Jaclyn Weist
Jaclyn doesn’t sit still very often, but when she does it’s to binge watch her favorite shows. When she isn’t attending sporting and music events for her six kids, she’s writing, editing, and booking travel. She’s been writing since grade school and had her first book published in 2013. Since then, she’s published over fifty books between two pen names—Jaclyn Weist for Young Adult fantasy and romance and Jaclyn Hardy for sweet and clean adult romance. You can learn more about her at www.jaclynweist.com and www.jaclynhardy.com
Dennis Gaunt
Dennis Gaunt has been a writer ever since that fateful day he pulled a magic pen from a stone. At least, that’s what he tells people. The truth is that he has been working with Deseret Book and Shadow Mountain Publishers as a slushpile reader since 2000, and in that time, he’s seen it all and then some, and is eager to share what he’s learned. He has published books and talks for LDS young adults with both Deseret Book and Covenant Communications, and is also a long time youth speaker and teacher. He enjoys playing the guitar, going to Disneyland, and Godzilla movies. He also hates onions.
Jessica Celaya
Jessica Celaya has been writing books for as long as she can remember. She lives in Utah with her husband and the cutest baby this side of the Mississippi. (Who are we kidding, he’s the cutest baby on the other side of the Mississippi too.) She also has cats and chickens.
David Rodeback
David Rodeback was born in Colorado and has lived in Idaho, Pennsylvania, New York, and for the last 25 years in Utah. Currently Chief Marketing Technology Officer for a West Valley City manufacturing company, he has also worked as an editor and a speech writer, and has taught at Cornell University, Brigham Young University, and elsewhere.
Natalie Brianne
Natalie Brianne is an author, graphic designer, and voice actor with books across multiple genres. While she loves writing, her main gig is book design and formatting. She loves voice acting and was part of the cast for the Webby Award winning podcast “Desolate Eden,” and is the narrator for several audiobooks. When Natalie isn’t working, she’s drawing, playing tag with her cat, and forgetting about the vegetables in her fridge. Above all she believes in the power of words and their ability to make the world a better place.
Chris Jones
Chris Jones is a prolific, multi-platform writer of fiction and nonfiction in multiple genres, from historical mystery to urban fantasy to fairy tale. He teaches writing and history on the junior high-to-high school level, and is a professor of Logic, Rhetoric, and Poetics at Mount Liberty College. An EMAA contest veteran, he lives in Lehi.
Stephanie Jaeger
Stephanie Jaeger writes the Scrolls of Zndaria series with her husband, Jerry. They’ve published 5 books between their first and second editions and are working on several more. The second book in their main series, The Alamist Queen, won the 2019 League of Utah Writers Silver Quill in the youth category.
Renae Kingsley
Renae Kingsley is an award-winning creativity coach and has taught a variety of hands-on creativity classes at conventions and retreats for 5 years. She is writing a book about the intersection of creative pursuits and mental health and has researched studies on the topic for several years. She always teaches with an engaging hands-on approach so students leave empowered with personal experience in navigating the class topics.
Tristi Pinkston
Tristi Pinkston is a professional freelance editor with hundreds of successful manuscripts under her belt. Many of her finished projects have gone on to earn industry accolades. In addition to running her own editing company, Tristi has worked for two publishing houses and has mentored an impressive list of authors through the publishing process. She is a favorite presenter at writing conferences all over the western United States. With the other half of her brain, she’s an award-winning author, writing not only as Tristi Pinkston, but as Amelia C. Adams. Between the two of them . . . er, the two of her . . . she has written a wide catalogue ranging from cozy mystery to sweet Western romance to chapter books. She lives with her husband and four amazing children in southeastern Idaho, where they enjoy fresh air and the beauty of nature all year long.
Rachael Smith
Rachael’s Bio
Mindy Lemieux
Mindy LeMieux enjoys reading, being with her family, and listening to Owl City. She currently lives in Utah with her husband, four kids, two cats, and one happy supply of chocolate. She is the author of one novel and two short stories.
Michael D. young
Though Michael grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and their three children. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. He is the author of the novels in The Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, the Chess Quest Series and the Penultimate Dawn Cycle (The Hunger), as well as several non-fiction works, including An Advent Carols Countdown, The Song of the Righteous and As Saints We Sing. www.authormichaelyoung.com
Amber Downey-Duvall
Amber Downey-Duvall is a newsletter and behind the scenes expert devoted to supporting authors who want to form lasting unique relationships with their readers. You can find her every Sunday in the Let’s Nosh section of Christine Sterling’s weekly newsletter. Her love of food, books and holidays keep her motivated to continue to support independent authors to share their gift of storytelling with the world. She lives on a homestead in Northern Nevada with her family, seven dogs, and a collection of other furry friends. You can often find her with a cup of coffee and a puppy in tow.
John m. Olsen
John M. Olsen edits and writes speculative fiction across multiple genres and loves stories about ordinary people stepping up to do extraordinary things. His short stories have appeared in dozens of anthologies. He’s also written several novels across multiple genres, including the Polecat Protocol science fiction series (Discovery, Breakdown, Emergence), the Riland Throne fantasy series (Crystal King, Crystal Queen, Crystal Empire), and has written in multiple shared universes for fantasy and science fiction. He loves to create and fix things through editing and writing, just like when he’s working in his secret lair equipped with dangerous power tools. In all cases, he applies engineering principles and processes to the task at hand, often in unpredictable ways. He lives in Utah with his lovely wife and a variable number of mostly grown children and a constantly changing subset of extended family and pets.
