Tyson Abaroa

Whitney Award Winning author, Tyson Abaroa, was born in Provo, UT but raised in Gilbert, AZ. His freshman year of high school he was assigned to write an essay on what he’d be when he grew up. He turned in a step by step plan to become world dictator. That should have been his first clue that maybe he should keep imagining. In July 2001, between his junior and senior year of high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves. After graduating high school, boot camp, and MOS school; his unit was deployed to build a fuel hose line in support of the invasion of Iraq. After this deployment he served in the Chile Santiago East Mission. He married soon after returning home and just before his first anniversary was deployed again. This time to Djibouti, Africa as part of a provisional security company. Tyson’s ADHD has led to an eclectic career after the Marine Corps. He has been a credit card collector, a claims processor, a Track Director for USA BMX, and now a Pest Control Technician. He draws from his experiences and develops stories to write about in his spare time.

Anika Arrington

Anika Arrington has been writing and illustrating her own stories since she was four years old. The stories have improved. The illustrations have not. She is the author of The Accidental Apprentice, a Whitney Award Finalist, and its sequel Ideal Apprentice. She's been published in numerous anthologies and teaches classes on short fiction and writing exercises. She maintains a Youtube channel, The Story Serpent, where she reviews middle grade and young adult fiction from a thematic and ideological lens, giving parents and teachers a guide to which books may or may not be suitable for their children.

Raneé Clark

Raneé Clark has over ten years of free-lance editing experience and an eye for story. She loves helping authors find both little and big holes, as well as polishing grammar and punctuation. She has a degree in history from the University of Wyoming that she loves putting to use for her clients. She has an eye for perfection and seeks to make sure every client is satisfied with any project they work on together. She’s a multi-published author with experience in both the indie and traditional publishing markets. When she’s not chauffeuring her boys to various activities (and sometimes while she is), she loves to read, obsess over clothes, and figure out how to find Crumbl cookies in rural Wyoming.

Danyelle Ferguson

Danyelle Ferguson is an award-winning author of sweet, swoon-worthy romances where strong women tackle life’s curveballs, usually with a bit of sass and a lot of heart. She writes stories filled with laughter, spicy kisses, and happily-ever-afters that are Hallmark Channel-approved. Offline, you’ll find her challenging her family to epic board game battles, bingeing Big Bang Theory or dancing around the house with Taylor Swift on repeat. Follow her latest adventures and inevitable cat photobombs on her Facebook 'Confessions of a Bookaholic' reader group, or on Instagram at @DanyelleFergusonBooks. Website: www.DanyelleFerguson.com

Jared Garrett

Jared Garrett (Gerry Ironspear) is a husband, full-time dad, audiobook actor, speaker, and the author of heroic adventure stories for all ages. As a child, he fled the abusive cult he was born into by escaping into action-packed, romantic stories. After physically escaping that cult, he worked as a firefighter, chef, actor, trainer, learning designer, and teacher. Now he husbands and dads, along with writing and publishing books

Dennis Gaunt

Dennis Gaunt became a writer one fateful day after a copy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary burst out of an alien egg and attached itself to his face. He has worked as a Slushpile reader for Shadow Mountain Publishing since 2000, and in that time, he's seen it all and then some. He has published several books and articles for LDS youth and young adults, and has recently completed his first novel. It's really good.

Lorin Grace

Lorin Grace was born in Colorado and has been moving around the country ever since, living in eight states and several imaginary worlds. She holds a degree in Graphic Design which comes in handy with creating book covers. And a Master’s degree in Publishing which she uses to help clients navigate the industry. Currently, she lives with her husband and a dog who is insanely jealous of her laptop. When not writing, Lorin enjoys creating graphics, visiting historical sites, museums, painting furniture, and reading.

