Amelia Beamer writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels & stories and has spent the past few years in the UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, Ireland, and Iceland. She is the author of The Loving Dead, the number two zombie novel...  read

Born and raised on Chicago's Northwest side, Chuck Sudo has called Bridgeport home for nearly 15 years and has written for the popular local website Chicagoist for nearly nine years--the last three-plus as editor-in-chief. His writing has appeared in the...  read

Tom Underberg writes speculative fiction and raises children. He can often be found photographing bricks, sidewalks and manhole covers for a blog on overlooked infrastructure. Before Tom's children were born he worked at less demanding jobs in software and consulting....  read

Cameron McGill is a Chicago-based singer and songwriter. He recently released his sixth album, Gallows Etiquette. The album was funded via a PledgeMusic.com campaign; a percentage of funds raised will support Rock For Kids, a charity which provides instruments and...  read

Mare Swallow is the founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Writers Conference, an organization that exists to connect writers to publishing professionals...and each other! CWC will feature a Self-Publishing Workshop in March. She is also a professional speaker and...  read

Ryan Bartelmay graduated from the University of Iowa in 1998, where he was a member of the Undergraduate Writer's Workshop, and then went on to Columbia University to receive an MFA in fiction writing in 2005. His debut novel, Onward...  read

Jasmine Davila started her first blog in 2000, and has been over-sharing on the internet ever since. She is a contributor for Gapers Block, the greatest Chicago-centric blog that ever blogged, and Asian pop culture blog Disgrasian.com. Jasmine has read...  read

Christa Desir writes dark contemporary fiction for young adults. Her first book, Fault Line, came out this fall. Her second book, Bleed Like Me, is due out in October 2014. She lives with her husband, three small children, and overly...  read

Christopher Sweet worked in education for many years. He is one of those schoolers who has two advanced degrees - an MA in English and an MSJ from a now-defunct "School of Journalism." He learned to write in the Fiction...  read

Kelly Swails is a writer and editor who pays the bills by editing an online scientific journal. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies including Coins of Chaos and Boondocks Fantasy. She relocated to Chicago this past summer and...  read