With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard.

Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.

While, as such, he presents the culmination of science and spiritual technology as embodied in the religion of Scientology.

Sean Williams is the author of thirty-five novels, eighty short stories and the odd odd poem. He writes across the field of science fiction and fantasy for adults, young adults and children, and enjoys the occasional franchise, too, such as Star Wars and Doctor Who. His work has won awards, debuted at #1 on the New York Times hardback bestseller list, and been translated into numerous languages. His latest series is Troubletwisters, co-written with Garth Nix. Visit him online at www.seanwilliams.com

Tim Powers is the author of numerous novels including Hide Me Among the Graves, Three Days to Never, Declare, Last Call, and On Stranger Tides, which inspired the feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He has won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award twice, and the World Fantasy Award three times. He lives in San Bernardino, California.

Julie Frost grew up an Army brat, traveling the globe. She thought she might settle down after she finished school, but then she married a pilot and moved six times in seven years. She's finally put down roots in Utah with her family--a herd of guinea pigs, two other humans, and a "kitten" who thinks she's a warrior princess--and a collection of anteaters and Oaxacan carvings, some of which intersect. She enjoys birding and nature photography, which also intersect. Utilizing her degree in biology, she writes werewolf fiction while completely ignoring the physics of a protagonist who triples in mass. She also writes other things, on occasion, as the fancy strikes her.

Her short fiction has appeared in Monster Hunter Files, Writers of the Future, The District of Wonders, StoryHack, Unlikely Story, Stupefying Stories, and too many anthologies to count. Her novels are published by WordFire Press and Ring of Fire Press. She whines about writing, a lot, at http://agilebrit.livejournal.com/

H.L. Fullerton writes fiction—mostly speculative, occasionally about other universes; tends towards the apocalyptic; likes semi-colons and the occasional interrobang; verbs nouns; occasionally indulges in run-on sentences; might be in trouble with prepositions; uses words instead of emoticons; believes apostrophes are commas gone wild; can't remember what goes here; saves dangling participles (sometimes); and binge reads while watching television.

Jon Lasser lives and writes in Seattle, Washington with his wife Laura and their two children. Although he's been writing since he was six, and has long been a published author of technical nonfiction, he's focused on speculative fiction for the last several years—ever since his wife told him to "put up or shut up" and take writing seriously.

When not writing, working in technology, or taking care of his family, Jon scuba dives. He prefers the Northwest's cold-water diving, but won't turn down a free trip to Hawaii or Bonaire if offered.

Ryan Row is a writer of both literary and speculative fiction. His short fiction has appeared in several journals and magazines, including Clarkesworld, Quarterly West, Shimmer, Third Coast , Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Interzone, and elsewhere. He is a winner of the Writers of the Future Award and was a finalist for Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Prize. He was Unschool through high school. He now holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is pursuing an M.A. in Creative writing at the University of California, Davis. He is currently working on his first novel. He lives in Sacramento, California with a beautiful and mysterious woman. You can find him online at ryanrow.com

David Farland, aka Dave Wolverton is an award-winning, international best-selling author with over 60 novels in print. Published in over 20 languages. He has won the Phillip K. Dick Memorial Special Award for "Best Novel in the English Language", the Whitney award for "Best Novel of the Year", the Hollywood Book Festival, Grand Prize and several others. He has been a repeat writer for major franchises such as Star Wars and The Mummy. However, He is best known for his New York Times best-selling fantasy series The Runelords, which will soon be made into a graphic novel and, likely, a movie.

"Nightingale has got superb world-building, strong characters, and Farland's characteristic excellent prose. It was a quick read, fast moving, very fun!"

- Brandon Sanderson

"The Runelords is a first-rate tale, an epic fantasy that more than delivers on its promise. Read it soon and treat yourself to an adventure you won't forget."

- Terry Brooks

"When I reached the end of this first volume, The Runelords, and saw grace arise from a devastating battlefield where too many great hearts lay dead, Farland had earned the tears that came to my eyes. It was not sentiment but epiphany."

- Orson Scott Card

As a writing instructor, Farland has mentored dozens who have gone on to staggering literary success, including such #1 New York Times Bestsellers as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time), James Dashner (The Maze Runner) and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight)

Farland judges L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future, perhaps the largest worldwide writing competition for new fantasy and science fiction authors. He has worked in Hollywood greenlighting movies and doctoring scripts. He set the Guinness World Record for the largest single-author, single-book signing.

David Farland has been hailed as "The Wizard of Storytelling" and his work has been called "compelling", "engrossing", "powerful", "profound" and "ultimately life-changing".

"I still use the writing techniques he discussed, and constantly reference him and his instruction when I teach creative writing myself. . . His explanations led me directly to getting an agent, and subsequently, my first book deal."

Brandon Sanderson, #1 Bestselling Author of Way of Kings

"He understands storytelling and writing on a freaky level. All of us feel like we owe a huge debt to him."

