Angela Ackerman
Angela Ackerman writes on the dark side of Middle Grade and Young Adult, and is represented by Jill Corcoran of The Herman Agency. She is also the co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression and blogs at the award winning resource, The Bookshelf Muse. When she isn't creating new writing tools or plotting mayhem, she's carefully deleting her browser history and pretending to live the life of a normal, quiet Canadian.

Karen Bass
After managing the local library for 16 years, Karen Bass hung up her date stamp and began writing full-time. Her first three YA novels have won several awards including the 2009 Exporting Alberta, two IPPYs and a Moonbeam Children’s award. Her fourth YA novel, Graffiti Knight, is forthcoming in August. Three of her novels deal with aspects of World War Two and she likes to say that they are “suitable for adult reading.” www.karenbass.ca

Jessica Bay
Jessica Bay is an MA student in English at the University of Lethbridge. She has previously completed an MA thesis in Popular Culture entitled The New Blockbuster Film Sequel: Changing Cultural and Economic Conditions Within the Film Industry. Her current research examines a connection between fanfic and self-publication of e-books in the urban fantasy genre.

Helaine Becker
Helaine Becker is the bestselling writer of more than 50 children’s books: YA fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and verse. Her chapter book series, The Looney Bay All-Stars, has sold over 185,000 copies to date; A Porcupine in a Pine Tree was the #1 Canadian National Bestseller and received the Libris Picture Book of the Year Award from the C.B.A. She also is a three-time winner of the Silver Birch Award: for Boredom Blasters in 2006, and Secret Agent Y.O.U. in 2008; What's the Big Idea? received the Silver Birch Honour Award in 2011. The Insecto-Files was awarded the first ever Lane Anderson Award for Science Writing for Children. The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea won the Outstanding Youth Book Award from the CSWA.
Helaine also writes for children’s television. She creates Dr. Greenie’s Mad lab for APTN and web. The show was a Youth Jury Finalist at the MIP Junior conference in Cannes and is going into its fourth season of production this year.
Helaine is in high demand as a presenter and performer at schools across North America. She has been on the executive board of CANSCAIP (the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors and Illustrators), and is a member of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, TWUC, CSWA and SCBWI. She is married with two teenage sons and has the cutest dog in the world, Ella. She is also a runner, a loud laugher, and a certified KABOOM!!!! pyrotechnician.
Helaine volunteers regularly for literacy causes and is actively involved in presentations and projects in association with the CNIB, ABC Literacy Canada, First Book Canada, and Librarians without Borders.
www.helainebecker.com
www.helainebecker.blogspot.com
www.sci-why.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/helainebecker

Samantha Beiko
Samantha Beiko has worked in the Canadian publishing industry for the past three years in marketing and publicity, as well as editorial and layout design. She is currently the Managing Editor and Layout Designer for the award-winning Toronto-based publisher, ChiZine Publications. Samantha is also an emerging author, and her first book, a YA fantasy novel called The Lake and the Library, was released in 2013 with ECW Press. She currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is working to broaden the speculative fiction community there through her writing and publishing work.

Eileen Bell
Eileen Bell has written most of her life (usually as an antidote to whatever day job she had) and has had short fiction published in several anthologies, including the double Aurora Award winning "Women of the Apocalypse" and the Aurora winning "Bourbon and Eggnog."
When she's not writing or editing or thinking about writing, she's living a fine life in her round house (even if it is in a perpetual state of renovation) with her husband and her two dogs, Buddy and Millie.

Renee Bennett
Renee Bennett co-edited the Shanghai Steam anthology, and she administers the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest. She is a five-time nominee for Canada’s Aurora Awards for editing, in both the professional and amateur categories. Her own work has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, on CBC Radio, and in Year’s Best Fantasy. Of it, she says, "I write anything I damn well please. Don't you?".

Janice Blaine
Janice Blaine is a professional commercial artist working out of Calgary. Throughout her career, she has worked on a wide variety of projects, ranging from pre-production animation to design & illustration of children’s books. Her illustrations have appeared on the covers of numerous magazines and books. Her cover illustration for Neo-opsis issue #20 was nominated for an Aurora Award in 2012, and she is co-editor and illustrator of the Urban Green Man short fiction anthology. She currently works as the Production Manager at EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. She also does freelance illustration and design work. Her portfolio may be viewed at www.paintersblock.com

Roxy Boroughs
Before turning her attentions to writing, Roxy tread the boards as a performer, appearing in theatres across North America, TV commercials, and movies. In addition to writing interactive murder-mysteries for Pegasus Performances, her award-winning novel A STRANGER'S TOUCH, as well as its sequel, A STRANGER'S KISS, is now available through Amazon.com. Watch for her upcoming release, the edgy urban fantasy, WOLFEN TIME. "Roxy Boroughs has it all - humor, suspense, and the kind of raw emotion that makes romantic suspense worth reading. This genre has a bright new star." Lecia Cornwall author of Secrets of A Proper Countess, an RT Reviewers Choice nominee.

Anna Maria Bortolotto
Anna Maria Bortolotto calls Calgary, Alberta home. As a writer of speculative fiction, she has won and placed in the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest in past years. Anna has recently returned to Calgary as a graduate of the 2013 Odyssey Writers Workshop, which is an intensive 6 week workshop for writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, run by former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell and author Jeanne Cavelos each summer in Manchester, New Hampshire. Anna is also a long-time member of IFWA, related writing groups, and attendee at When Words Collide and its predecessors. Anna can be found at www.amb-creations.com.

E.R. Brown
E.R. Brown worked as a stagehand, recording engineer, computer programmer, technical writer and chandelier cleaner before settling down and writing for a living. After over fifteen years as a copywriter for advertising, marketing and corporate communications, he turned to fiction. His work has appeared in literary magazines and on CBC Radio. His first novel, Almost Criminal, will be available in the spring of 2013. Born in Montreal, he now lives in Vancouver.

http://www.erbrown.com/

Graeme Brown
Graeme Brown is a Winnipeg writer, artist and student of mathematics. As a long-time fan of epic fantasy who suffers from an overactive imagination, he has been writing stories for more than twenty years. He also enjoys running, yoga, and playing classical piano. His first title, a short story called The Pact, was released this May, and he is putting the finishing touches on his next one, A Thousand Roads. For more information, visit Graeme at www.graemebrownart.com or follow him on Twitter: @GraemeBrownWpg

Anne Burke
Anne Burke is a Full Member of the League of Canadian Poets and was President of the Writers Guild of Alberta. She received the Alberta Centennial Medal. in addition to the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Award and Diamond Jubilee Award for her contributions to Canada. She edits The Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature which she founded and is Series Editor of The Living Archives Series. She co-founded Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (where she represented arts,literary, and cultural magazines) and is a member of the Cultural Magazines Committee for Magazines Canada.

