By day, Gayla is a bank examiner, utilizing her intuition and curiosity to uncover facts and analyze complex figures. After hours, she enjoys cooking, hiking, looking at old photos, and researching LGBTQ+ history. She uses her communications talent as a public speaker and author. Born and raised in Southern California, she and her partner live in San Marino, California, and share their home with their adorable dog, Bailey. As a debut author, Gayla has honed her writing skills with private instructors, editors, and critique groups of established writers in the Los Angeles area. She is also a member of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Romance Writers of America, and the Historical Novel Society.

Milree Latimer is an author of Historical Fiction inspired by a life-long love of History. She launched into her writing career upon retirement as a teacher, a Principal and a Professor of Education. She lives in Oakville ON with her cat Justice

Mary Means is widely known as the visionary leader who founded the Main Street revitalization movement that has enabled 1,600+ towns and neighborhood corridors to bring life and character back to their historic cores. Her work has been honored with numerous awards. Yet most of her life she was filled with self-doubts, guilt, anger at betrayals, and underlying anxiety. Her candor and vulnerability permeate this remarkable story.

Bob Rogers is the author of the historical novels Two Rivers, First Dark and The Laced Chameleon, which earned critical acclaim from Kirkus Reviews, San Francisco Review, and Baltimore Examiner. Bob is a meticulous researcher, known to spend extra time, magnifying glass in hand, deciphering 18th and 19th century handwriting for “just the facts, ma’am.” Bob, a former U.S. Army captain and combat leader during the Vietnam War in Troop A, 1/10 Cavalry, finds his topographic experiences useful in field research. If not closeted in libraries or museums, you are likely to find him walking centuries old rice fields, battlefields, or in a canoe following the river trails of his characters. His favorite places to write include his studio, parks, beaches, airplanes, and libraries. He studied at South Carolina State University and the University of Maryland. Bob tends his flowers, okra, and tomato plants in Mérida, Yucatán, México. Visit him at https://bobrogers.biz.

Glenis Redmond travels nationally and internationally reading and teaching and performing poetry. She is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist and has had two poet-in- Resident posts at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts in Greenville, SC and the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. Glenis has been the mentor poet for the National Student Poets Program since 2014. In the past she has prepared these exceptional youth poets to read at the Library of Congress, the Department of Education, and for First Lady Michelle Obama at The White House. Glenis is a Cave Canem Fellow and a North Carolina Literary Fellowship Recipient. She also helped create the first Writer-in-Residence at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina. She has most recently been awarded the highest award for the Arts in the state of South Carolina, The Governor’s Award. Also, she will receive the “Charlie Award,” given in memory of Charles Price granted by the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in the Fall of 2020. In 2014-20, Glenis has served as the Mentor Poet for the National Student Poet's Program Her latest book, “The Listening Skin”will be published by Four Way Books in 2022.

Lance Peatey is an Australian author who gained a passion for rugby when attending school at Marist College Ashgrove in Brisbane. That passion was sealed for life when he woke in the early hours of the morning in 1991 to watch the Wallabies claim their first Rugby World Cup title with victory over England in the final. After completing a Journalism degree at Queensland University of Technology, Lance is now an established media business leader with a career spanning 25 years across four continents, working for major global media organisations including Disney/ESPN, BBC, IMG Media, and both the Nine Network and Seven Network in Australia. It was while working with Seven during Rugby World Cup 2003 that Lance first decided to write A Complete History of the Rugby World Cup, and the first edition was published in the UK after the 2007 tournament. That first edition earned impressive reviews in the UK, including David Llewellyn from The Independent describing it as “a minor masterpiece”. There have been three print editions published since 2007, and this first ever audio book edition comes after the historic and colourful 2019 tournament in Japan. Lance has also assisted former Wallabies star flanker David Pocock with two editions of his autobiography “Openside”, and he is a member on various rugby committees devoted to developing the game from grassroots to international level.

Tamara is an author, speaker and entrepreneur. She is rewriting and updating her children’s book series. The seven-book series Just Imagine...What If There Were No Black People in the World? about African American inventors, scientists and other notable African Americans in history. The first book in the series Jaxon’s Magical Adventure with Black Inventors and Scientists and Jaxon and Kevin’s Black History Trip Downtown are published. She has also created companion books which include a coloring book, activity book and Jaxon's Journal to accompany the first book in the series. The other books in the series are (3) Women Inventors and Scientists (4) Jaxon’s Black History Trip to NASA and (5) Jaxon Meets Black Cowboys from the Old West (6) African American Artists, Sculptures and Other Arts and (7) African American Composers, Classical and Concert Musicians and Opera Singers. are forthcoming. She presently writes the weekly Black History column for the Post Newspaper; she’s written articles for the Richmond Pulse, and records 2-minute Black History vignettes for the gospel station KDYA. She also writes e a weekly eblast of regarding multicultural books and historical information. Tamara speaks on the importance of teaching Black History all year, including engagements as keynote speaker for the Las Vegas NAACP, Chevron’s Black History Month program, the Tuskegee Airmen Corporation’s 32nd Annual dinner in Denver; and speaking engagements with the El Cerrito NAACP, various Rotary groups, Richmond Kiwanis Clubs, Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, and various other organizations and schools. She teaches a Professional Development Class on how to incorporate Black History into lesson plans and curriculum – providing educators with information, examples and samples. She created an online version of the class also. Teaches a publishing class at the Renaissance Center. She is the owner of the Multicultural Children’s Bookstore in Richmond, CA. The bookstore focuses on children’s books from many cultures including African American, Latino, Asian/South Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, as well as Biracial, Disability, Diversity and LGBTQI, as well as other genres for babies to adult reading. Website: www.tamarashiloh.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JustImagineChildrensBooks/; Twitter @ tamarashiloh102; Instagram and LinkedIn. Email: tamarashiloh@gmail.com