Diane Belinfanti draws inspiration for her writing from her many years of experience working with children. One of her greatest joys is introducing young people to new worlds and adventures through the magic of words. Diane creates poems and stories for readers of all ages. To date, she has published three picture books, two middle grade novels, and a middle school poetry book. Diane is currently working on a non-fiction project which she hopes to introduce to the public shortly. Visit www.storytimekids.com to learn more about the author and her work.

Claevens Estriplet hails from the island of Hispaniola, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to be exact. He has been living in the United States since the young age of five. He graduated from Rutgers University with an MBA and has spent time working in the Financial Services and Higher Education sectors throughout his career. Now a proud father of three wonderful children he has become fascinated with the way their young minds soak up information. He has dedicated himself to helping nurture and stimulate the minds of his kids and others throughout. He lives in New Jersey with his loving family.

Michele C. Hollow is a journalist who writes about health, science, climate, pets, and wildlife for the New York Times, Next Avenue, and Inside the Animal Mind. Her middle grade book, Jurassic Girl, is historical fiction based on the life of Mary Anning, published by Ulysses Press. Mary is known as the "Mother of Paleontology."

Mei Li, a Chinese-American children’s book writer and illustrator, brings a unique blend of cultural richness and personal experience to her storytelling. Beyond her creative endeavors, Mei is a dedicated public school teacher and a loving mother to her son with special needs. She is known for her works "Tiger’s First Words" and "Rabbit’s First Stand". 

Jason Patterson is an award-winning graphic novelist and animator. Jason has been drawing and telling stories with his best friend Dan Abdo ever since high school. Dan and Jason created the hit animated series 'Rocket Monkeys'. They have directed national and international advertising campaigns. Jason is a regular cartoon contributor to the New Yorker. Dan and Jason’s latest graphic novel for middle grade is the indie bestseller, Barb, the last Berzerker. They also have created the hit emerging reader graphic novel, Blue Barry and Pancakes. Dan and Jason love telling stories with heart, humor and lots of adventure! But most of all their stories show the enduring power of friendship. 

Stephanie Willing is a children’s book author and audiobook narrator who has been crafting stories since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She loves to look for magic hidden in the everyday world, and she will never be able to choose a favorite between unicorns or science. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children from Lesley University.

David Wilson began his forty-year public service career by joining the Nutley Emergency Squad in 1975. He volunteered at the Nutley Red Cross & NFSB as a board member. Appointed to the Nutley Fire Department in 1985 he enjoyed a career as Fire Inspector and obtained many certifications including arson investigations, OEM Deputy, instructor, fire official, and HazMat technician. An interest in researching and preserving local history has become a passion, leading to history walks, social media postings, live presentations, and YouTube videos. He is a contributing writer for Nutley Neighbors Magazine. David has become a successful author using his widely varied knowledge and research to create two books, one spanning his career in fire safety. The other is a whimsical story of a gopher family learning to live among humans and helping to make the world a better place.

Cheryl Corin-Bonder has two daughters and a Bichon Poodle and resides in Livingston, NJ. A Brooklyn Babe & The Miracle on 68th Street is a captivating memoir, delivering the greatest gift of perseverance, resilience, and gratitude for anyone facing unrelenting darkness and grief.

An avid freelancer, Christopher Dale has contributed multiple pieces to several popular animal lovers and advocacy outlets, including Dogster, The Dodo, Dogington Post and The Bark. Chris wrote We Saved Each Other from a place of empathy: as a visually impaired, clinically depressed recovering substance abuser, he has witnessed first hand the transformative effect that loving a fellow rescued being can have. But enough about Chris. The book’s star is a scrappy mutt with a funny name: Vector, who survived three impossible years on the hot, humid, lethal streets of Puerto Rico – an island whose notorious stray problem comprises some half a million dogs. As Chris developed We Saved Each Other, he learned that Vector’s impact on him was far from unique. Throughout the book, we meet others whose shelter dogs did what mere humans could not: dig deep enough to meet them at their lowest, where shame, despair or diseased mindsets had left them alone, adrift or even endangered.  

Laura Daniels (she/her) is a neurodivergent multi-genre writer. She is the founder of Facebook blog The Fringe 999 and editor of The Fringe 999 Poetry Forum. Her work has been curated in One Art, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Smarty Pants Magazine for Kids, and elsewhere. An active member of Women Who Write and JCW Plum Poets, Laura facilitates a free monthly online writing workshop through Mary's Place by the Sea for women whose lives were touched by cancer. Her book Gentle Grasp (Kelsay Books) is available on Amazon, bookstores, and local libraries. Her poems grow from a love of learning and New Jersey, where she lives with her partner in Mt Arlington.

Ted Delgrosso was born in Newark and is a lifelong resident of northern New Jersey. Following high school, he did a four-year tour in the US Navy and visited the nations of the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Caribbean. Later, he teaveled extensively throughout the United States. Ted is a fiction and science fiction writer and has authored three books. He is finalizing work on his fourth book, Ted's Tales Three, which should be out this summer. Ted is 45 years married to his wife Susan and they have two grown children David and Diana.

