KATERI STANLEY
~Writer of dark fiction~
MIRIAM DRORI
Miriam Drori is the author of non-fiction, uplit, cosy (cozy) crime, short stories and more. She also edits work by other authors.
Born and raised in London, Miriam lives in Jerusalem with her husband, an adult son and social anxiety, one of those by choice. When not writing, she loves to read, dance, hike and travel.
Despite having toured in India, Ethiopia, Egypt, Mexico, Guatemala, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and China, her next destination is causing her a little anxiety, but she’s looking forward to
returning home and writing about the experience.
CORY MADDALENA
Growing up on a steady diet of Tolkien, Atwood, Gaiman, and McCarthy has forced Cory to gravitate towards genre storytelling with literary merit. His debut novel As Pure As Snow exemplifies this, and was published through darkstroke publishing on May 20th, 2022, and iscurrently available on kindle and paperback. His passion for cinema extends into the active participation of filmmaking, dictating the highly visual nature of his work across all media.
When he isn't reading, watching or listening to music, he's either traveling, teaching, or eating - order not exclusive.
JOAN LIVINGSTON
Joan is the author of novels for adult and young readers, including the Isabel Long Mystery Series, featuring a longtime journalist who becomes an amateur P.I. solving cold cases in rural New England. She draws upon her own experience as a longtime journalist in Massachusetts and New Mexico to create Isabel Long, a sassy, savvy widow who uses the skills she acquired in the business to solve what appears to be impossible cases. She also relies on her deep knowledge of rural Western Massachusetts, where she lives, to create realistic characters and settings — from country bars (where Isabel works part-time) to a general store’s backroom where gossipy old men meet.
PJ MCILVAINE
PJ is a prolific and creative children’s author, screenwriter and journalist.
Her debut middle-grade supernatural historical mystery adventure VIOLET YORKE, GILDED GIRL: GHOSTS IN THE CLOSET (Darkstroke Books, April 2022) is about a poor little rich girl in NYC 1912 who sees ghosts.PJ’s debut picture book LITTLE LENA AND THE BIG TABLE (June 2019, Big Belly Book Co.), with illustrations by Leila Nabih, is about a determined little girl tired of eating with her annoying cousins at the kid’s table, only to discover that the big table isn’t much better. She has another picture book, DRAGON ROAR (MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing, October 2021) artwork by Logan Rogers, about a lonely, sick dragon who has lost his mighty roar, and the brave village girl who helps him find it
again.
Her debut young adult alternate history adventure, THE CONUNDRUM OF CHARLEMAGNE CROSSE will be published by Orange Blossom Publishing in September 2023. PJ is also a co-host and founding member of #PBPitch, the premiere Twitter pitch party for picture book creators. She has been published in numerous outlets including The New York Times and Newsday and is a regular contributor for The Children’s Book Insider newsletter, writing about the path to publication and interviews with established and debut kid lit authors. She lives on Eastern Long Island with her family and fur baby, Luna.
HENRY CORRIGAN
A bisexual, omnivore author, poet and playwright who writes every kind of
story. Whether it’s horror or science fiction, erotica or poetry, high fantasy or children’s books, he writes it all because every story matters to him. They’re what keeps him going. Always an avid reader, Henry started writing poetry in middle school but it wasn’t until he started writing erotica in high school that he really learned the mechanics of writing. What started out as private stories and love letters, soon became publications in anthologies.
To date, he has the rough drafts of two science fiction books, one horror novella, one play, four children’s books, numerous poems and several song lyrics waiting in the wings. Above all, he wants to be known for not staying where he’s been put. To always surprise people, especially himself. Because that’s what makes it fun. The feeling that even he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next.
VB FURLONG
VB Furlong is a trainee lawyer and writer of young adult novels living in Berkshire, UK. She wrote her first “novel” at aged ten and has not stopped since then. Through her writing she aims to explore many of the issues she faced herself growing up, in the hopes that others facing the same issues feel some solidarity. Her friendships are a huge part of her life and consequently is a major theme in her writing, exploring the way in which we interact with each other, especially in difficult times.
Originally from Mumbles, Swansea, VB Furlong enjoys the sun and the sea, and walking her three dogs across the cliffs. These walks have offered her inspiration for many pieces of writing, including What Happened to Coco which she is excited to introduce as a coming of age boarding school thriller.
JAY DARKMOORE
Jay lives in the Northwest of England and is a huge fan of all things dark - exploring the macabre, demonic and darker aspects of the human psyche.
He likes putting his characters in terrible situations and then turning out all the lights. To date, he has self-published novels of horror, dark fantasy dystopia, as well as horror shorts compilations.
When not at his desk, Jay spends his free time making YouTube videos to help writers in their craft, promoting other books he has enjoyed, as well as hitting the gym and taking wild cold plunges with ducks. He is a single parent to his son Joe who is his biggest fan.
