Program

2015 Program

The program for the When Words Collide 2015 has been finalized for the printer. Any further changes will not be reflected in the printed program.

Here is an online version of our 2015 program book.

Please read our Quick Reference Guide.

Printed copies of the Program Book and Quick Reference Guide will be available at the Festival Registration Counter, which opens at 12 PM on Friday August 14th. Sign-up sheets for any remaining spots in Pitch Sessions and Blue Pencil Café will be available with our volunteers outside the Heritage Boardroom during program hours.

Click here to see posters for our daytime and evening social events.

Confirmed Presenters / Panelists

Elena Aitken

Elena Aitken
Elena Aitken is the USA Today Bestselling Author of more than twenty-five romance novels including the bestselling Castle Mountain Lodge and The Springs series. A true romantic at heart, Elena's books feature strong women and the equally tough men who rise to the challenge of creating a deserving "happily ever after." From sweet to spicy and everything in between, Elena's books will make you believe in love. Connect with Elena at www.elenaaitken.com

Jayne Barnard

Jayne Barnard
Jayne Barnard, best known among Steampunks as Madame Saffron Hemlock, the mind behind Parasol Dueling, is the author of many short crime stories set in this and alternate universes. Accolades include a Debut Dagger (UK) and Arthur Award (Canadian) finalist, a Bony Pete, and a Saskatchewan Writers Guild award, as well as local and regional fiction prizes. Her Steampunk crime caper, The Evil Eye of Africa, comes out in August 2015 from Tyche Books. Look for more about Jayne’s work at Jayne Barnard Author. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jayne-Barnard-Author/466822683406124

Ella Beaumont

Ella Beaumont
Ella Beaumont is the Acquisitions Editor at EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing and is partly to blame for the company’s recent expansion into the terra incognita of e-book first publishing. The new EDGE-Lite program celebrated its first release this past June. Over the last two years, Ella has been running a weekly writing productivity group known as Write Club that is open to all writers at all skill levels. She claims that her motivation for organising Write Club is purely selfish as she feels she writes better in a room filled with the sound of clicking keys. calgarywriteclub.weebly.com/about.html

Christa Bedwin

Christa Bedwin
Christa has 18 years of experience in editing and writing with fiction, education, engineering, academia, business, industry, science, and government.
She teaches technical writing seminars to engineers, scientists, and business people worldwide, has edited hundreds of scientific and engineering articles and reports, written and edited hundreds of educational pieces with textbook publishing teams, written novels, and edited autobiographies, fiction novels, marketing materials, and more.
She has travelled to 42 countries so far, 8 of them with her son, and has held a wide variety of interesting occupations over the years, from logger to jilleroo to baker to chemist to dance teacher.

Samantha Beiko

Samantha Beiko
Samantha Beiko has worked in the Canadian publishing industry for the past five years in various capacities, first in marketing and publicity, and now in editorial and layout design. She has had the opportunity to acquire and edit some remarkable books, including co-editing ,i.Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing with Sandra Kasturi for ChiZine Publications. Samantha is currently the Managing Editor for ChiZine Publications' main line, as well as the Managing Editor on their emerging graphic novel line, ChiGraphic. In addition to her corporate work, Samantha freelances full time with independent clients for editorial, book design, and publishing consulting.
Samantha is also an author, and her first book, the YA fantasy novel The Lake and the Library, was nominated for the 2014 Aurora Award for Best YA Novel, and the 2014 Eileen Sykes McTavish Best First Book award. She currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is working to broaden the speculative fiction community there through her writing and publishing work. She co-hosts the Aurora-nominated Canadian speculative reading series, ChiSeries Winnipeg, with fellow author Chadwick Ginther, and travels Canada widely to speak at conferences and host workshops about the Canadian publishing industry.

E.C. Bell

E.C. Bell
E.C. Bell’s debut paranormal mystery novel Seeing the Light was shortlisted for the Bony Blythe Award and the Alberta Book Publishers Award. The second book in the series, Drowning in Amber, will be released into the wild in November 2015. Her short fiction includes the double Aurora Award winning Women of the Apocalypse and the Aurora winning The Puzzle Box. She also does her bit as an editor for On Spec magazine. When she’s not writing or editing, she’s living a fine life in her round house (even if it is in a perpetual state of renovation) with her husband and two dogs.

Aviva Bel'Harold

Aviva Bel'Harold
Calgary, Alberta author Aviva Bel'Harold is currently celebrating the release of her latest novel Blood Matters (published by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing). She has a loyal, ever growing following, and spreads her time between raising a family, 6 puppies, writing, signing books, talking to kids at schools, and being featured as a guest speaker for a variety of groups.
Life is good. However this was not always the case...
The fact that Aviva even graduated from high school seemed like a miracle in many ways. Aviva was born with various learning disabilities, including severe dyslexia. She wasn’t able to read until she was 10 and to this day she continues to struggle with with it. Even now, writing a quick email can be challenging. The thought of ever becoming an author seemed impossible. However the Universe had other plans…
www.avivabelharold.ca
@AvivaTheAuthor
www.facebook.com/AvivaBelHarold
Instagram: aviva_the_author

Ron Bender

Ron Bender
Ron Bender is a native Calgarian, with past experience as an international business consultant. Currently, he is working with a local MAKER group. Ron has thirty-seven years of RPG experience. He runs and designs games that focus on that forum as a tool for interactive storytelling. His longest campaign ran for seven consecutive years. Using RPG experience as a framework, Ron began writing novels. His completed works include; two historical fantasies and three cyberpunk novels. Ron likes to relax by chatting over the occasional pint of beer, tracking trends and advanced technologies, and researching obscure time periods.

Shawn L. Bird

Shawn L. Bird
Shawn L. Bird is a high school English teacher and librarian, an author, and a poet in the beautiful Shuswap region of British Columbia. She is also a Graduate student in the Faculty of Education at University of British Columbia exploring passion-based learning. She has published the YA novel series Grace Awakening and several books of poetry. She posts a new poem daily at www.shawnbird.com blog. She is represented by literary agent Amy Tompkins of Transatlantic Agency.

Susan Bohnet

Susan Bohnet
Susan Bohnet has an Associate Degree in Arts and Letters with a major in psychology from Ricks College, and a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Human Resource Development from Brigham Young University. She lives in Alberta with her husband, five children, and a cute (but rather naughty) Yorkshire terrier. She has written a newspaper column called Family Frenzi for 19 years and has had two short stories published. Her first novel, My Life as a Troll, was published by Five Rivers Publishing in 2014 and she is looking forward to the release of her second novel, a collaboration with K. L. Webster titled Lethal Influence, which is being published by Edge in the near future.
You can follow Susan through her website at www.susanbohnet.com, on twitter, or through her Facebook page My Life as a Troll.

Kate Boorman

Kate Boorman
Kate A. Boorman was born in Nepal, grew up in the small town of Rimbey, and now lives in Edmonton where she writes and wrangles her family. Kate has a MA in Dramatic Critical Theory and has been writing for fun and profit for the past ten years. She is the author of the WINTERKILL trilogy (Abrams/Amulet), a young adult alternate history series set on the spooky prairies of North America. WINTERKILL was named a Best Bet YA by the Ontario Library Association, and it is currently a finalist in the Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards. Its sequel, DARKTHAW, releases this October. Visit Kate at www.kateaboorman.com

Michele Martin Bossley

Michele Martin Bossley
> Michele Martin Bossley has written twenty novels for young people. Ten of her books have been chosen by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for the Best Books for Kids and Teens list. Others have been nominated for the Manitoba and Alberta Reader’s Choice Awards. Many of Michele’s books focus on different sports. As a former athlete, she was involved in synchronized swimming in her teens and competitive swimming in university. She swam at both a national and recreational level and understands the issues involved in elite sports and athletic training. She has also coached young swimmers, in addition to coaching her twin sons’ soccer and hockey teams, and draws on much of that experience for her books.
A frequent speaker at writing conferences and schools, Michele divides her time between writing and parenting her four sons.

Michelle Browne

Michelle Browne
Michelle Browne is a sci fi/fantasy writer and cross-genre editor from Calgary, AB. She has a cat and a partner-in-crime. Her days revolve around freelance editing, jewelry, phuquerie, and nightmares. She is currently working on the next books in her series, other people's manuscripts, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible.

