Meet the authors

Kathy MacMillan (she/her) is a writer, nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and signing storyteller. She writes picture books, children's nonfiction, middle grade and young adult fantasy, and resource books for librarians, 

educators, and parents.

Evan Friss is a NYT bestselling author and a professor at James Madison University. His newest nonfiction book, The Bookshop, has been featured in Time, People, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and more.

Luke Goebel is an American novelist, screenwriter, producer, and publisher. 

He is the author of Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours, winner of the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize, and the novel Kill Dick. 

He co-wrote the films Causeway and Eileen, starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway; for Causeway, Brian Tyree Henry received an Academy Award nomination. 

Goebel is co-owner and president of Tyrant Books and lives in Los Angeles.

Laura Resau is the author of The River Muse, The Alchemy of Flowers, and eleven acclaimed books for young people. Her books have won five Colorado Book Awards and spots on “best-of” booklists from Oprah, the American Library Association, and more. Trilingual, she’s lived in Provence and Oaxaca, and studied cultural anthropology and languages. She teaches graduate creative writing at Western Colorado University. You might find her writing in her cozy vintage trailer in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she lives with her rock-hound husband, musician son, wild husky, and a hundred house plants.

Sara Goodman Confino is the bestselling author of seven novels: Off the Record, Don’t Forget to Write, Good Grief, Behind Every Good Man, She’s Up to No Good, For the Love of Friends, and the upcoming It's a Shore Thing. After spending more years than she’s willing to publicly admit teaching high school English and journalism, she is currently writing full time and trying to make a living off of the crazy stories in her head. She lives in Montgomery County, Maryland with her husband, two sons, and two miniature schnauzers. When she’s not writing or frantically parenting, she can be found on the Peloton, at the beach, or at a Bruce Springsteen concert, sometimes even dancing onstage.

NYT bestselling author Alma Katsu’s books have been nominated for and won multiple prestigious awards including the Stoker, Goodreads Readers Choice, International Thriller Writers, Locus Magazine, and more.

She has written two spy novels (RED WIDOW and RED LONDON), the logical marriage of her love of storytelling with her 30+ year career in intelligence.  She also writes novels that combine historical fiction with supernatural and horror elements. THE HUNGER (2018), a reimagining of the story of the Donner Party, was named one of NPR’s 100 favorite horror stories, was on numerous Best Books of the Year lists, sold rights in 17 languages, and continues to be honored as a new classic in horror. Her first book, THE TAKER (2011), was named one of the top ten debut novels of 2011 by Booklist.

She has relocated from the Washington, DC area to the mountains of West Virginia, where she lives with her musician husband Bruce and their two dogs, Nick and Ash.

In June of 1837, as a teenaged Queen Victoria assumed the throne, an Irish Catholic peasant laboured from dawn to dusk farming land owned by the Marquess of Ely, a powerful peer of the Queen’s realm. Alexander, Alec, Power, a lowly estate worker, would live and die working these fields for his master, while trapped in a feudal system from which there was no exit. But Alec did escape. Through strength of character, tenacity, and an unlikely connection to a prominent Irish Protestant official, Alec gained admittance into the increasingly selective Irish Lightkeeping Service, becoming part of Britain’s national security posture, protecting maritime access for the nation over which the young Queen Victoria ruled.  Enduring incredibly rugged, dangerous conditions, surviving the Great Famine, this was truly life on the edge. Their lives were difficult, but their children grew to adulthood free of the discrimination that oppressed much of the Irish population in the era. It is based on extensive genealogical and historical research.

Mojdeh Bahar received her J.D. from University of Maryland Carey School of Law; her M.A. in French from NYU, and her B.S. in Chemistry and French from Dickinson College.

Mojdeh has a deep interest in world literature including Persian Poetry. She has translated a selection of Shafi’i Kadkani’s nature poetry entitled Milkvetch and Violets, (Mage, 2021); selected and translated poems by 52 Iranian women poets entitled Song of the Ground Jay: Poems by Iranian Women, 1960-2022, (Mage, 2023) and translated poems of Taraneh Habib, In the Mirror: Poems and Collages; and selected and translated the poetry of 104 contemporary Iranian women poets entitled, Song of the Ground Jay, Expanded Edition (Gordyeh Publishers, 2023 for both books). 