Susan Calder
Susan Calder is the author of Deadly Fall (Touchwood Editions, 2011), a murder mystery novel set in Calgary. She is currently working on two new novels and has published short stories, travel articles and poems. Susan teaches novel and short story courses at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society and blogs when the mood strikes. This summer, she's inspired to blog about her recent trip to Austria and the Czech Republic. Read more at www.susancalder.com.

Jeff R. Campbell
Jeff R. Campbell is a the co-editor of the Gaslight anthologies (Gaslight Grimoire, Gaslight Grotesque & Gaslight Arcanum) and has a number of short stories and radio dramas published. His next project is the Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places anthology co-edited with Charles Prepolec.

Melodie Campbell
Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Digest compared her to Janet Evanovich.

Melodie got her start writing comedy (stand-up and columns.) In 1999, she opened the Canadian Humour Conference. She has over 200 publications including 100 comedy credits, 40 short stories and 4 novels. Her fifth novel, a mob caper entitled The Goddaughter's Revenge (Orca Books), will be released Oct. 1. She has won 6 awards for fiction, and was a finalist for both the 2012 Derringer and Arthur Ellis Awards.

Melodie is the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada. Her humour column Bad Girl appears in The Sage.

Vanessa Cardui
Vanessa Cardui is a lifelong poet and songwriter, as well as a performer, recording artist, and producer. She has been active in the Calgary music scene since 2004 and has contributed to a number of local projects. Vanessa's own original rock band, Heroincredible, has performed to great acclaim at several well-attended science-fiction and fantasy conventions, including the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo in 2011.
Vanessa has written hundreds of songs in a variety of genres, including rock, folk, filk, and choral music, and has a special love of historical and mythological subject matter.
http://vanessacardui.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/VanessaCarduiArtist?ref=ts#!/VanessaCarduiArtist?sk=info

Suzanne Church
Aurora Award winning author Suzanne Church lives in Ontario. She writes Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror because she enjoys them all and hates to play favorites. Her short stories have appeared in Clarkesworld and Cicada, and in several anthologies including Danse Macabre: Close Encounters with the Reaper.

Dwayne Clayden
Dwayne Clayden is Paramedic with over 30 years in Emergency Services. A former police officer, Tactical Paramedic, and EMS Chief, Dwayne has been involved in the training of paramedics and tactical paramedics and an international conference speaker for more than 20 years. Dwayne has published four textbooks for paramedics. Dwayne is an Action/Thriller writer of police procedurals. Blood and Guts is a follow –up to his When Words Collide presentation last year "Drugs as a Murder Weapon".

Leah Crichton
Leah Crichton is a wife, mother of three and YA/new adult author currently residing in Calgary, AB. Her day job is in the very technical world of GIS so when the sun sets, she welcomes the voices in her head and often writes down what they have to say. Sometimes, when she's lucky, they turn into decent stories. She has penned several novels and worked with Sony Music Canada in writing the official fan fiction for the British boy band, One Direction. Her compiled works have attracted over 3.5 million reads on Wattpad and counting. http://www.leah-crichton.com/

Aspen deLainey
Aspen lives in the Foothills of Alberta with her husband, two of her four children, a dog, a lovebird and a glaring of semi-feral cats.

One of Aspen’s earliest memories is writing a story for her little brother in crayon on a favored picture book and earning a spanking as her first critical review. Never deterred, Aspen continued to make up stories, and hone her craft, until finally letting a few escape her clutches in 2010.

Love ‘n Lies is Aspen’s first work in The Evermore Chronicles, the concept for which was developed while she was employed in the seniors’ medical field. Do paranormal beings also suffer from medical problems? What happens to aging Vampires, Wizards, Trolls and the like?

Craig DiLouie
Craig DiLouie is the author of the bestselling zombie novels TOOTH AND NAIL, THE INFECTION and THE KILLING FLOOR. Craig blogs about his fiction and all things apocalyptic horror at www.craigdilouie.com.

Dave Duncan
Dave Duncan is a prolific writer of Fantasy and SF, and was for many years a resident of Calgary. (He now lives in Victoria.) His next book, King of Swords, will be published in September, but if all goes well some copies will be available in the dealers' room!

Claire Eamer
Claire Eamer is an award-winning Canadian children’s author. She likes science, history, travel, dragons, pirates, and magic frogs, among other things. She also likes writing about them – but not all in the same place. At least, not yet. Claire makes her living mainly as a science writer for audiences that range from large science-based international agencies to eight-year-olds. The eight-year-olds are generally more fun. She also writes science fiction and fantasy for middle grade and YA readers. Claire’s latest book, due out from Annick Press in 2013, is Before the World Was Ready: Stories of Daring Genius in Science.

Kim Firmston
Kim Firmston is a real life mutant - though one without any cool powers. Kim has written and produced many plays, and published four YA novels - Schizo, Hook Up, Touch, and Boiled Cat. When she is not writing or cursing obvious villain mistakes, she warps young minds in her youth writing classes and at her Calgary based Reality is Optional Kid's Writing Club. Kim encourages play, be it in her classes or on her interactive websites that often sport DO NOT PUSH buttons.
http://www.kimfirmston.com/
http://www.boiledcat.com/
http://www.realityisoptional.weebly.com/

Sandra Fitzpatrick
Sandra Fitzpatrick has been helping artists, writers, actors and other creative people with their taxes since 2006. Many have not known the deductions available as self-employed people and she does several seminars each year to bring this information and more on the basics of financial planning to them. She has been writing fantasy and science fiction for over ten years and is a long time member of IFWA.

Susan Forest
Two-time Prix Aurora Award nominee, and winner of The Galaxy Project, juried by Robert Silverberg, David Drake and Barry Malzberg, Susan Forest is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror, and fiction editor for Edge Press. You can find her works in Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Tesseracts, AE Science Fiction Review, OnSpec and the Urban Green Man or in her collection, Immunity to Strange Tales (Five Rivers Press). You can check out her website at www.speculative-fiction.ca.

Cecelia Frey
Cecelia Frey has worked as an editor, teacher, and freelance writer and has for many years been involved in the Calgary literary community. Her work has been published in dozens of literary journals and anthologies as well as being broadcast on CBC Radio and performed on the Women’s Television Network. As well as five volumes of poetry she has published novels and collections of short fiction. Her latest book of poetry, Under Nose Hill, documents the importance of landscape and space as it affects human growth and development.

Ron S. Friedman
Ron S. Friedman's stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Not Just Rockets And Robots, Age Of Certainty, and have received Honourable Mentions in the Writers of the Future Contest.
Ron is on the CSFFA board of directors, WWC committee, and he is an active IFWA member. Ron had been nominated for the 2013 Aurora Awards - Fan Related category.
Ron participated as a panelist at When Words Collide, Con-version and Calgary Comic Expo. He is currently working on his second novel.

