Christine Taylor-Butler is the author of more than ninety fiction and nonfiction books and articles for children. A graduate of MIT, she holds degrees in both civil engineering and art and design. She has served as a past literary awards judge for PEN America and for the Society of Midland Authors. She is an inaugural member of steaMG, an alliance of middle grade science fiction authors, and a contributor to STEM Tuesday. She lives in Kansas City with her husband, Ken, and a cat who thinks he's a dog.

Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, multiple Bram Stoker Award winner, and Marvel Comics writer. He’s the author of many novels, including Assassin’s Code, Dead of Night, Patient Zero, and Rot & Ruin.

His nonfiction books cover topics ranging from martial arts to zombie pop-culture. Jonathan continues to teach the celebrated Experimental Writing for Teens class, which he created.

He founded the Writers Coffeehouse and cofounded The Liars Club, and he is a frequent speaker at schools and libraries, as well as a keynote speaker and guest of honor at major writers’ and genre conferences. Jonathan lives in Del Mar, California, with his wife, Sara, and their son, Sam

Jane Yolen is the author of more than 300 books, including children's classics such as Owl Moon and The Devi's Arithmetic, and adult novels such as Sister Light, Sister Dark. Her books and stories have won the Nebula Award, the Caldecott Medal, the National Jewish Book Award, and many other awards and accolades. She divides her time between Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Sarah Beth Durst is the author of ten fantasy novels for adults, teens, and children, including The Lost, Vessel, and The Girl Who Could Not Dream. She was awarded the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and has been a finalist for SFWA's Andre Norton Award three times.

She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she spent four years studying English, writing about dragons, and wondering what the campus gargoyles would say if they could talk. Sarah lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband and children.

Seanan McGuire is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, Alex and Locus Award-winning Wayward Children series, the October Daye series, the InCryptid series, and other works.

She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant. Seanan lives in Seattle with her cats, a vast collection of creepy dolls, horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard.

She won the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 became the first person to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot.

Editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author of novels and short fiction, and Hugo-nominated editor. He has edited Alan Dean Foster, Tracy Hickman, Frank Herbert, was the first editor on Andy Weir's The Martian.

His anthologies include Infinite Stars, Predator: If it Bleeds, Shattered Shields (with Jennifer Brozek), Beyond the Sun, Raygun Chronicles, and Mission: Tomorrow.