Jennifer Matarese is a native of the Scranton, Pennsylvania area, where she currently lives and writes. An avid blogger since 2001, with a readership in the thousands, Jennifer has set up and run several communities with user-generated content, such as Fandom_High, Apocalyptathon, and Spellweavers.

Julia du Mais is in her early twenties, a double Capricorn, and a native of the DC Metropolitan area. Her favorite story to read or write is that of “the hot girl who solves problems by smashing stuff.” She has no secret ambition, not because she’s without ambition but because she’s far too loudmouthed to keep secrets.

Julia is currently earning a History degree at George Mason University, and has just finished a study tour of the United Kingdom, including a period of study at Cambridge University and an internship at the British Museum.

Jamie Schultz lives in Dallas, TX, and when he’s not at work, planning his next album, eating, or looking around the Internet, he writes. You can find out about his music at www.jschultzmusic.com.

Megan Belanger has worked in book publishing for nearly ten years, starting out in manufacturing and production before becoming an acquisitions editor in 2004. Her autobiographical story “Steady Now” was a top-ten finalist in Glamour magazine’s 2003 memoir writing contest. She has been a contributing editor to Ghostvillage.com, the Web’s largest supernatural online magazine, since 1999.

Her work has also appeared in regional publications such as Hempstead, New York’s The Chronicle and Danbury, Connecticut’s Main Street. Her poetry has been published in The South Boston Literary Gazette, and her short story “A Fine Apprentice” was published in Blackstone Literary. She is currently at work on her second novel, The Acclaimed, the story of a stubborn young courtesan and a mentally-ill painter in turbulent early-1600s Rome.

Shauna Roberts grew up in Beavercreek, Ohio, and today lives in New Orleans with her husband and cats. She earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Northwestern University.

Her fantasy, science fiction, and romance short stories have appeared in the anthology Pleasure of the Heart and Other Stories, Fables.org, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, the anthology Clash of Steel, Book One: Reluctant Hero, and Continuum Science Fiction magazine.

Following her work at Science magazine and The Journal of NIH Research, she has been a freelance biomedical writer and copyeditor since 1990. Her consumer-health columns and book have won several awards.

She belongs to the Romance Writers of America and is active in its New Orleans chapter, and is currently writing a sequel to Shrine of the Heavens as well as a paranormal romance called Ice Magic, Fire Magic.