Barb Galler-Smith
Barb Galler-Smith resides in Edmonton, Alberta where she's a Fiction Editor with On Spec Magazine. She's co-authored an historical fantasy trilogy with US author Josh Langston: DRUIDS (released in 2009 and nominated for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English), and CAPTIVES released in 2011. The third book, WARRIORS, is scheduled for release in August 2013 (EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing).

Jacqueline Guest
International award winning author of seventeen novels, Jacqueline Guest has stood on an iceberg, flown a kite in a hurricane and worn bedroom slippers in Parliament all in the name of research. Topics for her fast paced books range from deadly video games to helpful ghosts and everything in between!

Brian Hades
Brian Hades started his professional life at the age of seven -- as a magician. Brian is now the head of EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, Canada's largest genre book publisher.
As head of EDGE, Hades is leading the Canadian campaign to add respectability to the often ghettoized genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. A quick glance of his releases this year--which include titles under Hades' three imprints: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, Tesseract Books and Absolute XPress--shows that its international roster of authors tackles a wide variety of speculative fiction concerns.

Peter Halasz
Peter is an unregenerate book addict. He reads them, talks about them, collects them and occasionally even writes about them. The only thing he does not do is write them. Oh, and he's one of the founders and one of the administrators of the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. He is chuffed to have been the only non-academic, non-writer invited to participate at the Commonwealth of Science Fiction conference held at the University of Liverpool in 2004.

Vivian Hansen
Vivian Hansen was born June 29, 1957 to Danish immigrants. Her nonfiction and poetry have encountered women's issues, the western landscape, work and immigration. She is the co-founder of the Calgary Women's Writing Projectc. She has taught poetry and life writing with the Alexandra Writers' Centre in Calgary. She facilitates workshops in poetry and life writing for the aged and disabled.

Richard Harrison
Author of 6 books of poetry, co-author of Secret Identity Reader, essays on superheroes, and the co-editor of the essay collection Now is the Winter: Thinking About Hockey, Richard Harrison is a citizen of three literary worlds -- or rather of the literary lands that cross the boundaries of pop culture and high art, of creativity and criticism. Richard teaches English and Creative Writing at Mount Royal University, and has spoken at the San Diego Comic-Con as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame and Calgary's WordFest. This is his third visit to When Words Collide.

Amber Hayward
Amber Hayward's Children of the Panther SF trilogy of novels was complete with the publication of 'Stolen Children,' released by Edge Press in September 2011. She has had many short stories and poems included in various magazines and anthologies. Amber's non-writing wage-earning alternate life sees her as owner-manager of the Black Cat Guest Ranch near Jasper, Alberta. From May 1, 2011 - April 30, 2012, Amber wrote a short short story every day and posted it on her website, www.amberhayward.ca.

Ron Hore
Ron reviews genre novels and anthologies for an on-line magazine, and recently co-authored Rotary Club of Winnipeg- 100 Years of Service.
Writing as R.J.Hore, a medieval fantasy-style novel The Dark Lady was published February 2012, a novella, Knight’s Bridge, March 2013 and a second fantasy novel, The Queen’s Pawn, April 2013. Housetrap, first in a series of fantasy detective novellas arrived December 2012 followed by: Dial M for Mudder July 2013, House on Hollow Hill September 2013, and Hounds of Basalt Ville November 2013. First as ebooks, and later in print, these are available through outlets such as Amazon or direct: www.burstbooks.ca
Updates on Ron and writing: www.ronaldhore.com and www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore.

Axel Howerton
Axel Howerton is the author of the quirky neo-noir detective novel Hot Sinatra, the mini-anthology Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy, and a bevy of short stories and hidden gems. His work has recently appeared in Big Pulp, Fires on the Plain, Steampunk Originals, A Career Guide To Your Job In Hell, Lebowski 101, Clones, Fairies & Monsters in the Closet and the holiday anthology Let It Snow: Season’s Readings For A Super-Cool Yule. Axel is is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada and the co-creator of the annual Coffin Hop author extravaganza. He lives in the untamed prairies with his two brilliant young sons and a wife who is way out of his league.
http://about.me/axelhowerton

Jessica L. Jackson
Jessica L. Jackson, a proud member of the Alberta Romance Writers’ Association, has lived in Southern Alberta since 1997. She’s began writing romances in her twenties when her three children were young. Within the last year she has e-published two novellas with Ellora’s Cave in their Blush line and is under contract for a three-book series of paranormal/contemporary. The first of these, Come Closer has a release date of September 5th, 2013. Encouraged by one of the WWC 2012 sessions on self-publishing, Jessica has also self-published two time/historical novels through Amazon.com as e-books. Another book in the series will be released this summer. Her website is: jessicaleolajackson.com.

Cameron D James
When Cameron D James isn’t writing gay erotic romance, he can be found studying for his Masters, working in his dull office job, or reading five books at once. But, really, you’re most likely to find him writing. He loves crafting hot, sexy, sweaty, throbbing scenes, interwoven with lust and deep emotions for an orgasmic whole. He writes out of a love of characters, wherever those characters may lead.

Calvin D. Jim
Calvin D. Jim is an Asian-Canadian writer and editor of Asian speculative fiction. He is a Prix Aurora Award nominated co-editor of Shanghai Steam, the steampunk-wuxia anthology and his other works have appeared in Rigor Amortis, The Tomorrow Anthology and Crossed Genre Quarterly. He lives in Calgary with his wife and two children, no pets and no garden gnomes.

Paula Johanson
Paula Johanson is a long-time member of SF Canada, the association of Canadian science fiction and fantasy professionals, and of the Canadian Children's Science Book Writers. While completing a Master's degree in Canadian Literature, Paula was pleased to co-edit Opus 6, an Okal Rel anthology, and kayak down the Red Deer river. Her newest book from Rosen Publishing will be launched at When Words Collide: Money-Making Opportunities For Teens Who Like Pets And Animals.

Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson's stories have appeared in places like Asimov's Science Fiction, The Magazine of Science Fiction and Strange Horizons as well as numerous year's best anthologies. His first novel, Fall From Earth, was published by Bundoran Press in 2009 and Irregular Verbs, a collection of his short fiction, will be out from ChiZine Press in early 2014. When he's not writing he works as Director of Education for MediaSmarts, an internationally recognized media education organization, where he writes blogs and comics, designs computer games and does pirate voices in both English and French.

