Jim C. Hines’ latest book is The Mermaid’s Madness, the second in his series about butt- kicking fairy tale heroines (because Sleeping Beauty was always meant to be a ninja, and Snow White makes a bad-ass witch). He’s also the author of the humorous Goblin Quest trilogy, as well as more than forty published short stories in markets such as Realms of Fantasy, Sword & Sorceress, and Turn the Other Chick. You can find his web site and blog at www.jimchines.com. As always, Jim would like to thank his wife and children for putting up with him. Living with a writer ain’t easy.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman has been writing science fiction and fantasy for more than twenty years and has sold more than two hundred fifty stories, plus novels and juvenile and media tie-in books. Her works have been finalists for the World Fantasy, Philip K. Dick, Sturgeon, and Endeavour awards. Her first novel, The Thread That Binds the Bones, won a Bram Stoker Award, and her short story “Trophy Wives” won a Nebula. Her middle school fantasy novel, Thresholds, will come out in 2010. Nina does production work for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and teaches short story writing through her local community college. She also works with teen writers. She lives in Eugene, Oregon, with several cats, a mannequin, and many strange toys.

Nancy Holder is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Wicked Series (with coauthor Debbie Viguie.) They are launching a new vampire series called Crusade, the first volume of which will be out in the fall of 2010. She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions and the sequel, Possessions: The Evil Within. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, their corgi, Panda, and two very hairy cats named David and Kittnen Snow Vampire.

Tanya Huff lives and writes in rural Ontario with her partner, Fiona Patton, and nine cats—one more and they qualify as crazy cat ladies. In 2009, DAW Books published her Enchantment Emporium and in 2010 will publish a fifth Torin Kerr space marine book—untitled as yet. When she isn’t writing she practices her guitar and complains about the weather.

Jane Lindskold lives in the Wild West and knows many of the resident wolves personally. This does not mean her story is autobiographical. Honest. Lindskold is the author of both the Breaking the Wall series (Thirteen Orphans , Nine Gates) and the Wolf Series (Through Wolf’s Eyes, Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart). For more titles and some great wolf pictures, see www.janelindskold.com.

Alexander B. Potter resides in Vermont, writing both fiction and nonfiction, painting, and working as an HIV Prevention Specialist at the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont. His published work is primarily in science fiction /fantasy and has appeared in a wide range of anthologies, including ten from DAW Books. He can be visited at www.alexanderpotter.com.

Mickey Zucker Reichert is a pediatrician, parent to multitudes (at least it seems like that many), bird wrangler, goat roper, dog trainer, cat herder, horse rider, and fish feeder who has learned (the hard way) not to let macaws remove contact lenses. Also, she is the author of twenty-two novels (including the Renshai, Nightfall, Barakhai, and Bifrost series), one illustrated novella, and fifty plus short stories. Mickey’s age is a mathematically guarded secret: the square root of 8649 minus the hypotenuse of an isosceles right triangle with a side length of 33.941126.

In the past calendar year, Kristine Kathryn Rusch has won the Asimov’s Reader’s Choice Award and the Ellery