Jennifer Brody / Vera Strange is the author of the “Disney Chills” series, “The 13th Continuum Trilogy”, and the “Stoker Finalist Spectre Deep 6”, prompting Forbes to call Brody “a star in the graphic novel world.” She is the co-author of “All is Found: A Frozen Anthology” and “Star Wars: Stories of Jedi & Sith”, where she penned the Darth Vader story. She’s a graduate of Harvard University, a film/TV producer and writer, and a creative writing instructor. She began her career in Hollywood working for A-List directors and movie studios on many films, including “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy”, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, and “The Golden Compass”

jenniferbrody.com

Chris Campion is a British journalist, author, ghost writer, and filmmaker living in Joshua Tree. His work, exploring the extremes of popular culture, has appeared in The Guardian, Telegraph, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Vice, and other publications. He is the editor of The War is Here: Newark 1967 (ZE Books), the co-writer (with guitarist Kid Congo Powers) of Some New Kind of Kick (Hachette), and the director of Markland Mountain, a forthcoming documentary about the western movie actor who helped establish the pop culture mythos and mystique of Joshua Tree.

chriscampion.com

Craig Clevenger is the author of three novels, including "The Contortionist's Handbook" (2002), "Dermaphoria" (2005), and most recently, "Mother Howl" (2023, Datura Books). His short fiction has graced the pages of publications such as "Black Clock," "San Francisco Noir 2," "Barrelhouse," and more. He spends his time divided between the desert and his job at a central coast library, where he runs a writing workshop for the local community.

Maggie Downs is a California-based journalist and author who specializes in outdoor adventure, wellness, and meaningful travel experiences. Her work has appeared in acclaimed travel publications, such as Virtuoso, Travel + Leisure, Afar, BBC Travel, and Atlas Obscura, as well as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Toronto Star. She is the author of the bestselling memoir “Braver Than You Think” and a forthcoming guide to family adventures, “50 Things To Do Before You're Five”.

@maggieink

Jean-Paul L. Garnier is the owner of Space Cowboy Books, an independent bookstore, publishers, and producer of the Laureate Award winning podcast Simultaneous Times. He is the editor of Star*Line Magazine and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the soon to be relaunched Worlds of IF Magazine. He is the author of many books of fiction and poetry.

Tod Goldberg is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books, including “The Low Desert”, a Southwest Book of the Year; “Gangsterland”, a finalist for the Hammett Prize; and “Living Dead Girl”, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His nonfiction appears regularly in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Alta and has been widely anthologized, including in Best American Essays. He lives in Indio, CA where he founded and directs the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at UC Riverside. His latest book, “Gangsters Don’t Die”, is out now.

todgoldberg.com @todgoldberg

Barbara Gothard, an African-American contemporary surrealist artist in Palm Springs, explores contradictions and change in her art. With 30+ years in the art world and a corporate career, she's navigated personal and professional shifts. From a small town in Illinois to art education at Mount Mary University, Long Island University, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, she's evolved from an art educator to a global business professional. Gothard's journey from modest beginnings to non-linear career paths informs her art, unraveling complex spatial relationships.

barbaragothard.com

Benjamin Goulet’s two volumes of high desert crime fiction vignettes, under the title Mojave Crime, are now considered desert cult classics. His nonfiction has appeared in both local and national publications. He holds a Masters of Library and Information Science and worked as a professional librarian for many years. Born and raised in Rhode Island, he lives with his wife Melissa in Twentynine Palms.

mojavecrime.com. @mojave_crime

Warner Graves is a West Coast based artist and author. He’s received national recognition for his large scale interior murals and regional landscape paintings. Along with Ann Japenga he coauthored the book “Postcards from Mecca” which details the adventures and photographs of two early 20th century female desert explorers.

