William C. Dietz is an American writer best known for his military science fiction. He spent time in the US Navy and the US Marine Corps, and has worked as a surgical technician, news writer, television producer, and director of public relations. He has written more than 40 novels, as well as tie-in novels for Halo, Mass Effect, Resistance, Starcraft, Star Wars, and Hitman.

One of Australia's most internationally successful writers, Lian Hearn's books have been translated into 42 languages and have sold millions of copies. Nine of her books are set in a mythical country based on medieval Japan: these are the five Tales of the Otori books, starting with Across the Nightingale Floor; The Tale of Shikanoko: Emperor of the Eight Islands and Lord of the Darkwood; and Children of the Otori: Orphan Warriors and Sibling Assassins (to be published in 2020). She has also written two historical novels set in nineteenth-century Japan, Blossoms and Shadows and The Storyteller and His Three Daughters. 

Lian's passionate interest in Japan began when she was a teenager. She received an AsiaLink arts fellowship for travel and research in 1999. She travels frequently to Japan and has studied Japanese for many years. She has always been deeply interested in languages and has a BA and MA in French and Spanish from Oxford University. She worked as an editor and film critic in England and Australia before beginning her career as a novelist in 1986, under the name of Gillian Rubinstein, with the bestselling and award-winning children's novel Space Demons.

Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with degrees in creative writing and computer science, worked in artificial intelligence research and as a programmer/writer for Microsoft, and is now a full-time fantasy writer. Django is the author of The Shadow Campaigns, a flitlock fantasy series for adults, and The Forbidden Library, a classic fantasy series for middle-grade readers.

Seanan McGuire is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, Alex and Locus Award-winning Wayward Children series, the October Daye series, the InCryptid series, and other works.

She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant. Seanan lives in Seattle with her cats, a vast collection of creepy dolls, horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard.

She won the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 became the first person to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot.

Bradley Beaulieu is an award-winning epic fantasy novelist who runs the successful SF and fantasy podcast Speculate.

He lives in Wisconsin, USA.