Dawn Alexander is a developmental editor and story coach who collaborates with both emerging writers and accomplished authors to strengthen their stories and refine their voices. Her clients have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, as well as the Amazon Top 100. Leveraging her two decades of experience in education, she designs and teaches writing courses that offer comprehensive insights and practical strategies that can be applied across genres to create compelling plots and authentic characters. She’s been a featured speaker at Inkers Con, Pike’s Peak Writers Conference, as well as local writing chapters, in addition to providing one-on-one coaching to numerous successful authors. When she’s not analyzing plot structures or crafting characters, you can find her spending time with her two college-age kids or off-roading in her Jeep Wrangler with her husband and their dog, Teddy.

Debbie Maxwell Allen writes historical fiction–with a touch of the unexplainable–set in quirky Mediterranean locations in the 18th century. She has placed in the Zebulon Contest three times and contributed to the “Fresh Starts” anthology. Her debut series launches in 2024. Debbie teaches workshops on the craft of writing, productivity, and how to use Scrivener and Vellum software at local writing groups and writing conferences.

Carol Berg, former software engineer, never expected to write epic fantasy novels. Nor did she expect to win the Colorado Book Award four times or hear that her books had been read on the slopes of Denali, in the war zone of Iraq, or underneath the Mediterranean. She certainly never thought to see her name alongside her literary heroes like Mary Stewart or JRR Tolkien as winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Recent publications include her Collegia Magica trilogy, her Lighthouse Duet, and her Sanctuary Duet, re-released with splendiferous new artwork from Open Road Media, and Tor’s A Summoning of Demons under her nom de plume, Cate Glass.

Deb Courtney holds a degree in Fiction from the University of South Florida, where she was a Saunders Scholar in Fiction. She has had numerous short stories published and has worked as a freelance journalist, creativity coach and freelance editor. Her background also includes more than 20 years in Technical Project Management. Deb hosts the popular “Write Drunk, Edit Sober” improv writing series monthly online, and her debut book, “21 Day Challenge: The Anti-procrastination Workbook for Writers” was released in April 2023. She is Immediate Past President of Pikes Peak Writers, a non-profit in Colorado Springs, CO.

In alignment with U.S. Copyright Law and the Author’s Guild’s 2025 guidelines on ethical AI use, Ana del Valle is an award-winning novelist, technologist, and recognized authority on AI in fiction writing. She is the host of The Novelist Studio podcast and YouTube channel, and the founder of the AI Creative Writing Academy, home to the first AI-Assist novel-writing system recognized by the U.S. Copyright Office. Through her framework, Ana helps writers harness AI as a creative ally, not a replacement, guiding them to craft complex, compelling novels without ever compromising their voice, copyright, or publishing rights.

Aaron Fors is an author, actor, filmmaker, creator thingy! An obsessive collector of obscure skills and knowledge, they love infusing their passion for the niche into their works. Aaron writes scifi, fantasy, and whatever fills their heart up and makes them feel like they’re going to explode if they don’t bring it into existence. Most recently published in “Weird Wilderness: A Cryptid Anthology” by Wordfire Press. Recent films include their portrayal of Sidney Lumet in As Long As I’m Famous, and Virgil in The Undead End. They’ve narrated audiobooks for folks like Kevin J. Anderson’s publishing program, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Chris Mandeville, and multiple anthologies, and love it so. In 2024 and 2025 they wrote their first two novels “Pancake Heroes” an urban fantasy with tinges of cosmic horror, and “Peanut Butter and Pickles Won’t Keep on Mars” an LGBTQIA Neurodivergent Scifi YA set on, well, Mars. They write stories about hope, finding family and community, and lasting joy. They believe we are stronger together, the long arc of the universe is good, love is always the answer, and when we build out of love, we can find a way. They live in California with their beloved wife, best friend, love of their life across fractal eternities, Hannah, and two cats intent on world domination but too lazy to be a threat. A good story enriches the world, a great one can save it. Let’s write the future together shall we?

H.Y. Gregor was born in Portland, Oregon, but will always call the mountains of Colorado home. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science but put it down often enough to narrowly avoid law school. Now she spends her free time weaving fantasy tales and battling plot gremlins. Her short fiction has earned Silver Honorable Mention awards from the Writers of the Future contest and published in a number of anthologies. These include contributions to Chris Kennedy Publishing’s 4HU, William Alan Webb’s Last Brigade, and a multi-genre spread of stories with Knight Writing Press, CKP, and Three Ravens Publishing. H.Y.’s novels include both epic and urban fantasy. Her debut, Stonewhisper, was published in June 2023. The first three books in the Vechnoye Saga—Reka’s Grasp, Tugarin’s Revenge, and Chernobog’s Wrath—release from Chris Kennedy Publishing October-December 2024. When not writing, she can be found at writer’s conferences and retreats with an overstuffed bag and too many pens.

