Andie Pring is an Irish-born (English-raised) writer/poet. She has an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University and is currently working on a Creative Writing PhD at Lancaster University. Her critical and creative work examines themes of illness and disability in children’s Gothic fiction. She is also interested in the monstrous and ecomonstrous aspects of Posthuman Gothic and the ways they can be subverted.

Andie has published non-fiction articles, short stories, greetings cards, and poetry. She is currently writing a YA Gothic sci-fi, polishing several picture book texts, and finalising a middle grade magical realism novel and a spooky YA.

Andie lives in the wilds of Dartmoor, with a long-suffering husband and two very silly cats. When she’s not writing, she enjoys crafting, photography, music, and nature.

Fiona Forsyth has loved the ancient world since reading her first Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur. After reading Classics at Oxford, she taught at a British boys’ school for twenty-five years, but then her family moved to Qatar. There wasn’t much call for Latin teachers, so she became a prison visitor, animal rescuer and writer of historical novels and poetry. Now she is back in the UK, and a full-time author.

Lizzie Gudkov is a fiction writer born in Portugal. After a career as a teacher of English, she rediscovered writing. In her blog, she features fiction mostly (micro, flash and short fiction), but also poetry and a few opinion articles. She is also a six time winner of the NaNoWriMo and a five time winner of the Camp NaNoWriMo. As part of her writing path, Lizzie hosts and takes part in multiple writing events, largely in the virtual world of Second Life®.

Barbara Jacksha is a fiction and nonfiction writer, as well as a poet. Her short work has been published in a variety of publications including The Summerset Review, Smokelong Quarterly, Mad Hatter’s Review and the W. W. Norton Anthology Flash Fiction Forward. She’s also the creator of the Vision Pages journal series. She was a co-founder/co-editor of the online literary journal Cezanne’s Carrot, as well as a fiction editor for flashquake. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You can read her Radiant Authenticity blog and learn more about Barbara at her website (link below).

We’re also supported by our wonderful team of sprint hosts: Lor Lavender, Chantal Boivent, Edmund Broek, Harriet Gausman, Robinette Waterson, Lizzie Gudkov, and Zoe Ocelot (our queen bee during the Poem-a-Day challenge). These dynamos keep our schedule on track and provide our group members with daily inspiration and a firm but gentle nudge.