Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City. He attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He's now back in Mexico City, where he writes, coaches basketball, and makes every dish he eats as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he's lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas and Monterey, California. His previous YA books include Let's Get Lost, Never Always Sometimes, North of Happy, Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak, and We Didn't Ask for This.

Kathleen Glasgow is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Girl in Pieces. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Phil Stamper is the author of The Gravity of Us. He grew up in a rural village near Dayton, Ohio. He has a B.A. in Music and an M.A. in Publishing with Creative Writing.

And, unsurprisingly, a lot of student debt. He works for a major book publisher in New York City and lives in Brooklyn with his husband and their dog.

Anna Birch is an #OwnVoices author, a Pitchwars participant, and a Social Media Chair for DFWCon. She was born'n'raised in a rural area on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama.

She traded thick forests and dirt roads for the heart of the city, where she lives now with her husband, three children, and dog. She loves knitting, brie, and hanging out with her family. I Kissed Alice is her debut novel.

Aminah Mae Safi is a Muslim-American writer. Safi was the winner of the We Need Diverse Books short story contest, and that story will appear in the forthcoming anthology Fresh Ink, coming out in 2018.

She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her partner and cat.

Kristina Forest is an author of romance books for young adults. Her novels include I Wanna Be Where You Are, Now That I've Found You and Zyla & Kai. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at The New School, and she can often be found rearranging her bookshelf. She lives in the United States.

Gloria Chao is the critically acclaimed author of American Panda and Our Wayward Fate. Her wayward journey to fiction included studying business at MIT, then becoming a dentist.

Gloria was once a black belt in kung-fu and an avid dancer, but nowadays you can find her teaming up with her husband on the curling ice. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at GloriaChao.Wordpress.com and find her on Twitter and Instagram

Eric Smith is a literary agent and the author of The Geek’s Guide to Dating, The Girl and the Grove, Don’t Read the Comments, and You Can Go Your Own Way.

Eric Smith lives in Philadelphia with his wife and son.

Lauren Gibaldi is a public librarian and the author of The Night We Said Yes, Autofocus, and This Tiny Perfect World.

She has also contributed short stories to the anthologies Welcome Home and Color Outside the Lines. Lauren Gibaldi lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and daughters.