Scott Burtness

Scott Burtness
Scott Burtness' first novel, Wisconsin Vamp, was released in early 2014. The sequel, Northwoods Wolfman, was released in July 2015. The third book in the Monsters in the Midwest series is due for release in mid-2016. His work can also be found in the upcoming Scarecrow anthology from World Weaver Press. Scott lives in Minnesota with his wonderful wife and their boxer-pitt mix in a house that’s just the right size for the three of them. To learn more about Scott, follow him on Twitter (@SWBauthor), find him on Goodreads (www.goodreads.com/SWBauthor) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/SWBauthor).

Susan Calder

Susan Calder
Susan Calder is the author of Deadly Fall (TouchWood Editions), a murder mystery novel set in Calgary. Her short stories have won contests and been published in numerous magazines. She teaches fiction writing courses at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society and is the Prairie Region Vice President for the Crime Writers of Canada. In her non-writing time, Susan loves travel and hiking. www.susancalder.com.

Tammy Lyn Carbol

Tammy Lyn Carbol
Tammy Lyn Carbol has been a member of Alberta Romance Writers Association (ARWA) since 2000. In her spare time she is a belly dance teacher and performer. www.tammylyncarbol.com

CJ Carmichael

CJ Carmichael
Hard to imagine a more glamorous life than being an accountant, however C.J. Carmichael gave up her C. A. designation after the publication of her first romance with Harlequin in 1999. Since then she has written more than 40 romance, romantic suspense, and romantic mystery novels, two of which were nominated for RITAs by the Romance Writers of America. C. J. has also been nominated for career achievement awards by RT Book Club for her work in series romance and romantic suspense. C.J. is a founding author of Tule Publishing where she is currently publishing her Carrigans of the Circle C ranch stories. She is also working on a trilogy of Twisted Cedar Mysteries, with the third and final book to be released later in 2015.
When she isn’t writing, C.J. loves to be out hiking, cross-country skiing or biking, either in the Rocky Mountain near Calgary, or around Flathead Lake, Montana where she and her partner Mike, and her two adult daughters, have a cottage.
For more details visit C.J.’s website at: cjcarmichael.com.

Kristi Charish

Kristi Charish
Kristi is the author of OWL AND THE JAPANESE CIRCUS (Simon and Schuster Canada/Pocket Books), an urban fantasy about a modern-day “Indiana Jane” who reluctantly navigates the hidden supernatural world. She writes what she loves; adventure heavy stories featuring strong, savvy female protagonists, pop culture, and the occasional RPG fantasy game thrown in the mix. The second installment in the Owl series, OWL AND THE CITY OF ANGELS, is scheduled for release Oct 5th 2015. THE VOODOO KILLINGS, book 1 in her second urban fantasy series, KINCAID STRANGE (Random House Canada), about a voodoo practitioner living in Seattle, is scheduled for release mid 2016.
Kristi is also a co-host for the popular Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing Podcast and also has a PhD in Zoology from the University of British Columbia. She is represented by Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists.
Twitter: @kristicharish
FB: http:/www.facebook.comKristiCharishAuthor
Website: http://www.kristicharish.com
AISFP Podcast: http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com

Dwayne Clayden

Dwayne Clayden
Dwayne Clayden is a Paramedic with over 37 years in Emergency Services. A former police officer, Tactical Paramedic, and EMS Chief, he is an international speaker at EMS conferences and has published four textbooks for paramedics. He is a popular speaker at Calgary crime-writing events. Dwayne’s first novel manuscript, Crisis Point, was a finalist for the 2015 Crime Writers of Canada’s Unhanged Arthur Award. His short story, Hell Hath no Fury is published in the anthology AB Negative. He is a member of the Alberta Writers Guild, Calgary Crime Writers and Crime Writers of Canada.

David B. Coe

David B. Coe
David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson is the award winning author of more than eighteen novels and many short stories. As David B. Coe (www.DavidBCoe.com) he has written the Crawford award-winning LonTobyn Chronicle, the Winds of the Forelands quintet, the Blood of the Southlands trilogy, and the novelization of Ridley Scott’s ROBIN HOOD, and will soon release, SPELL BLIND, the first volume of the Case Files of Justis Fearsson. The second book, HIS FATHER’S EYES, will be out next summer. Writing as D.B. Jackson (www.dbjackson-author.com), he is the author of the Thieftaker Chronicles — THIEFTAKER, THIEVES' QUARRY, A PLUNDER OF SOULS, and DEAD MAN'S REACH, which is also due out in summer 2015. David is part of the Magical Words group blog (magicalwords.net), and co-author of How To Write Magical Words: A Writer’s Companion. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Jessica Corra

Jessica Corra
Jessica is an American writer and editor living in Canada with her Scottish husband. She is a former acquisitions editor for Samhain Publishing, and her work is represented by The Bradford Agency. Jessica is a huge fan of cats and snowflakes.

Cheryl Cottreau

Cheryl Cottreau
Cheryl Cottreau is a “writer and a poet and a mystic and a muse”. She published her first work Whisper of a Vision in May 2013 and is working on two other books at this time. She has been journaling since she first had her first “little red book” when she was ten. She feels that journalling has been one of her greatest tools in her path of self-discovery. She blogs regularly on her website www.cherylcottreau.com.

Diana Cranstoun

Diana Cranstoun
Scottish born Diana Cranstoun has made Calgary her home for the last 25 years. A past president of the Alberta Romance Writers' Association (ARWA) she has had several short stories broadcast on CBC Radio and two feature-length movie scripts optioned. http://dianacranstoun.com

Karen Crosby

Karen Crosby
Karen has loved language from an early age, drawn to how it is paradoxically precise and fluid. She’ll tell you that English is full of potential and poetry and power—and yes, it matters where the apostrophes and commas go! She graduated with a BA with Distinction in 1992 and moved to Japan, where she worked as a teacher, created ESL courses, supervised English content in a bilingual magazine, edited bilingual novels, consulted, and wrote a weekly newspaper column. She founded Documedic Editing Solutions, now Editarians, in 2002. Since that time she has assisted hundreds of clients, honing their documents such that they convey powerfully and precisely—and perhaps even poetically—what was intended. She looks forward to collaborating with clients for years to come.

B. C. Deeks

B. C. Deeks
B.C. Deeks writes heartwarming mysteries laced with a bit of romance, a little family and, often a wink of magic, including The Holly & The Ivy (Frost Family & Friends series) and Witch in the Wind (Bandit Creek Sweet series). She has published articles in industry trade publications, such as Writers Market, and is an award-winning technical writer, all under the name Brenda M. Collins.
Born and raised in Newfoundland, an island off the east coast of Canada, Brenda now lives in Alberta, Canada. For upcoming titles, visit www.bcdeeks.com.

Craig Dilouie

Craig Dilouie
Craig DiLouie is the author of nine novels, including Suffer the Children, Crash Dive, The Alchemists, The Retreat, The Infection, The Killing Floor, Tooth and Nail, The Great Planet Robbery, and Paranoia. He blogs about writing and the horror genre regularly at www.craigdilouie.com.

Adam Dreece

Adam Dreece
In 2014, Adam Dreece ended 25 years of writing short stories for himself. He put aside a memoir covering his conquering terrible scar pain and being hit with severe asthma, and started in a new direction. His debut novel, /Along Came a Wolf /launched his Calgary Herald and Amazon bestselling series, The Yellow Hoods, and was quickly followed up with book 2 in the series, Breadcrumb Trail that has been called "a powerhouse of young adult fiction."
Adam’s a devoted husband and father of three great kids. Though driven, he ensures there is always time for his family, fans, and fellow authors. With his tween daughter as his muse and the first to hear the rough drafts, it’s no surprise that he’s a huge proponent of strong female characters, something evident in The Yellow Hoods.
adamdreece.com
Blog: AdamDreece.com
Twitter: @AdamDreece

Zoey Duncan

Zoey Duncan
Zoey Duncan is an author, journalist, roller derby athlete, speaker and joke-writer.
In 2015, Zoey published her first book. The Department: A Surgeon's Memories... Before I Forget was co-written with Dr. Norman Schachar and tells his funny stories of the Department of Surgery at the University of Calgary. Zoey’s also a writing and humour coach with ZEDS. She gets her clients out of the writing dead zone they fall into when going it alone, saving them time and sanity. Her laughter to tears ratio in the office is very good.