Kevin Ikenberry is a life-long space geek and retired Army officer. As an adult, he managed the U.S. Space Camp program, two Challenger Learning Centers, and served on active duty in space operations before Space Force was a thing. He’s an international bestselling science fiction author and renowned writing instructor, which is pretty cool because he never imagined being either one of those – he still wants to be an astronaut. Kevin’s debut novel, Sleeper Protocol, was hailed by Publishers Weekly as “an emotionally powerful debut.” His over twenty-five novels science fiction novels include The Crossing, Vendetta Protocol, Eminence Protocol, Runs In The Family, Peacemaker, Honor The Threat, Stand or Fall, Fields of Fire, Harbinger, and Steel On Target. He is core author of the mega-bestselling Four Horsemen Universe, with more than a dozen works spawned by his novel Peacemaker. His latest project, The Buzzer War has been an Amazon All-Star and #1 Bestseller. Kevin is an Active Member of the International Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors, International Thriller Writers, and SIGMA – the science fiction think tank. Kevin continues to work with space every day and lives in Colorado with his family.

Jenny Kate has been a communicator, marketer and public relations professional since 2001. She has party-planned for US ambassadors, written speech inputs for the President (of the United States), eaten Taco Bell with Jimmy Kimmel and danced with Willy Nelson. She has been quoted by the New York Times, CNN, FoxNews, and Time Magazine, and wrote her first novel in the second grade. She is a member of Washington Romance Writers, Sisters in Crime, and judges contests for the Utah League of Writers and freelanced for New York literary agent Ethan Ellenberg.  With her husband, she co-founded Writer Nation, an online collaboration space for authors to network and share marketing ideas. She envisions a world where every writer is an author first, and a smart, savvy marketer second, and . Jenny is the author of the “Marketing for Writers Who’d Rather Write” book series to help authors market in a way that gives them more writing time in their day.  A born Alabama girl, Jenny Kate bleeds crimson and white. When she isn’t writing or teaching about fiction marketing, she travels the world looking for the world’s best vegan sandwich. So far, tofu banh mi in Hoi An, Vietnam, is winning that race.

Sam Knight is the owner/publisher of Knight Writing Press and author of six children’s books, four novels, and over 80 short stories, including three co-authored with Kevin J. Anderson. Though he has written in many cool worlds, such as Planet of the Apes, Wayward Pines, and Jack L. Chalker’s Well World, among his family, Sam will always be known for Chunky Monkey Pupu. He can be found at SamKnight.com and contacted at sam@samknight.com

Kelley J. P. Lindberg writes adult and YA fiction, but her writing history is littered with dozens of how-to books (including several bestsellers) and hundreds of articles. Her fiction and essays have appeared in literary magazines, in anthologies including PPW’s Journeys into Possibility, and in the Tellables app for Amazon Alexa. When she isn’t writing from her home on the high plains of Colorado, she’s traveling as far and as often as she can. She blogs about the writer’s life and writing craft on her website, www.KelleyLindberg.com. Follow her on Instagram, BlueSky, and X-Twitter at @KelleyLindberg1.

Stant Litore is the author of Ansible, The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur (recently adapted into an Emmy-nominated episode of Love, Death, and Robots), The Zombie Bible, and Dante’s Heart. Besides science fiction and fantasy, he has written the writers’ toolkits Write Worlds Your Readers Won’t Forget and Write Characters Your Readers Won’t Forget, as well as Lives of Unstoppable Hope and Lives of Unforgetting, and has been featured in Jeff Vandermeer’s Wonderbook: An Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction. He has served as a developmental editor for Westmarch Publishing and holds a Ph.D. in English. He lives in Aurora, Colorado with his three children and is currently at work on his next novel.

David Lyons is a former homicide detective and retired police commander, living in central Kentucky. In retirement, he focuses on two passions. One, his role as a faculty member with FBI-LEEDA (the Law Enforcement Executive Development Association), the other, producing The Murder Police Podcast and The Murder Police Podcast YouTube channel. Cohosted by his wife Wendy Lyons, victim’s names are memorialized on the internet and their stories are told, through the lenses of authenticity and victim advocacy through the podcast.

