Judges
FIRST ROUND JUDGES
Emily Alexander
Emily is an MFA candidate in fiction at New Mexico State University, where she teaches composition and creative writing, and serves as Prose Editor for the literary journal Puerto del Sol. She is an editor with the literary publisher Noemi Press, as well as a freelance editor and journalist. She is currently at work on a book-length manuscript. Her short fiction can be found in The Offing.
J. L. Delozier www.jldelozier.com
J.L. spent the early part of her career as a rural family doctor and then later as a government physician, caring for America’s veterans and deploying to disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Gustav. Throughout it all, she quietly absorbed the sometimes fascinating, often heartbreaking and always dramatic life stories of her patients. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and four rescue cats. She has published two thrillers, Type & Cross and Storm Shelter.
Lynn Koppner
Lynn a graduate student studying literature and culture. She says she feels fortunate to be able to study what she loves after a lifetime of work in the service industry. Like many, writing does not come easy for her; but the challenge of crafting meaningful work in words is a strong motivating force. She believes that reading and writing form our society, and when we study to understand our society, we can begin to appreciate our place in the world. Lynn hopes to impart her love of reading to her students, and leave them with a driving curiosity about the world around them.
Evan Lavender-Smith
Evan is the author of From Old Notebooks, which was a NewPages Noteworthy Book, a Small Press Distribution Recommended Book, a finalist for the Fence Modern Poets Series, and named a best book of the year by Biblioklept, HTMLGiant, Dzanc Books, 32 Poems and others. His writing has been published by Arts & Letters, BOMB, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Evergreen Review, Fence, Glimmer Train, Harvard Review and many other magazines. He is the founding editor of Noemi Press and the editor-in-chief of Puerto del Sol. In Fall 2017 he will join the MFA faculty in creative writing at Virginia Tech.
Cindy Murrell
Cindy is College Professor Emeritus of New Mexico State University, where she has been teaching courses in science fiction for the past ten years.
Laurie Stacey
Laurie lives in South Carolina, where the boogie boarding is fine, and the moon hangs through the trees. First published at age 15, she's been writing romance-adventure fiction her whole life. She is the author of two novels and numerous published poems and short stories. Her next novel, Forest for the Trees, will come out next summer.
Emily Alexander
Emily is an MFA candidate in fiction at New Mexico State University, where she teaches composition and creative writing, and serves as Prose Editor for the literary journal Puerto del Sol. She is an editor with the literary publisher Noemi Press, as well as a freelance editor and journalist. She is currently at work on a book-length manuscript. Her short fiction can be found in The Offing.
J. L. Delozier www.jldelozier.com
J.L. spent the early part of her career as a rural family doctor and then later as a government physician, caring for America’s veterans and deploying to disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Gustav. Throughout it all, she quietly absorbed the sometimes fascinating, often heartbreaking and always dramatic life stories of her patients. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and four rescue cats. She has published two thrillers, Type & Cross and Storm Shelter.
Lynn Koppner
Lynn a graduate student studying literature and culture. She says she feels fortunate to be able to study what she loves after a lifetime of work in the service industry. Like many, writing does not come easy for her; but the challenge of crafting meaningful work in words is a strong motivating force. She believes that reading and writing form our society, and when we study to understand our society, we can begin to appreciate our place in the world. Lynn hopes to impart her love of reading to her students, and leave them with a driving curiosity about the world around them.
Evan Lavender-Smith
Evan is the author of From Old Notebooks, which was a NewPages Noteworthy Book, a Small Press Distribution Recommended Book, a finalist for the Fence Modern Poets Series, and named a best book of the year by Biblioklept, HTMLGiant, Dzanc Books, 32 Poems and others. His writing has been published by Arts & Letters, BOMB, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Evergreen Review, Fence, Glimmer Train, Harvard Review and many other magazines. He is the founding editor of Noemi Press and the editor-in-chief of Puerto del Sol. In Fall 2017 he will join the MFA faculty in creative writing at Virginia Tech.
Cindy Murrell
Cindy is College Professor Emeritus of New Mexico State University, where she has been teaching courses in science fiction for the past ten years.
Laurie Stacey
Laurie lives in South Carolina, where the boogie boarding is fine, and the moon hangs through the trees. First published at age 15, she's been writing romance-adventure fiction her whole life. She is the author of two novels and numerous published poems and short stories. Her next novel, Forest for the Trees, will come out next summer.