Claire Eamer

Claire Eamer
Claire Eamer writes factual books about science and history for kids, as well as extremely non-factual stories for kids and adults. She has also written the manuscript for a picture book (but someone else is drawing the pictures, you’ll be glad to hear). She lives on Gabriola Island, BC, and likes watching sea lions and otters. Well, who wouldn’t?

Caterina Edwards

Caterina Edwards
Caterina Edwards is the award-winning author of six books, each in a different genre. Her last one, Finding Rosa, was a memoir and her new one, The Sicilian Wife, is a literary noir. She was born in England and grew up primarily in Calgary. She has been a writer in residence at the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University and has taught creative writing for almost every post-secondary institution in Edmonton, where she lives. Her first novel was translated into French and her memoir into Italian.

Makenzi Fisk

Makenzi Fisk
Makenzi Fisk grew up in a small town in Northwestern Ontario. She spent much of her youth outdoors, surrounded by the rugged landscape of the Canadian Shield. Moving west, she became a police officer with patrol, communications and forensic experience before transitioning to graphic design. She now works for herself.
Her first novel, Just Intuition, earned her the award for Debut Author in the 2015 Golden Crown Literary Society Awards. Just Intuition was also a Mystery/Thriller Finalist in the 2015 Golden Crown Literary Awards and the 2014 Rainbow Awards. She is a Canadian Lesfic author, a member of ARWA, GCLS, and is anticipating the release of her third book in the fall. Connect with her at www.makenzifisk.com

Sandra Fitzpatrick

Sandra Fitzpatrick
Sandra Fitzpatrick is bilingual in financial and English. She's been helping artists, writers, actors and other Creative People with their taxes, both Cdn and US 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. New this year is "Financial Sh*t for Creative People."
She has been writing fantasy and science fiction for over ten years and is a long time member of IFWA. A collection of Whimsical Tales is coming out this fall under Lee F. Patrick.

Susan Forest

Susan Forest
Three-time Prix Aurora Award finalist 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 a fiction editor for Edge Press. You can find her stories in Analog, Asimov's, OnSpec, Blood and Water, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Tesseracts, AE Science Fiction Review, and The Urban Green Man, or in her collection, Immunity to Strange Tales (Five Rivers Press). www.speculative-fiction.ca.

Ron Friedman

Ron S. Friedman
RON S. FRIEDMAN’s short stories have appeared in Galaxy’s Edge (edited by Mike Resnick), Daily Science Fiction, Not Just Rockets And Robots, Age Of Certainty, and received Honorable Mentions in Writers of the Future Contest in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Ron is Co-editing Enigma Front anthology, release date – August 2015.
Winner of the 2013 Aurora Awards – Fan Related category, Ron appeared as a panelist at When Words Collide, Con-version, Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo and VCON.
Ron is on the board of directors of the Canadian Science-Fiction and Fantasy Association, When Words Collide festival, and he is an active SFCanada and IFWA member.
Ron, is currently working on his second novel. Since 2002 he is living with his loving wife and two children in Calgary, Alberta.

Barb Galler-Smith

Barb Galler-Smith
Barb Galler-Smith loves short stories with an emotional punch. She's a Fiction Editor at On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic, a long-time member of Edmonton's largest speculative fiction writers group, The Cult of Pain, and with Ann Marston co-founded a critique group for emerging speculative fiction writers loving called "The Scruffies". She has written historical fantasy, science fiction, contemporary romantic comedy, and horror. She has also committed Costuming at various WorldCon Masquerades and won ribbons.

Barbara Geiger

Barbara Geiger
Due to circumstances beyond her control, Barbara was born and raised in the desert of speculative fiction wasteland of northern Alberta by non-writing folk. She ran away and joined the Cult of Pain writing group in Edmonton, the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association in Calgary, and now writes solo in Lethbridge. Her short stories earned her an Honourable Mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror the same year she sold her first vampire erotica, and she’s been dabbling in selkies, Fae Lords, sex demons and troll hearts. When she is not mucking about in smut that pays the bills, she writes epic fantasy and makes the occasional foray into science fiction and horror.

Nowick Gray

Nowick Gray
Nowick Gray’s historical mystery of the Arctic, Hunter’s Daughter, was released by Five Rivers in March 2015. His writing spans genres ranging from magic realism and speculative fiction to creative nonfiction. Nowick’s stories and essays have appeared in a wide variety of periodicals and anthologies, including Cream City Review, Xizquil, Fugue, The Animist, Elephant Journal, Probe Post, NeWest Review, Inside Essays 2, and CVII. He was a featured author for Wattpad’s Memoir Month (June 2014). Based in Victoria, BC, Nowick also works as a professional freelance copyeditor. http://nowickgray.com

Jacqueline Guest

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!

Janet Gurtler

Janet Gurtler
Janet Gurtler currently has six YA books published by Sourcebooks, including bestselling and Rita Award Finalist novel, I’M NOT HER and her 2015 release, THE TRUTH ABOUT US. Janet Gurtler's young adult books have been chosen as JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION and as BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS from the Canadian Children’s Book Center. Foreign rights for four of her books were recently sold to Turkey.
Janet was also published by Capstone Press in 2015, with a six book series called The Mermaid Kingdom. Janet lives and writes from her home in Okotoks Alberta. When she isn’t writing, she can be found in liquor stores all over Calgary dusting off wine bottles. Find out more about Janet at www.janet-gurtler.com.

Richard Harrison

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 fourth visit to When Words Collide.

Amber Hayward

Amber Hayward
Amber Hayward is the author of a trilogy of speculative fiction novels, the Children of the Panther series, released by Edge Press. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Canadian and international periodicals including Daily Science Fiction and On Spec. In 2011, she wrote a flash fiction piece each day for a year and posted them on her website, www.amberhayward.ca. Many of the stories were mysteries. Amber is presently working on the second novel of a mystery series. She is one of the owners of the Black Cat Guest Ranch near Jasper, Alberta and teaches writing workshops there and in the nearby community of Hinton.

Michelle Heumann

Michelle Heumann
Michelle Heumann is a freelance copyeditor with a BA in English and history. She specializes in heavy copyediting for clients who intend to self-publish their fiction or who are preparing their manuscript for submission to publishers. Her primary genres are science fiction and fantasy, and she particularly enjoys historical fiction, but she reads and edits in most genres. Michelle has a background in the legal industry and office administration, with experience in non-fiction and business editing as well. She is also the Social Media Director for the Calgary Association of Freelance Editors, and has plans to pursue graduate studies in history in the near future. www.michelleedits.ca

Faye Reineberg Holt

Faye Reineberg Holt
A Calgarian and author of 12 books plus many stories and essays, Faye has also co-authored a travel book and edited a literary magazine plus three other books--including a biography for a self-publishing client. As well, she frequently offers feedback on manuscripts-in-progress. Happy to share her extensive experience in writing and publishing, she has facilitated many writing workshop and, currently, she teaches an online life writing course for Mount Royal University Continuing Education. She has blogged and rethought blogging and social media, but she is always serious about researching true stories from western Canada's past. In addition to being a long-time member of national, provincial and local writing groups, she has twice been a writer in residence. Invited as a reader and workshop instructor for all grades and ages at countless schools, libraries and community centres, she welcomes questions and comments both about her subjects and the writing process. www.wordsandhistory.ca

R.J. Hore

R.J. Hore
After winning a Canadian Authors national contest with a ghostly tale, he connected with Champagne Books to complete The Dark Lady high fantasy trilogy, now joined by The Queen’s Pawn trilogy. The fantasy detective genre is represented by a series of six novellas: The Housetrap Chronicles. His latest novel, blending modern with Dark Age, Alex in Wanderland, arrived this spring.
In his spare time he reviews genre novels for an on-line magazine and is a member of several writing groups.
Ron lives in Winnipeg with his understanding wife and a demanding cat. On rare occasions he escapes to his sailboat on Lake Winnipeg.
Follow Ron at: www.ronaldhore.com and www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

Axel Howerton

Axel Howerton
Axel Howerton is the author of the darkly funny detective novel Hot Sinatra, and a finalist for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. His short fiction and essays have appeared all over hell's half-acre, under various nom de plumes and assumed identities. He is the editor of the books Death By Drive-In, Tall Tales of the Weird West and AB Negative. Axel is a member of the CSFFA, Calgary Crime Writers, The Kintsugi Poets, and is currently serving on the board of the Crime Writers of Canada. He is the organizer behind Calgary's NoirBarYYC events, and he is the owner and publisher of Coffin Hop Press. Axel spends most of his time roaming the untamed prairies of Alberta with his two brilliant young sons and a wife that is way out of his league. Find him at www.axelhow.com.