Sarah Kades
Sarah Kades loves writing romance, travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. She has called the United States, Scotland and Canada home, and was an archaeologist for over a decade (and has been unable to shake her fascination with helicopters since). It is great writing inspiration, though, so she’s not too worried. She loves writing stories that entertain and inspire people in the magic and power of love, each one of us, and the natural world. She has two titles out, Claiming Love and the short story Duke Out at the Diner. 403 Verboten and Kiss Me in the Rain are releasing this year. When she is not writing or giving writing workshops, she is playing, usually outside, with her family or planning their next adventure. Visit her at sarahkades.com.

Adrienne Kerr
Adrienne Kerr is the Commissioning Editor of Commercial Fiction at Penguin Group (Canada) where she acquires mystery, suspense, sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, women's and historical novels. She works with bestselling authors Stuart McLean, Jack Whyte, Robert J. Sawyer, Suzanne Desrochers, and D.J. McIntosh, as well as Pauline Gedge, Sophie Hannah, and Keith Ross Leckie. She is the Canadian Booksellers' Association Editor of the Year (2011) and was the Canadian Booksellers' Association Sales Representative of the Year (2009). She has also worked as a book buyer for a large North American retailer, and as an independent bookseller. She lives in Toronto.

Tony King
Tony King is a Calgary writer and broadcaster.

Aaron Kite
Aaron Kite is a writer/artist who likes putting slashes between occupations, and who very rarely refers to himself in the third person. He was one of the founding members of the amateur writing group Starting Write Now, as well as countless side-projects which he'd mention by name if the government would finally get around to granting him immunity.

He has three finished novels presently, the first of which is scheduled for release in the latter half of 2013. Recently, his novel A Touch of Poison won the 2012 Watty Award for Most Popular Fantasy, and has received over 2.7 million reads in the past 14 months. Aaron currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Website: www.kiteanic.com

Stacey Kondla
Stacey Kondla is a life-long book nerd and averages reading 10 -15 books per month in her spare time. She was fortunate to have spent 10 years working for Scholastic Book Fairs to promote the love of reading in children and young adults and is an active member of When Words Collide's organizing committee. Stacey also is a member of Bookcrossing and promotes the love of reading to the public at large by releasing books into the wild to find new readers.

Linda Kupecek
Linda Kupecek writes mystery, non-fiction, humour and lifestyle, sometimes all in the same book. Her debut mystery novel, Deadly Dues (TouchWood Editions 2010) is the first in the lighthearted Lulu Malone series. She has also worked as a screenwriter, television writer and host, magazine columnist, playwright, actor (“McCabe and Mrs. Miller”, among many other films) and was a senior correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter. Some people still recognize her voice from her days on CBC Radio, which sort of shocks her. She is a brilliant procrastinator and demented collector/hoarder, and blogs about all of the above at www.lindakupecek.com.

Dave Laderoute
Dave Laderoute has been writing off-and-on since 1990, and has had several short stories appear in various small press publications. Most notably, he took second place in a science fiction writing contest sponsored by the Association of Computing Machinery, a consortium of major companies including Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett Packard, Apple and others. Dave has also written extensively for role-playing games, particularly The Legend of the Five Rings product line. Out of Time, coming in late 2013 from Five Rivers, is Dave's first novel-length publication. With another novel manuscript under serious consideration by a major publisher, though, and two more on the go, he doesn't intend it to be his last!

Adria Laycraft
Adria Laycraft is a grateful member of IFWA and a proud survivor of the Odyssey Writers Workshop. She co-edited Urban Green Man, launching in August of 2013. Look for her stories in Tesseracts 16, Neo-opsis, On-Spec, James Gunn's Ad Astra, Hypersonic Tales, DKA Magazine, and In Places Between. Author of Be a Freelance Writer Now, Adria lives in Calgary with her husband and son.

Halli Lilburn
Born in Edmonton, AB, Halli Dee Lilburn teaches art journaling at local schools and through educational programs. She writes poetry, creative non-fiction and Young Adult fiction. She has work published in Canada's History, Canadian Stories, Poetry quarterly and other literary journals. Her novel SHIFTERS is published through Imajin Books.
She now resides in southern Alberta with her husband and three children and works at the local library. She is a gardener, artist, photographer, seamstress, genealogist, and singer. She can pick up spiders, handle the sight of blood, subdue aggressive dogs, make a mean grilled cheese, and keep her sanity. Most of the time.
She can be found at: hallililburn.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/hlilburn
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4878963twitter@hallilburn

Nicole Luiken
Nicole Luiken wrote her first book at age thirteen and was published while still in high school. She is the author of two fantasy romance novels and nine YA novels, including the popular Violet Eyes series. Her books have won the Moonbeam and the Golden Eagle Book Award. She lives in Edmonton with her family. It is impossible for her to go more than three days in a row without writing.
www.nicoleluiken.com.

Ed Lukowich
Ed Lukowich - pen name Sagan Jeffries, first sci-fi novel entitiled The Trillionist coming in fall 2013 from Edge Publishing.

Janice MacDonald
Janice MacDonald has written a college textbook, non-fiction and stories for both children and adults. Her Randy Craig Mysteries was the first series set in Edmonton. A lifelong fan and reviewer of detective fiction, she even wrote her master's thesis on the subject. She is also keen on history; her first book was The Northwest Fort and her latest mystery Condemned to Repeat, features, among other sites, Fort Edmonton Park. She was lured away from an MFA in playwriting by the chance to write and produce radio, and has had work appear on CKUA, CBC, and ACCESSTV. She also wrote the music and lyrics for two touring musicals. Wasting nothing, her novel-in-progress involves the Edmonton theatre scene. Her full biography and bibliography is available online at janicemacdonald.net.

Susan MacGregor
Susan MacGregor has been a fiction editor with On Spec Magazine for over twenty years. She has also edited anthologies Divine Realms (Ravenstone Books/Turnstone Press) and Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales (Edge Publishing). Her first novel, The Tattooed Witch (an historical fantasy/paranormal romance hybrid), will be released this fall by Five Rivers Publishing, followed by two subsequent books in the trilogy, The Tattooed Seer and The Tattooed Rose. Currently, she is re-releasing portions of her non-fiction book The ABC's of How NOT to Write Speculative Fiction" on her blog, suzenyms. You can find her online at: suzenyms.blogspot.ca.

Tereasa Maillie
Tereasa Maillie is a researcher and writer living in Calgary. Her previous plays include Crystal Ball, performed at the Calgary Fringe Festival, and Emma, which was awarded the CAT AWARDS for Outstanding Original Script or Adaptation 2012. Currently she is working on a one-act historical/western Gothic play set in the 1870s Canadian west.

