Meet our Mentors

  • Portrait of Lara Ameen

    Lara Ameen

    she/they

    Age Groups:
    YA & Adult (Short Stories and TV Pilot Screenplay)

    Genres:
    Contemporary thrillers, anything in speculative fiction (contemporary fantasy, sci-fi, gothic horror)

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  • A photo of Jessica in front of a stone wall smiling

    Jessica Aragon

    any pronouns

    Age Groups:
    Adult

    Genres:
    Sci-fi, fantasy, horror

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  • A photo of Ellen in a blue dress, colorful tassel earrings, and a long silver and beaded chain, smiling at the camera.

    Ellen Armendáriz

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    MG

    Genres:
    Contemporary, contemporary fantasy, nonfiction memoir

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  • a photo of Sofia, messy brunette author with green streaks, glasses and permanently “huh” expression.

    Sofia Aves

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    All

    Genres:
    Romance, rom com, women’s fic, thriller, suspense, crime

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  • A photo of Cass, a nonbinary white person with short, curly brown hair, round gold glasses, and a navy shirt, smiling in front of a slightly blurred rainbow bookshelf.

    Cass Biehn

    they/he

    Age Groups:
    YA, Adult

    Genres:
    Historical, fantasy, contemporary, romance

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  • A photo of Brigitta in a black hat and shirt

    Brigitta Blair

    she/they

    Formats & Age Groups:
    - Graphic novels & hybrids:     Open to authors, author-illustrators, and illustrators for CB, MG, and YA.
    -Picture Books: Open to author-illustrators or illustrators who want to build a portfolio or work on a dummy.

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  • A photo of Amy smiling in an aqua shirt. She has a strip of aqua hair.

    Amy Borg

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA, Adult

    Genres:
    SF/F, CNF

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  • A photo of Marisa in a modern houndstooth top 3/4 of the way facing the camera.

    Marisa Catalina Casey

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    MG, YA

    Genres:
    Contemporary, historical, magical realism (light fantasy), memoir

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  • A photo of Jamie in a black dress smiling in front of pink flowers

    Jamie D'Amato*

    HALF YEAR MENTOR

    she/they

    Age Groups:
    YA, Adult

    Genres:
    Romance, contemporary sci-fi and fantasy

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  • DeAndra Davis (black woman with nose rings and long straight hair) with hand on chin smiling.

    DeAndra Davis

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA, Adult

    Genres:
    Horror, contemporary, fantasy

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  • Jaq Evans standing on a rocky beach

    Jaq Evans

    none/she/they

    Age Groups:
    Adult

    Genres:
    Horror, mystery, thriller, dark fantasy, weird fiction

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  • A photo of Laura slightly from above. One hand is on her hip and she's smiling at the camera.

    Laura Galán-Wells

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    MG, YA

    Genres:
    SFFH

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  • A black and white photo of a very happy woman who is wearing glasses, holding a glass of wine, and doing the peace sign.

    Paula Gleeson

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    Adult, YA

    Genres:
    Mystery, thriller, suspense, horror

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  • A photo of Taylor, a blonde- and rainbow-haired person in a white t-shirt facing the camera, chin propped in one hand.

    Taylor Grothe

    none/they/she

    Age Groups:
    Adult, YA, New Adult

    Genres:
    Horror of all kinds, dark fantasy, dark academia; also considering limited creative nonfiction shorts and memoir

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  • Moniza, a petite south Asian woman with brown skin and black shoulder-length hair, is standing in front of a white gazebo with her hands clasped in front of her. Her body is in profile but her face is facing the camera.

    Moniza Hossain

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    PB

    Genres:
    All fictional genres

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  • A photo of B.L. Jasper. B is female with medium length red hair and bangs, wearing a navy blue blouse with trees on it, surrounded by plants.

    B.L. Jasper

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    MG, YA, Adult

    Genres:
    SFF, historical, romance

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  • Headshot of Eunice Kim standing on a rooftop with potted plants and apartment buildings behind her.

