To Root Somewhere Beautiful

Katalina Watt’s writing is represented by Robbie Guillory at Underline, was longlisted for Penguin Write Now 2020, and awarded a 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant. As founding Audio Director for khoréo, they won 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Fiction Podcast and were longlisted for 2023 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. Amparo Ortiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and currently lives on the island’s northeastern coast. Her short story comic, “What Remains in The Dark,” appears in the Eisner Award-winning anthology Puerto Rico Strong (Lion Forge, 2018), and SAVING CHUPIE, her middle grade graphic novel, comes out with HarperCollins in Winter 2022. She holds an M.A. in English and a B.A. in Psychology from the UPR’s Río Piedras campus. When she’s not teaching ESL to her college students, she’s teaching herself Korean, devouring as much young adult fiction as she can, and writing about Latinx characters. Laura Galán-Wells is a writer, improviser, and travel blogger. D.C. Dador (she/her) is a science fiction & fantasy author whose stories are about finding love in dark places. D.C. loves meshing genres. Give her vampires, dystopia or space and she’ll make it into a rom com! D.C. was a finalist on the reality TV show “America’s Next Great Author” produced by Kwame Alexander and the Book Doctors. She’s also an alumni of multiple competitive writing mentorship programs including Author Mentor Match, Avengers of Colour, and WriteMentor. As a first-generation Filipino-American, she enjoys weaving her heritage into her tales. Nicholas Perez is a writer of Cuban heritage from the Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana area. He holds a BA from Indiana University Southeast where he studied history and religious studies and a MA from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary where he studied Biblical exegesis and theology. He currently works in a hospital. When he isn’t working, he’s writing countless Adult and Young Adult stories ranging from fantasy to sci-fi and to even horror. Lauren T. Davila is a Pushcart-nominated, Latina author, anthologist, and acquisitions editor. As a disabled, WOC, she heavily prioritizes acquisitions of diverse and/or historically marginalized authors. She lives in the greater Los Angeles area where you can find her swimming, walking her golden retriever, and drinking one too many rose lattes. Morgan Spraker is a writer and recent graduate of the University of Florida, where she earned her BA in English and Sustainability Studies. Her academic work focused on the linked portrayals of gender and the climate crisis in 2010s young adult science fiction. While she hasn't encountered the elusive Florida Man or wrestled an alligator, she's a lifelong Floridian with a love for the beach. When Morgan isn't creating worlds of her own, she's usually exploring others— namely, Star Wars's galaxy far, far away— and playing Taylor Swift's discography on repeat. Laura G. Southern is a fantasy writer and an associate agent at Wolf Literary. She has a BA in English Literature from Baylor University, as well as an MS in Publishing from New York University. Her speculative work can be found in Abyss & Apex as well as a viral app called BetterSleep. Originally from Mesquite, Texas, Laura and her cat now call Brooklyn home. Laura is represented by Chelsea Hensley at KT Literary. SJ Whitby lives in New Zealand with their partner, as well as various children and animals. They are predictably obsessed with X-Men and spend too much of their free time writing. Isa Arsén is a certified bleeding heart and audio engineer based in South Texas, where she lives with her spouse and a comically small dog. She’s published several shorts and pieces of experimental interactive media. Inspired by her own childhood summers in New Mexico, Shoot the Moon is her debut novel.