Fleur Bradley has loved puzzles and (scary) mysteries ever since she first discovered Agatha Christie novels. She’s the author of numerous mysteries for kids, including the recent Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, which was on many award lists, including the Reading the West, Agatha and Anthony Awards, Sasquatch Award, and won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, Sunshine State Young Readers Award and the Colorado Book Award. A reluctant reader herself, Fleur regularly does librarian and educator conference talks on ways to reach reluctant readers. Originally from the Netherlands, she now lives in Colorado with her family and entirely too many rescue animals. Find out more about Fleur at http://www.ftbradley.com and follow her on Twitter @FTBradleyAuthor.

A volunteer with Pikes Peak Writers, Deborah Brewer finds satisfaction in helping fellow writers achieve their writing dreams through blogging, editing, or working at the conference,

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.

Bowen Gillings is an award-winning author writing to bring fun back to fiction. His work has been published in anthologies and periodicals while he’s been featured on TV, radio, podcasts, and YouTube channels. His quirky, offbeat tales are “perfect,” “charming,” and “fun” with writing that “boggles the genre mind.” He facilitates a variety of writing workshops and is an active member of Pikes Peak Writers, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and the League of Utah Writers. He holds a Master of Education, five martial arts black belt certifications, and is an Army veteran. Travel enthusiast, outdoors lover, and RPG nerd, he also enjoys cooking big meals for family and friends. Born in Wisconsin, he grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, matriculated in Minnesota and Alaska, and bounced around Europe with the Army.

Darby Karchut is an award-winning author, former teacher, and compulsive dawn greeter. Her many books include Del Toro Moon (middle grade fantasy series) and On a Good Horse (middle grade contemporary). She is the recipient of the Colorado Book Award, the High Plains Book Award, the Will Rogers Medallion Award, the IPPY Silver Award, and the Moonbeam Children’s Book Silver Award. A native of New Mexico, she now lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she runs in blizzards and bikes in lightning storms. When not dodging death by Colorado, Darby can be found wrangling words. Visit the author at www.darbykarchut.com and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Goodreads.

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. 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.

Stant Litore is the author of Ansible, The Running of the Tyrannosaurs, 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.

Susan Mitchell embraces folklore, ghosts, and monsters. She tunes into that wavelength to write dark fiction, horror, and thrillers. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and can be found in the upcoming anthology Open-Hearted Horizon from University of New Mexico Press. Originally from the East Coast, Susan calls the Southwest home and has degree in English from Northern Arizona University. She works at New Mexico PBS and served on the PBS Marketing Advisory Council. As a Multi Media Producer she has written, produced and directed projects for TLC, ABC, NBC, CBS and Telemundo affiliates. Susan is currently completing work on a supernatural thriller and literary horror project. She really likes books, music, road trips, thrift stores and horror movies.

James Persichetti is a writer, freelance editor, and rock climber who enjoys writing about queer characters going on adventures. He earned an English degree at Regis University and studied Arthurian legends, where he drew inspiration for his debut graphic novel, A Tale of Two Knights (2024). He lives with his husband in Denver, Colorado.