    Eunice Kim

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA, Adult

    Genres:
    Women's fiction, YA, general adult fiction (speculative, contemporary, historical, romance, thriller sub-genres)

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  • A photo of Lula in front of trees wearing glasses

    Lula Lockwood

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    Adult, New Adult, YA

    Genres:
    Horror, sci-fi, rom-com, contemporary fantasy

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  • A portrait of Rosario Martinez in front of a brick wall with ivy

    Rosario Martinez

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    PB

    Genres:
    All PB genres except rhyme

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  • A photo of Hannah, with blonde hair and eighties mom-bangs, wearing a white shirt looking at the camera.

    Hannah Milton

    she/her

    Age Groups & Genres:
    - MG and YA: All Genres
    - Adult: Fantasy, sci-fi, and contemporary/historical romance

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  • A photo of Amirah in front of books. She is wearing a black hijab and red lipstick.

    Amirah Mohiddin

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA, NA, Adult

    Genres:
    Fantasy, Historial, Mystery

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  • CL Montblanc

    they/any

    **Half year mentor

    Age Groups:
    YA

    Genres:
    Mystery, thriller, horror, romcom

    Click Here
  • A photo of Noreen in a hijab holding up an aqua veil over her face.

    Noreen Mughees

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    Adult

    Genres:
    Romance, rom com, women’s fic, thriller, suspense, crime

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  • headshot of Hien taken slightly from above. She is in a white lace dress with gold earrings, her hair is shoulder length, and she wears a neutral expression.

    Hien Nguyen

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    Adult, Upper YA

    Genres:
    SFF, speculative (all subgenres), literary

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  • A photo of Sabina. She is wearing black glasses and sitting behind a microphone.

    Sabina Nordqvist

    she/her

    Age Groups & Genres:
    - Adult:     Contemporary romance, rom-com, contemporary romance with light speculative elements, women's fiction
    - YA: Contemporary, rom-com, fantasy

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  • Author MK Pagano standing in front of a cliff in Ireland

    MK Pagano

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA

    Genres:
    Thriller, contemporary

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  • Fantasy author, Shameez Patel Papathanasiou smiling and winking at the camera behind a pair of spectacles, complimented by pokeball earrings.

    Shameez Patel Papathanasiou

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA, New Adult, Adult

    Genres:
    Fantasy, romance

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  • Black girl with brown hair smiling while wearing a pink floral cardigan in front of green foliage

    Rosalyn Ransaw

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    MG

    Genres:
    All genres except horror

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  • Dorian Ravenscroft

    she/they

    Genres:
    Historical fiction, gothic horror, horror, thrillers, and mystery/suspense

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  • Close-up of blonde woman with blue eyes and fair skin wearing a black turtleneck sweater and looking at the camera, with a blurry beige wall in the background.

    Holly Riddle

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    Adult

    Genres:
    Historical, fantasy, gothic, horror

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  • A selfie of a freckled white girl who looks into the camera and smiles. She has blue eyes and shoulder-length brown hair with bangs. She’s standing in front of her colorful bookshelf and is wearing a red, white, and blue plaid shirt.

    Birdie Schae

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    YA

    Genres:
    Romcom, romance, contemporary, horror, mystery, thriller & fantasy

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  • A photo of the author, Jamison Shea, who has medium brown skin and straight, shoulder-length hair that is mostly red with black on the sides. They wear gold-rimmed glasses and smile at the camera, with a black nose ring and several ear piercings.

    Jamison Shea

    they/them

    Age Groups:
    YA, Adult

    Genres:
    Horror, mystery, thriller, dark fantasy, weird fiction

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  • A photo of Marina in a teal shirt in front of very green trees

    Marina Stevenson

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    Adult, New Adult

    Genres:
    Fantasy (all subgenres)

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  • A photo of C.J., a blonde woman, close up

    C.J. Subko

    she/her

    **Half year mentor

    Age Groups:
    YA & Adult

    Genres:
    Horror, sci-fi, fantasy

    Click Here
  • A photo of Taven in a cheetah-print shirt and black leather jacket in front of trees.

    Raven Traylor

    she/they

    Age Groups:
    YA

    Genres:
    Speculative, horror, contemporary; contemporary fantasy

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  • A photo of Jessica smiling in a gray shirt.

    Jessica Yoon

    she/her

    Age Groups:
    PB

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