E.M. Caro

More at home in a restaurant back-of-house than in academia, Eri had the epiphany early on that becoming an author might, with luck and persistence, pay better than either.
In writing, Eri’s especially interested in exploring niches of history, queerness, politics, and their intersections—as long as there is a tropey love story to be had. HEAs always feature; socialists frequently do.
Other than writing, Eri reads—and then promptly forgets—lots of dense and obscure non-fiction; stress-bakes; rearranges the zone-5 perennial shade garden; and dreams about taking time to learn woodworking and/or French.
Eri lives in the Midwest USA with one husband and two long-haired (human) kids.

Chalmers headshot

Shelly Chalmers

Shelly Chalmers’ favorite first book was Cinderella, so once she could form letters, naturally she turned to romance where everyone “loved” each other—though mostly because she didn’t yet know how to spell “like.” Since then, she’s earned her bachelor’s degree in English and French, but never lost her love of romances and happily-ever-afters. She was an RWA Golden Heart® finalist in 2014, and her first published series features a humorous look at the four horsewomen of the apocalypse. Her stories run the gamut from Regency shifters to space opera, but all include a touch of magic, a sense of humor, and a dab of geek. She makes her home in Western Canada, where when not writing, reading, or crafting, she wrangles a husband, two daughters, and two nutball cats. You can find her at shellychalmers.com

KJ Charles

KJ Charles is a writer and freelance editor. She lives in London with her husband, two kids, an out-of-control garden and a cat with murder management issues.

J.K. Coi

J.K. Coi is a multi-published, award winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She makes her home in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and son, a black golden retriever, and a feisty black cat who is the uncontested head of the household. While she spends her days immersed in the litigious world of insurance law, she is very happy to spend her nights writing dark and sexy characters who leap off the page and into readers’ hearts

Amy Jo Cousins

Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.

Laura K. Curtis

Laura K. Curtis gave up a life writing dry academic papers for writing decidedly less dry short crime stories and novel-length romantic suspense and contemporary romance. A member of RWA, MWA, ITW, and HWA, she has trouble settling into one genre. In 2015 alone, she had two romantic suspense novels—Echoes and Mind Games—from Penguin, a self-published contemporary in her “Goody’s Goodies” series about women who sell adult toys, and a short Gothic piece in Protectors 2: Heroes, an anthology to benefit PROTECT.org

Christine d'Abo

Christine d’Abo

Christine is a romance novelist and short story writer, with over forty publications. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Moriah Densley

Moriah Densley sees nothing odd at all about keeping both a violin case and a range bag stuffed with pistols in the back seat of her car. They hold up the stack of books in the middle, of course. She enjoys writing about Victorians, assassins, and geeks. Her muses are summoned by the smell of chocolate, usually at odd hours of the night. By day her alter ego is your friendly neighborhood music teacher. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband, four children, and two possibly brain-damaged cats. Moriah has a Master’s degree in music, is a 2012 RWA Golden Heart finalist, 2012 National Reader’s Choice Award winner, 2012 NRCA “Best First Book” finalist and 2015 Bookseller’s Best Award finalist. She’s the author of the bestselling “Rougemont” Historical Romance series from Eskape Press, and the “Network-One” Paranormal Romance series from Entangled Publishing

Erin Rooney Doland

Erin Rooney Doland is author of Never Too Busy to Cure Clutter (2016, William Morrow) and Unclutter Your Life in One Week (2009, Gallery Books). Her hardcover, paperbacks, e-books, and audiobook have sold in the U.S. market and overseas in countries like France, the U.K., the U.A.E., Poland, Russia, and Korea. She also is an essay contributor to the 99U book series Manage Your Day-to-Day (2013, Amazon Publishing).

For years she appeared regularly in Real Simple magazine’s “Ask the Organizer” column and has contributed to Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Woman’s Day, and Martha Stewart Living, among numerous other major media publications. Her books have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and USA Today, and she has been profiled in The New York Times. She has been a guest on The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Show, WGN Midday News, Martha Stewart Living Radio, and the CBC and BBC Radio networks.

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, William Allen White School of Journalism, and her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is a staunch promoter of minimalism and resides full time in an RV, traveling North America.

When she’s not writing, she’s training for adventure races, backpacking, and reading—always reading.

Sarah Amelia Dooley

Sarah Dooley is a Brooklyn-based comedian and musician originally from Valparaiso, Indiana. In 2011 her play My Play won the Avant Garde Arts Festival. Her feature film The Goode Family is currently in development, and her debut album Stupid Things was featured on NPR and hit #16 on the iTunes pop charts. Her favorite kind of salad is macaroni.