Join us for a fun, free virtual event featuring five winners of this year’s Writers of the Future Vol. 38, the best new writers & illustrators in the sci-fi/fantasy genre as chosen by top pros in the field including Frank Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson & Diane Dillon! Hear them read, talk about their inspiration, background and road to success.

Order the book at a 10% discount HERE or pick up in store.

Here’s a rundown of our special guests:

Mike Jack Stoumbos is a spec-fic author, disguised as a believably normal teacher, living with his wife and their parrot. Mike grew up with three brothers and over forty first cousins, who he enlisted as test audiences (and participants) for his imagined adventures, often reenacted with cardboard props or Star Wars action figures. His love of storytelling brought him to the stage as a musical theater actor, the role-playing table as a game master, and a career trajectory to teach English and theater. In the summer of 2019, however, Mike shifted his writing passion into a priority, and once again became a student: attending workshops, practicing daily, and braving the story submission gauntlet. Mike’s work has since appeared in several collections, including his first pro sale in Galactic Stew and a publication alongside a personal hero in Hold Your Fire: Stories Celebrating the Creative Spark. Shortly after he was named a Writers of the Future winner, Mike’s space-opera series, This Fine Crew, was picked up by Chris Kennedy Publishing, for many continuing adventures. The idea for “The Squid Is My Brother” emerged as a curiosity: how to take something from cosmic horror and make it as endearing as a family member. Even more importantly, Mike wrote this story shortly after the schools had closed due to COVID in 2020 as a young student’s first-person account of transferring into a bizarre new environment, fearing the unknown, and learning about humanity.

Rebecca E. Treasure grew up reading science fiction and fantasy in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. After grad school and two children, she began writing fiction. Rebecca has lived many places, including the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Tokyo, Japan. She currently resides in Texas Hill Country with her husband, where she juggles two children, two corgis, a violin studio, and writing. She only drops the children occasionally. Rebecca discovered Writers of the Future shortly after she began writing fiction. She has entered every quarter since, making lifelong friends as a result. Rebecca’s short fiction has been published by or is forthcoming from WordFire Press, Air and Nothingness Press, Flame Tree Publishing, The Dread Machine, and others. She is an associate editor at Apex Book Company and Magazine. “Tsuu, Tsuu, Kasva Suuremasse” came about, as many of Rebecca’s stories have, from a synthesis of ideas. Research for her sixth novel, a historical fantasy about Napoleonic magic users, combined with a fascination with the idea of animal magic and beloved memories of an “adopted” grandmother from her childhood. The real Emily lived in a cozy apartment across from Rebecca’s family and collected dolls.

Jim Zaccaria was born and raised in East Boston. Jim has worked varied jobs in graphic design—first as a printer, then a print buyer, and then as a graphic designer specializing in book cover design. His work has won acclaim from Bookbuilders of Boston, The New York Book Show, and the Boskone Art Show. Also, his work has appeared in the annuals from Bookbuilders of Boston and Infected by Art. Much of his daily work is book cover design for publishers and independent authors, though he feels the pull toward image creation. Over the last several years, he has started to build his portfolio and exhibit at various conventions, squeezing in new art every chance he gets. Jim has been drawn to the arts from an early age. Music is an immense inspiration for ideas, and much of his work is influenced by a song title, lyric, or mood. Other subjects that motivate and spark his imagination are mythology, poster design, and artists working in imaginative realism. Most of his art is produced digitally, and he sees that as a perfect medium for commercial works, but he also enjoys working in traditional methods as well as a blending of the two.

Natalia Salvador was born in 1985 in Granada, in the south of Spain. She grew up reading, watching adventure films, and playing classic adventure video games that inspired her drawings. She always liked art and admired book covers and interior illustrations, so it wasn’t surprising when she decided to approach that world by studying fine arts and graphic design. Her mother always encouraged her and was the one who gave her the final push to pursue a career in illustration. Influenced by fantasy art and the Golden Age of illustration, she enjoys creating beautiful images that tell a story.

Growing up in Jamaica, Michael Talbot had always had a strong desire to inspire and speak to others through art. In 2012 he left his home country to live in the United States and began pursuing his artistic dreams. He earned his BFA in Illustration and Graphic Design with a minor in Animation at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and has since been working as a Boston-based Freelance Artist on a wide range of projects, exhibitions, and showcases. Michael believes that all art is inter-connected in some facet; informing, complimenting and/or enhancing each other. And although his passion and interest for storytelling is forefront in his practice and craft, he tends to draw from his knowledge in as many areas of study as possible to help strengthen this process. Whenever possible, he uses his rich cultural background from his early life in Jamaica to infuse, improve, and “season” whatever project he tackles, often mixing both digital and traditional media.