Mojdeh has served as an executive in both public and not-for-profit sectors working at the cross section of technology, innovation, business, law and policy.

Lydia Kang is an author of young adult fiction, adult fiction and non-fiction, and poetry. She graduated from Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine, completing her residency and chief residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She is a practicing physician and associate professor of Internal Medicine who has gained a reputation for helping fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Great Weather for Media. She believes in science and knocking on wood, and currently lives in Omaha with her husband and three children.

Rachel grew up in Western PA and found her love of reading early in life, supported by her parents with frequent trips to the library and local bookstores. She stumbled into the bookish community in late 2020 and has embraced the bookish lifestyle whole-heartedly, first by diving headfirst into the Romance genre and becoming a book reviewer and Bookstagrammer. 

Rachel has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, which allowed her to read and write Romance novels for a grade, and is always juggling too many story ideas for one brain to handle. 

Rachel’s current Romance series include The Brandt Brothers, a series of interconnected standalones following five brothers set in Washington DC and The Holly Ridge Series, books set in a Christmas-loving small town.  When not immersed in her bookish world, you can find Rachel hanging out with her cat, reading Heated Rivalry fan fiction, spending time with friends in the Washington DC area, and rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams.  

Matthew Norman was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His debut novel, Domestic Violets, was nominated in the Best Humor category at the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards. Since then, he’s written five other novels. We’re All Damaged was an Amazon bestseller, Last Couple Standing was named one of the best books of 2020 so far by Esquire, All Together Now was one of the New York Post’s best books of the summer in 2021, Charm City Rocks was called “a joy to read” by People Magazine, and his new novel, Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon, is out now. His essays about writing have appeared on the sites Literary Hub and Writer Unboxed. He lives with his wife, two kids, and two dogs in Baltimore, Maryland.

Lisa Perrin is an award-winning illustrator, hand-lettering artist, author, and educator.

She is currently a full-time professor of Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Her work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, and 3x3 Magazine.

Some of her clients include: American Greetings / Anthropologie / Blue Q / Boston Globe / Bust Magazine / Buzzfeed / Chronicle Books / Domestika / Harper Collins / Hudson Valley Seed Library / Krispy Kreme / Little, Brown Book Group / Macys / Macmillan / Nobrow / Penguin Random House / Saturday Evening Post / Scholastic / Scout Books / Simon & Schuster / Smithsonian Magazine / Spotify / U.S. Postal Service / UWP Luxe

Nicole Cuffy is a proud Brooklyn emigrant living in D.C. She holds a BA in Writing from Columbia University and an MFA in Fiction from The New School. She does her best writing by hand and is a high-functioning book addict. Her work can be found in Chautauqua, The Masters Review Volume VI, Blue Mesa Review, and the New England Review, and her chapbook “Atlas of the Body” was an editor’s choice and finalist for the Black River Chapbook Competition and winner of the Chautauqua Janus Prize. She is the author of Dances, longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and O Sinners!, finalist for the Westport Prize for Literature.

Children's author Jennifer Keats Curtis has published 28 books, including Children’s Choice Book Award Winner Kali’s Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue, International Literary Association Award winner Moonlight Crab Count, and Kirkus starred Pooper Snooper. Many of her books are NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books, including Maggie: Alaska’s Last Elephant, After A While Crocodile: Alexa’s Diary, and Moonlight Crab Count. Jennifer’s inability to stop asking “why” compels her to follow scientists, begging for information and details and putting her in direct contact with crocodiles, pelicans and other critters. When she’s not pestering experts, Jennifer can be found in her happy place—schools. Her forte is making science accessible and engaging through illustrated and photographic children's books. During her programs, Jennifer encourages writing, reading, and a desire to help wild animals. 

Before turning to fiction, Aggie worked as a newspaper reporter, covering cops, courts, and trials, with a healthy dose of the mundane mixed in. Her writing has appeared in newspapers such as The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. She lives in the suburbs just over the Washington D.C. line with her husband, two children, cat, and dog.