Caralee Hubbell

Caralee Hubbell
Caralee Hubbell is a book coach, editor and writer. She is the president of the Calgary Association of Freelance Editors. Caralee has experience in-house (Bloomsbury Publishing) as well as in the magazine world (WHERE magazine). She has worked with authors of young adult fiction, campus fiction, urban fantasy/sci-fi, contemporary romance, paranormal romance, short stories, novel series, and academic and literary works, as well as a variety of non-fiction projects (e.g. film, cooking, fashion, and travel). Caralee has taught the Copyediting and Proofreading course in the Professional Editing Extension Certificate program at Mount Royal University, and she has been an Editor in Residence for Wordfest for the past two years. When Caralee is not coaching or working on her own YA novel, you can find her pinning and tweeting about writing, fashion, style, and travel; hiking in the mountains, taking in a yoga class, or walking around lovely inner city Calgary where she resides. calgaryeditors.com/caralee-hubbell.

Jessica Jackson

Jessica Jackson
Jessice is ARWA’s current president. She’s been a member for about three years. Jessica says, “ARWA helps me maintain focus and I get ideas and learn craft skills. I participate in the Writing challenge Groups which gives me feedback on my current projects."
Jessica has published three novellas, a collection for short stories, five novels over 100,000 words each and recently completed her third novel in the Look Behind You series for Ellora's Cave Publishing. www.jessicaleolajackson.com

Danielle L. Jensen

Danielle L. Jensen
Danielle was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. At the insistence of the left side of her brain, she graduated in 2003 from the University of Calgary with a bachelor’s degree in finance. But the right side of her brain has ever been mutinous; and in 2010, it sent her back to school to complete an entirely impractical English literature degree at Mount Royal University and to pursue publication. Much to her satisfaction, the right side shows no sign of relinquishing its domination. She is the author of the acclaimed Malediction Trilogy: Stolen Songbird, Hidden Huntress, and the forthcoming Warrior Witch (Angry Robot Books). www.danielleljensen.com

Calvin Jim

Calvin Jim
Born in French Canada to a Japanese mother and Chinese father, Calvin D. Jim has spent his life going in several directions at once: writer, editor, IFWit, lawyer, gamer-geek, movie-lover, dad. He is a Prix Aurora Award nominated co-editor of Shanghai Steam, the Steampunk-Wuxia anthology. His stories have appeared in Rigor Amortis, Crossed Genre Quarterly and the Tomorrow anthology. His latest story, The Trials of Li-Wen, is in the Enigma Front anthology launching at the WWC. Calvin lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, two kids, and an ever-expanding army of meeples. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter: @CalvinJim

Sarah Kades

Sarah Kades
Sarah Kades is an American-Canadian author of romantic fiction where nature, humour and love meet. She spent over a decade as an archaeologist and now lives in Calgary, Canada with her family. http://www.sarahkades.com

Kai

Kai
A half-mad, time-travelling, demon-hunting, half-Frost Giant with a geeky love for Shakespeare and Pokemon, Kai is known online as The Raggedy Author and can usually be found on Twitter, avoiding responsibility. She is an independent author, and currently writes whatever genre tickles her fancy. Kai is also in the middle of The Raggedy Author's Year of the Zombie, and more information about it can be found on her website. www.theraggedyauthor.com

David Kang

David Kang
David Kang is an English undergraduate student at the University of Calgary and a part-time vlogger. He began vlogging on his “Booktube” channel, LitJournal, in the summer of 2014 and it has grown to an audience of over three thousand subscribers. His channel focuses on engaging viewers with book discussions and book reviews from all sorts of genres of fiction. David is a strong advocate for supporting new and upcoming authors. When he is not in school or filming for his channel, David spends most of his time writing and reading.

Constantine Kaoukakis

Constantine Kaoukakis
Constantine's interests include comic books (Marvel & DC), Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Greek mythology, Doctor Who, British murder mysteries, British history, ancient history, and literature. He has degrees in education, English and Classics which have enabled him to teach Latin, ancient and modern Greek, ESL, English literature, ancient Greek and Roman literature at the high school, college and university levels: Concordia University (Montreal), Queen's University and other minor colleges. Not only is he a former member of the Bimetallic Question-the Sherlock Holmes Society of Montreal, but he also founded The Wisteria Lodgers-the Sherlock Holmes Society of Edmonton. Constantine also likes to dabble in mystery fiction. Furthermore, he is an editor for OnSpec magazine as well as the new Sleuth magazine: sleuthmagazine.ca

J.Y.T. Kennedy

J.Y.T. Kennedy
J. Y. T. Kennedy (Jennifer) is an eclectic writer and storyteller. Most of her published work falls somewhere in the speculative fiction category. Her stories have appeared in Neo Opsis and Edge's Danse Macabre anthology. She has published one fantasy novel, Dominion, and her current novel in progress is also a fantasy. She enjoys not just building worlds, but puzzling through the ways in which characters try to define their reality. She has a website at sites.google.com/site/jytkennedy

Stacey Kondla

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. Currently, Stacey manages the IndigoKids department at a local Chapters store 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.

Kate Larking

Kate Larking
Kate Larking is the trade book buyer for the University of Calgary Bookstore. A University of Calgary graduate with a degree in Marketing and minor in English, she loves keeping on top of the newest book industry marketing trends. Off hours, between binge-watching anime and leveling-up game characters, she writes speculative fiction for both YA and adult markets. She cofounded AnxietyInk.com, a community of writers dealing with the stress and challenges of writing, as well as ArtIsMyBusiness.com, a venture focusing on creating successful artists by uniting creative work and business.

Adria Laycraft

Adria Laycraft
Adria is an author and freelance editor in Calgary that once upon a time earned Honours in Journalism. She co-edited the popular Urban Green Man anthology in 2013, which made the ballot for the Aurora Awards. Look for her stories in Orson Scott Card's IGMS, the Third Flatiron anthologies Abbreviated Epics and Only Disconnect, FAE and Corvidae anthologies, Tesseracts 16, Neo-opsis, On-Spec, James Gunn's Ad Astra, and Hypersonic Tales, and many others. Adria is a grateful member of IFWA (The Imaginative Fiction Writers Association) and a proud survivor of the Odyssey Writers Workshop. She is also a member of the Calgary Association of Freelance Editors (CAFÉ).

Fonda Lee

Fonda Lee
Fonda Lee is a science fiction and fantasy author. Her debut novel, Zeroboxer, a 2015 Junior Library Guild selection, is a high-action young adult sci-fi about a young man battling to make it to the top in the world of zero gravity prizefighting amid brewing interplanetary conflict between Earth and Mars. Fonda is a recovering corporate strategist, an avid martial artist, a fan of smart action movies, and an Eggs Benedict enthusiast. Born and raised in Calgary, she now lives in Portland, Oregon. You can find Fonda at www.fondalee.com and on Twitter @fondajlee.

Jean Leggett

Jean Leggett
Jean Leggett is the Chief Operating Officer of One More Story Games, a digital publisher of interactive storytelling games. One More Story Games has developed a new software platform for writers called StoryStylus.
StoryStylus aims to democratize interactive storytelling, helping amateur to professional storytellers (writers, poets, graphic novelists, screenwriters, game designers and more) to create simple or complex interactive stories that include gameplay elements, without requiring previous coding experience.
Jean is also a stand-up comedian, professional coach and speaker. She earned a B.A. in English and almost pursued a Masters in medieval literature. She’s easy to spot with her signature purple hair and is a professional hugger.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre

Mark Leslie Lefebvre
Mark Leslie Lefebvre’s passion for writing and love of reading led him to the book industry. He sold his first short story in 1992 was the same year Mark sold his first short story, and his most recent books (under the name Mark Leslie) include Haunted Hamilton and Spooky Sudbury, two non-fiction books on the paranormal published by Dundurn. A hybrid author, Mark self-published his first book One Hand Screaming, a collection of previously published short fiction, in 2004, back when no self-respecting author would even venture in that territory, and he continues to firmly embrace both indie and traditional publishing.
Mark is the Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations at Kobo. Photo by John Robbie.