Elaine Durbach published her first novel, Roundabout, in 2019. A sequel, LAF – Life After Felix, followed in 2022. Next Steps is the final book in her Sally Paddington series. She grew up in Zambia, Lesotho and South Africa. Elaine studied Journalism at Rhodes University and began her journalism career in Cape Town. While there, she wrote two non-fiction books, With Mixed Feelings and South Africa, the Wild Realms (published by Don Nelson). A World Press Institute Fellowship brought her to the United States. She returned to New York as a correspondent for the South African Morning Group, and then freelanced, working periodically for the United Nations. After moving to New Jersey, she wrote for the New Jersey Jewish News, along the way winning another three press awards. Elaine lives in Maplewood. When not writing her own books, she edits other people’s writing, and teaches courses in writing.

Eric Goebelbecker is the author of Shadows of the Past and Clouds on the Future, the first two books in a series about the aftermath of the Martian invasion in the H.G. Wells classic, The War of the Worlds. He's currently working on the next book, Murder in Soft Words, and a few fantasy stories that he won't talk about yet. Eric was lucky enough to inherit his father's incurable curiosity about technology and tremendous love of science fiction. Both led to a career repairing radars in the U.S. Army, followed by another as a programmer on Wall Street. Now, he writes about technology during the day while writing sci-fi part-time.

D.W. Hirsch has been writing all her life, completing her first book, an illustrated tale of Noah's Ark, at age five. She grew up in Pittsburgh, PA where she became the youngest editor of her high school's newspaper. This award-winning journalist has published articles in various newspapers and magazines. Her feature about Delaware riverfront casinos won first place in the 2005 National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) Communications Contest. Her writing focuses on nonfiction and memoir. Star Trek, Mom and Las Vegas: A Grand Adventure, is an epic bonding journey between mother and daughter. The Haiku In The Life Of You series is memoir in poetry form, navigating the world from her undergraduate years at Penn State University through marriage and beyond. She became a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) in 2011 and creates original artwork in her haiku books. For more New Jersey adventure, roam her website: www.dwhirschwrites.com

Born in Ecuador and raised in West New York, NJ, Juan Carlos Reyes's stories, poems and essays have appeared in Florida Review, Waccamaw Journal, and Hawai’i Review, among others. His debut fiction collection, Three Alarm Fire, was released October 2024 with Hinton Publishing. His novella A Summer's Lynching won the Quarterly West novella contest in 2017. He has been the recipient of the Gar LaSalle Artist Trust Storyteller Award, a PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellowship, and a Jack Straw Writers Fellowship, among others. He received his MFA from The University of Alabama and has taught with the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project and Stetson University's MFA of the Americas. He is former board president of Seattle City of Literature and currently serves as an Associate Professor of creative writing at Seattle University.

Nancy Burke's work includes fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, short plays and stories. She is currently adapting her first book, From the Abuelas' Window,  for the musical stage. She holds an MFA in Fiction with a concentration in Dramatic Writing from Rutgers University Newark. She is Montclair born and loves living in this literature-focused community. 

Janis Hubschman has published dozens of stories in literary magazines that include Cimarron Review, Colorado Review, Electric Literature, Michigan Quarterly Review, Saturday Evening Post, Southern Humanities Review, and West Branch. Her stories have won Bellingham Review’s Tobias Wolff Award and a first-place award from Glimmer Train. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Glimmer Train Bulletin, and New York Runner. She was the recipient of a Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Fiction Scholarship and fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives with her husband in New Jersey and currently teaches fiction writing at Montclair State University. Take Me With You Next Time is her first book. Find her online at Janishubschman.com; facebook.com/JanisHubschman; Instagram @Janis_hub; & @Janishubschman.bsky.social.

Gavialidae is an annual print-only literary journal. Created by Stewart Love and Isabelle Puckette, their mission is to publish short stories, poems, and essays with genuine heart and an individual aesthetic sensibility. Gavialidae was founded out of a love for literature, a desire to share contemporary work with new audiences, and a goal of keeping the tradition of print literary art alive and thriving.

Mark Shoenfield is a 74 year old NJ poet who recently published his second poetry book Uncontained Thoughts by Blue Jade Press. The poems are micro, macro views of the world blending reflective observations, including psychology, philosophy and just plain questioning the world we inhabit.

Faith, family, and film can describe Phil Stevenson (his novels as well!). He believes it's an honor to be a deacon at the Cross and Crown Christian church. Phil hails from the Irvington, a New Jersey native through and through. As a child, he loved the art of storytelling—whether books, plays, or his personal favorite: films. After a conversation with close friends, Phil decided to write a screenplay. That screenplay morphed into his first novel Wages of Sin. In addition, he is a Twilight Zone loving, Wire rewatching, and Better Call Saul enthusiast—as well as a mystery thriller fanatic. If there is one word that can describe him, it is dependable, one of the best abilities to have. Phil takes great pride in seeing an assignment through to its completion. He is currently  developing a series of interconnected novels in New Jersey, where he lives with his virtuous wife and two intelligent children.

Carol Van Den Hende is an award-winning author who pens stories of resilience and hope. Her Goodbye, Orchid series draws from her Chinese American heritage, and has won 40 literary and design awards, including the American Fiction Award, IAN Outstanding Fiction First Novel Award, and Royal Dragonfly Awards for Cultural Diversity and Disability Awareness.  Buzzfeed, Parade, and Travel+Leisure named Carol's books a most anticipated read. Woman's World and Glamour Magazine recommended her "modern, important take on the power of love." The International Pulpwood Queens selected Goodbye, Orchid, Orchid Blooming and Always Orchid as Books-of-the-Month in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Carol's mission is unlocking optimism as a writer, speaker, strategist, Board member and Climate Reality Leader. One secret to her good fortune? Her humorous hubby and twins, who prove that love really does conquer all.