Books by, for, and about nerds
Leigh is a romance author who writes mainly in the fantasy, paranormal, and monster subgenres. She’s been a romance fanatic since the first time she filched one of her mom’s Harlequin paperbacks, and loves writing imperfect characters finding their perfect happy-ever-afters.
When she’s not writing, Leigh loves going on as many camping trips as she can, photography, embroidery, and gardening. She’s also a practicing tarot reader, aspiring astrologer, and lover of all things witchy and woo.
Chelsea Conradt (she/her) writes twisty speculative thrillers and atmospheric horror. Her books are packed with both murder and kindness because we can be more than one thing. When not writing stories that make you question what’s real, she is likely watching a baking show or a true-crime documentary. She is nothing if not on brand. Chelsea lives in Texas with her husband, son, and two big dogs.
Emily Zipps grew up in southern California, and has adulted all over the US. She has lived the following tropes: friends-to-lovers, I swear this is platonic handholding, mutual pining, and, of course, there was only one bed. Her love languages include making color-coded spreadsheets about feelings, changing the lyrics of pop songs to be about food, and caring deeply about women’s sports. She lives in New Mexico with her wife and their dog who looks like a coyote and acts like Daria.
Greer Stothers is an award-winning author/illustrator based in Toronto. Their education is a patchwork of science and art, as they graduated from Sheridan College with a Bachelors of Illustration, followed by a stint at the University of Toronto studying evolutionary biology. Their love of dinosaurs led them to acquire two fat chickens named Tallgeese and Wormbecca, who live in a miniature house in their backyard and lay far too many eggs for them to eat.
Their experiences as a nonbinary individual inform their writing and art, as does their drive to find the humour in everything.
Tim Ephraim Stone sprung fully grown from the head of his father Zeus (allegedly). He is a passionate cocktail bartender whose heritage ranges from the historic supper clubs of Wisconsin, the speakeasies and Irish pubs of Chicago, and the whiskey bars of the Texas Hill country. He considers Chicago to be his forever home, while Austin Texas is his current love affair. He lives with himself, with no pets or plants to speak of. He killed his last cactus. Tim Ephraim Stone is less nurturing than a desert.
Tim Ephraim is ferociously dedicated to queer and Jewish perspectives in fiction. He dabbles in fantasy, horror, contemporary, and historical fiction in both YA and Adult.
Artemis Whelan (they/them) writes romantic fantasies set in feminist, diverse, queernorm worlds. When not writing, they spend their free time playing video games and reading way too much Hobbit fanfiction. They like to combat writer’s block by walking their mini-dachshund; playing with their cats; or tending to their garden, where they raise sweet potatoes, cucumbers, shallots, peppers, blackberries, strawberries, and many species of native plants and wildflowers.
Find them on Bluesky here or on their personal website here!
Lish McBride is a writer, former bookseller, and amateur goblin living in the PNW. In the crime of the century, she tricked not one but two universities into giving her degrees, ending up with an MFA from the University of New Orleans. (They cannot have it back, either, as she has invoked the ancient law of “no backsies.”) Her ultimate dream is to have her own castle with a bear moat (as in a moat full of bears) and one of the libraries with the wheely ladder. You can find her online in all of the usual places under the handle @lishmcbride, usually posting pictures of her dogs. Find her on Bluesky here!