Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author. She is a Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award recipient, a British Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, Foreword Indies and BSFA Award winner. She’s also a twice World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Award finalist, and a finalist in the Philip K. Dick Awards and the Nommo Awards for speculative fiction by Africans. Eugen is an Otherwise Fellow, and was announced on the honor list for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’. Danged Black Thing made the Otherwise Award Honor List as a ‘sharp collection of Afro-Surrealist work’. Visit her at eugenbacon.com.

Stewart C Baker (any pronouns) is an academic librarian and author of speculative fiction, poetry, and games. He is the author of The Butterfly Disjunct: And Other Stories (Interstellar Flight Press), co-wrote the Nebula-nominated game The Bread Must Rise with James Beamon, and was lead writer for the Nebula-award-winning game A Death in Hyperspace. Stewart's shorter works have appeared in Asimov’s, Fantasy, Flash Fiction Online, Lightspeed, Nature, IFComp, and various other places. Born in England, Stewart has lived in South Carolina, Japan, and Los Angeles, and now lives within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya in Oregon—although if anyone asks, he’ll usually say he’s from the Internet.

E.D.E. Bell is a fantasy writer, small press editor, and anti-censorship organizer. Her works are quiet and queer. She lives in Ferndale, Michigan, where she writes stories, revels in garlic, and manages the creative side of her indie press, Atthis Arts. Emily is a co-founder and on the Steering Committee for Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans (PPABB). You can follow eir adventures at edebell.com.

Renan Bernardo is a Nebula and Ignyte finalist author of science fiction and fantasy from Brazil. His fiction appeared in Reactor/Tor.com, Clarkesworld, Apex Magazine, Podcastle, Escape Pod, and elsewhere. He writes from secondary world fantasy to dark science fiction, and he enjoys the intersection of climate narratives with science, technology, and the human relations inherent to it. His solarpunk/clifi collection, Different Kinds of Defiance, was published in 2024. His dark sci-fi novella, Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle, was published in 2025 by Dark Matter Ink. He also had stories recommended by Locus and longlisted for the BSFA.

Denise is a writer, fiber artist, and professional chaos manager residing in Ohio with her husband. She has two kids, three cats, and more sewing machines and looms than anyone should practically need. Denise spent much of her childhood in Pern, Tortall, and Prydain. A Viable Paradise alumna, she now spends her days herding children and writing imaginary histories.

Denise can be found in most of the usual places under @dmbeucler

Bert-Oliver Boehmer is a science fiction author and creator of the Galacticide universe, blending large-scale interstellar politics with intimate human stakes.

With a background in computer science and molecular biology, and a career in bioinformatics and technology, he brings scientific rigor to his speculative worldbuilding. His work frequently explores fractured realities, systems of power, and the human cost of conflict. An experienced traveler—including sailing and desert off-roading—he draws on firsthand encounters with extreme environments to ground alien landscapes in physical authenticity.

Bert-Oliver is a member of SFWA and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Independent Authors Committee.

Jonathan is a full-time hybrid writer living in Colorado Springs with his wife Kiwi and twin daughters Danika Dawn and Darika Marie. (Dani and Dari are the inspirations for GEMINI RISING's Nika and Rika.) He is a retired Marine infantry colonel, a former grad school professor, and a former director of international business at a large multinational manufacturing corporation.He writes mostly military scifi with forays into YA, paranormal, and fantasy. He is a multiple Nebula Award finalist, a multiple Dragon Award finalist, and a USA Today bestseller.Jonathan has been a national representative for the VFW, walking the halls of Congress to get bills passed for active duty members, veterans, and their families. He’s been a long-time volunteer for SFWA and is currently serving as the CFO.When he’s not writing, Jonathan is playing with his girls, cooking, and working out in the gym. He’s been a national champion equestrian and rugger and recently earned a national championship in powerlifting. You can find him at various cons throughout the year in the US and abroad.

Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her YA tie-in novels, BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: Auditions, have both won Scribe Awards. Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and multiple Hugo Awards. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, Well World, and Predator.

Jennifer has been a full-time freelance author and editor for over seventeen years, and she has never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to teach writing classes and volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer's worlds at jenniferbrozek.com/

Sue Burke is an author and translator. Her novel Semiosis was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and the Locus Best First Novel Award. Its sequels are Interference and Usurpation. She has also written the novels Immunity Index and Dual Memory, short stories, poetry, journalism, and essays, and she won the 2016 Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation from the American Translators Association. She was born in the Milwaukee, lived in Texas and Spain, and is now in Chicago. More information is at https://sueburke.site/