Her four domestic thrillers — I DON’T FORGIVE YOU, ALL THE DIRTY SECRETS, SUCH A LOVELY FAMILY, and YOU DESERVE TO KNOW — are all set in the Washington DC area. Hollywood has scooped up the option rights to all four novels.

Book number five — THE NEIGHBORS ARE WATCHING — will be published in June of 2026.

R.N. Swann is the author of the young adult mystery In Case I Go Missing, and a graduate of the University of Iowa. She lives in Baltimore and, besides reading and writing, she loves trying new recipes, listening to podcasts, and convincing her two cats, Havoc and Toast, that her laptop is not a bed. In Case I Go Missing is her debut novel.

Truth Thomas is a singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer, born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Washington, DC. The Capitol Recording Artist, once known as Glenn Edward Thomas, is an NAACP Image Award winner for his poetry collection "Speak Water" and the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Howard County, Maryland.

Lady Brion is an international spoken word artist, poetry coach, activist, organizer, and educator. 

Lady Brion is an international spoken word artist, activist, organizer and educator. Lady Brion currently serves as the executive director of the Black Arts District. In 2024 she was appointed by Governor Wes Moore as the Poet Laureate of Maryland, making her the youngest Poet Laureate in Maryland’s history and the only spoken word artist to ever hold this position. She received her B.A. in Communication and Culture from Howard University and her MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Design from the University of Baltimore. During her slam career she has won the 2016 and 2021 National Poetry Slam, the 2017 and 2019 Southern Fried Regional Slam, and the 2019 Rustbelt Regional Slam. In 2021 she became the Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion making her the number 1 ranked woman slam poet in the world. 

Dubbed “The Queen of Jewish Romance,” Jean Meltzer is the international bestselling author of The Matzah Ball, Mr. Perfect on Paper, Kissing Kosher, and Magical Meet Cute, and the recipient of several writing honors including Amazon Best Romance, Apple Best Book of October, Apple Best Audiobook of the Year, Booklist Top Ten Romances for 2023, a starred review in Kirkus, a starred review in Booklist, and LibraryReads.

Jean’s commitment to uplifting Jewish stories and voices has made her a leading figure in Jewish literary advocacy. She is the Founder & CEO of Jewish Joy LLC, the umbrella organization to Jewish Women Talk About Romance Books, The Jewish Joy Book Club, The Jewish Joy Box, and Jewish Joy Con, a groundbreaking three-day event celebrating the best in pop-culture, storytelling, and creativity, scheduled for March 13-15th at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. In addition, she has served as a judge for the National Jewish Book Awards, and is a founding member of The Artists Against Antisemitism.

Her work is informed by personal experience—most notably her decades-long journey with chronic illness and her background in Jewish learning and media. Prior to becoming an author, she studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch and built a successful career in television, earning multiple accolades including a National Daytime Emmy Award.

Phyllis Saroff is a freelance illustrator based in Annapolis, Maryland with clients throughout the United

States. Her focus and great delight is to illustrate children's books and magazines, both fanciful and faithfully drawn from the natural world. The daughter of two scientists, Her scientific artwork is featured in wayside signs and educational materials commissioned by the United States Department of the Interior, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and more.

She has illustrated both fiction and non-fiction books with children's book publishers such as Charlesbridge, Arbordale, Lerner Publishing Group, and Schleich Toys. Phyllis's illustrations for children's magazines can be found in Boy's Life; Highlights Magazine; and Ranger Rick, published by the National Wildlife Federation. A recent notable children's book she has illustrated is Maggie, Alaska's Last Elephant by Jennifer Keats Curtis. This book won Outstanding Science Trade Book for 2019, published by Arbordale press. Other books she has illustrated for Arbordale are Sounds of the Savanna and Tuk Tuk, Tundra Tale.

Phyllis is the mother of two grown sons and lives with her husband and two dogs. Her dogs inspired her to recently become a Certified Dog Trainer. She is an avid swimmer, hiker and gardener. Through local non-profits, she brings her love of art to children by teaching middle-school students and teenagers who are facing unique adversity. Phyllis holds a Master of Fine Art from the Academy of Art University and a Bachelor of Fine Art from Virginia Commonwealth University.