MEGAN MCCAFFERTY is the author of Bumped. She also wrote the New York Times bestselling Jessica Darling series, which includes the novels Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings, and Perfect Fifths. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and son. For more information, follow @meganmccafferty on Twitter, friend her on Facebook, or visit her online at www.meganmccafferty.com.
LISA MCMANN is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy, Cryer’s Cross, and Dead to You, and the dystopian fantasy series The Unwanteds for younger readers. Before writing novels, Lisa worked as a blueberry picker, a bindery worker in a printing company, an independent bookseller, and a realtor. Lisa grew up in Michigan and lived there until 2004. Now she lives in the Phoenix area with her husband and two teenagers. Read more about Lisa at www.lisamcmann.com or find her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/McMannFan) or Twitter (@lisa_mcmann).
DAWN METCALF, the author of Luminous, has no good excuse for the way she writes. She lived in a normal, loving, suburban home, studied hard, went to college, went to graduate school, got married, had babies, and settled down in northern Connecticut. Despite this wholesome lifestyle, she has been clearly corrupted by fairy tales, puppet visionaries, British humor, and graphic novels. As a result, she writes dark, quirky, and sometimes humorous speculative fiction. Visit her online at www.dawnmetcalf.com.
SAUNDRA MITCHELL has been a phone psychic, a car salesperson, a denture delivery person, and a layout waxer. She’s dodged trains, endured basic training, and hitchhiked from Montana to California. She teaches herself languages, raises children, and makes paper for fun. She’s also a screenwriter for Fresh Films and the author of Shadowed Summer, The Vespertine, and The Springsweet. She always picks truth; dares are too easy. Visit her online at www.saundramitchell.com.
R. A. NELSON is the author of the novels Teach Me, Breathe My Name, Days of Little Texas, and Throat. He was chosen as a Horn Book Newcomer, and his books have been recognized by the Parents’ Choice Awards, the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list, and Book Sense Kid Picks, and have been nominated to the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults list. Nelson lives with his family in northern Alabama and works at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Visit him online at www.ranelsonbooks.com.
ALYSON NOËL is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Immortals series (Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland, Dark Flame, Night Star, and the sixth and final book, Everlasting); the Immortals spin-off series beginning with Radiance; Faking 19; and Art Geeks and Prom Queens. She lives in Laguna Beach, California. Visit her online at www.alysonnoel.com.
LAUREN OLIVER comes from a family of writers and has always been an avid reader. She graduated from the University of Chicago, attended the MFA program at New York University, and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code and breaking the printer. Her debut novel, Before I Fall, was a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of Delirium and her debut novel for younger readers, Liesl & Po. Visit her online at www.laurenoliverbooks.com.
MICOL OSTOW is half Puerto Rican, half Jewish, half reader, half writer, and, when under deadline, often half asleep. Micol was working as an editor of young adult fiction when she began to write her own books; since then, she has published more than 40 works for readers of all ages. She is the author of Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, the graphic novel hybrid So Punk Rock (And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens, and the novel in verse family, loosely based on the Manson family murders of 1969. Visit her online at www.micolostow.com.
MARLENE PEREZ is the author of the Dead Is series, The Comeback, and Love in the Corner Pocket. She lives in Orange County, California. Visit her online at www.marleneperez.com.
APRILYNNE PIKE is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Wings series, which includes Wings, Spells, and Illusions. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three kids. Visit her online at www.aprillynnepike.com.
AMY REED was born and raised around Seattle, where she attended a total of eight schools by the time she was eighteen. After a brief stint at Reed College (no relation), she moved to San Francisco and spent the next several years serving coffee and getting into trouble. She eventually graduated from film school and is now the author of Beautiful and Clean. Visit her online at www.amyreedfiction.com.
DEBBIE RIGAUD began her writing career covering news and entertainment for magazines, including Seventeen, Twist, and CosmoGIRL!. She’s interviewed celebs, politicians, and other social figures, but enjoyed interviewing “real girls” the most. A total Jersey girl at heart, Debbie lives in Bermuda with her husband. Catch her on bookshelves (Perfect Shot and Hallway Diaries) and online at www.debbierigaud.com.
CARRIE RYAN is the New York Times bestselling author of several critically acclaimed novels set decades after the zombie apocalypse: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which was named to the ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, and New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age lists; The Dead-Tossed Waves; and The Dark and Hollow Places. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Carrie is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now writes full time and lives with her husband (who is even more amazing than a cowboy) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Visit her online at www.carrieryan.com.
KURTIS SCALETTA was born in Louisiana and grew up in New Mexico, North Dakota, England, Liberia, Brazil, and a few other places. His books for young readers include Mudville, which was an ALA Booklist “Top 10 Sports Books for Youth”; Mamba Point, which Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, called an “expertly voiced narrative . . . tinted with magical realism that is by turns scary and very funny”; and The Tanglewood Terror. Kurtis now lives in Minneapolis with his wife, their son, and several cats. To learn more about him and his books, visit him online at www.kurtisscaletta.com.
MELISSA SCHORR is the author of Goy Crazy, a romantic comedy about interfaith dating that was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and Northwestern University, Melissa was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. She currently works and lives as a journalist outside Boston with her two daughters, her husband, and their terrier, Bailey. Visit her online at www.melissaschorr.com.