Clare C. Marshall
Clare C. Marshall grew up in rural Nova Scotia with very little television and dial-up internet, and yet, she turned out okay. She has a combined honours degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King’s College, and is a graduate from Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing Program. She is a full-time freelance editor, book designer, and web manager. She enjoys publishing books through her publishing imprint, Faery Ink Press. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing the fiddle and making silly noises at cats. Website: http://faeryinkpress.com.

Ann Marston
Ann Marston is a fiction editor for On Spec. She has worked as a teacher, a flight instructor, an airline pilot, airport manager and a literacy coordinator. Ann writes fantasy because everyone knows pilots don't live in the real world anyway. She is the author of The Rune Blade trilogy (Kingmaker's Sword, Western King and Broken Blade) and the Sword in Exile trilogy (Cloudbearer's Shadow, King of Shadows and Sword & Shadow) which are being reissued by Five Rivers Chapmanry, the first two being available as e-books as well. SHe has had short stories appear in Return of the Dinasaurs, Zodiac Fantastic, Cat Tales and On Spec Magazine.

Micheline Maylor
Micheline Maylor moved from Windsor, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta in 1975 and lives in a little house beside the Bow River with her family. She has been the recipient of the Overseas Research Scholarship, the International Research Scholarship and grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. She has published poetry in over 50 journals in five countries. A certified poetry fanatic, she teaches creative writing at Mount Royal University, the Alexandra Writers' Centre Society, and edits FreeFall Literary Magazine.

Randy McCharles
Randy McCharles is active in Calgary, Alberta's writing community with a focus on speculative fiction, usually of the dark and humorous variety. In 2009 he received Canada's most prestigious award for speculative fiction, the Prix-Aurora Award, for the novella Ringing in the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta which appeared in Tesseracts 12 (Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing) and was also reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy 9 (David Hartwell and Kathryn Kramer, ed). Additional short stories and novellas are available in various publications from Edge Press, including 2 books being launched this weekend: The Puzzle Box and Urban Green Man. www.RandyMcCharles.com.

Jodi McIsaac
Jodi McIsaac is the author of the bestselling novel Through the Door, the first in a new urban fantasy series inspired by Celtic mythology. She successfully self-published Through the Door before the series was picked up by a traditional publishing house...if you can call Amazon Publishing's 47North imprint traditional. The second book in the series comes out in December and she is frantically writing the third while juggling her two children and a boutique copywriting agency.

Danni Menard
Danni is a yet unpublished writer who has been participating in NaNoWriMo since November 2010. With large word counts and numerous ideas keeping her going since then, she is working ever closer to her goal of being published. She currently resides in her hometown of Calgary, Alberta, and tends to write more toward the science fiction and fantasy genres, though has been known to dabble in almost anything.

Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is passionate about the craft and business of writing. A historian by training (MA, UBC), she is the author of For the Love of Flying and is currently working on Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North as well as a historical novel, Chasing Skies. Currently based in Edmonton, she has been writer in residence at Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon and was named Chatelaine's Maverick of the Year in 2011. Please follow her on Twitter @danicanuck and check out her website www.daniellemc.com.

Billie Milholland
Billie Milholland writes fiction & non-fiction, makes mixed media visual art, farms her back yard and is addicted to information. Recent publications include a novella in Aurora Award winning Women of the Apocalypse, a novella in The Puzzle Box and a novella in the 4th Circle of the 10th Circle Project; short fiction in the 10th Circle Project, Ride the Moon and the Urban Green Man.

Joanne Morcom
Joanne Morcom is a founding member of the Magpie Haiku & Tanka Poets, who have published two anthologies, A Piece of Eggshell and Weathered Wings. Her own poetry collections, A Nameless Place (Sam's Dot Publishing) and About the Blue Moon (Inkling press) are available from the author. Look for these books in the When Words Collide Merchants Corner. Her haiku, tanka and haibun appears in various electronic and print publications.

Joanne's a native Calgarian, a social worker, a laughter yoga leader and a collector of quotations, like this one from Ray Bradbury (one of her favourite writers): "The important thing is to be in love with something."

Ginger Mullen
Ginger Mullen's interest in folk and fairy tales led her to pursue a Master's degree in Children's Literature, focusing her studies on the Scottish ballad of "Tam Lin." She has presented at several post-secondary institutions and conferences, including one in England last year that celebrated the bi-centennial of the Grimm Brothers' seminal publication, Children's and Household Tales. Currently, she teaches at Mount Royal University, works as a professional storyteller and facilitates a variety of early childhood programs for community organizations.

Nina Munteanu
Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published novelist and short story author of science fiction and fantasy. She is currently editor of SF Europa, a zine dedicated to informing the European SF community.

Nina's guide for writers called "The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now!" by Starfire World Syndicate was adopted by several colleges and universities throughout North America and Europe. It was recently published by Editura Paralela 45 in Romania. The next book in her writing guide series "The Journal Writer: Finding Your Voice" will be released in early 2013.

For more information about booking her workshops, consultations, or speaking appearances visit www.NinaMunteanu.com.

Terry Nicholaichuk
Terry Nicholaichuk received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Saskatchewan in 1987. He has worked as a psychologist, researcher, program director and regional and national administrator in Federal Corrections. He also has specialised training and experience in the diagnosis of learning disorders. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He was, until recently, the Director of Research at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon. His publications and research interests are in the areas of sex offender assessment, sex offender treatment outcome and dynamic predictors of risk.

Rosemary Nixon
Rosemary Nixon is a pre-eminent short story writer, novelist, and free-lance editor. Her collection, Mostly Country, a Nunatak Fiction imprint: especially selected works of outstanding fiction by new western writers, was shortlisted for the Howard O'Hagan Award. The Cock's Egg won the Howard O'Hagan. Her novel, Kalila was longlisted for the ReLit Award and shortlisted for the George Bugnet Award. Her latest, Are You Ready To Be Lucky? will be released in fall of 2013.

Rosemary won Grain Magazine's Postcard Competition, has been awarded a Fellowship to write at Scotland's Hawthornden Castle, and invited as Canadian Guest Writer to Portugal's DISQUIET International Literary Festival. She has taught creative writing for over twenty years, including Writing With Style at the Banff Center, Sage Hill Writing Experience in Saskatchewan, and Writing Away in Greece. She has judged numerous literary competitions, including the Grant MacEwan Award, the Brenda Strathern Award, the CBC Literary Competition, and the Writers Union of Canada Short Fiction Competition. Rosemary has served as Writer-in-Residence for the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Programme, for the University of Windsor, Ontario, for the Canadian Authors Association, and most recently as Writer-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

Jason Lee Norman
Jason Lee Norman is a writer with a beard from Edmonton. He received his MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester. He is the author of two story collections: Americas and Beautiful Girls & Famous Men. He is also the creator/editor of a writing anthology entitled 40 Below which is a collection of writing about or inspired by winter in Edmonton. The book will be published this winter under Jason's new publishing imprint Wufniks Press.

