As a child, Dustin Steinacker told stories; some of them were even true. Still, what should have happened was invariably more fun than what did happen. In school his textbooks competed for Trapper Keeper space with books by Bruce Coville, K.A. Applegate, and, later, Orson Scott Card. Sometimes the textbooks lost. Between the sixth and seventh grades, Dustin was bumped from Advanced English to regular English for reading through class. At the time, he had the nerve to think this was ironic, but in retrospect, he believes his teachers were right (sorry, Mrs. Anderson!).
While Dustin was pursuing his MPA, a short story idea kept him awake one night at 3:00 a.m. He got out of bed to begin writing. His next story won the graduate division of a campus short fiction contest. Suddenly the sort of creative embellishment he’d loved since childhood seemed like a very good way to make a living.
Dustin lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife Helena and their goofball dog Caramel. He’s currently revising his debut novel, a New Weird colonial fantasy. Writers of the Future is his first sale.
Yader Fonseca was born in 1990 in Miami, Florida, where he was raised.
He recalls drawing at a very young age. After seeing his father come home late from work and doodle on napkins, Yader immediately knew what he wanted to do and decided to pursue a career in the arts.
Yader studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York where he received his bachelor’s degree and learned from great mentors. He went on to expand his creative knowledge through digital paintings.
He works as a freelancer for the entertainment industry, doing illustrations for games, film, and concept art.