Alison Lohans

Alison Lohans
Regina author Alison Lohans has published 26 books for young people with Canadian and international publishers. Many of her books have appeared on "notable" lists, and have been shortlisted for international, national and provincial awards. Leaving Mr. Humphries (Your Nickel’s Worth) is among the candidates for the 2015 Shining Willow Award, and was a finalist for the children’s literature category of the 2014 High Plains Book Awards, and the 2014 Saskatchewan Book Awards. This Land We Call Home (Pearson, New Zealand) won the 2008 Saskatchewan Book Award for YA. A new version of No Place for Kids was released last year in Heritage House’s Wandering Fox imprint. Alison served as Writer in Residence at Regina Public Library in 2002-2003. She has given hundreds of readings at schools, libraries, and conferences across Canada, and was awarded the 2012 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for her contributions to the arts.

Jillian Long

Jillian Long
Jillian Long has been captivated by stories for as long as she can remember! She graduated from the University of Calgary in 2010, with a BFA in Drama. She is the coordinator for social media for Alberta Romance Writers Association, and has recently completed her first novel. You can follow her on twitter @JillianRLong or visit her website at jillianlong.ca.

Nicole Luiken

Nicole Luiken
Nicole Luiken wrote her first book at age 13 and never stopped. She is the author of ten published books for young adults, including Violet Eyes and its sequels. Her latest release is YA fantasy Through Fire & Sea from Entangled Teen. Nicole also sidelines as an editor specializing in Story Structure.
Nicole lives with her family in Edmonton, AB. It is physically impossible for her to go more than three days in a row without writing. www.nicoleluiken.com

Ed Lukowich

Ed Lukowich
Ed Lukowich of Calgary is the author of the new sci-fi futuristic novel entitled The Trillionist (under his pen name Sagan Jeffries) which was published by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing in October of 2013. Ed’s new book for 2014 entitled Trillion Years Universe Theory, is a newly released cosmology theory which rivals the Big Bang Theory depicting how our universe began. Ed is a former World Curling Champion and Olympian who has reinvented himself into a sci-fi author. During his curling career, Ed authored four books on the sport of curling.
www.trillionist.com

Susan MacGregor

Susan MacGregor
Susan J. MacGregor is the author of The Tattooed Witch trilogy, published through Five Rivers Publishing. All three books, The Tattooed Witch, The Tattooed Seer, and The Tattooed Queen (forthcoming 2016) are historical fantasies set in a world reminiscent of 16th century Spain and the New World. Her non-fiction book, The ABC’s of How Not to Write Speculative Fiction is based on her 20+ years’ experience as a fiction editor with On Spec Magazine. She has edited two anthologies, Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales (Edge Books) and Divine Realms (Ravenstone Books). Her blog, Suzenyms, http:/suzenyms.blogspot.ca features many posts on the writing and editing process. Susan lives in Edmonton.

Lily MacKenzie

Lily MacKenzie
Lily Iona MacKenzie sprouted on the Canadian prairies under cumulous clouds that bloomed everywhere in Alberta’s big sky. They were her first creative writing instructors, scudding across the heavenly blue, constantly changing shape: one minute an elephant, bruised and brooding. The next morphing into a rabbit or a castle. She has published reviews, interviews, short fiction, poetry, travel pieces, essays, and memoir in over 145 American and Canadian venues. Fling, one of her novels, was published in July 2015 by Pen-L Publishing. Bone Songs, another novel, will be published in the spring of 2016. Her poetry collection All This was published in 2011. She teaches writing at the University of San Francisco. Visit her blog: http://lilyionamackenzie.wordpress.com

Kristal MacWhirter

Kristal MacWhirter
Kristal L. MacWhirter is a graduate of the MFA: Theatre Studies program at the University of Calgary. She is a long-time theatre nerd interested in all aspects of the stage. Her play The Psychic Terror was featured in the 2015 Common Ground Festival. Kristal is currently working on recording her third audiobook as a narrator with Tyche Books. The previous two are Blightcross by C.A. Lang and Seeing the Light by E.C. Bell.

Arlene Marks

Arlene Marks
Born and raised in Toronto, Arlene F. Marks found her muse at the age of 6, and she has been writing and sharing her stories ever since. Most recently, she is the author of From First Word to Last: The Craft of Writing Popular Fiction (2013), Literacy: Made for All (2014), and two novels -- No Pain, No Gaine (2015), and The Accidental God (2014), which was nominated for the 2015 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. Her SF novel Sic Transit Terra #1:The Genius Asylum, will be coming out in January 2016 from EDGE Publishing. Visit her at her website: www.thewritersnest.ca.

Shirlee Smith Matheson

Shirlee Smith Matheson
Research, writing, and reading tours take Shirlee Smith Matheson across North America to schools, libraries and museums, and into the homes and hangars of aviation heroes whose stories are found in her 20 published books. Her collection of aviation stories related in Flying the Frontiers Vols. I, II, and III, and Amazing Flights & Flyers, recall true tales of adventure and misadventure. Maverick in the Sky brings to life the amazing story of Calgary’s WWI flying ace, Freddie McCall. A Royal Balance - the Life and times of Hal Wyatt, was released in December 2013. Her latest nonfiction book, Lost: Unsolved Mysteries of Canadian Aviation, will appeal to readers of all ages. Historical young adult novels include Flying Ghosts and The Gambler’s Daughter, set in Canada’s North. Fastback Beach is a contemporary “hi-lo” novel that catapults readers into the world of hot-rod cars. Jailbird Kid features a dramatic story of a girl turning 15 the day her dad is being released from prison, and former award-winning young adult novels, Prairie Pictures and City Pictures, have received dynamic updates for new releases in 2014/2015. Again, adventure, misadventure and risk are featured, backed by the necessary research work required for all stories to ring true. Shirlee currently resides with her family in Calgary, where she was employed for a number of years at the Aero Space Museum. She welcomes inquiries regarding her literary work. http://ssmatheson.ca

Randy McCharles

Randy McCharles
Randy McCharles is active in Calgary, Alberta's writing community with a focus on speculative fiction, usually of the wickedly humorous variety, with short stories and novellas available from Edge SF&F Publishing, House of Anansi, and Reality Skimming Press. He is the recipient of several Aurora Awards (Canada's most prestigious award for speculative fiction) and is short-listed in three categories for the upcoming 2014 Awards. In 2013, his short story Ghost-B-Gone Incorporated won the House of Anansi 7-day Ghost Story Contest. Randy's first Tyche Books publication, Much Ado About Macbeth, will be available in August 2015. www.RandyMcCharles.com.

Tod McCoy

Tod McCoy
Tod McCoy is a Seattle-based writer whose work has appeared in the anthologies The People’s Apocalypse and in Bronies: For the Love of Ponies, as well as on AntipodeanSF.com, Qarrtsiluni.com, and The Gloaming. He is a Clarion West graduate and the publisher behind Hydra House, a small press dedicated to West Coast speculative fiction, including the Faerie Tales from the White Forest series by Danika Dinsmore, Near+Far, a collection of short stories by Cat Rambo (which generated her a Nebula nomination), and Telling Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow, an anthology of work by Clarion West alumni.

Jodi McIsaac

Jodi McIsaac
Jodi McIsaac is the author of the bestselling fantasy series The Thin Veil and the forthcoming thriller, A CURE FOR MADNESS (January 2016). She is currently writing a historical series spanning several centuries of Irish history. Jodi grew up on the East Coast but now lives in Calgary with her husband, cat, and two feisty daughters. www.jodimcisaac.com

G.J.C. McKitrick

G.J.C. McKitrick
G.J.C. McKitrick lives in Sherwood Park, Alberta, with his wife. In 2012 he began the awkward and painful transition between being a mainstream fiction writer and becoming a science fiction nerd. Remnants of his literary past can be read in his Novel, A Walk in the Thai Sun. The future will be revealed in the publication of Planet Song, first book in the Fahr Trilogy, probably in late 2015 or early 2016. Other aspects of the transition, like video game obsession and wearing costumes at SF conventions are proving to be more difficult.

