John Buchan (1875-1940), 1st Baron Tweedsmuir was a Scottish novelist, historian, and highly decorated diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada.He is famous for his adventure amd spy thriller fiction, notably starring his series character Richard Hannay, with the classic THE THIRTY NINE STEPS (1915) being his most famous. Buchan’s 100 works include nearly 30 novels, seven collections of short stories, and biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus, and Oliver Cromwell. He was awarded the 1928 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of the Marquess of Montrose In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to replace the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada, for which purpose Buchan was raised to the peerage. He occupied the post until his death in 1940

Find more by John Buchan

Neil John Buchanan lives in the south west of England with two manic cats, two small children and a long-suffering, sympathetic wife. He is a horror fiction writer with work published in various online and print venues, including Pseudopod, Drabblecast, Necrotic Tissue, and the Terminal Earth anthology.

In 2010 he was nominated for the pushcart prize for his short story, ‘Waiting on the Road to Palladium’, and when not thinking up inventive ways to describe dead folk can be found interviewing famous people at Starburst magazine. They give him free stuff which is rather cool, and he hangs around pretending to look busy. He’s rather fond of this Julian Glover interview.

Neil was first drawn to the paranormal and all things that go bump in the night when his father let him watch Zombie Flesh Eaters at the tender age of eight. He has a Zombie Contingency Plan for each home he has ever lived in and advises you to do the same.

Find more by Neil John Buchanan 

Melissa Bugaj is the proud mom of a nine-year-old boy and seven-year-old girl. She is a special educator in her sixteenth year of teaching.

Mel has taught all grade levels from preschool to grade five in both general and special education. This past year, however, she left the world of elementary school to teach Special Education in a High School Conceptual Physics and Chemistry class. She survived her first year of being the shortest person in the classroom and was enthusiastic to get back to teaching velocity, gravity and atoms for the 2014-2015 school year.

In her “free time,” she co-produces a children’s story podcast with her techie husband called Night Light Stories and writes a blog about the silly antics of her family called According To Mags.

Find more by Melissa Bugaj

Nadia Bulkin writes scary stories about the scary world we live in, thirteen of which appear in her debut collection, She Said Destroy (Word Horde, 2017). Her short stories have been included in editions of The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, The Year’s Best Horror, and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror. She has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award five times. She grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, with her Javanese father and American mother, before relocating to Lincoln, Nebraska. She has a B.A. in Political Science, an M.A. in International Affairs, and lives in Washington, D.C.

Find more by Nadia Bulkin

Jesse Bullington is the author of the weird historical novels The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, The Enterprise of Death, and The Folly of the World. Under the pen name Alex Marshall he released the Crimson Empire trilogy; the first book, A Crown for Cold Silver, was shortlisted for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. He’s also the editor of the Shirley Jackson Award nominated Letters to Lovecraft, and co-editor of Swords v. Cthulhu. His short fiction, reviews, and articles have appeared in such diverse publications as the LA Review of Books, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, and VICE. He can be found in the woods of North Carolina, or more ephemerally at his website (www.jessebullington.com).

Find more by Jesse Bullington

Stephanie Burgis grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, but now lives in Wales with her husband and two sons, surrounded by mountains, castles and coffee shops.

She has published over thirty short stories for adults and teens in various magazines and anthologies. Her trilogy of MG Regency fantasy novels was published in the US as the Kat, Incorrigible trilogy and in the UK as The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson. The first book in the trilogy won the Waverton Good Read Award for Best Début Children’s Novel by a British writer, and the full trilogy was recently re-released in the US as A Most Improper Boxed Set. Her first historical fantasy novel for adults, Masks and Shadows, will be published by Pyr Books in 2016, and her next MG fantasy series will be published by Bloomsbury Books, beginning with The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart in 2017.

Find more by Stephanie Burgis

“For as long as I can remember my curiosity has gotten me into trouble. I am fascinated by us and the meaning of things. As a qualified Optometrist, I studied physics in depth. The more I learned the more I realized that the universe is way more magical than we realize (remember)! I also enjoy reading ancient texts including the bible (the Old Testament is a very interesting read!) I believe it is possible that stories and imagination, play an important role in our collective consciousness. So here I am, trying in my small way to pass on stories and stimulate the imagination and having some fun in the process.”

Find more by Nicola Burke

TIM W. BURKE was raised within a mile of several US Federal Penitentiaries, was once a black belt in Aikido, and has a dark, satiric movie available worldwide called THE KIBBLES AND BITS OF HELLORAMA which FilmThreat.com called “Pee Wee’s Playhouse meets Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood on crack.” His fiction currently appears in the latest “Space And Time” magazine and an upcoming issue of “Stupendous Stories.” Look for him on his blog To Smother In Order To Sell The Body To Science.

Find more by Tim W. Burke