Abigail Stewart is a fiction writer from the California desert. Originally from Houston, Texas, she studied Literature and Art History at Sam Houston State University, before going on to earn an M.Ed at Lamar University. She is the author of two novels, The Drowned Woman and Foundations, as well as a short story collection, Assemblage. Her new novel, Select Screen, is out now!

Brian Townsley is an award-winning writer, as well as the Executive Editor for Starlite Pulp. He is the author of the crime fiction books A Trunk Full of Zeroes and Outlaw Ballads, as well as three books of poetry. His short fiction has appeared in various publications, including Mystery Tribune, Black Mask, Quarterly West, Frontier Tales, Connecticut Review, and many others, and had a story make the distinguished list in Best American Mystery Stories, 2019. He is a graduate of the Professional Writing Program at USC and is also an alum of the mighty California Golden Bears. He shares his time between the mountains and deserts of Southern California.

Catherine Auman is a multiple-award winning author with four of her books maintaining bestseller status on Amazon. She writes about the potential of the human spirit, sexuality, and personal and spiritual growth. In her day job, Catherine is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice. She lives in Yucca Valley with her husband and their two cats and five turtles.

Derrick Davis grew up in Southern California's vast desert landscape. The endless terrain allowed his imagination to paint on its blank canvas. This evolved into a deep passion for films, music, and vivid stories with complex characters. Among Derrick's projects, he has provided vital consultation work on several products, including Insight Edition's Jurassic Park: The Official Script Book and Criterion's home media release of the classic film Journey to the Beginning of Time. Invertiverse is his debut science fiction novel. When Derrick isn't creating various media, he enjoys theme parks, nature hikes, and the wonder of what mysteries lie beyond.

Meet Dr. Oolong, the unconventional wordsmith whose life is as diverse as their storytelling. From living on a boat to roaming deserts, their eclectic experiences fuel their work, spanning sci-fi, comedy, and beyond. With a resume including directing plays, working in special effects for major films, and even chauffeuring bands to iconic concerts, Dr. Oolong's journey is nothing short of extraordinary. Inspired by encounters with the Integratron and Giant Rock, their acclaimed book, Bedtime Stories for Robots, is a testament to a life lived outside the lines.

Duncan Birmingham is a writer and filmmaker in Los Angeles. The feature film he wrote and directed, Who Invited Them, was named one of the best horror films of 2022 by The Hollywood Reporter. He's written on various TV shows including as an executive producer and writer on Maron (starring Marc Maron) on IFC and co-executive producer and writer on Blunt Talk on Starz. His screenplay Swingles was featured on The Black List and his short films have premiered at festivals including Sundance and AFI. His first book of short stories, The Cult in My Garage, (Maudlin House), came out in August 2021.

Erik Perezbrain is a Chanticleer International Book Awards 2023 Little Peeps Semi-Finalist and an International Latino Book Awards 2023 Mariposa Award Honorable Mention. He is recognized for his debut book Good Luck is My Guardian Angel. Erik writes of old world techniques and sports psychology, with the focus of teaching children how to manifest their dreams.

Dr. Gerard Gibbonsis a cinematic storyteller, historian, and CEO of Fight for Glory LLC. For 30+ years he was an award-winning filmmaker and brand strategist for NASA, DARPA, U.S. Special Operations Command, Military Health System, and Disney Imagineering. Today his focus is the Fight for Glory series, chronicling his family’s remarkable journey in early twentieth-century America. The first volume, The St. Paul Phantom (Fall 2025), tells the true story of his hall-of-fame prizefighting great-uncle and grandfather, Mike and Tommy Gibbons. His book Shelby 1923 won Boxing Hall of Fame’s Book of the Year. He lives in Southern California.

Gina Frangello is the author of Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and a “Best of 2021” pick. She has also written four novels, including A Life in Men and Every Kind of Wanting. Her latest work, Elena Ferrante: The Neapolitan Novels, explores Ferrante’s iconic series and will be featured at the festival. Gina is a lead editor at Row House Publishing and co-founder of Circe Consulting. She also teaches in the low-residency MFA program at the University of Nevada-Reno/Tahoe.

Greg Gilbert’s novel, Butchy’s Rainbow, is the story of a three-generation household in post-war Los Angeles and the horrific events that necessitated their move into the political and social maelstrom that was San Bernardino in the mid-1950s.

Jardine Libaire is the co-editor of PO Box Outer Space, a new zine series of "open letters to the beyond," alongside Jennifer Prediger and designer Beth Middleworth. She lives in the High Desert and is captivated, confused, and enchanted by both the seen and unseen. Jardine is the author of Here Kitty Kitty, White Fur, and You're An Animal (Hogarth); co-writer of The Sober Lush (Tarcher Perigee); and has created two collaborations for Neotext: GoldTwinz with Neil Krug and A Lesson in Murder Ballads with Denise Prince. She also co-wrote the film Endings, Beginnings with Drake Doremus.

