Our host is Cait Gordon, an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Her short stories appear in Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland, We Shall Be Monsters, Space Opera Libretti, and Stargazers: Microtales from the Cosmos. Cait also founded The Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too anthologies, whose authors and protagonists are disabled, d/Deaf, Blind or visually impaired, neurodivergent, Spoonie, and/or they manage mental illness. 

You can find Cait’s books through Chapters-Indigo, Renaissance, and many online sellers. A catalogue of her works and where to buy them is also on caitgordon.com.

Tangela Williams-Spann, author of Sad, Black, and Fat: Musings from the Intersection—This book delves into the experiences of a young woman trying to navigate life’s twists and turns. She often finds herself standing on the corner between one identity and the other trying to decide which road to take. This collection of poems and essays are a reflection of the joys and sorrows of traversing through the intersections of life.

Tangela is a mental health and wellness blogger as well as an undiagnosed autistic person. Her first book, Sad, Black, and Fat: Musings from the Intersection, was released in 2021. She has a master’s of Special Education degree and spends her days educating young humans. When she is free, Tangela enjoys crocheting, listening to audiobooks, playing video games, and taking naps. You can find Tangela’s books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Jamieson Wolf, author of Little Yellow Magnet—Life can change in an instant. Jamieson learns this the hard way. Waking one morning to find he has little-to-no motor control, Jamieson only wants the world to return to how it had been before. After a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, he thinks his life is over. What he doesn’t know is that it’s only just begun. Trying to navigate through the world in a body he no longer understands, Jamieson must travel through the dark forest of depression while waging a constant battle against himself. Over time, he learns what he’s truly capable of, and what it actually means to be courageous. Follow Jamieson as he loses himself… then discovers who he is really meant to be.

Jamieson is a number-one bestselling author—he likes to tell people that a lot—and writes in many different genres. Jamieson is also an accomplished artist. He works in mixed media, charcoal, acrylic and oil pants. He is also something of an amateur photographer and poet. He is also a Tarot reader.

He currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with his husband Michael and their cat, Anakin who they swear has Jedi powers. You can find Jamieson and where to buy his books at jamiesonwolf.com

Nicole Zelniker, author of Letters I’ll Never Send—Protagonist Sadie Goldman still isn’t sure if she’s ready to confront her demons after eight months in a psych hospital following a suicide attempt. Her close friend Kim is undergoing chemotherapy, her mother is back in her life, and her five-year-old daughter isn’t entirely sure how to react to Sadie coming home. Sadie has to find the strength to deal with the ups and downs of her regular life, aided in part by her wife, friends, and therapist.

Nicole Zelniker (she/they) is the author of several books, including Until We Fall, which was a finalist for the Forward Indie Awards in LGBTQ+ adult fiction. Check out the rest of her work at nicolezelniker.com or keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter at @nicolezelniker.

You can find Nicole’s books at BookShop (indie stores, my favorite!), Barnes & Noble, Target, Amazon, and wherever books are sold!

Stephen Graham King, author of Ghost Light Burn—As the Gate Project expands, building stable, artificial wormholes in orbit around ever more worlds in the Pan Galactum, its hunger for construction materials grows exponentially. But the discovery of the dead binary planets, Sound and Fury, may finally sate the project’s hunger ten times over. In the shadow of massive, shattered Fury comes an interstellar travelling theatre, bringing with it an old friend of the Maverick Heart crew. One with a nose for trouble who soon discovers a conspiracy of embezzlement, greed, and corporate apathy too deep to investigate alone. When Ember receives the call for help, it is a mystery too enticing for him, Keene, Lexa-Blue, and Vrick to pass up. One that will take all their skills to unravel before time runs out and the whole system burns.

Stephen Graham King (he/they) is a disabled survivor of metastatic synovial sarcoma, a story chronicled in the memoir, Just Breathe: My Journey Through Cancer and Back. Since then, he has concentrated on writing speculative fiction, in particular, queer-themed space opera, and his short fiction has appeared in the anthologies North of Infinity II, Desolate Places, Ruins Metropolis, and Nothing Without Us Too. His first novel, Chasing Cold, was released in 2012, followed by the books in the Maverick Heart Cycle: Soul’s Blood (2016), Gatecrasher (2017), A Congress of Ships (2019) and in 2022, Ghost Light Burn. He has been a frequent guest on podcasts and panels, passionately advocating for lived experience queer and disability narratives in stories of the future. They are also an avid black and white photographer, with two of their photos appearing in an installation at the Art Gallery of Ontario. They are also working on a book compiling their intimate and immediate photos captured on the streets of Toronto, where they currently reside.

You can learn more about Stephen and where to buy his books at stephengrahamking.com

Dianna Gunn, author of Moonshadow’s Guardian—All Riana has ever wanted is freedom. Unfortunately, that’s the one thing her kind cannot have. Bound by the curse in her demonic blood for millennia, Riana has tried several times to bend the rules and live out her life in the mortal realm. Now her consistent rule breaking has drawn the attention of Loki, God of Mischief, the main tormentor of Riana’s kind. But instead of punishing her, he offers her the escape she has always desired. All she has to do to is save the kingdom of Moonshadow from a mysterious magical plague. Armed only with the inherent power of her own blood and Loki’s pet dragon, Riana is determined to fight for the right to create her own destiny. However, when her mission forces her to destroy the last remnants of an ancient culture, Riana must ask – what is freedom really worth? Moonshadow’s Guardian is a dark fantasy novel about the meaning of belonging, and the struggle to create a future not defined by your past.

Dianna Gunn is an author of fantasy and science fiction with strong horror elements. Her first full-length novel, Moonshadow’s Guardian, was released in 2018, with the sequel set to arrive in spring 2023. Her short story, “Should I Stay,” appears in Nothing Without Us Too.

She also runs the Weeknight Writers Group, a social enterprise dedicated to creating accessible educational and community supports for writers, including the #WeeknightWriters Twitter chat on Thursdays at 7PM EST. You can learn more about Dianna and where to buy her books at authordiannagunn.com.

Diana Pomeroy, author of Iara’s Crossing—Avians—feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs—long considered the ammonite a symbol of longevity and prosperity. But there was more to these fossils than they realized—the ammoite was imbued with ancient magic that only Warriorfeathers could wield. When the Oasis, the main hub of all avian kind west of the inland sea, is threatened by distant volcanoes and the presence of tyrants, Warriorfeathers from every enclave are summoned. Iara is tasked with this fate, and must undertake a peilous journey. Will she survive and ascend as the next leader of the Oasis?

Diana Pomeroy is a community college professor by day and a sci-fi/fantasy author by night. She is passionate about writing own-voice stories that include characters who make their own paths to success while having physical and hidden disabilities. She participates in the Spoonie Authors Network chats and the Weeknight Writers Chats on Twitter regularly, and her work has been on DeviantART for more than a decade.

When she’s not drafting her latest story, Diana can be found reading books by her friends and colleagues, listening to a myriad of podcasts, watching YouTube videos, and eventually finishing yet another custom My Little Pony project. Her plush Velociraptor, Iara, accompanies her on trips for photo opportunities. She lives with a two-year-old Russian Blue cat named Mochi in Southern California.

You can order Diana’s book at warriorfeathercreations.weebly.com/iaras-crossing.html and learn more about the author at thepaleoenthusiast.weebly.com/