KC Grifant is a Southern Californian author known for her internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction, and weird west stories featured in podcasts, anthologies, and magazines. A member of SFWA and HWA, she gained recognition with her debut supernatural western novel, "Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger”. This captivating blend of Bonnie & Clyde meets The Witcher and Supernatural has garnered international acclaim, hailed as a genre-blending, fast-paced joy ride filled with monsters. Her body of work extends to esteemed publications such as Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, Unnerving Magazine, and more. KC Grifant contributed to anthology works, including the Stoker-nominated "Fright Mare: Women Write Horror,"

@kcgrifant

Gabriel Hart lives in Morongo Valley in California’s High Desert. He's the author of the neo-pulp collection Fallout From Our Asphalt Hell (Close to the Bone, 2021), the dispo-pocalyptic twin-novellas Virgins In Reverse / The Intrusion (Traveling Shoes Press, 2019), and his two poetry collections Unsongs and Hymns from The Whipping Post (Close to the Bone). Hart's debut novel On High At Red Tide will be released in spring '24 by Pig Roast Publishing. Other works can be found at Expat Press, Hobart Pulp, Starlite Pulp, Shotgun Honey, Bristol Noir, Red Dog Press, Crime Poetry Weekly, Punk Noir, Rock and A Hard Place, and Ligeia Magazine. In 2022, Hart's story "Crossing Alvarado" was nominated for Best American Mystery and Suspense. In 2020, Hart was the recipient of a grant from Pen America. Hart is a regular contributor for Lit Reactor, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Last Estate, and reports at Z1077fm.

gabrielhart

William Hillyard is the author of “Welcome to Wonder Valley: Ruin and Redemption in an American Galapagos”. Prior his career as a writer, William worked as a day laborer, a handyman, and in a guitar factory. He also made and lost a fortune in real estate, casting him into the downward spiral that sparked his Wonder Valley odyssey.

Jardine Libaire is the author of the novels “Here Kitty Kitty”, “White Fur”, and “You are an Animal”, the book of essays “The sober lush” and collaborative books with visual artists including “Gravity is stronger here” with Phyllis B. Dooney, and the “Goldtwinz” with Neil Krug. Libaire co-wrote “Ending, beginnings” with director Drake Doremus. She came to California from Texas where she facilitated the True Be Told storytelling program in the Lockhart women's prison. She's so happy to call this strange & beautiful High Desert her full-time home.

@jardinelibaireprojects jardinelibaire.com

Photo © Natasha Inamorata

Alexandra Martinez is a prize winning poet and library worker living in Joshua Tree, CA. “Heartbreaker”, her first collection was published by Wax Nine in 2022. “Our Lady of Perpetual Desert” was released in Spring of 2023 on Inlandia Books.

Dr. Greg McWhorter (writing as G.R. McWhorter) is a Latinx writer who resides in Southern California. Since the 1980s, he has written for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and film. McWhorter has been a guest speaker at several universities, TV shows, film documentaries, and the San Diego Comic-Con. Both his nonfiction and fiction have appeared in many newspapers, magazines, journals, and anthologies. He currently has three published books of his fiction available. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association. He enjoys traveling and sharing his love of writing with writers around the world.

grmcwhorter

Andrew Miller is an author, screenwriter, and essayist. His novella, “Lady Tomahawk”, appeared in the anthology "L.A. Stories" from Uncle B. Publications in 2021. His debut novel, "Namaste Mart Confidential," is set to be published in 2024. "Samurai ’81," his contribution to the "Jacked" anthology from Run Amok Crime, earned a spot on the honor roll for the Best Mystery Stories of the Year from Mysterious Press in 2023. Andrew collaborates with "Apocalypse Confidential," "Close to The Bone," "Pulp Modern," "Switchblade," and "Broadswords and Blasters." In addition to his writing, he worked on the music documentary "Soul of Lincoln Heights.

Award-winning author Francis Moss has written and story-edited hundreds of hours of scripts on many of the top animated shows of the 90s and 00s. Beginning his television work in live-action with Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, he soon starting writing cartoons, staff writing and freelancing on "She-Ra, Princess of Power, Iron Man, Ducktales", and a four-year stint on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

Francis, in partnership with Ted Pedersen, also wrote three middle-grade non-fiction books: "Internet For Kids, Make Your Own Web Page", and "How To Find (Almost) Anything On The Internet".

