Former software engineer Carol Berg never expected to become an award-winning author, but her hobby of writing epic fantasy novels got out of hand. Her eleven novels have won the Geffen, the Prism, and multiple Colorado Book Awards, and the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. She’s taught writing in the US, Canada, Scotland, and Israel, and received reader mail from as far as the slopes of Denali and beneath the Mediterranean. All amazing for one who majored in math and computer science to avoid writing papers. Publishers Weekly calls Carol's newest novel, The Spirit Lens, "Superbly realized."

Ronald Cree was raised in Greenhills, Ohio, and attended the University of Colorado, where he studied television production and mass media communications.  In 1993, Ronald adopted a thirteen-year-old Latino boy and raised him as a single father. Ronald began writing Desert Blood 10PM/9C as a class project taught by Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Rhys Bowen. Drawing on his relationship with his adopted son, as well as his close friendships with several popular Hollywood actors, Ronald crafted a unique first mystery involving highly successful Latinos in the entertainment industry.

At the 2004 Pikes Peak Writers Conference, Todd and his writing partner, Giles Carwyn, struck a chord with their collaborative fantasy novel, Heir of Autumn. They captured the interest of New York agent Donald Maass and landed a three-book contract with HarperCollins for the Heartstone Trilogy: Heir of Autumn, Mistress of Winter, and Queen of Oblivion.

Todd resides in Englewood, CO in an old Victorian house with his beautiful and talented wife Lara, their children Elowyn and Dashiell, a big blue dog named Lancelot, and a big red dog named Ade. He is currently working on an indpendent project, his next novel, Wildmane.

Janet Fogg’s focus on writing novel-length fiction and screenplays began in the 1990s when she was CFO for one of the coolest architectural firms in Colorado.  Her collaborative, feature-length screenplays have been considered by director James Cameron as well as HBO and the Sci Fi Channel, and solicited by Hollywood Agent, Brian Dreyfuss.  These collaborations include one with her husband Richard and three award-winning screenplays with Karen Albright Lin.  Janet and Richard have also collaborated on a narrative non-fiction and they are in discussions with a publisher for their WWII manuscript.  Her first novel, Soliloquy, came out in January from The Wild Rose Press.

Laura attended PPWC’s inaugural year as the bookstore coordinator and one of the first PPWC contest winners.  She ended up selling her winning manuscript to an attending editor on a two-book contract. Since then, she’s sold a total of fourteen books and four short stories to eight publishers under two names while living in six different states. Currently, she's ghostwriting a series for a Hollywood celebrity.  Laura has survived six PPWCs as either its director or co-director and served as PPW's first president.  Even though she moved to Alabama two years ago, she has returned for a seventh stint as PPWC conference director.

Random House Author Cicily Janus has conducted over four hundred interviews within the arts and entertainment industry. Her work has been featured in the Huffington Post, All About and over two dozen literary journals both in print and online. Her first book, The New Face of Jazz, is an oral history that highlights the voices of over 225 interviews with artists from around the country. Providing an intimate look into their lives and thoughts of these musicians, Cicily is also the founder/owner of the internationally recognized and award winning Writing Away Retreats which offers access and critique to and from the top pro's in the industry for writers of any level. She also offers private editing services, master-classes on writing about the arts industry and workshops for students of any level from elementary to college on jazz history and iits place in the modern world.

Chris Mandeville is a writer of fantasy, science fiction and young adult novels, and is currently developing her first book-length non-fiction project, 365 Ways to Tickle the Muse: Exercised to Break Through Any Writer's Block. She's taught writing workshops on a variety of subjects including "52 Ways to Get Unstuck", "The Writer's Journey", "World-Building", "Improv Writing", "How to Pitch Your Manuscript", "First Pages," and "Tools for Character Building." Chris is Pikes Peak Writers' Immediate Past President and Community Ambassador, and is in her seventh year of service on the Board of Directors.

Susan has a degree in English from Northern Arizona University. Her work has appeared in literary magazines including George and Mertie’s Place, Poetry Motel and Wordwrights. She writes and produces television commercials, promotions and programs locally. She has also written and produced projects for TLC, regional ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates. In addition Susan consults on a variety of Public Relations Projects including the Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

Barbara Samuel has has written a number of highly acclaimed novels, including No Place Like Home  Lady Luck's Map of Vegas and Madame Mirabou's School of Love. She has won five RITA awards, two Colorado Center for the Book awards, and has made many "Favorites" and Best Books of the Year" lists. Now writing for Bantam as Barbara O'Neal, her most current work, The Lost Recipe for Happiness, is in its 8th printing, and her next book, The Secret of Everything is a Winter 2010 release.  In addition to her writing, Barbara teaches creativity and writing workshops around the world. Her passions as a teacher include the spiritual aspects of writing and the sacred importance of the individual writer’s voice. She is on the faculty of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and teaches a regular roster of online classes.

An insanely curious traveler and hiker, Barbara is a native of Colorado, where she learned to roam the forests all summer and read inside all winter. She currently lives on the skirts of Pikes Peak with her partner, a British endurance athlete, and five animals who convinced her they needed rescue.