Brenda McGinnis's passion for life permeates all of her work, from stage acting and directing to film and voiceover acting. Most at home when bringing truth to imaginary characters, Brenda infuses her work with raw instinct and playfulness honed over 20 years of experience.  Coachable and collaborative, Brenda thrives both on and off stage. When not performing, she can be found in her sound booth recording voiceovers, podcasts, animations and audiobooks, leveraging her keen ear for dialects to voice a myriad of characters and her empathic heart to bring them alive.

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Through a collaborative process, she works closely with authors and directors to understand their vision, delivering high-quality recordings that exceed expectations and resonate deeply with their audience. With a passion for storytelling and a commitment to client satisfaction, Brenda elevates narratives, fosters connections, and leaves a lasting impression. ‘Elevating tales into unforgettable experiences,' encapsulates the essence of her work, where stories come alive through the power of voice.

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A mother of six and grandmother to thirteen, Brenda transitioned from a 15-year teaching career in public schools to enjoy quality time at home with her children and grandchildren.

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Dr. Charles E. Gannon is best known for his multiple best-selling and award-winning Caine Riordan hard sf series and Dragon-nominated Vortex of Worlds epic fantasy series. He has written in or collaborated with many authors in their own universes: Ring of Fire (Eric Flint), Black Tide Rising (John Ringo), Starfire (White & Weber), Honorverse (David Weber), Known Space (Larry Niven), and War World (Jerry Pournelle). His awards include the Dragon, ALA Choice, & Compton Crook and he has been a finalist for the Nebula four times and the Dragon three times. Earlier in his career, he was a TV writer/producer and writer/designer for GDW games.

As a Distinguished Professor of English, Gannon received five Fulbrights, and his book Rumors of War & Infernal Machines won the 2006 ALA Choice Award for Outstanding Book. He is a frequent subject matter expert for national media venues (NPR, Discovery, etc.) and for various intelligence and defense agencies.

Gannon has five children (four living) and lives Annapolis, Maryland.

Chris Mandeville is an unrepentant coffee drinker, night owl, and binge writer. She can write anywhere, but her usual spot is a comfy chair at home in the Rocky Mountains with her service dog, Oski, snoozing by her feet. When she isn't writing, she loves to cook, travel, and teach writing workshops. She is a ten-year alum of SSWS—it's her favorite place o teach, lead “First Pages Parties,” and learn from other writers. Her published works include Quake, Shake, and Break (IN REAL TIME time travel trilogy), Seeds: a post-apocalyptic adventure, Oski Becomes a Service Dog, and 52 Ways to Get Unstuck. She’s also has two short stories published in anthologies that benefit Superstars' scholarship funds. Learn more about Chris, and her current projects and appearances, at chrismandeville.com.

James Artimus Owen is part artist, part writer, and all heart. He has written and illustrated the Mythworld series, two dozen Starchild comics, available as The Twentieth Anniversary Nearly-Complete Essential Starchild, The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (and coloring books featuring illustrations from these novels), and The Meditations which evolved from his popular talk “Drawing Out the Dragons.” James promises friends and fans that “more good trouble is afoot” with many more projects in the works.

Jennifer Brody (a/k/a Vera Strange) is a Bram Stoker Award Finalist and the author of A SACRIFICE OF BLOOD & STARS, DISNEY CHILLS, THE 13TH CONTINUUM trilogy, STAR WARS: STORIES OF JEDI AND SITH, and SPECTRE DEEP 6, prompting Forbes to call her “a star in the graphic novel world.”

Johnny B. Truant is one of indie publishing’s early authorities, having created and co-hosted the original Self Publishing Podcast with Sean Platt and David Wright. He is also the author of the indie cornerstone guide Write. Publish. Repeat, and hosted the Smarter Artist Summit author conference in Austin, Texas from 2015-2018 with the same two partners. On the fiction side, Johnny is the bestselling author of Fat Vampire, adapted by The SyFy Network as Reginald the Vampire. His other books include Pretty Killer, Gore Point, Invasion, The Beam, Dead City, Unicorn Western, and over 100 other titles across many genres. Originally from Ohio, Johnny and his family now live in Austin, Texas where he's finally surrounded by creative types as weird as he is.