Alyssa Linn Palmer
Alyssa Linn Palmer is a Canadian writer and freelance editor. She splits her time between a full-time day job, and her part-time loves, writing and editing. Her novella PROHIBITED PASSION and short story BETTING THE FARM are available as ebooks. Her short story VEE is a part of the charity anthology FELT TIPS, and its sequel is in the anthology ANYTHING SHE WANTS. She's currently working on several new projects. She loves to hear from readers, and you can find her online at www.alyssalinnpalmer.com or on Twitter @alyslinn.

Lorraine Paton
Lorraine Paton's debut contemporary romance novel, Devin's Second Chance, was released in June 2013 and the next book in her Morning Lake series, Annie's Christmas Plan, will be available this fall. Lorraine lives with her husband in Alberta, which is also the setting for her novels. When she is not refereeing fights between her two cats or having fun on social media, Lorraine can be found working on several other happily-ever-after books. You can visit her on her blog at www.lorrainepaton.com.

Justyn Perry
Justyn Perry is the owner and publisher of Breathless Press and Lycaon Press. Breathless Press started in 2009 as an eBook publisher producing quality Romance and Erotic stories. Lycaon Press started in the summer of 2012 with the idea that young readers are growing and needing something nice and dark to read (to stay out of trouble of course!). Justyn has been creating cover art and digital art for many years. His covers appear on many Breathless Press titles as well as titles among other eBook publishers. Breathless Press has recently grown from releasing 2 ebooks a week to 3 ebooks a week. Lycaon Press currently releases one ebook a week.
http://www.breathlesspress.com/
http://www.lycaonpress.com/

Celeste A. Peters
Celeste A. Peters is a Calgary-based author of fiction and non-fiction whose short story Without Blemish is included in Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy’s Urban Green Man anthology, which is launching at the WWC convention. She is also a professional website designer and has run Elegant Edge Website Design for the past eight years. With this hat on, she will be offering the session Author Websites 101 for fellow authors who are thinking of staking out real estate in cyberspace to set up their own site but need some practical advice regarding how to jump in and make it happen.

Sherry Peters
Sherry Peters lives in Winnipeg, where she spends her days working at St John's College at the University of Manitoba, and her evenings and weekends writing. Sherry graduated from the Odyssey Writing Workshop in 2005 and earned her M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in 2009. She credits the year she spent in Northern Ireland as one of the best years of her life and a daily inspiration and motivation in her writing. Her book Silencing Your Inner Saboteur is available at all major online e-book retailers, through her website, sherrypeters.wordpress.com, and at the IFWA table at When Words Collide.

Ursula Pflug
Ursula Pflug is author of the novel Green Music (Edge/Tesseract) and the story collection After the Fires (Tightrope). 2013 will see publication of her new novel The Alphabet Stones, (Blue Denim) and a story collection, Harvesting the Moon (PS Publishing). In 2014 her anthology They Have To Take You In (Hidden Brook) will appear, as well as a flash novel, Motion Sickness (Inanna), illustrated by Kismet Dyment. Pflug is also an editor, book reviewer, playwright and creative writing instructor at Loyalist College.
ursulapflug.ca

Mike Plested
Michell (Mike) Plested is an author, editor, blogger and podcaster living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He writes in multiple genres, especially Science Fiction, Fantasy and YA Adventure. He is the host of several podcasts including Get Published, (2009 and 2011 Parsec Finalist), the SciFi/Comedy GalaxyBillies (Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Beverley Hillbillies) and Boyscouts of the Apocalypse (Zombie horror meets boyscouts), a part of the Action Pack Podcast.

His debut novel, Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero was published August 1, 2012 and is on the Prix Aurora ballet for Best YA Novel. His anthology, A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil was released April, 2013.

Marie Powell
Marie Powell (http://mepowell.com/) is a professional writer based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Scholastic Canada published her children’s book Dragonflies are Amazing and Red Line will publish her six-book beginning-reader series this fall. Her award-winning short stories and poems appear in such literary magazines as subTerrain, Room, and Transition. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia (UBC), among other degrees, and her articles appear in more than 70 markets across Canada and internationally. Her writing workshops are popular across Saskatchewan, and have led to a monthly freewriting club in Regina.

Charles Prepolec
Charles V. Prepolec is a freelance editor, writer, artist and reviewer with published pieces in Scarlet Street, Sherlock, All-Hallows, and Canadian Holmes. He is the editor of five Sherlock Holmes anthologies (with Jeff Campbell) - Curious Incidents Vols. 1&2, Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes (2008), Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes (2011).
Recent publications include - Beyond Rue Morgue: Further Tales of Edgar Allan Poe's 1st Detective (2013) for Titan Books and Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places (2014) for EDGE SF&F. Charles was designated a Master Bootmaker in 2006 by Canada's national Sherlock Holmes society.

Jennifer Rahn
Jennifer Rahn is a Calgary-based author of two novels, The Longevity Thesis and Wicked Initiations, as well as short stories in anthologies such as Blood & Water, Shanghai Steam, and A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil. More information can be seen at longevitythesis.ca

Gary Renshaw
Gary Renshaw appeared in The Great Sperm Race as a stunt sperm and currently works at the medical school playing with the brains of students. His short story Vacation appears in On Spec's Spring 2013 issue. He's completed his first novel, a chick-lit urban fantasy, that is the beginning of a series. Gary is a long-time member of the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association and has a — whimsical — sense of humour. He shares something wonderful with the actresses Daniela Ruah and Jane Seymour.

Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is a Canadian twistorian, bending and twisting history into fictional shapes for sheer entertainment.
His recently published stories range from lighthearted fantasy to turn-on-the-damned-lights-now horror, and include the story of a bus driver who kills all his passengers, Evil fashion advice, a tale of a dying folk singer's moments teaching Death a love song, and a dark, depressing view of the near-future of reality TV and child-rearing.
His 100-word story Temper Temperwas a winner of Kobo Writing Life's Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge, and his short story Why Pete? will appear in Tesseracts 17 this fall. He can be found online at www.tgmreynolds.com and www.TheTaoOfTim.com.

Candice Robinson
Candice Robinson has been writing in various forms since she was five but really got serious about it when discovering National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2004. 2013 will be her fourth year as a Municipal Liaison (regional organizer) in Calgary and she has reached 50,000 words seven times (in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012). She writes a little of everything, but mostly dabbles in fantasy and science fiction during NaNoWriMo.