Jane Ann McLachlan

Jane Ann McLachlan
Jane Ann McLachlan is the Canadian author of two college textbooks on Professional Ethics, (Pearson/Prentice Hall) and a short story collection, Connections: Parables for Today, (Pandora Press). But speculative fiction is her first love, the genre she’s been reading all her life. Her first science fiction novel, Walls of Wind, an alien world novel, was published in January 2014, and her young adult science fiction novel, The Occasional Diamond Thief, was published as an ebook on Amazon in December, 2014 and in print in 2015 by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. She’s represented by Carrie Prostritto at Prospect Agency. Visit her website: http://www.janeannmclachlan.com

Kirk Miles

Kirk Miles
In June of 2009 Kirk Miles won the Writers Guild of Alberta Screenwriters Award for a screenplay entitled Shadow Maker. Author of three books of poetry the most recent Hotel on the Cliffs on the Heartq was published in May of 2013. In 2011 Kirk won the Golden Beret Award, a lifetime achievement award in poetry presented by the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival. Moving Dust, a manuscript of poems about the Holocaust will be published in the summer of 2015 He has been nominated twice for the Calgary Poet Laureate Position and last year he was short-listed.

Joanne Morcom

Joanne Morcom
Joanne Morcom is the author of two poetry collections and the co-author of two poetry anthologies. She specializes in haiku and related forms, such as the five line tanka. She's a founding member of the Calgary based Magpie Haiku & Tanka Poets, a member of Haiku Canada, Tanka Canada and the Independent Publishers Association of Canada. She's also a social worker and a certified laughter yoga leader, which means that she laughs for no reason and teaches others to do the same. A poem of Joanne's recently placed first in the 2015 Alberta 55 Plus Creative Writing Games. Visit her at www.joannemorcom.ca.

Nina Munteanu

Nina Munteanu
Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist, short story author and novelist, with works translated into several languages. Recognition for her work includes the Midwest Book Review Readers’ Choice Award, the SLF Fountain Award, The Delta Optimist Reviewers Choice Award and finalist for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year.
Nina teaches writing at the University of Toronto and George Brown College and coaches writers to publication (www.ninamunteanu.me). Her award-nominated textbook The Fiction Writer is used in colleges and universities throughout North America and Europe. She also writes for Amazing Stories and is an editor for Europa SF.
For more information about Nina visit www.NinaMunteanu.ca.

Shenaaz Nanji

Shenaaz Nanji
Shenaaz is a squid who lives in the water world when not reading or writing. She grew up in East Africa amid a fusion of cultures: Bantu Swahili, colonial British and East Indian. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing for Children from Vermont College.
Her publications include nine books: fiction and non-fiction picture books, short stories, and a novel. Her young adult novel was a finalist in the Governor General Award for Children’s Literature and a Notable Book for a Global Society.
Shenaaz is keen to share her experiences of ‘What goes on behind the scenes of writing?”

Janet Nicolson

Janet Nicolson
Janet Nicolson was born in Saskatchewan and has lived in the ice and cold ever since. She currently works as a technical writer for a telecommunications firm. When she's not writing, she's rocking video games or searching bookstores for novels about Big Dumb Objects. Her work has appeared in On Spec (Fall 2014) and Tesseracts 18: Wrestling With Gods (April 2015).

Avery Olive

Avery Olive
Avery Olive doesn't kiss and tell. Except when it comes to writing. She lives in Red Deer, Alberta, where she spends way too much time reading, writing and avoiding house work. She's the author of the young adult novel, A Stiff Kiss, a morbid twist on a classic fairytale, in reverse, and Won't Let Go, involving an amnesic ghostboy who just won't move on.
For a change of pace, check out Avery’s latest release, Capturing the Muse, written under the pseudonym Madison Avery. A collection of steamy erotic-laced short stories, where writers find out just how far they are willing to go to gain back their creativity.
You can find Avery, and her counterpart, Madison, on many social media sites like Facebook, Twitter (@AveryOlive), Tumblr, Goodreads and on her website, www.averyolive.blogspot.com, which is currently under construction.

Al Onia

Al Onia
Al Onia is a geophysicist living in Calgary, Canada. His debut novel Javenny was released by Bundoran Press in August 2014. His short fiction has appeared in Ares, Perihelion SF, On Spec, The Speculative Edge, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Spinetingler, Marion Zimmer Bradley and the anthologies Casserole Diplomacy, Body-Smith 401, North of Infinity and Warrior Wisewoman 3. Al is a two-time Aurora Award finalist in the short story category. You can visit Al at: http://ajonia.com

Martin Parnell

Martin Parnell
At the age of twenty-one, Martin immigrated to Canada in order to pursue a career as a mining engineer. During a career break, taken after the death of his first wife, Martin began participating in marathons and other endurance events.
Whilst touring Africa, Martin realised how sport and play can impact the lives of children. This led him to embark on a series of ten quests, with the aim of raising one million dollars and helping change the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children.
He has remarried and currently lives in Alberta. He has three children and three grandchildren.

Rhonda
Parrish

Rhonda Parrish
Rhonda Parrish is driven by a desire to do All The Things. She has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of Niteblade Magazine for over six years now (which is like 30 years in internet time) and is the editor of several anthologies including Corvidae, Scarecrow and B is for Broken. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been in dozens of publications such as Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast, Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2012) and Mythic Delirium. www.rhondaparrish.com

Sherry Peters

Sherry Peters
Sherry Peters is a Certified Life Coach who works with writers at all stages of their writing career looking to increase their productivity through pushing past the self-doubt holding them back. Sherry graduated from the Odyssey Writing Workshop and earned her M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her debut novel Mabel the Lovelorn Dwarf placed 1st in the 2014 Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards in the YA cantegory. It has also been nominated for a 2015 Aurora Award. For more information on Sherry or her workshops, visit her website at sherrypeters.wordpress.com.

Sharon Plumb

Sharon Plumb
Sharon Plumb Hamilton studied Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan and Simon Fraser University. She has two published books, YA fantasy novel Draco’s Child (Thistledown Press) and picture book Bill Bruin Shovels his Roof (Scholastic). When she is not writing, she creates WordPress websites and teaches people how to make their own. She lives in Regina and is the president of the Saskatchewan chapter of CANSCAIP.

Marie Powell

Marie Powell
Marie Powell (http://www.mepowell.com) is a Regina-based author of young adult historical fantasy, including Hawk (Five Rivers, 2015). She is the author of 30 children's books with such publishers as Scholastic Canada, Amicus, and Lerner Publications. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and her award-winning short stories and poetry appear in such literary magazines as subTerrain, Room, and Transition. Her writing workshops are popular across Saskatchewan, and she instructs regular free-writing workshop classes in Regina. She is represented by Naomi Davis of Inklings.

Charles Prepolec

Charles Prepolec
Charles Prepolec is a former bookshop owner, currently freelance editor, writer, artist and reviewer with published contributions in a variety of books and magazines. He is co-editor of five Sherlock Holmes anthologies (with J. R. 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); as well as co-editor (with Paul Kane) of Beyond Rue Morgue: Further Tales of Edgar Allan Poe's 1st Detective (2013) for Titan Books. His most recent anthology (with J. R. Campbell) is Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places (2015) for EDGE SF&F.

Mahrie G Reid

Mahrie G Reid
Mahrie G. Reid grew up in small eastern towns. She read copiously and wrote her first novel at age eight. A minister’s daughter in the the fifties, she was encouraged to be a nurse, teacher or office worker so she’d have something to ‘fall back on’ if anything happened to her husband. She tried all three professions before becoming a Real Estate Appraiser, a newsletter editor, an adult educator, an office organization consultant, a library manager and a marriage commissioner, among other things. At all times she continued to write, read and study and teach novel writing skills.
Her published works include short stories, poems, trade articles,technical and research papers and newspaper features. Her mystery novels, Sheldon Harris Came Home Dead and Katya Binks Came Home from Away were published in 2014.

Jodie Renner

Jodie Renner
Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and award-winning author of three popular craft-of-writing guides, Fire up Your Fiction, Captivate Your Readers, and Writing a Killer Thriller, as well as her Quick Clicks e-resources for writers and editors. A former teacher and school librarian, Jodie presents at writers’ conferences across North America and also judges writers’ contests, including several times for Writer’s Digest contests.
Jodie has lived in various parts of Canada, mainly BC and Ontario, and has traveled extensively throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East. She now lives in Penticton, BC. www.JodieRennerEditing.com, www.JodieRenner.com

Gary Renshaw

G.W. Renshaw
G.W. Renshaw's short story Vacation appears in On Spec's Spring 2013 issue as well as the Starklight 3 anthology. His short story Hic Sunt Dracones and collection Odd Thoughts are available online. The Stable Vices Affair, first of The Chandler Affairs series, is out in paperback and e-book. The second book, The Prince and the Puppet Affair, is available in paperback and soon as an e-book. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter @gwrenshaw
http://gwrenshaw.ca/

Tim Reynolds

Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is a Canadian ‘twistorian’, bending and twisting history into fictional shapes for fun & entertainment.
His debut novel, the urban fantasy thriller The Broken Shield, was released in July, 2014 on Amazon as a digital book and in March 2015 in paperback form. It covers over 2000 years of history and shows that even Lucifer knows "there’s an app for that." His published short stories range from lighthearted fantasy to turn-on-the-damned-lights-now horror. The first collection of his short stories—The Death of God—became available in 2015, both in print and eBook. In 2016 watch for his novel When Anastasia Laughs from Tyche Books.
He can be found online at www.tgmreynolds.com or @TGMReynolds on Twitter.