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Joshua Essoe is a full-time editor who has edited for NYT bestsellers including Piers Anthony, David Farland, and Dean Lorey. He has edited for USA Today bestsellers, Writers of the Future winners, and hundreds of independents. He was also lead editor at Urban Fantasy Magazine and founded the weekly writing podcast Hide and Create with Michael J. Sullivan, Diana Rowland, Jay Wells, and Debbie Viguie. You can find Joshua teaching at the Superstars Writing Seminar every February in Colorado.

Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 175 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers.

He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI.

He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs.

Lisa Mangum is the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain. 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. She regularly teaches at writing conferences. She lives in Utah.

USA Today and Amazon No. 1 bestseller M. L. “Matt” Buchman is the author of 75+ action-adventure thriller and military romance novels, 200 short stories, and lots of read-

by-author audiobooks. PW says: “Tom Clancy fans open to a strong female lead will clamor for more.” Booklist declared his romances were: “3x Top 10 of the Year.” A

project manager with a geophysics degree, he’s designed and built houses, flown and jumped out of planes, solo-sailed a 50-foot sailboat, and bicycled solo around the

world…and he quilts.

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Mark Leslie Lefebvre’s first story appeared in print in 1992, the same year he started working in the book industry. Under the name Mark Leslie he has published thrillers and fiction, paranormal non-fiction, and anthologies. His books about writing and publishing appear under the name Mark Leslie Lefebvre. His industry experience includes President of the Canadian Booksellers Association, Board Member of BookNet Canada, Director of Author Relations for Rakuten Kobo, Director of Business Development for Draft2Digital and Professional Advisor for Sheridan College’s Creative Writing and Publishing Honours Program.

Mark lives in Waterloo, Ontario and can be found online at www.markleslie.ca.

Michael La Ronn (also known as M.L. Ronn) has published over 100 science fiction & fantasy novels and self-help books for writers.

Michael also runs the award-winning YouTube channel “Author Level Up,” with over 40,000 subscribers and 2 million views. Writer’s Digest voted the channel one of the “Best Resources for Writers” in 2020.

Michael devoted himself to the writing life in 2012 after a near-death experience, writing 10 to 12 books per year despite working a demanding full-time job as an insurance executive, raising a family, and attending law school classes in the evenings. His productivity methods are so effective that his YouTube subscribers have accused him of being a cyborg in disguise (he pleads the fifth).

For more information on Michael’s books, visit his fiction website at www.michaellaronn.com and his resources for writers at www.authorlevelup.com.

Rachel Howzell Hall is the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling author of fourteen novels, including the bestselling romantasy The Last One, a Good Morning America Book Club selection. She is also the author of bestselling novels, including What Fire Brings, What Never Happened, We Lie Here and multiple award-nominated And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things. Rachel is a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and was a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast.

Robert J. Sawyer has won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, all for

best novel of the year, as well as the Robert A. Heinlein Award, the Hal Clement Award, the E.E.

“Doc” Smith Memorial Award (“the Skylark”), and a record-setting sixteen Canadian Science

Fiction and Fantasy Awards (“Auroras”). The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name and he was one of the scriptwriters for that series; his latest novel is The Downloaded. A member of the Order of Canada, one of the initial inductees into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, a judge for Writers of the Future, a guest of honor at the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention, and a past president of SFWA, Rob lives near Toronto. Website: https://sfwriter.com.

Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of fantasy for all ages and winner of the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age Award. Threadweavers and The Whisper Prince Trilogy are two of his bestselling epic fantasy series. He is a founder of Eldros Legacy—a multi-author, shared-world mega-epic fantasy series—two-time winner of the Colorado Authors League Award for Writing Excellence, and two-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Tower of the Four: The Champions Academy (2021) and Khyven the Unkillable (2022). His passions are great stories and his quirky, fun-loving family. When he’s not writing, he teaches Taekwondo, swaps middle grade humor with his son, plays Ticket to Ride with his wife, plots creative stories with his daughter, and plays vigorously with Galahad the Weimaraner. Visit Todd at toddfahnestock.com.