Daniel Black is a renowned professor of African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University. He is the award-winning author of several novels, most noteworthy of which are They Tell Me of a Home, Perfect Peace, The Coming, and Don’t Cry For Me. His first essay collection, Black on Black, will be released in 2023.
Kimberly Brock is the award-winning author of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare and The River Witch. She is the founder of Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. She lives near Atlanta with her husband and three children.
Denny S. Bryce is the award-winning author of historical fiction including Wild Women and the Blues and In the Face of the Sun. A former professional dancer and public relations professional, she now is an adjunct professor in the MFA program at Drexel University, a book critic for NPR, and a freelance writer whose work has been published in USA Today, Harper’s Bazaar, and FROLIC Media. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Tall Poppy Writers. Originally from Chicago, she now resides in Savannah, Georgia, and can be found online at DennySBryce.com.
Andy Davidson is the Bram Stoker Award nominated author of The Hollow Kind, The Boatman’s Daughter, and In the Valley of the Sun. His work has been listed among NPR’s Best Books of the year, the New York Public Library’s Best Adult Books of the Year, and Library Journal’s Best Horror. Born and raised in Arkansas, Andy makes his home in Georgia with his wife, Crystal, and a bunch of cats.
Called a “serious new talent” by Barnes & Noble, Peter Farris is the award-winning author of Last Call for the Living, The Clay Eaters and the The Devil Himself. Published in France to critical acclaim, The Devil Himself won Le Prix 813, Best Foreign Novel at the Beaune International Film Festival, was an official selection for the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and named a finalist for Le Prix SNCF du Polar. Among other accolades the novel received starred reviews in Rolling Stone, Hebdo and Le Parisien, and was picked one of the best mysteries of the year by ELLE and L’OBS Magazine. Also published in France by Éditions Gallmeister, his novel The Clay Eaters was praised in Le Monde, debuted at #14 on the Palmarès Livres Hebdo des libraires, selected a Bookseller Best of the Year by Palmarès Livres Hebdo, was shortlisted for le prix Libr’à Nous 2020 and was a finalist for the 2021 Le Prix Lire En Poche. The Devil Himself was published in English worldwide by Arcade Crimewise. Peter lives with his family in Georgia.
Marlena Frank has always been fascinated by monsters, and now gets to write about them. She is the author of young adult fantasy and horror novels, short stories, novellas, and series. Many of her books have hit the Amazon bestseller charts, including her debut novel, Stolen, and her latest book release, The Impostor and Other Dark Tales. In 2022, she will be kicking off her young adult dark fantasy series The Wolves of Kanta featuring mad scientists, hunters, and werewolves.
A graduate of Florida State University, Robert Gwaltney presently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. By day, he serves as Vice President of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., a non-profit organization that strengthens children and their families during the most critical times in their development. Through his non-profit work, he is a champion of early childhood literacy. Robert also serves as contributing editor for The Blue Mountain Review. In all the hours between, he writes. The Cicada Tree is his debut novel.
Shaun Hamill received his BA in English from the University of Texas at Arlington, and his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His debut novel, A Cosmology of Monsters was published by Pantheon Books in September 2019. His fction has appeared in Carve and Tor Nightfire’s Come Join Us By the Fire. His nonfiction has appeared at Crimereads and Tor Nightfire. He lives in Arlington, Texas, and is in edits on his second novel.
Ann Hite’s Ghost on Black Mountain won Georgia Author of the Year and was shortlisted for the Townsend Prize in 2012. Her novel Sleeping Above Chaos was Georgia Author of the Year 2017 Finalist. Roll The Stone Away became Georgia Author of the Year 2021 Honorable Mention in memoir category.
Piper G. Huguley made her historical fiction debut in June 2022 with By Her Own Design: a novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register (William Morrow Publishing) a novel about Ann Lowe who was the Black fashion designer of Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress. She is also the author of Sweet Tea by Hallmark Publishing and the author of two historical romance series: “Migrations of the Heart”, about the Great Migration and “Home to Milford College. She blogs about the history behind her novels at http://piperhuguley.com and lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and son.
EV Knight is the author of the Bram Stoker Award winning debut novel The Fourth Whore. She released her sophomore novel Children of Demeter as well as a novella, Partum in 2021. EV lives in one of America’s most haunted cities—Savannah, Ga. She is a huge fan of the Savannah Bananas and the beauty of Bonaventure Cemetery. When not out and about searching for the ghosts of the past, EV can be found at home with her husband Matt, her beloved Chinese Crested Gozer Augustus, and their three naughty sphynx cats.
Gilly Segal grew up in Florida and spent her college years in Israel. Now she calls Atlanta, Georgia home. By day, she is Chief Legal Officer for an advertising agency. In her other life, Gilly is a co-author of the New York Times bestseller I’m Not Dying with You Tonight. When not writing, Gilly enjoys cheering on the Tampa Bay Lightning, exploring Decatur with her three kids, and sampling flavors of French macarons.
For a full list of literary agents and publisher representatives at this year’s conference, please visit the one-on-one page.