Month: February 2026

Dustin Morrow bridges the worlds of creative practice and scholarly inquiry as an Emmy-winning filmmaker, bestselling author, film festival programmer, optioned screenwriter, podcaster and educator. He is a tenured Professor in the School of Film at Portland State University.

More here: https://dustinmorrow.com/biography/.

Valerie is a tax, business, and estate planning attorney in Portland, Oregon. Her favorite thing to do is to detangle complex language and solve problems. She has various degrees and accolades, none of which have to do with writing fiction. And yet we march on! It took her 20 years to feel competent at her day job, so she’s expecting a similar runway for her fantasy novel writing. Why novels? She admits that she doesn’t have the discipline or attention span for short stories. Valerie recently acquired a mini-velociraptor who is coming to believe that his name is “why are you chewing that?”

Find out more at www.jomizuno.com.

Suzy Vitello’s award-winning short pieces have appeared in The Rumpus, The Southampton Review, Mississippi Review and other journals. Her next novel, Griftopia, releases May 05, 2026. Her recent release, The Bequest, has been called “a riveting, fast-paced crime caper.” Other novels include Bitterroot, Faultland, The Moment Before, The Empress Chronicles, and The Keepsake. She works as managing editor for Sibylline Press.

Find out more at http://suzyvitello.com.

Sonja Thomas writes stories for kids of all ages. Her debut novel, Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence, is an Oregon Book Award finalist, an Oregon Spirit Book Award Honor recipient, and a Washington State Book Award finalist. She’s also a contributing author for Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic. Her latest middle grade novel Olive Blackwood Takes Action! received “Two thumbs up for this necessary novel about anxiety and self-advocacy” from Kirkus Reviews.

Find out more at https://bysonjathomas.com/.

Rose McAleese (Mac a Lease) was born on Halloween night in Seattle, delivered by a doctor in a giant spider costume—which has pretty much set the tone for the rest of her life.

She studied at the prestigious women’s writing collective Hedgebrook, where she focused on screenwriting, television writing, non-fiction writing, and memoir development with dramatist/screenwriter Winnie Holzman, writer/director/producer Robin Swicord, television writer/producer Felicia D. Henderson, and novelist Hannah Tinti.

After moving to Los Angeles, Rose was awarded a year-long paid fellowship in the Universal Pictures Emerging Writers Fellowship Program (2016–2017). She later completed a residency at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York, and currently works as a writer-producer on the hit STARZ series BMF.

Throughout her career, Rose has worked in a wide range of creative environments—from independent film sets to network television rooms—bringing humor, heart, and humanity to every project. Her comedy writing has been praised for its universal appeal, sharp wit, and emotional depth.

In addition to her work as a professional writer, Rose also teaches and mentors emerging voices. She continues to live full-time in Los Angeles, because she figures what that city really needs is one more writer.

She is currently represented by Artist First Management.

Find out more at rosemcaleese.com.

Randy Henderson is the author of the quirky Finn Fancy contemporary fantasy trilogy from Tor. He’s also a Writers of the Future grand prize winner, Clarion West grad, sometime TTRPG livestreamer, and frequent cat pillow. Socials: @randyauthor.

Find out more at https://www.randy-henderson.com/.

Randall Jahnson has been a professional screenwriter since 1985. He’s worked with such amazing filmmaking talent as Stephen Spielberg, Penelope Spheeris, Spike Lee, and the late Jonathan Demme. His credits include the punk rock Western Dudes, The Doors, The Mask of Zorro, Sunset Strip, and episodes of the classic HBO comedy-horror series, Tales from the Crypt. He also wrote the epic Western video game, Gun, which was voted Best Story at the 2005 IGN Video Game Awards. More recently, he penned two episodes of S.O.Z.: Soldados o Zombies, an Amazon Studios Spanish-language sci-fi-horror series, and A Nashville Legacy, an original movie for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. The Fire Tree, his adaptation of the book You Know Your Way Home by Oregon psychic Suzanne Jauchius, is under option with LA-based Rush Hour Productions. Currently, he’s adapting The Complete Down and Out in Seattle and Tacoma Series by Christopher J. Stockwell. Randall lives near Portland, Oregon where he continues to write and teach. Occasionally he drinks scotch with Bigfoot.

Find out more at randalljahnson.com.

Melissa Hart is the author of several nonfiction books and novels; her latest is Find Your Nature: 40 Ways to Deepen the Connection to Your Flora, Fauna & Community. Her short-form writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Nat Geo Kids, Orion, and numerous other publications. Melissa teaches for the Online MFA in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University.

Find out more at www.melissahart.com.

Marilyn R Atlas is a literary talent manager, award-winning producer and the co-author of Dating Your Character.

Among her credits as a film producer are Real Women Have Curves (winner audience award Sundance Film Festival 2002) for HBO; A Certain Desire, starring Sam Waterston; and Echoes, which won the Gold Award at the Texas International Film Festival, and the Lifetime movie, The Choking Game. Real Women Have Curves: The Musical premiered to rave reviews on Broadway in 2025.

Marilyn has long been committed to issues surrounding diversity in Hollywood.

Marilyn has guest spoken at writer’s conferences and colleges in Europe and in the United States. Amongst her many projects in development is The Trouble With Dreamers, based on the award-winning YA book The Space Between You and Me.

Find out more at https://www.datingyourcharacter.com/.