EMILY DINOVA is a writer, actor, director, and producer. Her fiction has been featured in Haunted MTL's Horror Anthology and on Literally Stories as a "Saturday Special" (only six writers have been awarded this honor). Her play Capture, a raw and visceral story of one woman's fight against domestic violence, was the recipient of the 2015 Fresher Writer Prize in the UK (Best Stage Play), and was also published by the Fresher Publishing Company. She is the co-founder of G&E Productions, established to create new and unique projects for the stage and screen. Look for her directorial film debut, Transit: A NYC Fairytale, currently on the film festival circuit. Emily is a member of Actors' Equity Association.

CHARLIE PETERS is a playwright and screenwriter who was raised in New York City and educated at Stonyhurst College in England, the University of Connecticut and Carnegie-Mellon University. His plays have been produced at La Mama E.T.C., Playwrights Horizons, The Edinburgh Festival, The Actors Theatre of Louisville and Primary Stages. Twelve of his screenplays have been produced and the casts in those movies include Sally Field, Bob Hoskins, Renee Zellweger, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Morgan Freeman, Brenda Blethyn, Jeff Bridges, Michael Caine, Claire Trevor, Richard Dreyfuss, Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand, Jude Law and Maureen Stapleton.

Born in Los Angeles, California, STEVEN KOBRIN has been a voracious reader of thrillers, action adventures, and science fiction since childhood. His love of vivid storytelling drew him to become an aficionado of cinema from all around the world, especially spy movies and action films. Those influences can be seen in his first novel, The Man from Belize.

NANCY BEVERLY’s professional life began at Actors Theatre of Louisville where she worked as the Assistant Literary Manager, reading thousands of scripts and acting as dramaturg on a number of Humana Festival plays, as well as having several of her own plays produced in the ATL showcases. Since then, she has worked in television with stints on hit shows Desperate Housewives and Ghost Whisperer, and has written and produced plays for the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the Rainbow Festival at Asbury Park, and Bloomington's Blizzard of Short Plays. Her play Handcrafted Healing was workshopped by the Athena Project in Denver. Her 2019 short film Shelby’s Vacation, based on her screenplay of the same name, from which this novel was adapted, won the Audience Choice Award at Perth's Dyke Drama Film Festival in Australia, Best Acting Duo and Best Romance Short at the Olympus Film Festival in L.A., Best GLBT Film at the Erie International Film Festival, and the Best LGBTQ Film award at The Lady Filmmakers Festival in Beverly Hills, among many other awards. Shelby’s Vacation is her first novel.

BRUCE SCIVALLY is a lifelong lover of classic movies. Born in Plevna, Alabama, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, and then worked in numerous positions in the film industry before becoming a teacher of scriptwriting and video production in Chicago. Since returning to Los Angeles in 2017, he has written several award-winning screenplays and is now venturing into fiction novels.

GREGORY CIOFFI (SAG-AFTRA, AEA) is an actor, director, and writer. His works have been published in various literary magazines; many of which have been archived in numerous libraries including Yale University’s Beinecke Collection (Rare Books and Manuscript Library). His poem Confined But Commemorating, written about Memorial Day during the pandemic, won third place in the Nassau County Poet Laureate Society Poetry Contest. Greg’s film The Museum of Lost Things won awards at The Long Island International Film Expo, Global Shorts, and The Madrid International Film Festival. Be on the lookout for his next film – The Concertgoer, which is currently on the festival circuit. Greg is an Adjunct Professor of English at Long Island University, an Associate Professor of Literature & Composition at Post University, and he also teaches Creative Writing, Poetry, and Basic Acting at Nassau Community College. http://www.gandeproductions.com/

JEFF 'ROCK' SCIVALLY is a musician, artist, performer, raconteur, and puzzle master who spends his days finding creative solutions for unusual conundrums. He lives in Plevna, Alabama, surrounded by grand-young 'uns who know him as Papa Rock.

JEFFREY BRESLAUER is an actor, writer, voice artist and puppeteer. He played “The Dreamfinder” in EPCOT’s Journey Into Imagination exhibit, voiced and manipulated the Spider mascot for Scholastic Publishers' Math Place video series, is the voice of the Joker in the Batman ride at Six Flags Amusement Parks, and has appeared on stage with Frank Gorshin and on movie and TV screens in Police Academy V, Matinee, Wiseguy, Superboy, Swamp Thing, From the Earth to the Moon, and others. And now, he’s a puzzle master for Papa Rock’s Word Search!

