Raluca Balasa holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her approach to writing is character-oriented, often dealing with love-hate relationships, antiheroes, and antagonists who make you agree with them. Her short work has appeared in Andromeda Spaceways, Aurealis, Psychopomp, and Grimdark Magazine, among others. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing the piano or spilling things.

Arinn Dembo is an author and screenwriter currently based in Vancouver, BC. She is the Lead Writer of Kerberos Productions, a studio dedicated to creating both video games and tabletop games. If you enjoyed this piece, she would greatly appreciate it if you would sign up for her company newsletter to follow the shenanigans of her indiedev crew as they Make All the Things, Break All the Rules, and Fill Up the Swear Jar on their weekly Twitch boardgaming webcast. Alternatively, you could follow her on Twitter or Facebook, or support her independent fiction and world-building tutorials on Patreon.

E. B. Fischadler has been writing short stories for several years, and has recently begun publishing. His stories have appeared in Mad Scientist Journal, Bewildering Stories, eFiction, Voluted Tales, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine, and Beyond Science Fiction. In addition to fiction, Fischadler has published over 30 papers in refereed scientific journals, as well as a chapter of a textbook on satellite engineering. When he is not writing, he pursues a career in engineering and serves his community as an EMT. Fischadler continues to write short stories and is working on a novel about a naval surgeon. You can learn more about Fischadler and access his other publications at: https://ebfischadler.wordpress.com/

Eric S. Fomley is the editor of Martian Magazine and the Timeshift and Drabbledark anthologies. His work has appeared in various venues and can be found on his website ericfomley.com. He can also be found on Twitter @PrinceGrimdark.

Sean Frost is a software developer in Michigan, who writes comics and stories while watching horror and science fiction movies. He lives with four demanding cats and a very understanding wife. It is entirely likely that he has a few too many hobbies.

Lucinda Gunnin is a short story author and commercial property manager in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She writes a gossip column for Mad Scientist Journal and has a published collection of short horror Seasons of Horror available at Amazon.com. When not writing, she’s a gluten-free gamer girl, sushi lover, and cat-spoiling pet parent. Find her on Twitter @LucindaGunnin.

Soramimi Hanarejima is a writer of innovative fiction and the author of Visits to the Confabulatorium, a fanciful story collection that Jack Cheng said “captures moonlight in Ziploc bags.” Soramimi’s recent work has appeared in various literary magazines, including Panoply, Pulp Literature, and The Absurdist.

Joachim Heijndermans writes, draws, and paints nearly every waking hour. Originally from the Netherlands, he's been all over the world, boring people by spouting random trivia. His work has been featured in a number of publications, such as Metaphorosis, Hinnom Magazine, Every Day Fiction, Asymmetry Fiction, Kraxon Magazine, and Gathering Storm Magazine. He's currently in the midst of completing his first children's book. You can check out his other work at www.joachimheijndermans.com, or follow him on Twitter: @jheijndermans.

Brodie has a B.A. in English from Western Carolina University. He has stories published in Mystery Tribune, The Bark Magazine, Strange Stories Magazine, Cultured Vultures, Quail Bell Magazine, Antithesis Journal, Frontier Tales, Gypsum Sound Tales, and Coffin Bell Journal, and has a forthcoming poem in Nebo: A Literary Journal. He was a finalist for Still:  The Journal's 2018 Fiction Contest, judged by bestselling author Wiley Cash.  He is a recent alumnus of Spalding University’s MFA Community Workshop (Fall 2018) taught by bestselling author Silas House.

Tom McGee is a Toronto-based writer, playwright, producer, dramaturge, and puppeteer. If you enjoyed this story, check out Tom’s first novel, The Bloody Lullaby, on Wattpad! He is the co-founder of Theatre Brouhaha and Shakey-Shake and Friends Puppet Shakespeare Company in Toronto. He is also the show runner and Game Master for Dumb-Dumbs and Dragons and Star Trek: Redundancy, two narrative podcasts where comedians play RPGs for the first time with hilarious, disastrous, and occasionally heartbreaking results. Both podcasts are available at GarbageProductions.net and on iTunes. For more of Tom’s writing, go to WhaHappen.ca.

Fiona Moore is a writer and academic whose first novel, Driving Ambition, is published by Bundoran Press in autumn 2018. She has written and cowritten a number of articles and guidebooks on cult television, three stage plays and four audio plays. Her short fiction has appeared in, among others, Interzone, Asimov, On Spec, Unlikely Story, and the award-winning anthology Blood and Water. When not writing, she is a Professor of Business Anthropology at Royal Holloway, University of London. More details, and free content, can be found at www.fiona-moore.com.

Nick Morrish is an increasingly mad engineer from Yorkshire, England. During a long and futile career, he has worked for a number of frankly certifiable multinational companies. He clings to the last vestiges of sanity by writing serious and truthful stories about the nature of existence. Since no one else seems to observe truth in quite the same way, his work is often mistaken for satire or fantasy.

Quinn Parker is a novelist and award-winning screenwriter from a forgotten corner of the USA. She’s the author of the upcoming Nova EXE, among other books. Under various names, she has been published with Thunderdome Press, Sci-Phi Journal, The Literary Hatchet, Aphotic Realm, Mighty Quill Books, HellBound Books, Severed Press, Pleiades, Rain Taxi, and Crystal Lake Publishing. When not reading and writing, she can be found doing yoga or laughing at a scary movie.

Diana Parparita’s short stories have appeared in Mad Scientist Journal, Enchanted Conversation, Avast, Ye Airships!, and other publications. She is currently working on the fantasy web-novel Toadmila Wartly, which can be found at toadmila.blogspot.com.

Ron Riekki’s books include And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017 (Michigan State University Press), Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (Michigan State University Press, 2016 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal Great Lakes Best Regional Fiction), The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works (Wayne State University Press, 2014 Michigan Notable Book awarded by the Library of Michigan), and U.P.: a novel (Ghost Road Press).

Leslie D. Soule is a fantasy/sci-fi author from Sacramento, CA. She has an M.A. in English from National University, and is currently working on the final book of her fantasy series, The Fallenwood Chronicles.

Annika Sundberg lives in Pennsylvania with her herd of rabbits. She has her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill. Official Secret Keeper.

Rick Tobin is a retired government emergency and counter-terrorism consultant now puttering as a freelance writer, painter, and photographer in San Antonio, Texas. Scores of his flash science fiction stories are at www.365tomorrows.com. His thriller novels are on Amazon: The Curse of the 8th Buddha and Gordion’s Knot. His art is available on Pinterest, under “Rick Tobin Art for Sale.” Rick also writes safety and security guides and blogs for schools at Safe to Learn in Seattle at www.safetolearn.com. He also works part time supporting special needs patients and protecting feral cats.

Margret Treiber resides in Southwest Florida and is employed as a systems analyst.  When she is not working with technology or writing speculative fiction, she helps her birds break things for her spouse to fix.

Her short fiction has appeared in a number of publications. Links to her short fiction, novel and upcoming work can be found on her website at http://www.the-margret.com.

Gordon B. White has lived in North Carolina, New York, and the Pacific Northwest. He is a 2017 graduate of the Clarion West Writing Workshop, and his fiction has appeared in venues such as Daily Science Fiction, A Breath from the Sky: Unusual Stories of Possession, Nightscript Vol. 2, and the Bram Stoker Award® winning anthology Borderlands 6. Gordon also contributes reviews and interviews to various outlets. You can find him online at www.gordonbwhite.com or on Twitter at @GordonBWhite.