Caitlin R. Kiernan was born near Dublin, Ireland, but has spent most of her life in the southeastern United States. In college, she studied zoology, geology, and palaeontology, and has been employed as a vertebrate palaeontologist and college-level biology instructor. The results of her scientific research have been published in the JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY, THE JOURNAL OF PALAEONTOLOGY and elsewhere. In 1992, she began writing her first novel, THE FIVE OF CUPS (it remained unpublished until 2003). Her first published novel, SILK (1998), earned her two awards and praise from critics and such luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and Poppy Z. Brite. Her next novel, THRESHOLD (2001), was also an award-winner, and since then she has written LOW RED MOON (2003), MURDER OF ANGELS (2004), DAUGHTER OF HOUNDS (2007), and, forthcoming, THE RED TREE. She is a prolific short fiction author, and her award-winning short stories have been collected in TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER (2000), WRONG THINGS (with Poppy Z. Brite; 2001), FROM WEIRD AND DISTANT SHORES (2002), and TO CHARLES FORT, WITH LOVE (2005), ALABASTER (2006), FROG TOES AND TENTACLES (2005), TALES FROM THE WOEFUL PLATYPUS (2007), and, most recently, the sf collection, A IS FOR ALIEN (2009). She has also scripted comics for DC/Vertigo, including THE DREAMING ('97-'01), THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE DEATH ('98), and BAST: ETERNITY GAME ('03). Her short sf novel THE DRY SALVAGES was published in 2004, and has published numerous chapbooks since 2000. Caitlin also fronted the goth-rock band Death's Little Sister in 1996-1997, once skinned a lion, and likes sushi. She lives in Providence, RI with her partner, Kathryn, and her two cats, Hubero and Smeagol. Caitlin is represented by Writer's House (NYC) and United Talent Agency (LA).

Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, and The Graveyard Book. Among his numerous literary awards are the Newbery and Carnegie medals, and the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. He is a Professor in the Arts at Bard College.

You can learn everything you want to know about Cherie Priest via her website, http://www.cheriepriest.com - thanks so much!

China Miéville lives and works in London. He is three-time winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award (Perdido Street Station, Iron Council and The City & The City) and has also won the British Fantasy Award twice (Perdido Street Station and The Scar). The City & The City, an existential thriller, was published in 2009 to dazzling critical acclaim and drew comparison with the works of Kafka and Orwell (The Times) and Philip K. Dick (Guardian).

Winner of:

Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette, 2015: "Even Clean Hands Can Do Damage"

International Horror Guild award for Best Short Story, 2000: "The Rag And Bone Men"

Shortlisted for:

World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story, 2012: "X For Demetrious"

World Fantasy Award for Best Novella, 2010: "The Lion's Den"

International Horror Guild award for Mid-Length Fiction, 2007: "Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed"

Author of:

THE MOMENT OF PANIC (2013, PS Publishing)

TRAGIC LIFE STORIES, 2010, Ash-Tree Press

THE FIVE QUARTERS (with Ian Rodwell), 2001, Ash-Tree Press

THE NIGHT COMES ON, 1998, Ash-Tree Press

Visit Steve's Goodreads author page for more info: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/376166.Steve_Duffy

David Barr Kirtley is the host of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast on Wired.com, for which he's interviewed over 400 guests, including Neil Gaiman, George R. R. Martin, Margaret Atwood, Richard Dawkins, Simon Pegg, Bill Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Ursula K. Le Guin. His short fiction appears in magazines such as Realms of Fantasy, Weird Tales, Lightspeed, and Intergalactic Medicine Show, on podcasts such as Escape Pod and Pseudopod, and in books such as The Living Dead, New Cthulhu, The Way of the Wizard, and The Dragon Done It. His story "Save Me Plz" was picked by editor Rich Horton for the 2008 edition of the anthology series Fantasy: The Best of the Year. His book Save Me Plz and Other Stories collects 20 of his best stories, along with 13 illustrations and more than 40 pages of author's notes explaining how the stories came to be written and published. He lives in Austin with his cat Oryx and his wife Steph Grossman.

Kim Newman is a London-based author and movie critic. With over 25 years of experience, he writes regularly for Empire Magazine and contributes to The Guardian, The Times, Sight & Sound and others. He makes frequent appearances on radio and TV and has popular lines in horror. He has won the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards and been nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Award.

Novelist, short story writer and screenwriter, writing under the names Michael Marshall Smith and Michael Marshall. As the former, author of ONLY FORWARD, SPARES, ONE OF US, THE SERVANTS and the upcoming HANNAH GREEN AND HER UNFEASIBLY MUNDANE EXISTENCE. Also winner of the August Derleth, International Horror Guild and Philip K Dick Award — in addition to winning the British Fantasy Award for best short story more times than any other author in history.

As Michael Marshall, an internationally-bestselling writer of thrillers including the STRAW MEN trilogy and THE INTRUDERS — recently televised starring John Simm, Mira Sorvino and Millie Bobby Brown.

www.michaelmarshallsmith.com

Twitter @ememess

Insta @ememess

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Charles Stross, 58, is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. The author of six Hugo-nominated novels and winner of the 2005, 2010, and 2015 Hugo awards for best novella, Stross's works have been translated into over twelve languages.

Like many writers, Stross has had a variety of careers, occupations, and job-shaped-catastrophes in the past, from pharmacist (he quit after the second police stake-out) to first code monkey on the team of a successful dot-com startup (with brilliant timing he tried to change employer just as the bubble burst).

Lon Prater has worked in the Reactor Compartments of USS Enterprise, edited the military’s textbook on arms deals, and kept things safe in the produce and laundry industries. He lives, writes, and plays a lot of boardgames in Pensacola, Florida.

His short fiction has appeared in the Stoker-winning anthology Borderlands 5, Origins Award finalist Frontier Cthulhu, and dozens of other publications. Lon is an Active Member of both the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.