MELVYN MORROW’s first revue scripts were for Australia’s biggest TV satirical hit, The Mavis Bramston Show. Melvyn’s musicals (book & lyrics) include: Postcards From Provence, Offenbach In The Underworld and seven Christmas at The Opera House pantomimes including the nationally popular Santa Meets The Bushrangers. His musical A Song To Sing, O, the story of Gilbert and Sullivan and George Grossmith, was produced by Dame Bridget D’Oyly Carte at London’s Savoy Theatre and directed by the author. It then toured Australia. He has updated book and lyrics for Opera Australia’s G&S productions. He received the Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Best Libretto for his musical, Shakespearean Idol. He is the co-writer of the Australian musical hits, SHOUT! and Dusty – The Original Pop Diva. He wrote book and lyrics for and directed the musical, Dorian Gray Naked. Melvyn is an international member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He co-wrote the musicals Peter Dawson - Off The Record and Here Comes Showtime and the lyrics for the song Lest I Forget (Rebel the movie starring Matt Dillon). Melvyn’s plays include Beating A Retreat, A Touch Of Paradise, Vice and Acts of Faith. His Victoriana vaudeville, Dickens Down Under, premiered at Sydney’s Genesian Theatre. He devised and directed the cabarets Broadway Bard, Tae Kwon Shakespeare, mozart and ME and Shakespearean Idol which won the 2006 AWGIE for Music Theatre. In 1996, Melvyn was nominated for a Mo Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Musical Theatre. He was producer, writer and director of Cabaret in the Day at Mosman Art Gallery where seasons have included: Glorious Mud! (Flanders & Swann), Our Glad (Gladys Moncrieff), Gilbert & Sullivan Forever! (starring Andrew O’Keefe), Of Bing I Sing (Bing Crosby) and Poisoning Pigeons in the Park (Tom Lehrer). With composer, Dion Condack, he wrote and directed the musical, Dorian Gray Naked, starring Blake Appelqvist. The musical received rave reviews and was the only original Australian musical nominated for the 2019 Glugs of Gosh 2019 Sydney Theatre Awards.

MICHELLE FIORDALISO, MSW is a screenwriter and filmmaker. Her writing and films have won numerous awards including a PEN Center USA award for literary fiction and a Gold Plaque for Best Documentary Short from The Chicago International Film Festival. Michelle has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Hollywood Reporter, Broadway World, Ms., and more.

JOE CORNET is an accomplished filmmaker, having directed six feature films, with three of these projects showcasing his screenwriting talent as well. While he holds a special affinity for the Western genre, he has also delved into horror and other film styles. Now venturing into the realm of literature, A Prayer for the Dying marks his debut book as a fiction author, with a promise of more novels to come.

A graduate of USC, NICOLE DILLENBERG's poetry has appeared in the Southern California Anthology. She has adapted numerous titles for the audio divisions of Time-Warner, Harper Collins, and Bantam Doubleday Dell. This is her first book.

T.A. MANCHESTER is an author and filmmaker known for his evocative storytelling. In 2013, he co-founded Atlas Film Studio alongside fellow creatives from The Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago. The following year, their short film Melancholic gained national recognition, reaching the Top 200 Finals in HBO’s Project Greenlight competition. This early success laid the groundwork for his transition into long-form storytelling. Manchester wrote and directed his debut feature film, The Things We’ve Seen, in 2016. A gripping, character-driven drama, the film earned critical acclaim on the festival circuit, securing nine awards and four nominations. Notably, it won the Gold Remi Award at the 50th WorldFest-Houston, joining past winners like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. His screenwriting also received distinction at the Angaelica Film Festival in Los Angeles, further cementing his reputation as a writer with a unique voice and a keen eye for human complexity. Beyond film, Manchester’s literary work continues to explore themes of fractured relationships, redemption, and the weight of the past. His storytelling is often marked by a melancholic beauty, drawing comparisons to the works of auteurs like Kenneth Lonergan and Jeff Nichols. Whether on the page or the screen, his work resonates with those who appreciate grounded realism and deeply textured character studies.

LEONARD LEE BUSCHEL is a California Certified Substance Abuse Counselor with years of experience working with people struggling with addiction. He attended Naropa University in Boulder, CO. Mr. Buschel is the founder of Writers In Treatment, whose primary purposeis to promote “treatment” as the best first step solution for addiction, alcoholism and other self-destructive behaviors. Leonard is director of the REEL Recovery Film Festival & Symposium, which he founded in 2008, and the editor/publisher of the weekly Addiction/Recovery eBul- letin. He also produces the annual Experience, Strength and Hope Awards in Los Angeles. He just celebrated 31 years clean and sober.