Brock Roberts

Brock Roberts
Thanks to a mother who took him to the library often, Brock Roberts has grown into a lifelong reader of science fiction and fantasy. His appreciation for stories has spread on-line to Let's Read, a channel where he rants about all things bookish. When he's not discussing stories on Youtube, Brock works as a professional editor making videos for everything else.

Simon Rose

Simon Rose
Simon Rose is the author of science fiction and fantasy novels for middle grade and YA readers. His novels include The Alchemist’s Portrait, The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb, The Doomsday Mask, The Time Camera, The Sphere of Septimus, and Flashback. He is also the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One, and has written many non-fiction books for younger readers with Weigl Educational Publishers and Capstone. Simon is an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University and offers presentations, workshops, and author in residence programs for schools. He also offers services for writers of all ages, including editing, coaching, online workshops and more, full details of which can be found at www.simon-rose.com

Robert Runt&acutee;

Robert Runté
Robert Runté is Senior Editor at Five Rivers Publishing and an Associate Professor at the University of Lethbridge. He has edited over 150 zines, and won three Aurora Awards for his SF criticism; two of the novels he has edited have also been short listed for the Aurora.

Caroline Russell-King

Caroline Russell-King
Caroline is an award winning playwright, dramaturg and instructor. She has written 30 plays which have been produced all across Canada. She is a member and past vice president of the Playwrights Guild of Canada and a member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Frontenac House is publishing her new play Palliser Suite in October. www.carolinerussellking.com

Garry Ryan

Garry Ryan
Since 2004 Garry Ryan has published nine novels with NeWest Press. The second, The Lucky Elephant Restaurant, won a 2007 Lambda Literary Award. In 2009, Ryan was awarded Calgary’s Freedom of Expression Award. www.garryryan.ca.

Daire St. Denis

Daire St. Denis
A New York Times bestselling author, Daire St. Denis writes smoking hot, contemporary romance where the pages are steeped in sensuality and there's always a dash of the unexpected. With twenty published works (six of which are under the name D.L. Snow) she is a hybrid author who has had been contracted by numerous publishing houses including Harlequin Romance. Highly involved in the romance community, Daire served many years on the board of her local chapter of Romance Writers of America and has presented at numerous conferences including Romance Writers of America National Conference, The Calgary Public Library's Writers Weekend and When Word's Collide. www.dairestdenis.com

Savanna

Savanna
Savanna has been a Booktuber for almost two years. A graduate of the University of Alberta, she not only participates in the Youtube book community, but studies it in the context of reading culture and performance studies. Her channel, The Pretentious English Major (www.youtube.com/pretentiousem), focuses mainly on literary fiction and graphic novels, theatre performancedramatic text (with preference to Edmonton/Alberta), and a series of discussion videos entitled “Educate Yourself”. Beyond Booktube, Savanna is a writer, playwright, academic, dramaturge, and of course, a (pleasantly) raging bibliophile.

Robert J. Sawyer

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: 2014 Skylark Award; China's Galaxy Award for "Most Popular Foreign SF Writer;" three Japanese Seiun Awards; thirteen Canadian Aurora Awards (plus Lifetime Acheivement Aurora); as well as 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. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name. Website: sfwriter.com.

Judith Silverthorne

Judith Silverthorne
Judith Silverthorne is a multiple-award winning Canadian-based author of more than a dozen books, many of which are children's novels, with one translated into Japanese, plus a couple of non-fiction biographical adult books, and a Young Adult novel. Honouring the Buffalo is her first picture book. She has also written several hundred articles and columns for newspapers and magazines and worked as a journalist, freelance writer, editor, evaluator, researcher, curator, book reviewer, scriptwriter, television documentary producer and arts administrator. She has presented hundreds of readings and writing workshops at libraries, schools and other educational institutions given presentations at conferences. Her first picture book, Honouring the Buffalo, was released in 2015 and her first historical Young Adult novel, Convictions, is being published by Coteau Books in Spring 2016.

Tony Stark

Anthony Stark
Anthony Stark is publisher and CEO of StarkLight Press. An EMR by trade, Tony uses his spare time to expand the Galactic Armed Forces science fiction universe through novels, short stories and artwork.
Though he focuses mainly on science fiction, Tony also writes period mystery and modern suspense stories that incorporate the supernatural into the framework of the tales. www.starklightpress.com

Virginia Stark

Virginia Carraway Stark
Virginia started her writing career with three successful screenplays and went on to write speculative fiction as well as plays and various blogs. She has written for several anthologies and three novels as well. Her novel, Dalton's Daughter is available now through Amazon and Starklight Press. Detachment's Daughter and Carnival Fun are coming later this year. www.starklightpress.com

Ellen Smith

J. Ellen Smith
Starting out as an author, J. Ellen Smith, of Champagne Books developed an interest in the publishing end of things and soon worked her way through several positions, apprenticing at a small local press before venturing out with her own company. With practical experience combined with a strong business sense, she is proud of the accomplishments made by Champagne Books, its staff and authors.

Harold Squire

Harold Squire
Harold Squire is an up and coming voice actor from Calgary, Alberta. He began his training in the drama department at the University of Calgary while also studying music around 2011. His first audiobook was Heritage by David L. Craddock and Harold has just recently completed Flashback by fellow Calgarian Simon Rose.
When Harold isn't making his voice do strange and wonderful things, he is singing and/or making music via a number of instruments. As well as his church worship teams and orchestra, he has been a member of the University Wind Ensemble, University Symphonic Band, and performed with the U of C Operetta in their production of West Side Story.

Kay Stewart

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.

Trina St. Jean

Trina St. Jean
Trina St. Jean grew up in northern Alberta, but left in pursuit of degrees in psychology and education. During a decade out east, she picked up an MFA in Writing from Vermont College and a poutine addiction. Her first YA novel Blank, published by Orca Book Publishers in April 2015, tells the story of fifteen-year-old Jessica's struggle to piece her shattered life back together after a brain injury. She now teaches ESL in Calgary and tries to stay out of trouble with her husband and two daughters. You can pay Trina a visit at http://www.trinastjean.com or like Author Trina St. Jean on Facebook.

Lorna Suzuki

Lorna Suzuki
After multiple, failed bids at world domination, Lorna Suzuki was forced to create a fantasy world where she reigned supreme, until her characters orchestrated a military coup! She is a 5th degree black belt martial arts instructor with over 30 years experience in this field and a novelist, best known for the epic adult fantasy series, the Imago Chronicles as well as the YA fantasy series, The Dream Merchant Saga co-written with her teenaged daughter, Nia. The first three novels of the Imago Chronicles have been optioned for a major motion picture trilogy for worldwide theatrical release with a two-time Oscar-winning producer at the creative helm. http://www.imagochronicles.com

Patrick Swenson

Patrick Swenson
Patrick Swenson's first novel is entitled The Ultra Thin Man, which appeared from Tor Books in August 2014. 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 owns Fairwood Press, a small book press, and runs the Rainforest Writers Village, a writers retreat on the Olympic Peninsula. A high school teacher for 30 years, he lives in Bonney Lake, Washington with his 13-year-old son Orion. You'll find more information at www.patrickswenson.net.