Trevor Rueger
Trevor has been working as an actor, writer, director and dramaturg in Calgary for over 25 years. In 2011 he received the Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Billy Bibbit in Theatre Calgary's production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. He has been seen at Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Vertigo Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, Stage West and The Citadel Theatre. He has directed at Vertigo, Lunchbox, Ground Zero/Pot of Jam Productions and for Shadow Productions. Trevor has three TYA shows to his credit and is currently working on a play and a film. He is an ensemble member of Dirty Laundry - Calgary's Only Completely Live, Completely Improvised soap opera and is the Executive Director of Alberta Playwrights’ Network.

Robert Runté
Dr. Robert Runté is an associate professor at the University of Lethbridge and an acquisition editor with Five Rivers Publications. Previously, he was on the editorial boards of On Spec Magazine and Tesseract Books; and in 1996 he co-edited (with Yves Meyard) the Tesseracts5 SF anthology. In 1989, his Guide to Canadian Science Fiction won an Aurora Award; he won a second Aurora in 1990.

Caroline Russell-King
As a professional playwright, Caroline is best known for her comedies. Currently she is working on a trilogy of plays entitled Pallise Suite. The first play, Mr. Fix It, was produced at Lunchbox Theatre and garnered a Betty Mitchell nomination for outstanding script. The next, Second Chance, First Love was produced in this years’ theatre season and garnered a Calgary Theatre Critics nomination for best new script. The last in the trilogy Funeral Fore! will be published this fall by Frontenac House Press. Caroline has been produced in theatres across Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario. As well as having her plays published she has been included in five anthologies. She is the representative for southern Alberta for the Playwrights Guild of Canada. As a professional dramaturg she is a member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Check her out at www.carolinerussellking.com

Garry Ryan
In 2004, Ryan’s first Detective Lane novel, Queen’s Park was published. The second, The Lucky Elephant Restaurant, won a 2007 Lambda Literary Award. A Hummingbird Dance, Smoked, and Malabarista followed. In 2009, Ryan was awarded Calgary’s Freedom of Expression Award. Blackbirds (historical fiction) was published in 2012. Foxed (sixth in the Detective Lane series) will be published in the fall of 2013.

Christoph Simon
Christoph Simon is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary. His research aims both to deepen our understanding of quantum physics and to find ways to use quantum effects for new applications.

Jefferson Smith
Jefferson Smith is a Canadian fantasy novelist, the first child born on a secret Canadian lunar colony in the early 1960s. (It remains secret to this day, so as not to embarrass Mr. Armstrong and the American people). After emigrating to Earth in the late 1980s, he worked in the Hollywood animation and special effects world for a number of years, and has a PhD in computer science, specializing in the intersection between software tools, creativity theory and writing. His first novel, Strange Places, has been short-listed for a number of awards, and its sequel, Oath Keeper, will be released later this year. In addition to his fiction, Jefferson maintains a blog about software, creativity and writing theory, which you can find at creativityhacker.ca.

Nola Sarina
Nola Sarina is the author of The Vesper Series and co-author of the blog New Stories, Old Book featuring articles, interviews and posts on all things Biblical FanFiction.

Nola lives in Southern Alberta, Canada with her husband and three children. Born in Minnesota and raised to appreciate reading and writing of all types from an early age, she found her favorite titles within the genres of Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror.

Inspired by the lessons of her Catholic upbringing, Nola drew upon her fascination with sin and penance to fathom new creatures of nightmares to devour the human race: Vespers, demons cursed by the serpent guardian of the apple tree in the story of Original Sin. The characters of Boundless Obsidian will make readers question what sins are worth dying for and which beliefs must be challenged to carve a new path in life.

Robert J. Sawyer
Robert J. Sawyer is the author of Hugo Award-winner Hominids, Nebula Award-winner The Terminal Experiment, and John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winner Mindscan, plus Starplex, Frameshift, Factoring Humanity, Calculating God, Humans, Rollback, and Wake, all of which were Hugo finalists. Other awards: China’s Galaxy Award for “Most Popular Foreign SF Writer;” three Japanese Seiun Awards for Best Foreign Novel (for End of an Era, Frameshift, and Illegal Alien); eleven Canadian Aurora Awards; plus Analog’s Analytical Laboratory Award, Science Fiction Chronicle’s Reader Award, and the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award, all for best short-story of the year. His latest novel is Red Planet Blues. Website: sfwriter.com.

Joe Slabe
Joe Slabe is a Calgary-based writer, composer and musical director with a Masters Degree in musical theatre composition from the University of London. Joe recently returned from New York, where he presented his latest musical Crossing Swords as part of the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Joe’s other recent works include Austentatious, (recently published by Playscripts Inc.), Maria Rasputin Presents, and If I Weren’t With You, (Calgary Critics’ Awards nomination for Best Production of a Musical). Joe is also an award-winning musical director who has garnered six Betty Mitchell Award nominations for his work and won twice. Joe is the founding artistic director of Forte Musical Theatre Guild and received the 2004 Greg Bond Award for outstanding contributions to musical theatre in Calgary. 

Sharon Smulders
Sharon Smulders teaches courses in children's literature and nineteenth-century writing at Mount Royal University. She has published articles on the work of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Alice Meynell, Beatrice (Culleton) Mosionier, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Robert Service, Ann and Jane Taylor, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her essay, “'We Are All One': Money, Magic, and Mysticism in Mary Poppins,” will appear in the collection Historical Materialist Readings of Children's Literature, ed. Angela Hubler, later this year.

DK Snape
I grew up in a small town just north of Toronto. I always had a vivid imagination. Ask my mother. It’s not that I don’t like to tell the truth. But isn’t the world a brighter place when fairies and aliens populate the local neighbourhood? Being an intelligent, non-girlie girl, I didn’t fit in well with my peers. Instead I found books! I read everything I got my hands on. And I mean everything. I contracted some ugly balance-affecting disease at twelve. Stuck in bed for months, my family and neighbours rallied, bringing me books of all kinds once I finished the encyclopedia and dictionary, cover to cover. They just wanted me happy. And quiet. But boredom struck. You can’t just read all the time, I tried copying some of my favourite stories, embellishing them as I saw fit. And one day, I wrote one of my own, all by myself. Personally thought I’d done a good job. When it didn’t receive rave reviews from my family, I decided to try harder, not give up and leave it to the experts like my parents wanted. We moved to Alberta in 75. I took a long hiatus from writing stories as my kids grew up. Not from making them up or telling them. Just from writing them down. Once they grew enough, I returned to writing. I’m happy with my progress.

I’m finally ready for the world to decide.

