Joel Derfner is the author of Gay Haiku, Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever and What Ended Up Happening Instead, and Lawfully Wedded Husband: How My Gay Marriage Will Save the American Family. (Are you sensing a theme?) Musicals to which he has composed the score have played in New York, London, and various cities in between (going counterclockwise). He lives, alas, in Brooklyn, along with his husband and their small, fluffy dog. joelderfner.com. @JoelDerfner.
Paul Witcover is the Nebula and World Fantasy nominated author of, most recently, The Emperor of All Things and its sequel, The Watchman of Eternity. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and takes his chocolate hot and spicy, hold the cream. @PaulWitcover
Liz Duffy Adams is a playwright whose play neo-Restoration comedy Or, premiered Off Broadway at Women's Project Theater and has been produced some 40 times since, including at Magic Theater and Seattle Rep. She's a New Dramatists alumna and has received a Women of Achievement Award, Lillian Hellman Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Weston Playhouse Music Theater Award, and Will Glickman Award. Her plays include Dog Act; A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World; Buccaneers; Wet or, Isabelala the Pirate Queen Enters the Horse Latitude; The Listener; The Reckless Ruthless Brutal Charge of It or, The Train Play; and One Big Lie. LizDuffyAdams.com. @lizduffyadams
Delia Sherman is the author of numerous short stories, as well as the novels Through a Brazen Mirror and The Porcelain Dove. She has judged the Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Novel, The James Tiptree, Jr. Award, and the World Fantasy Award. She has taught SF and Fantasy writing at Odyssey: the Fantasy Writing Workshop, the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers' Workshop, the Hollins University Graduate Program in Children's Literature, the Alpha Workshop for Young Writers, and workshops at colleges and science fiction conventions all over America. DeliaSherman.com. @deliasherman
Racheline Maltese is a performer and storyteller focused on themes of loss, desire, and fame. With Erin McRae she co-writes the Love in Los Angeles LGBTQ+ contemporary romance series from Torquere Press and the Love's Labours contemporary gay romance series from Dreamspinner Press. From tentacle monsters that rule the New York City subways to lesbian werewolf bodyguards in 19th century Rome, her short fiction is about the practical problems caused by fantastical events. Racheline also writes plays and poetry, and her non-fiction on all things pop-culture has been widely published. @Racheline_M.
Ellen Kushner's paying jobs have included folksinger, book editor, national public radio host (Sound & Spirit/WGBH), writing teacher (Clarion, Odyssey, WRX, Hollins Child.Lit.MFA), audiobook narrator (all three Riverside novels for Neil Gaiman Presents) and pilgrim at Plimoth Plantation. Her Riverside novels begin with Swordspoint, followed by The Privilege of the Sword (Locus Award, Nebula nominee); The Fall of the Kings (written with Delia Sherman) and a growing collection of short stories. She lives in New York City with Delia Sherman, no cats, and a whole lot of airplane and theater ticket stubs she just can’t bring herself to throw away. EllenKushner.com. @EllenKushner.