Jennifer is a writer exploring the power, freedom, and mystery of the crone years. At 61, she brings a blend of wisdom, irreverence, and deep reverence for nature, spirituality, and feminine transformation. She is a contributing author to La Clínica del Pueblo de Río Arriba: The First 50 Years (2024), and a member of both the Desert Writers’ Guild and Mojave Sage Writers. Through storytelling and reflection, she celebrates the wild, shadowy, and radiant aspects of aging womanhood—inviting others to join her in embracing this vibrant phase of life.

Joel Tomfohr is a writer living in the Bay Area. He is the author of the chapbook, A Blue Hour ​(Bottlecap Press). His short stories can be found in Short Beasts, Bending Genres, Joyland, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, X-R-A-Y, BULL, Hobart, and others. He teaches English to immigrants from around the world at Fremont High School in Oakland, CA. 

John J. McBrearty is an award-winning author and retired Lt. Colonel with over 32 years of military service, including duty in Iraq, Kuwait, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and Thailand. A graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy, Temple University, and American Public University, he also taught Military Science at CSU San Bernardino and Claremont McKenna College. Recognized for excellence by President Barack Obama, John now mentors fellow veterans and has published more than a dozen books spanning history, memoir, leadership, writing, self-help, golf, and children’s literature. He is an Amazon Best-Selling author and a first-place winner in the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.

John R. Cole was born in Kentucky and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1968, training at Parris Island and Camp Geiger before serving in a rifle company in Viet Nam. He has dedicated his writing to honoring American combat veterans and capturing both the hardships of war and the struggles of returning home. John is the author of A Teller’s Tales series—Pies for Grandpa, Jawin’ With The PreacherMan, Memories of James and Willie, The Rocking Chair Stories, and Trippin’ Down Memory Lane—as well as the poetry collection Giants and Friends. He lives by the credo, “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”

Kenneth Pinckney is a motivational runner and author whose inspiring memoir, The Hills We Climb, Love it, Hate it, Embrace it... Life's Journey, charts his journey through personal battles, perseverance, and transformation. With vulnerability and strength, he shares how confronting fear, shedding emotional baggage, and redefining purpose helped him climb life’s toughest hills—both literal and figurative. His story resonates with athletes and non-athletes alike, offering hard-won insights into resilience, growth, and the power of pushing forward. Pinckney’s message is clear: we all face mountains, but it’s in the struggle that we find meaning. His work invites readers to embrace their own journeys and pursue a life that is truly boundless.

Kimberly Lee, JD, is the author of Have You Seen Him, a gripping thriller known for keeping readers up past bedtime. A former attorney, she’s now a versatile writer, creativity coach, and workshop facilitator. Kimberly is a graduate of Stanford and UC Davis School of Law and an Amherst Writers & Artists affiliate, also certified in SoulCollage®, Guided Autobiography, and multiple therapeutic writing methods. Her work has appeared in LA Parent, Minerva Rising, and numerous anthologies. She teaches with Hugo House, The Loft, and more. Kimberly lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

Larry Fike is a former tenured department chair who holds degrees in philosophy from UCLA and Columbia University. He now teaches critical thinking, logic, and ethics at community colleges and writes from his home in Joshua Tree. He is working on a sequel to the memoir Piker: A Memoir of Child Abuse, Academic Disillusionment, and Familial Redemption, and is the author of Obstinate Air: Poems on Beating the Wind and Unheard Tick of Time: Poems in the Healing Mode. His lyrics have been included in songs that have aired on "The Young and the Restless," "General Hospital," and "Summerland."

Laurie Kaye is the author of Confessions of a Rock N Roll Name Dropper: My Life Leading Up to John Lennon’s Last Interview, a gripping memoir that recounts her 1980 interview with Lennon—his final one before his tragic death hours later. The book also explores her turbulent early years in LA and rise through the music industry, interviewing legends like Paul McCartney, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger. Laurie began her career at KFRC-AM San Francisco, later writing for RKO and Dick Clark. She now works in television and film as a writer, producer, and casting director.

A poet and longtime visitor to Joshua Tree, Megan Haugh is a member of the Mojave Sage Writers group and former writing instructor at UC San Diego. Her work has appeared in Cholla Needles, The Courtship of Winds, and Thuya Poetry Review. She lives in San Diego. Her chapbook, desert poems, is available on Amazon.

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.

Pamela Nickel Williams is the author of Clearly Lies Are True, a memoir that offers a first-hand account of growing up as the daughter of early Scientology followers during the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Through detailed experiences and vivid memories, she reveals how the movement powerfully and forcefully shaped her family and her own childhood and teenage years.

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;), and 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 Twentynine Palms.

Terria Smith, a tribal member of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, is editor of News from Native California magazine and director of the Berkeley Roundhouse, Heyday’s California Indian publishing program. Smith is also the editor of the 2023 anthology Know We Are Here: Voices of Native California Resistance and author of the forthcoming book I Love You So Many: A Native Memoir of Seeking Adventure, Sharing Culture, and Building Family Around the World. She received her undergraduate degree at Cal Poly Humboldt (formally Humboldt State University) and earned her master’s degree at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.