Michael Khandelwal

Michael Khandelwal is the founder and Executive Director of The Muse Writers Center, a nationally recognized literary center in Norfolk, Virginia. An award-winning writer and teacher, he writes poetry, fiction, editorials, profiles, and feature articles, which have appeared nationwide and locally. In the early 2000s, he wrote extensively for Coastal Virginia Magazine (formerly Hampton Roads Magazine).

Besides teaching fiction and poetry workshops at The Muse, he has also taught or presented for The Poetry Society of Virginia, Chesapeake Bay Writers, the Hampton Roads Writers Conference, The CNU Writers Conference, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, among others. He has served as a poetry judge for Teens With a Purpose and the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ Poetry Out Loud Program.

Website – https://the-muse.org/

Pamela K. Kinney

Pamela K. Kinney gave up long ago trying not to ignore the voices in her head and has written horror, fantasy. science fiction, a children’s fantasy picture book, poetry, nonfiction ghost books, and a nonfiction cryptid/indigenous mythology book, Werewolves, Dogmen, and Other Shapeshifters Stalking North America, ever since. Her horror short story, “Bottled Spirits,” was runner-up for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award and is considered one of the seven best genre short fiction for that year. Her poem, Dementia, that was in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol VII, got her a mention in Best Horror of the Years, Vol 13. Her faerie children’s picture book, Christmas Magic, took second place in the Children’s-Holidays category of the Book Fest Awards, Spring 2024. She has a story and a poem in The Haunted Zone, a charity horror anthology with stories and poetry written by women military veterans, a horror story published in the horror anthology, Vinyl Cuts, and a poem included in the Terror at Miskatonic Falls anthology—all three anthologies were released in 2024. Her YA dark fantasy novel, first in the Moon Ridge, Virginia trilogy, Demon Memories, was released October 15, 2024. She is working on a new nonfiction ghost book for Schiffer Publishing, about ghosts/cryptids/UFOs on or near the Appalachian Trail.

Pamela and her husband live with one crazy black cat (who thinks she should take precedence over her mistress’s writing most days). Along with writing, Pamela has acted on stage and film and investigates the paranormal for episodes of Paranormal World Seekers for AVA Productions. She is a member of Horror Writers Association, Virginia Writers Club, and James River Writers. Learn more about her at https://PamelaKKinney.com.

Tara Moeller

Tara Moeller is Dreamer-in-Chief at DreamPunk Press, a small writer’s collective based out of Hampton Roads, Virginia.  She is chief editor (a part-time gig) at the collective (as well as a full-time editor in her full-time day job), and trying to be chief marketer (LOL).  She writes sci-fi and horror under her own name (as well as some other stuff that defies definition), and is an award winning author of young adult fiction as Zahra Jons.  Snake Eyes, a contemporary novel about a female veteran going home again, was published as Z. A. Jons in July 2024, and Like Second Skin, a full-length sci-fi novel will be published in March 2025.  She has had short fiction published in anthologies from White Cat Publishing, Elder Signs Press, and Tundra Swan Press.  She occasionally blogs poetry, short fiction, and musings via her website, www.taramoeller.com.

Tempie W. Wade

Tempie W. Wade is the award-winning author of the Timely Revolution Book Series. She writes a wide range of genres including historical fiction and fantasy. Her debut novel, “A Timely Revolution,” was awarded ‘Best Historical Fantasy’ in the 2019 American Book Fest American Fiction Awards.

 The author is a lifelong resident of Virginia and currently resides in Williamsburg. Her interests include traveling, visiting museums, and exploring historical sites and ruins.

Leona R Wisoker

Leona R. Wisoker writes a variety of speculative fiction, from experimental to horror, from fantasy to science fiction. She loves to learn and teach, read and edit; she adores whiskey and coffee (sometimes together!). In her spare time, she is a wild garden warrior, an adventurous cook, and a champion catnapper, especially if sunbeams are available.