Christine Valters Paintner, PhD is a poet, writer, retreat guide, and expressive arts facilitator living on the wild edges of Ireland where she runs Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global community. She is the author of 16 books on contemplative practice and creative expression including two books of poems from Paraclete Press, Dreaming of Stones and The Wisdom of Wild Grace. More at: https://abbeyofthearts.com/about/about-christine/

Laraine Herring is a tenured professor of creative writing and psychology at Yavapai College. Her most recent book, The Grief Forest: a book about what we don’t talk about (White River), is an illustrated guide through complicated grief. Her forthcoming speculative memoir, A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens (Regal House), will be released on October 19, and is available for preorder now. She is the author of a trilogy of writing books from Shambhala: Writing Begins with the Breath; The Writing Warrior; and On Being Stuck: Tapping into the Creative Power of Writer’s Block. Laraine is the founder of an online zine, Hags on Fire, which focuses on women writing about perimenopause, menopause, and aging.

Murzban F. Shroff is a Mumbai-based writer. He has published his fiction with over 65 literary journals in the U.S. and UK. His stories have appeared in journals such as The Gettysburg Review, The Minnesota Review, The Saturday Evening Post, Chicago Tribune, and World Literature Today. Shroff is the winner of the John Gilgun Fiction Award and has received six Pushcart Prize nominations. His short story collection, Breathless in Bombay, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and rated by the Guardian as among the ten best Mumbai books. His novel, Waiting for Jonathan Koshy, was a finalist for the Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize, and will have a U.S. release in Spring/Summer 2022. His third book, Fasttrack Fiction, is a collection of literary shorts for the digital reader. Shroff’s fourth book, Third Eye Rising, was published in 2021 and received high praise from five renowned American authors.