Chris Mandeville is an unrepentant coffee drinker, night owl, and binge writer. She can write anywhere, but her usual spot is a comfy chair at home in the Rocky Mountains with her service dog, Oski, snoozing by her feet. When she isn’t writing, she loves to cook, travel, and teach writing workshops. Her published works include Quake, Shake, and Break (IN REAL TIME time travel trilogy), Seeds: a post-apocalyptic adventure, Oski Becomes a Service Dog, and 52 Ways to Get Unstuck. She’s been involved with Pikes Peak Writers for more than twenty years and is proud to have served on the PPW Board of Directors as President, among other roles. Learn more about Chris, and her current projects and appearances, at chrismandeville.com.

Pam McCutcheon writes a variety of romance subgenres under her own name, and urban fantasy under the name Parker Blue. She also writes nonfiction books for writers, including the popular Writing the Fiction Synopsis and The Writer’s Brainstorming Kit.

Anita Mumm is a writer and developmental editor based in Salida, Colorado. At her editorial firm, Mumm’s the Word, she supports first-time novelists and bestsellers alike. Her clients have earned top spots on The New York Times bestseller list and received acclaim from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and others. Previously, she handled submissions and foreign rights at Nelson Literary Agency. She has more than two decades of teaching experience at colleges, writing workshops, and retreats across the country. Currently, she teaches writing in correctional facilities as an adjunct English professor in the Adams State University Prison Education Program and for the nonprofit Unbound Authors. Her writing focuses on the natural world and has appeared in Twenty Bellows and Colorado Central Magazine, and the anthology The Alma Journal, a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. In 2023, she was The Colorado Sun’s inaugural SunLit Writer-in-Residence. She received her MFA from Western Colorado University.

Author/artist Taryn Skipper’s publications include her science fiction novel for young adults, Between Tungsten and Gold (Sept. 2025, Splinter Press), picture and activity books for children, short stories and poetry in anthologies, cover art, and a decade of commissioned portraits and paintings. She enjoys presenting and volunteering at writing events and conferences and sits on the Storymakers Guild board of directors. She holds degrees in Philosophy and International Relations. Outside of writing, she loves to travel and hike the Colorado Rockies around her with her family.

Jessica Snyder is a romance editor, author coach, and digital nomad traveling the US with her giant dog, Arrow.  She’s a Gallup Strengths enthusiast who loves kickass heroines, tropes flipped on their heads, rotisserie chicken, and getting stamps in her passport.

Callie Stoker is an editor with almost two decades experience. Her business The Manuscript Dr offers coaching and editing services. We believe that writing is a skill that can be taught through the application of individual tools. We love helping our clients elevate their abilities and reach their publishing goals. Callie has three children on the Autism Spectrum and ADHD and is a champion for neurodiverse representation. She was a guest on Brandon Sanderson’s podcast Writing Excuses and is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, League of Utah Writers, and DFW Writers Workshop. She currently resides in the Dallas, TX area.

Laurie Marr Wasmund holds an M.A. in literature from the University of Denver. She has been an editor, community college instructor, and national writing workshop presenter. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines such as Cimarron Review and Weber Studies. She is the author of My Heart Lies Here, a novel of the Ludlow Massacre; Clean Cut: A Romance of the Western Heart; and the White Winter Trilogy, which is set in Colorado and France during World War I and the 1920s. The third book of the Trilogy, To Walk Humbly, was a 2020 finalist for the Mainstream/Literary book award from the Colorado Authors League. It also received a 2020 EVVY in Historical Fiction from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (now Collective of Independent Publishers and Authors). She also speaks on events in Colorado history to local groups. Her newest novel, Catching It Lovely, fictionalizes her great-great grandmother’s journey from Scotland to America to homestead in Douglas County, CO. She lives with her husband on the high prairie near Parker, CO.

Johnny Worthen is the author of the bestselling series grew up in the high desert snows and warm summer winds of the Wasatch Mountains. He graduated with a B.A. in English, minor in Classics and a Master’s in American Studies from the University of Utah. After a series of businesses and adventures, including years abroad and running his own bakery, Johnny found himself drawn to the only thing he ever wanted to do — write. And write he does. Well versed in modern literary criticism and cultural studies, Johnny writes upmarket multi-genre fiction, both traditionally and independently published. “I write what I like to read,” he says. “That guarantees me at least one fan.” Johnny is a Utah Writer of the Year and finalist of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Writer of the Year. Johnny’s best-selling series, The Books of Coronam, is an epic science fiction series in the vein of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Johnny apocalyptic myth The Gaia Chime, witnesses the global chaos of a planet in repair. His next major release, Fresh Start, a science fiction adventure with cold political undertones lands in 2026 also from Flame Tree Press. Like Johnny’s many other titles, these are available wherever better books are sold.