories have grown more sophisticated since then, he has always had a love for the themes of that original story; the idea that the weak may overcome the strong through cleverness and imagination.