James Dashner, #1 Bestselling Author of The Maze Runner

"Aside from being a talented writer, David Farland is an excellent writing teacher. Hearing him teach live and reading his written advice has helped me focus many of my own thoughts about the writing process. Those who would like to learn more about the craft of writing would be wise to pay attention."

Brandon Mull, New York Times Bestselling Author of Fablehaven

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Stewart C Baker is an academic librarian, haikuist, and writer of speculative fiction. His work has appeared in Flash Fiction Online, Nature, Galaxy's Edge, and is forthcoming in Writers of the Future volume 32, among other places. Stewart was born near London, England, has lived in South Carolina, Japan, and Los Angeles, and now makes his home with his wife and two children in Oregon--although if anyone asks, he'll says he's from the Internet. His website is http://infomancy.net

J.W. Alden is fascinated with the fantastic. As such, science fiction and fantasy have become his literary domain—though some other weird things sneak in from time to time.

Growing up along the coasts of Florida, James learned to hate the sun and love the shade. While most kids his age spent their weekends at the beach or on the basketball court, he buried himself in books. He now lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is trying desperately to understand the difference between a state and a commonwealth.

Alden is a 1st Place Writers of the Future winner, a graduate of Odyssey Writing Workshop, and an active member of SFWA. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Nature, Daily Science Fiction, and various other publications.

Stephen Merlino is a 2016 Writers of Future winner. His short story "The Jack of Souls" appears in WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOL. 32. (Available for preorder now.) Its release date is May 3.

His novel, which bears the same title as the shorts story, won the 2014 PNWA award in Fantasy, and the SWW award in Fantasy.

Stephen lives in Seattle, WA, where he writes, plays, and teaches high school English. He lives with the world's most talented and desirable woman, two fabulous children, and three attack chickens.

Growing up in Seattle drove Stephen indoors for eight months of the year. Naturally, that meant he read a lot, and at the age of eleven he discovered the stories of J.R.R. Tolkein and fell in love with fantasy.

Summers and rare sunny days he spent with friends in wooded ravines or on the beaches of Puget Sound, building worlds in the sand, and fighting orcs and wizards with driftwood swords.

About the time a fifth reading of The Lord of the Rings failed to deliver the old magic, Stephen attended the University of Washington and fell in love with Chaucer and Shakespeare and all things English. Sadly, the closest he got to England back then was The Unicorn Pub on University Way, which wasn't even run by an Englishman: it was run by a Scot named Angus. Still, he studied there, and as he sampled Angus's weird ales, and devoured the Unicorn's steak & kidney pie (with real offal!), he developed a passion for Scotland, too.

In college, he fell in love with writing, and when a kindly professor said of a story he'd written, "You should get that published!" Stephen took the encouragement literally, and spent the next years trying. The story remains unpublished, but the quest to develop it introduced Stephen to the world of agents (the story ultimately had two), and taught him much of craft and the value of what Jay Lake would call, "psychotic persistence."

Add to that his abiding love of nerds--those who, as Sarah Vowel defines it, "go too far and care too much about a subject"--and you have Stephen Merlino in a nutshell.

Stephen is the 2014 PNWA winner for Fantasy.

He is also the 2014 SWW winner for Fantasy.

Husband-and-wife fantasy writing team K. D. Julicher collaborate together on their stories, often but not always featuring people who spend too much time listening to the voices in their heads. When not writing, they share off-road adventures in the wilds of Nevada, raising children, and way too many geeky hobbies for the time they have left.

Both have engineer dayjobs and both agree, telling stories is a lot more fun.

Christoph Weber is an author and arborist. Previously, he was a hotshot firefighter, and before that, an interpreter in China.

A Writers of the Future winner, Christoph's work has appeared in Nature, VICE's Terraform, and other excellent venues. He's now working on HANGMAN, a trilogy about a near future devoid of bees, a future in which Neanderthals are de-extincted and forced to grow food for modern humans. Though this arrangement may be reversed, if one clever Neanderthal has his way ...

Stay tuned at www.christophweber.com

Rachael K. Jones is a critically acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author. Her fiction has appeared in dozens of professional magazines, including Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, PodCastle, Escape Pod, the Drabblecast, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Crossed Genres, Daily Science Fiction, and Penumbra. She lives in Athens, Georgia with her husband and perpetual alpha reader.

Matt Dovey is very tall and very English, and is most likely drinking a cup of tea right now. He has a scar on his arm where a trap caught him in his badger form. He now lives in a quiet market town in rural England with his wife & three children; despite being a writer, he still hasn't found the right words to properly express the delight and joy he finds in this wonderful arrangement.

His surname rhymes with "Dopey", but any other similarities to the dwarf are entirely coincidental.

He is the Golden Pen winner for Writers of the Future volume 32 and was shortlisted for the James White Award 2016. He has fiction forthcoming all over the place; you can keep up with it at mattdovey.com, or follow him at facebook.com/mattdoveywriter and twitter.com/mattdoveywriter