His first novel, "Losing Normal", was awarded a Gold Medal from the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, & a Reader’s Favorite Silver Medal. His latest novels are the best-selling "She-Wolf", and "Operation Overlord".

Ruth Nolan is editor of “No Place for a Puritan: the Literature of California's Deserts”. A former wildland firefighter in the Mojave Desert and beyond, her desert-centric writing has most recently been published in “Writing the Golden State: The New Literary Terrain of California” (Angel City Press) Boom, California; McSweeney's; East Bay Times; KCET Los Angeles; Joshua Tree: Where Two Deserts Meet (Wildsam Guide); Los Angeles Fiction: Southland Writing by Southland Writers (Red Hen Press;) Campfire Stories Volume II: Tales from America’s National Parks and Trails. She is the author of the poetry books “After the Dome Fire” and “Ruby Mountain”, and is Professor of English and creative writing at College of the Desert. She lives in 29 Palms.

Ivy Pochoda is the author of the critically acclaimed novels “Wonder Valley”, “Visitation Street” and most recently “These Women” which was a The New York Times best thriller of 2020. “These Women” was a finalist for The Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The Edgar Award, the California Book Award, The Macavity Award, and the International Thriller Writers Award. “Wonder Valley” won the 2018 Strand Critics Award for Best Novel and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and France’s Le Grand Prix de Litterature Americaine. “Visitation Street” won the Prix Page America in France. Her books have been widely translated. Her first novel, “The Art of Disappearing” was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2009. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times & The Los Angeles Review of Books. She teaches creative writing at the Studio 526 Skid Row.

ivypochoda.com

Daniel Pyne is an American writer and producer. He has written novels as well as film scripts. Pyne’s TV credits –- creating, writing, directing and showrunning -- span from Miami Vice to Amazon’s Bosch. A long resume of films includes Pacific Heights, Doc Hollywood, Any Given Sunday, The Manchurian Candidate, and Backstabbing for Beginners. In 2010 he published his first novel, “Twentynine Palms”, a classic desert noir. His sixth novel, Vital Lies, was published in February 2022.

@danielpyne

Pat Rimmington and her husband Sid's desert adventure began in 1977 when they purchased the John Meyer adobe as a vacation home, later making it their permanent residence in 1988. Pat's passion for adobe preservation earned her the nickname "The Mud Lady." She authored "The Adobes of Twentynine Palms," preserving the stories of local pioneers. Pat's expertise aided the preservation of numerous adobes, and she played a pivotal role in the Twentynine Palms Historical Society, serving as its President and driving the Oral History Project. She also contributed to local history through her writings and community involvement, making her a beloved figure in Twentynine Palms.

Leslie and Stephen Shaw both have a lifelong love affair with the subject of ufology, they are very well read in the genre and both consider themselves to be armchair ufologists. They’ve both been UFO witnesses. Stephen and his extended family all have had missing time incidents and are likely to be UFO abductees.

Leslie Shaw has been a journalist for the last 18 years. She is now semi-retired, working only part time for a newspaper, and she decided to write “Who They Are: And What They're Up To” with her new-found extra time.

Stephen is her fellow researcher, theorist and sound board for the project. He worked with his father as a cabinetmaker and builder while putting himself through medical school. He was a state-licensed practitioner of Chinese medicine and acupuncture for 20 years and a teacher of the Yang and Chen styles of Tai Chi Chuan for 23 years.