Jennifer Snow
Jennifer Snow is a writer of contemporary romance fiction. Her published works include Mistletoe Fever and Mistletoe and Molly, published through The Wild Rose Press, and Mistletoe Bachelors, published through Secret Cravings Publishing. Releasing later this year is a new contemporary series through Harlequin Heartwarming. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta with her husband and son. www.jennifersnowbooks.com

Kay Stewart
Kay Stewart is the author of police procedurals featuring RCMP Constable Danutia Dranchuk. Unholy Rites, written with husband Chris Bullock and released in March, is the third in the series. Kay has also published short stories, personal essays, and writing textbooks. She taught at the University of Alberta before moving to Vancouver Island to devote her time to writing. She is active in the crime-writing community, having served as National Vice President and President of Crime Writers of Canada and co-chair of Bloody Words 2011.

Amanda Sun
Amanda Sun is the author of The Paper Gods, a YA Paranormal series set in Japan. The first book, INK, is a USA Today Top 10 YA Summer choice, an Indigo Top Teen Pick of 2013, a Junior Library Guild selection and a Summer 2013 Indie Kids' Next List selection. She has also been published in the Aurora-nominated Tesseracts Fifteen by EDGE Fiction and in Playthings of the Gods by Drollerie Press. She currently lives in Toronto, where she keeps busy knitting, gaming, and making elaborate cosplays. Visit her on the web at www.AmandaSunBooks.com and on Twitter at @Amanda_Sun.

Det. Sweet
Det. Sweet became a member of the Calgary Police Service in 1998 after graduating from the Mount Royal College Criminology program. He has worked in general patrol, general investigations, the Drug Unit and in the Organized Crime Section. Det Sweet brings to his presentation his extensive experience with suspicious death investigations in the Homicide Unit. He'll leave you spell bound as he reveals how dead men do talk.

Patrick Swenson
Patrick Swenson's first novel THE ULTRA THIN MAN is forthcoming from Tor in 2014. He edited Talebones magazine for 14 years, and still runs Fairwood Press, a book line, which began in 2000. A graduate of Clarion West, he has sold stories to the anthology Like Water for Quarks, and magazines such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Figment, and others. He runs the Rainforest Writers Village retreat every spring at Lake Quinault, Washington. Patrick is a high school teacher and lives in Bonney Lake, Washington with his eleven-year-old son Orion.

Hayden Trenholm
Hayden Trenholm (www.haydentrenholm.com) is a Parliamentary policy analyst and an award-winning playwright and author. He has twice won the Aurora Award for short fiction and been nominated for Best Novel three times. His novel, Stealing Home was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in Ottawa.

Diane Walton
Diane Walton has served as Managing Editor of On Spec since Jena Snyder passed along the torch. Diane also serves as a Fiction editor, something she's done since the magazine's birth in 1989. As a published writer, Diane's had stories in On Spec, Northern Frights, and Divine Realms.
Diane and On Spec are also part of the team that runs Edmonton's Pure Speculation Festival. She lives near Alberta Beach, AB. with the lovely Rick LeBlanc, two cats and four very hardy goldfish. One day, she may actually do some writing again.

Dr. Renae Watchman
Renae Watchman is Navajo, originally from Shiprock, New Mexico. She completed her PhD in the Dept. of German Studies, jointly with the Graduate Program in Humanities from Stanford University in 2007. She currently teaches literature and film courses in the Department of English at Mount Royal University. Dr. Watchman specializes in North American Indigenous Literatures and her transdisciplinary research interests include: North American Indigenous Literatures, Indigenous Feminisms, Comparative Literature, Orality, (Post-/neo-) colonialism & decolonizing literature, Globalization of powwows and Film Studies (Contemporary, Global, and Indigenous). When she is not working, Dr. Watchman enjoys spending time with family and friends, hiking, hanging out in coffee shops, watching movies, and traveling..

Catherine Welburn
Cassy Welburn is a poet and storyteller who has travelled across Canada sharing stories and poetry, recently touring Ontario with the Canadian Children's Book Centre and Storytellers of Canada. She has published extensively in Canadian literary journals, anthologies an on CBC radio. She is recorded on TALES ON THE WIND, CALL YOUR NEIGHBOURS IN, an TALES FROM THE NIGHT TREE.

Sandra Wickham
Sandra Wickham lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and two cats. Her friends call her a needle crafting aficionado, health guru and ninja-in-training. Sandra's short stories have appeared in Evolve, Vampires of the New Undead, Evolve, Vampires of the Future Undead, Chronicles of the Order, Crossed Genres magazine, LocoThology: Tales of Fantasy & Science Fiction and The Urban Green Man. She blogs about writing with the Inkpunks, is the Fitness Nerd columnist for the Functional Nerds and slush reads for Lightspeed Magazine.

Edward Willett
Edward Willett is the award-winning author of more than 40 books of fiction and non-fiction. Born in Texas, he’s lived in Saskatchewan since he was eight years old. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and editor and then worked as communications officer for the Saskatchewan Science Centre before becoming a fulltime freelancer 20 years ago. Among his novels: the Aurora Award-winning science fiction novel Marseguro (DAW Books); the Saskatchewan Book Award-winning YA fantasy Spirit Singer, just re-released by Edmonton’s Tyche Books; and epic steampunkish fantasy Magebane (DAW), written as Lee Arthur Chane. His latest science fiction novel, Right to Know, is being launched at When Words Collide by Bundoran Press. This November will see the launch of a new fantasy trilogy for DAW with the release of Masks, written as E.C. Blake. His nonfiction runs the gamut from computer books to science books to histories and biographies. Two plays he wrote are also being produced this year. Ed, who is also a professional actor and singer, lives in Regina with his wife and daughter.www.edwardwillett.com.

Lynda Williams
Lynda Williams is the author of the ten-novel Okal Rel Saga and integrity editor of the growing, associated universe of creative interpretions and extensions of the series' setting through short stories, novellas, art and media. Lynda's novel Part 7: Healer's Sword and three other Okal Rel contributors (2 artists, 1 blogger) are in the running for the 2012 Aurora Awards. See http://okalrel.org/vote-for-aurora-award-okal-rel-recommends to vote for us. Drop in to http://facebook.com/relskim to see what's up. Lynda holds two post graduate degress, manages an e-learning team at SFU and teaches parttime for BCIT in introductory web development.

Edward Wilson
Ed decided to be an engineer 50 years ago, and he's still at it. He got involved in Writing 44 years ago, and he's looking to sell now. 9 years ago he got into an online brouhaha and he's designing a super volcano just for you.

S.G. Wong
SG Wong was born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada. She holds a B.A. (Honours) in English Literature from the Univeristy of Alberta. She lived abroad for a year in Japan and speaks four languages. She is the creator of the Lola Starke series of paranormal, alternate history, hard–boiled detective novels. She publishes with Carina Press, a digital–first imprint. Die On Your Feet is her first published novel. S.G. Wong is online:
http://www.sgwong.com/
https://twitter.com/S_G_Wong
https://www.facebook.com/sg.wong.writer
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6965493.S_G_Wong
http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/sg-wong/66/972/31a