Kevin P Thornton

Kevin P Thornton
A six time Arthur Ellis Award Nominee, Kevin Thornton is a writer for Keyano College and Chair of his local Arts Council Funding Committee. He has been a soldier, a contractor for the Canadian Military in Kabul, a newspaper and magazine columnist, a Director of the Crime Writers of Canada and a board member of Northword Literary Magazine and the Fort McMurray Public Library. He writes short stories and poetry that has metre as its metier. Like everyone else he is working on a novel.
Born in Kenya, Kevin has lived or worked in South Africa, Dubai, England, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Ontario and now Northern Alberta. He lives on his wits and his wit, and is doing better than expected.
He has a not made up his mind about the dangling participle. Having said that, he might.
He may be found at theoldfortamusingfromtheoilsands.blogspot.ca and facebook.com/kevin.thornton.165/

Suzy Valdori

Suzy Vadori
Suzy Vadori is an executive by day, Writer by night. Her debut YA novel, The Fountain, is coming out early 2016. Suzy has been the Program Manager for When Words Collide (WWC) Children’s, Middle Grade and Young Adult since 2013. Suzy currently lives in Calgary, Alberta with her husband and three kids.

Richard Van Camp

Richard Van Camp
Richard Van Camp is a proud member of the Tlicho Dene from Fort Smith, NWT. He publishes in all genres. His novel, The Lesser Blessed, is now a feature film with First Generation Films. You can visit him on Facebook, Twitter and at www.richardvancamp.com. His new graphic novel is Three Feathers, about restorative justice, with Portage and Main Press. The artist is Krystal Mateus. He also has two new books out with Pearson Canada as part of their "Well Aware" series: Whistle, a novel, and The Blue Raven, a graphic novel, with Steven Sanderson.

Krista Wallace

Krista Wallace
Krista writes in a closet in Port Coquitlam, BC. She writes mostly Fantasy, and has mucked about with other genres, and short fiction. She has her BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria. Favourite roles include Laura in The Glass Menagerie and Pristine in the Pinchpenny Phantom of the Opera. Cool experiences of Spring 2015 include playing Mrs. Pearce in the Royal City Musical Theatre production of My Fair Lady, and the publication of her story, The Inner Light in Pulp Literature magazine. She loves being Musical Director for musical theatre productions with young people (In the Heights, Urinetown, Mary Poppins, etc.) and sings jazz a lot.

Karin Weekes

Karin Weekes
Karin Weekes is Lead Editor for BioWare game studios, where she’s edited for Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age II, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins and various Mass Effect and Dragon Age DLC releases. She’s been a technical editor in Silicon Valley and has freelance edited written media from short stories to news pieces to resumes. Karin holds an M.A. in Journalism from Stanford University and a B.A. in Communication from the University of New Mexico. She lives in Edmonton, AB, with her husband, Patrick, and their two school-age sons, who she’s attempting to lead down the dark path of cosplay.

Patrick Weekes

Patrick Weekes
Patrick Weekes is the author of the Rogues of the Republic series (The Palace Job, The Prophecy Con, and coming this October, The Paladin Caper), as well as Dragon Age: The Masked Empire. He joined BioWare's writing team in 2005, and worked on all three games in the Mass Effect trilogy, as well as Dragon Age: Inquisition. He lives in Edmonton with his wife Karin, his two LEGO-and-video-game-obsessed sons, and a significant number of rescued animals. He enjoys complicated RPG character builds, justifying his M.A. in English with hyperliterary background content, and unnecessary musical numbers. www.twitter.com/PatrickWeekes

M. Darusha Wehm

M. Darusha Wehm
M. Darusha Wehm is the three-time Parsec Award shortlisted author of the novels Beautiful Red, Self Made, Act of Will and The Beauty of Our Weapons. Her most recent novel, Children of Arkadia (Bundoran Press), is available everywhere now. Her short fiction has appeared in many venues, including Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Toasted Cake and Escape Pod. She is the editor of the crime and mystery magazine Plan B.
She is originally from Canada but currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand after spending the past several years traveling at sea on her sailboat. For more information, visit darusha.ca.

Cassy Welburn

Cassy Welburn
Cassy Welburn is a poet and storyteller with a theatre background, who has had her work published and broadcast. She has been telling stories across Canada (and in Australia) for the last 25 years. Traditional folktales from around the world, often learned from her immigrant students, are favourites. She enjoys telling classics from literature, such as: Isaac Singer, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe and Sherlock Holmes adapted to the oral tradition. Experienced in leading workshops, instructing and performing. English and sign language.
A published author with her new book of poetry, Changelings just coming out, she likes to blend poetry and music with the oral tradition of storytelling. She was Storytellers of Canada’s 2013 Storyteller on Tour with TD Canadian Children’s Book Week, where she performed her poetry and stories for secondary students and their families across Ontario schools.
She has performed The Thousand and One Nights, and Women in Story and Song with musical partners at dinner theatres and storycafes around Alberta. She gives workshops on storytelling and writing for students K-12 and college. She is recorded on TALES Alberta CD’s Call Your Neighbours In and Tales on the Wind, as well as her own CD, Cassiopeia: Tales from the Night Tree. Read more about Cassy Welburn.

Sandra Wickham

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, The Urban Green Man and Luna Station Quarterly. She blogs about writing with the Inkpunks, writes a column for Luna Station Quarterly, is the Fitness Nerd columnist for the Functional Nerds and slush reads for Lightspeed Magazine.
http://www.sandrawickham.com
http://www.sandrawickhamfitness.com

Sam Wiebe

Sam Wiebe
Sam Wiebe's debut novel Last of the Independents won an Arthur Ellis Award, and was nominated for a second Arthur, a Shamus, and the Kobo Emerging Writer award. Sam's short fiction has been published in SubTerrain, Thuglit, Spinetingler, and Criminal Element, among others. He's currently at work on his follow-up novel. Follow him at @sam_wiebe , and at samwiebe.com.

Edward Willett

Edward Willett
Edward Willett is a writer and editor from Regina, the author of more than 50 books of fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, both under his own name and under the pseudonyms E.C. Blake and Lee Arthur Chane. As E.C. Blake, he’s the author of YA/adult crossover trilogy The Masks of Aygrima for DAW books, the third book of which, FACES, is out in July 2015. Under his own name, he’s three books into the five-book YA modern fantasy series The Shards of Excalibur for Coteau Books. The third book, THE LAKE IN THE CLOUDS, is out in May, 2015, and the fourth book, THE CAVERN BENEATH THE SEA, will come out this fall, with the final book to follow in 2016. This year will also see the release of a new YA fantasy novel from Rebelight Publishing and FALCON’S EGG, an adult science fiction novel, from Bundoran Press, a sequel to 2013’s RIGHT TO KNOW. Ed’s next novel for DAW Books will be a science fiction novel, THE CITYBORN. On the non-fiction side, Ed has written everything from GENETICS DEMYSTIFIED (McGraw Hill) to biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien and Orson Scott Card. Ed also works as an editor, recently editing two issues of Saskatchewan's venerable literary magazine GRAIN and the latest edition of SPRING, a magazine highlighting new authors, both published by the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. Ed’s work has won a number of awards over the years, including the Aurora Award for best Canadian science fiction novel for MARSEGURO (DAW Books) in 2009 and a Saskatchewan Book Award for SPIRIT SINGER in 2003. In addition to being a writer and editor, Ed is a professional actor and singer who has appeared in numerous plays, musicals and operas around Saskatchewan.

S G Wong

S G Wong
SG Wong is a hybrid author living in Edmonton, Alberta with her family and a whole lotta LEGO. She writes noir-tinged, alternate history, ghost-filled, hard-boiled novels and short stories, featuring Lola Starke and fictional Crescent City. Her debut novel, DIE ON YOUR FEET, was shortlisted for a 2014 Arthur Ellis Award for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. She holds a B.A. (Honours) in English Literature from the University of Alberta. She speaks four languages—at varying degrees of proficiency—and usually only curses in one of them. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime (Toronto Chapter). She has been a panelist/moderator/presenter at such varied events as Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo, PureSpec Science Fiction Festival, Words in 3D 2015 literary conference, Bloody Words XIII mystery convention, and, of course, When Words Collide. (Twitter: @S_G_Wong; Web: www.sgwong.com; Facebook: SG Wong)

Donna Lee Wybert

Donna Lee Wybert
Donna-Lee Wybert is an editor who works with all kinds of written material, from the creative to the academic and anything in between. She has a weird interdisciplinary background comprising three unrelated degrees (Bachelors in Social Work and Fine Arts, and a Masters in Cultural Studies), and was a visual artist for a couple of decades before turning to words. Her editing practice runs the gamut from developmental and substantive to stylistic and copy. She loves to nurture creativity wherever she finds it. See calgaryeditors.com/donna-lee-wybert