Deanne Stillman is a widely published, critically acclaimed writer, Her books of literary nonfiction include “Twentynine Palms”, an “LA Times bestbook of the year” which Hunter Thompson called “A strange and brilliant story by an important American writer”; “Mustang”, an “LA Times best book of the year” now in audio with Anjelica Huston, Frances Fisher, Wendie Malick, John Densmore and others; “Desert Reckoning”, based on a Rolling Stone piece, Spur Award winner, amazon editors pick, and praised in Newsweek, recipient of a starred review in Kirkus, a True West Magazine “best book of the year”, and praised by Douglas Brinkley as “A landmark achievement in American History.”

deannestillman.com

Melanie is passionate about helping children develop creativity and create positive connections in their learning environments. She has more than 20 years of experience teaching children and adults over the course of her career, including working in a citywide summer camps, local schools, church and childcare programs. Previously, Melanie was a college professor at the local community college, (Copper Mountain College) in Joshua Tree, California. Throughout her career she has discovered how to use her artistic talents to spend countless hours volunteering with dance studios, local elementary, middle schools and day cares. Involving herself with arts and crafts activities focused on enrichment and whole child connections. Her focus on art and literacy evolved after she began writing, illustrating and publishing children’s books.

melaniestineshannon.com

Kim Stringfellow is an artist, educator, writer and independent curator based in Joshua Tree, CA. Her work bridges cultural geography, public practice and experimental documentary into creative, socially engaged transmedia experiences. She is a 2016 Andy Warhol for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow and a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow in Photography. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Claremont Graduate University in 2018. Stringfellow is a Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University’s School of Art + Design.

@kimstringefellowartist - themojaveproject

Photo © Stella Kalinina 2022 for High County News.

Chris Tiffany moved from San Pedro, California, where she was born, to the High Desert community of 29 Palms in 1953. The Oasis of Mara, at the northern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, was her childhood playground. Tiffany is a former director of the Santa Ynez Valley Family School, whose curriculum encourages exploration of the surrounding Los Padres National Forest as an extension of the classroom. In 2020 she published “One with the Creosote: Memories of a Desert Child”, a blending of poetic imagery and journalistic prose, where she reflects on her childhood growing up on the Mojave Desert during the '50s and '60s, to reveal the origins of an interwoven connection to the natural world around her and its influence on her life's paths and perspectives.She continues to enjoy frequent retreats to her cabin on the boundary of Joshua Tree National Park.

Brian Townsley is an award-winning writer, a podcaster, and the Executive Editor at Starlite Pulp. He boasts three collections of poetry and has authored the Sonny Haynes crime/noir books "A Trunk Full of Zeroes" and "Outlaw Ballads." Brian also has a forthcoming Western novella set to debut in 2024.

Michael G. Vail is a novelist, short-story author and poet. His most recent book, High Desert Elegy: Stories & Poems, and his novel, The Salvation of San Juan Cajon, are available at several locations in the Morongo Basin and on Amazon. A California native, Michael divides his time between San Clemente and a former homestead cabin in Twentynine Palms.

Claire Vaye Watkins is the author of the novels Gold Fame Citrus, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, and the short story collection Battleborn, winner of the Story Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award, and the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among other prizes. A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, Watkins is a professor at the University of California Irvine and lives in Twentynine Palms, California.

Kent Wilson has published short fiction and poetry in Cholla Needles and Howl, the literary magazine of Copper Mountain College. His father lived in Yucca Valley and attended Twentynine Palms High School. He spent most weekends of his childhood in Joshua Tree and at Sunfair Dry Lake. Many of his stories are set in the Morongo Basin..

Joe Zarki is a retired National Park Service ranger with 38 years of experience, including roles at Death Valley, Denali, Tuzigoot National Monument, Yellowstone, and as Chief of Interpretation at Badlands National Park and Joshua Tree (1995-2013). He championed curriculum-based education in the parks and co-created the Expedition: Yellowstone! program. In 1999, he secured a grant leading to the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park. Post-retirement, Joe authored works like "Images of America, Joshua Tree National Park" and co-authored and edited titles such as "The Butterflies and Skippers of Joshua Tree National Park," "Birds of Joshua Tree National Park," and "Reptiles & Amphibians of Joshua Tree National Park" for the Joshua Tree National Park Association. He's also on the Board of Directors of the Joshua Tree National Park Association and actively engages in citizen science activities, coordinating Christmas Bird Counts and butterfly counts. Joe shares his passion for music by playing guitar with the local band, Nobody's Station.