Jessica Guernsey

Jessica Guernsey writes Fantasy and Sci-Fi short stories. With a BA in Journalism from Brigham Young University and a MA in Publishing from Western Colorado University, her work is published in magazines and anthologies. By day, she crushes dreams as a slush pile reader for multiple publishers. By night, she edits and produces anthologies. Frequently, she can be found at writing conferences. She isn’t difficult to spot; just look for the extrovert. While she spent her teenage angst in Texas, she now lives on a mountain in Utah with her family and a bossy mini schnauzer. Discover more stories at jessicaguernsey.com.

Serene Heiner

Serene Heiner is the creative soul behind the growing Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube accounts @magicalbooknook where she does all kinds of weird things with her eyebrows. A fantasy fanatic at heart, she occasionally dabbles in other genres—just don’t tell the dragons. She’s a proud mother to seven readers and lives with them and her husband in their Idaho home surrounded by teetering stacks of books that may or may not be load-bearing.

Tara (T.M.) Holladay

Tara (T.M.) Holladay is the creator behind The Only Character Workbook You'll Ever Need, along with the other bestselling workbooks in a series to help writers craft immersive worlds, captivating characters, and gripping plots. She lives in Arizona with her family and writes YA fantasy and rom-com. She thrives in “project mode” and doesn’t know how to do things halfway; ipso facto, her story-bible-building workbooks have relaunched as the desktop and mobile friendly Novelio.app, the ultimate creativity index for writers.

DeAnn Ogden Huff

D. Ogden Huff is a multi-genre author with awards for her writing in urban fantasy, science fiction, contemporary, children’s picture books, non-fiction, and historical fiction. She doesn’t limit her reading to a single genre . . . there are just too many wonderful books to enjoy. So why limit her writing? After all, there’s no limit to imagination. Look for her books at www.dogdenhuff.com.

Rachel Huffmire

Rachel Huffmire is an award-winning author who writes futuristic fairytale retellings with twisty plots and happily-ever-afters. She has worked in the book and publishing industry since 2007, managing bookstores, acquiring and editing manuscripts for publishers, directing a marketing department for a small press, and recently signed her first film deal with a major Hollywood producer. She lives in Southern California with her husband, three children, and a library of books that is slowly overtaking their house. It’s not her fault, honest. When she’s not writing, Rachel enjoys baking apple pastries, taking long naps, and wearing warm cardigans.

KaTrina Jackson

KaTrina Jackson loves penguins, cross-stitching, chocolate, and music, and spends much of each day trying to fit those loves in around her jobs as a freelance editor and as project manager for Eschler Editing. She graduated with a degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University because she couldn’t get enough stories in her life. She lives near Kansas City with her husband.

Annette Lyon

Annette Lyon is a USA Today bestselling author of 17 novels, a grammar guide, a cookbook, and more, with titles ranging from historical to women’s fiction to nonfiction to romance. Her national suspense debut, Just One More, came out in 2023. She’s won 10 Best of State medals, a Whitney Award, a Silver Quill Award from the League of Utah Writers, among others. She co-founded and worked as the original editor of the Timeless Romance Anthology series and continues to be a regular contributor. She’s had success as a professional editor and in newspaper, magazine, and technical writing, but her first love has always been fiction. As a true-crime junkie, she created a YouTube channel focusing on the intersection of true crime and religion, called True Crime, Faith, and Chocolate. She’s represented by Jill Marsal of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Lisa Mangum

Lisa Mangum has been the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain since 2014 and has worked with several New York Times best-selling authors. She is also the author of four national best-selling YA novels, several short stories and novellas, and the nonfiction book Write Fearless. Edit Smart. Get Published.: A Master Class for Fiction Writers. She regularly teaches at writing conferences, including hosting a writing weekend in Capitol Reef National Park through UVU. She lives in Utah.

Bradley McBride

Bradley McBride has been blogging for fifteen years, writing well over a million words. Initially he blogged as Middle-aged Mormon Man, but he dropped the “Mormon” label and created ThusWeSee.com. Bradley’s talent is taking complex doctrine and breaking it down to present it in a way that is understandable and entertaining, making you want to read more. He has published two Christmas novellas and recently published his first action thriller novel, Papa Range. He calls Gilbert, Arizona, home with one wife, five kids, nine grands, and one well-worn laptop.