FINAL ROUND JUDGES
Mary Lindsey http://marylindsey.com/ http://marissaclarke.com/
Mary's writing is a natural expression of her love of reading and a fascination with the flexibility of the human imagination. Books make the impossible possible. She is a member of RWA, WHRWA, and is a founding member of Houston YA/MG Writers and the QueryTracker.net Blog. Mary also writes books for adults under the pen name, Marissa Clarke. She’s a 2016 Rita Finalist and National Readers Choice finalist and winner of the Golden Quill Award and Carolyn Readers Choice award.
Christine Fonseca www.christinefonseca.com
Critically acclaimed and award-winning nonfiction and fiction author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children and adults find their unique voice in the world. In nonfiction, she delves into the world of giftedness, resiliency, and temperament, offering children and adults a no-nonsense, how-to approach to facing the world head on. In fiction, she explores the more complex aspects of humanity through sweeping romances, Gothic thrillers, and psychological horror stories. Christine was a finalist in the Kindle Book Review's Best Indie Book (YA) for her suspense, Collide, and received the Legacy Award for her nonfiction titles I’m Not Just Gifted and Parenting the Shy Child.
Elizabeth Allen www.elizabeth-allen.com/
Liz' debut novel Who Got Liz Gardner was published in April 2009 as the result of an international contest and is now enjoying tremendous popularity in book clubs and colleges around the world. She also penned Discovering Arugula - the sequel to WGLG, and Ima Pigg a young adult/scifi tale which has been described as Charlotte's Web meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Ms. Allen's novels have received high praises and were featured in USA Today. Liz' fourth novel - The Bridgecrosser - a paranormal love story, is under consideration for a cable series. Finally, Liz is cross-pollinating into the world of film with her first screenplay Broken Spirits which is already under consideration by a major production company.
Lili Mahoney
Lili Mahoney grew up in a small west Texas town. She moved to the city as a teen and then married her High school sweetheart. She is the keeper of their three higher order primates, along with a few other animals. Though she majored in English, she never dreamed she’d ever write a book. Reading is a challenge and not usually a hobby for a dyslexic person, but it didn’t matter when the stories began popping into her head. They simply had to be told. Now, after publishing her first Young Adult book, Barefoot Pastures, and then an Adult Romance titled For Love Or Freedom, Lili has actually grown to enjoy reading and is addicted to her fiction worlds.
Mary Lindsey http://marylindsey.com/ http://marissaclarke.com/
Mary's writing is a natural expression of her love of reading and a fascination with the flexibility of the human imagination. Books make the impossible possible. She is a member of RWA, WHRWA, and is a founding member of Houston YA/MG Writers and the QueryTracker.net Blog. Mary also writes books for adults under the pen name, Marissa Clarke. She’s a 2016 Rita Finalist and National Readers Choice finalist and winner of the Golden Quill Award and Carolyn Readers Choice award.
Christine Fonseca www.christinefonseca.com
Critically acclaimed and award-winning nonfiction and fiction author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children and adults find their unique voice in the world. In nonfiction, she delves into the world of giftedness, resiliency, and temperament, offering children and adults a no-nonsense, how-to approach to facing the world head on. In fiction, she explores the more complex aspects of humanity through sweeping romances, Gothic thrillers, and psychological horror stories. Christine was a finalist in the Kindle Book Review's Best Indie Book (YA) for her suspense, Collide, and received the Legacy Award for her nonfiction titles I’m Not Just Gifted and Parenting the Shy Child.
Elizabeth Allen www.elizabeth-allen.com/
Liz' debut novel Who Got Liz Gardner was published in April 2009 as the result of an international contest and is now enjoying tremendous popularity in book clubs and colleges around the world. She also penned Discovering Arugula - the sequel to WGLG, and Ima Pigg a young adult/scifi tale which has been described as Charlotte's Web meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Ms. Allen's novels have received high praises and were featured in USA Today. Liz' fourth novel - The Bridgecrosser - a paranormal love story, is under consideration for a cable series. Finally, Liz is cross-pollinating into the world of film with her first screenplay Broken Spirits which is already under consideration by a major production company.
Lili Mahoney
Lili Mahoney grew up in a small west Texas town. She moved to the city as a teen and then married her High school sweetheart. She is the keeper of their three higher order primates, along with a few other animals. Though she majored in English, she never dreamed she’d ever write a book. Reading is a challenge and not usually a hobby for a dyslexic person, but it didn’t matter when the stories began popping into her head. They simply had to be told. Now, after publishing her first Young Adult book, Barefoot Pastures, and then an Adult Romance titled For Love Or Freedom, Lili has actually grown to enjoy reading and is addicted to her fiction worlds.