Dylan Birtolo resides in the Pacific Northwest, where he spends his time as a writer, a game designer, and a professional sword-swinger. He’s published a few fantasy novels and several short stories. On the game side, he contributed to Dragonfire and designed both Henchman and Shadowrun: Sprawl Ops. He trains in Systema and with the Seattle Knights, an acting troop that focuses on stage combat. He jousts, and, yes, the armor is real—it weighs over 100 pounds. You can read more about him and his works at www.dylanbirtolo.com or follow his twitter @DylanBirtolo.
Jennifer Brozek is a multitalented, award-winning author, editor, and tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were finalists for the Bram Stoker Award. Her BattleTech tie-in novel, The Nellus Academy Incident, won a Scribe Award. Her editing work has netted her a Hugo Award nomination as well as an Australian Shadows Award for Grants Pass. Jennifer’s short-form work has appeared in Apex Publications and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, and Predator. Jennifer is also the Creative Director of Apocalypse Ink Productions and was the managing editor of Evil Girlfriend Media and assistant editor for Apex Book Company. She has been a freelance author, editor, and tie-in writer for more than ten years after leaving her high-paying tech job, and she’s never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com.
Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, Uncollected Anthology Volume 13: Mystical Melodies, and Chronicle Worlds: Feyland. Books 1 through 3 of her fantasy series, Songbird River Chronicles, and her dark fairy tale novella, Thorn and Thimble, are available in print and electronic versions on Amazon and Kobo. You can sign up for her newsletter at https://tinyletter.com/HarmonicStories or follow her on twitter @purellian.
Ron Collins is the bestselling Amazon Dark Fantasy author of Saga of the God-Touched Mage and Stealing the Sun, a series of space-based SF books. He has contributed 100 or so stories to premier science fiction and fantasy publications, including Analog, Asimov’s, and several editions of the Valdemar anthology series. His work has garnered a Writers of the Future prize and a CompuServe HOMer award. His short story “The White Game” was nominated for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s 2016 Derringer Award. Find current information about Ron at typosphere.com.
Hailed as “one of the best writers working today” by bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith, Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted, Shaded, and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and various anthologies from DAW Books. “The Price of Friendship” is her fifth story in a Valdemar anthology. She is the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, and her short fiction has been lauded in year’s best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror. To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com.
Michele Lang grew up in deepest suburbia, the daughter of a Hungarian mystic and a fast-talking used car salesman. Now she writes tales of magic, crime, and adventure. Author of the Lady Lazarus historical urban fantasy series, Michele also writes urban fantasy for the Uncollected Anthology series.
Fiona Patton was born in Calgary, Alberta, and now lives in rural Ontario with her wife, Tanya Huff, an assortment of cats, and two wonderful dogs. She has written seven fantasy novels published by DAW Books and close to forty short stories. “The Rose Fair” is her 12th story in the Valdemar anthologies, the 10th to feature the Dann family.
Angela Penrose lives in Seattle with her husband, seven computers, and about ten thousand books. She’s been a Valdemar fan for decades and wrote her first Valdemar story for the “Modems of the Queen” area on the old GEnie network back in the 1980s. In addition to fantasy, she writes SF and mystery, sometimes in combinations. She’s had stories published in Loosed Upon the World, Fiction River, The Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016, and of course Choices, the last Valdemar anthology. Find links to all her work at angelapenrosewriter.blogspot.com.
Kristin Schwengel lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband, along with the obligatory writer’s cat (named Gandalf, of course), a Darwinian garden in which only the strong survive, and a growing collection of knitting and spinning supplies. Her writing has appeared in several previous Valdemar anthologies, among others. The nucleus for “A Midwinter’s Gift” started with the idea of Herald families. What might happen when everyone expects a child to be Chosen, and he or she is not?
Growing up on fairy tales and computer games, USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp has melded the two in her award-winning, bestselling Feyland series, which has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide. In addition to the fae fantasy/cyberpunk mashup of Feyland, she also writes Victorian Spacepunk and fantasy romance. Her books have won awards, topped bestseller lists, and garnered over a million reads at Wattpad. She’s frequently found hanging out on Amazon’s Top 100 Fantasy/SF author list. Her short fiction has appeared in Fiction River, DAW anthologies, The Future Chronicles, and Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy’s Edge, as well as many other publications.
Stephanie Shaver lives in Southern California, where she is gainfully employed by Blizzard Entertainment. When she’s not doing things for them she’s probably writing or catching up on sleep. You can find more at sdshaver.com, along with occasional ramblings on life and pictures of food she’s making for herself and her family.
Growing up in the wilds of the Sierra Nevada mountains, surrounded by deer and beaver, muskrat and bear, Louisa Swann found ample fodder for her equally wild imagination. As an adult, she spins both experiences and imagination into tales that span multiple genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and her newest love—steampunk. Her short stories have appeared in Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters and Valdemar anthologies (which she’s thrilled to participate in!); Esther Friesner’s Chicks and Balances; and several Fiction River anthologies, including No Humans Allowed and Reader’s Choice. Her new steampunk/weird west series, The Peculiar Adventures of Miss Abigail Crumb, is available at your favorite etailer. Find out more at louisaswann.com.
Elizabeth A. Vaughan is the USA Today-bestselling author of fantasy romance novels. She has always loved fantasy and has been a fantasy role-player since 1981. You can learn more about her books at writeandrepeat.com.
Elisabeth Waters sold her first short story in 1980 to Marion Zimmer Bradley for The Keeper’s Price, the first of the Darkover anthologies. She then went on to sell short stories to a variety of anthologies. Her first novel, a fantasy called Changing Fate, was awarded the 1989 Gryphon Award. Its sequel, Mending Fate, was published in 2016. She is now concentrating on her short story writing. She also worked as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera, where she appeared in La Gioconda, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Khovanschina, Das Rheingold, Werther, and Idomeneo.
Phaedra Weldon grew up in the thick, atmospheric land of South Georgia. Most nights, especially those in October, were spent on the back of pickup trucks in the center of cornfields, telling ghost stories, or in friends’ homes playing RPGs. She got her start writing in shared worlds (Eureka!, Star Trek, BattleTech, Shadowrun) and selling original stories to DAW anthologies before she sold her first Urban Fantasy series to traditional publishing. Currently, her published series includes Zoe Martinique Investigations, The Eldritch Files, The Witches of Castle Falls, and the upcoming urban fantasy series, The Dark Backward.