M.A. Nichols

Born and raised in Anchorage, M.A. Nichols is a lifelong Alaskan, though she briefly ventured south to get a fancy bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree from Utah State University—neither of which had anything to do with why she became an author, but they kept her alive while launching her publishing career. As a child she despised reading, but thanks to her mother’s love and persistence, she saw the error of her ways and developed a deep and abiding obsession with books. Currently, she writes sweet historical romance and fantasy, but as a lover of many genres, she plans to explore more in the future.

Bradley McBride

Michelle Pennington

Michelle Pennington is a USA Today Bestselling author of clean romance. Because she was never good at making decisions, she writes contemporary, young adult, historical, romcom, and fantasy. The genre might change but her characters will always be falling in love. When not writing, she spends her days quoting movies with her husband and making messes faster than her four kids. She used to have a lot of hobbies, but then she got addicted to k-dramas. Michelle also teaches and supports other authors as one of The Writing Gals.

Annie Petersen

Annie Petersen has been editing professionally since 2019. She enjoys editing manuscripts at every stage, as well as typesetting and proofreading. She has edited, copyedited, and proofread both traditionally and indie published books since starting her career. After three years on the editorial team at Covenant Communications, Annie has transitioned into a contractor and freelancer for Shadow Mountain, Covenant Communications, and individual authors. Annie continues to help both indie authors and traditional authors improve and refine their manuscripts. Annie graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing. Annie loves reading (even in her spare time), taking pretty pictures of books for her bookstagram account, spending time with her husband and two kids, walking outside, and singing Broadway showtunes.

Carrie K. Snider

Carrie K. Snider is a journalist with a degree from BYU and a passion for telling compelling stories. She has reported for the Deseret News, EastIdahoNews.com, and served as editor for several agriculture magazines. As a versatile freelancer, Carrie has written across a wide range of industries—including business, healthcare, construction, trucking, and human resources. Explore her portfolio at muckrack.com/carriesnider. When she’s not reporting, she’s crafting middle grade adventures or writing romantic comedies under the pen name Lacey Chase.

Kaitlyn Stoic

Kaitlyn Stoic is a born and raised Arizonan with no desire to leave the palo verdes and monsoon seasons despite how hot it gets. All of her favorite activities tie back to stories, from writing novels to reading books and fanfiction to playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends. She loves to read and write anything speculative and is currently working on an urban fantasy novel. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and son, squeezing her creative interests in between work, callings, and time spent with her family.

Rebecca Talley

Rebecca Talley is the mom of ten children and nana of thirteen of the world's most adorable grandkids. She lives with her family and her husband, Del, in Houston, TX, where she tries to avoid the heat and humidity by living in the pool. She has published thirteen novels/novellas, a children’s picture book, a chapter book, a writing resource guide, and numerous children’s stories and articles for both online and print magazines. When she isn’t writing, Rebecca likes to date her husband, play with her kids and grandkids, swim in the ocean, crochet, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house. She is currently seeking a cure for her addiction to Dove dark chocolate.

Jolie Taylor

Jolie Taylor is the author of, The Totally Not Boring Book of Feelings, which is a graphic novel for ages 7-10. She runs a Booktok and Bookstagram under the handle @endlessfairytales.

Janelle (JC) Youngstrom

JC Youngstrom is a winner of the Beginning of Book contest from the American Night Writers Association and has a degree in English: Creative Writing. She is a member of multiple critique groups, leader of an online productivity group for writers, and co-founder of the FB Author Co-Op–Skills Trading Marketplace. In the publishing field she is Content Director and blogger for Vanilla Grass Writing Resources and Marketing Director for Eight Moons Publishing. When she’s not playing with words, you can find her baking, spending time with her family of seven, or building and decorating large objects.